I have heard different answers everywhere. Some say it is, others say it's normal. I need to know for sure. Is it a sin to masturbate or not?

Its healthy and natural. By labeling it a sin, when its just human nature.. is stupid.

I have heard different answers everywhere. Some say it is, others say it's normal. I need to know for sure. Is it a sin to masturbate or not?
http://www.angelfire.com/on4/selfabuse/godkills.jpg
Nuff said.

:)

According to the Catholic Church, yes it is,

So what if it is, so is breaking the law, (speeding for example could be)
So is living together without being married, so is those evil thoughts you have ( now I don't have them of course) about that car that cut me off this morning. We all sin, but can be forgiven,

Now what I worry more about is the issue of lust and porn that too often follow, unhealthy ideas, and if you get addicted or do it too much where it effects your sexual performance because you are too used to a certain feel.


And of course getting rid of cats may be a positive side effect ** post above.

Have to laugh at Fr_Chuck answer.

I had no idea he was a cat hater?

I'll tell you this much, if it is a sin, and if it couldn't be forgiven, I can't say for certain about females, but there won't be ANY men, young or old, in heaven.

The argument for masturbation being a sin is often referenced to a passage in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible where God commands a man to impregnate a woman. When the man instead masturbates, God punishes him. The controversy here is that there is no direct statement that thou shalt not masturbate. By this story, the man was punished for disobeying God in general, not for masturbating.

Is there a passage in the bible about spilling your seed on the ground?

Is there a passage in the bible about spilling your seed on the ground?
This is the passage I was referring to. It is often used outside of its full context, which I find to be dubious at best.

God kills kittens?:eek:

This is the passage I was referring to. It is often used outside of its full context, which I find to be dubious at best.

Indeed! The issue spoken of here is not masturbation, but disobedience to the Lord:

Gen 38:7-11
8 And Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD; therefore He killed him also.
NKJV

He was to marry his brother's former wife and to give her children, but he spilled his seed to avoid doing so, and thus disobeyed God.

http://www.angelfire.com/on4/selfabuse/godkills.jpg
Nuff said.

:)
haha got to love it. Im wouldn't think that it would be a sin but that's a very good question

No I don't think it is, it's a natural part of life and growing... each to their own,that's what I say.

I wouldn't like to guess how many sinners there are out there... would you!!
He with out sin cast the first stone... springs to mind

Blessings

I have heard different answers everywhere. Some say it is, others say it's normal. I need to know for sure. Is it a sin to masturbate or not?

For sake of discussion:

If it is a sin, then it can be forgiven (according to Christianity).

If it is not a sin, then you have nothing to worry about.

Also you stated "Some say it is [a sin], others say it is normal." Remember "normal" does not necessarily mean "not sinful". For example, think about the sometimes seemingly "normal" and or "natural" act of a married man lusting after another woman.

Peace.

probably focusing on the whole act to a point that it becomes perverse, and starts to detract from our worship of god, is where the sin lies. It's interesting to note that even if we don't do it, it will happen in our sleep. Unfortunately, society currently focuses on sex, so people are tempted to think about it more. It's hard to put away something that has such a strong impact as far as physical pleasure. I would ask where is god in your life.

haha gotta love it. Im wouldnt think that it would be a sin but thats a very good question
Glad you liked the joke...

But I should also mention that I do believe masturbation to be sinful:

By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action." "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."
CCC 2352

Peace be with you.
Scott

I am a baptist yet I don't know much about masturbation being a sin. I honestly don't care to be truthful thought. I don't masturbate and neither does my husband so it has to purpose to me.

I was raised Catholic and then lost my faith to a certain extent for a while. Well lets just say I lost my faith in the Catholic religion. We were always told that it was a sin to spill your seed without intention to have a baby. When I met my wife she took me to church and now I can say I am Baptist and I am very happy to be.

god kills kittens?:eek:

You didn't know? God's allergic. Plus, why do you think there's a movie called "All Dogs Go to Heaven" but not "All Cats Go to Heaven?"

... think about that.

For reall though, with all that is going on/happined in the world I really don't think god will care too much if you let yourself have some fun!!
As for "god kills kittens" that is just a cheap and nasty way to stop people doing something that's VERY normal!! Why would god kill something inocent??
I would be way more worryed if you reach the age of 21 and HAVE NOT done that!

Hmmm I'm 21 and have not done that. I don't see the point in it.

I think that 21-year old bit applies more towards guys than girls. I know plenty of girls that are in their 20s and have not done it.

Yes I mean guys more then girls, as a whole I think girls find it harder to do then guys, More time consuming... :p

...Leviticus 15:16-18 16And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even. 17And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even. 18The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
Would this not be on the same level as a woman's menstruation being unclean? Both are something that are natural. There's a separation between mast. And lust. People may think they're inseparable, but you can mast. Without lusting. It's a bodily function.

I don't think so a woman's period is natural yet masturbation isn't. A woman's period is a way of cleaning her body out yet masturbation is just a way to relieve sexual urges. God meant for man and woman to be whole and not to lust after one another. Most men when they masturbate are lusting after another.

I dont think so a womans period is natural yet masturbation isnt. A womans period is a way of cleaning her body out yet masturbation is just a way to relieve sexual urges. God meant for man and woman to be whole and not to lust after one another. Most men when they masturbate are lusting after another.
That's why I said that lust and mast. Are not inseparable. We can learn to separate the two. I think the trouble is that there's such a proliferation of porn that young people learn to lust.

I think that 21-year old bit applies more towards guys than girls. I know plenty of girls that are in their 20s and have not done it.
I think your being a bit sexist aren't you

Imagine a country where you could fill a room by simple bringing a covered plate onto the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let everyone see, just before the lights went out, that it had contained a steak.

Wouldn't you think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food?

And wouldn't anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally weird about the state of the sex instinct among us?

You find very few people who want to eat things that are really not food or to do things with food instead of eating it. In other words, perversions of the food appetite are rare.

But perversions of the sex instinct are numerous, hard to cure, and scary.

I think masturbation is fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Jesus told us to walk in the spirit so that we won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In the natural it seems like a natural thing to do because we all get... well the "feeling". I believe that's one reason Paul said in Ephesians that it's better to marry than to burn. Also, the body knows when it needs to release and will do so by itself in dreams and sometimes when we least expect it.

I was raised Catholic and then lost my faith to a certain extent for a while. Well lets just say I lost my faith in the Catholic religion. We were always told that it was a sin to spill your seed without intention to have a baby. When I met my wife she took me to church and now I can say I am Baptist and I am very happy to be.

If spilling your seed without intention to have a baby is a sin, then married couples would be sinning every time they had sex and their intention was NOT to conceive. No, I don't think masturbation is a sin. I think God has bigger fish to fry than to concern himself with that.

If spilling your seed without intention to have a baby is a sin, then married couples would be sinning every time they had sex and their intention was NOT to conceive.
The Catholic Church teaches that this is so. That is why they teach that contraception of any kind is wrong. It seems they have made some concessions with the calendar method though.

I dont think so a womans period is natural yet masturbation isnt. A womans period is a way of cleaning her body out yet masturbation is just a way to relieve sexual urges. God meant for man and woman to be whole and not to lust after one another. Most men when they masturbate are lusting after another.
He was pointing out that if you take the Leviticus passage about masturbation to be declaring masturbation a sin, then you must also take menstruation to be a sin.

Leviticus 15:19-30
And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean. And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even. And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean. And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean. Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation. And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness.
Leviticus 20:18
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
Ezekiel 18:5-6
But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, and hath not... come near to a menstruous woman...

The Catholic Church teaches that this is so. That is why they teach that contraception of any kind is wrong. It seems they have made some concessions with the calendar method though.

Agreed that this is a teaching of the Catholic church, but I see nothing in scripture which would prohibit use of contraception. Devices or medications which cause abortions are a different matter because they kill a child.