Thread: I read....

I read it is not ok for a Christian woman that is single to tuch her self, use sex toys and masribate. Could people give me there thoughts on this. I am waiting for merrige to ever have sex or to ever even do any thing sexual with a man, but is it ok to play around with your self, by your self? I know people will have difforence of what the believe, but maybe you could give me some Bible verces to check out too, so I can make my own decision. Hope that's ok to ask this sort of questian. I want to know what other feel.

I have to say that Christian are very much split in their opinions on masturbation. Some say it is acceptable and a normal part of life. Others say it is wrong and sinful. There are a number of bible verses which make reference to it.

According to the Bible it's a sin. Fact.

I believe in God, but I do not believe in the Bible...so...I masturbate whenever. :P

Waiting for marriage is so not worth it.

Originally Posted by Ravsoma

According to the Bible it's a sin. Fact.

I believe in God, but I do not believe in the Bible...so...I masturbate whenever. :P

Waiting for marriage is so not worth it.

Tell me where in the bible it says this... it is not fact. It depends who is explain the bible, different groups say different things. IT is a taboo subject but some groups say it is fine.

i think its pretty good that you are wating till marrige!!! i wish i had waited!!!!!and it can be a sin but it dependsonwhat you belive in!

Actually, it is not fact that the Bible refers to masturbation as a sin. The Bible verses that may or may not refer to masturbation are very ambiguous in nature, as a result of translation from archaeic languages. Scholars of the Scriptures themselves are unsure, so what tends to happen is that when a verse of ambiguous nature is brought up, each Bible translating team takes what ever activity of which their group particularly disapproves and inserts it in to that particular verse. Moreover, to compound their error, they fail to include a footnote, conveying the fact that the actual meaning is unknown and that the translation is merely a guess. Because of this, many people are led to believe that it is accurate and make the error of taking the translated, altered verse as gospel.

Here are some such questionable verses:
Genesis 38:6-9. The Sin of Onan.
This is from the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament) and describes the story of why God killed Onan. Now for many years, on account of unfaithful translation, it was believed that masturbation was Onan's sin, when in fact it has since transpired that he 'spilled his semen on the ground' when having sex, which enraged God and brought about his demise. Yes, Genesis is actually referring to the 'withdrawal method', not masturbation.

I Corinthians 6:9. Sins that Paul believes will send you to ****.
This is Paul's list of sins, that he believed would prevent a person from entering Heaven. It actually refers to an unknown form of behaviour, as the meaning of the original Greek phrase has been lost. That phrase is 'arsenokoitai' and sources on the Early Church believed it to be a common phrase referring to people as 'soft', as in 'soft morals' thus the phrase is referring to unethical behaviour. The literal explanation was not included, it seems because in those days, people assumed that everyone knew what the literal meaning of arsenokoitai was. Since those days, others have believed the phrase referred to fornication with Pagan Temple Prostitutes, others believe it is masturbation and others still refer to it as homosexuality. The truth is that nobody knows.

Leviticus 15:16-18. Go and Wash
Verses 16 and 17refer to a man's ejaculation but does not contain a reference to a sexual partner. This is interpreted by some as referring to ejaculation resulting from masturbation while the man is alone. It does not forbid the activity, it simply requires the man to wash himself and all soiled clothing until the evening, upon which time he will no longer be unclean.
Verse 18 refers to a man and woman having engaged in sexual intercourse. It declares that both parties are ritually unclean because of the man's ejaculation of semen. They are both required to bathe. They remain ritual unclean for the rest of the day.

Incidentally, all three injunctions are generally ignored by Christians today.

I hope this was some help to you.

hey u said if i wanted to talk (self cutting) to let u kow....
kittie21692000*yahoo.com

I dont know how else to get back to u....email me

if the bible is going to guide your conduct regarding specifics, such as masturbation, you're going to have to keep the "whole picture" of the bible in mind - especially while reading specific verses, like those mentioned above.

the bible doesn't give exact, prescriptive advice regarding every single activity you could choose to engage in. the bible doesn't say directly that you should or shouldn't go to the grocery store, marry someone older or younger, send your kids to public or private school.

in fact - we've debated a lot on here about pornography. the bible doesn't directly make any statements about whether or not you chould watch porn.

most christians who regard the bible as a standard of conduct understand the principles that are prescriptive & clear, and apply those principles to the choices & decisions you make in life.

you might believe that the bible is clear on the issue of sexual purity of the mind. in other words, the bible tells us that we shouldn't lust - it likens my lusting over another woman as the same as committing adultery with her.

that's extremely clear.

so, it's typically not the act of masturbation that biblical christians regard as sinful - but the things people think about while they masturbate that is viewed as sinful.

so - if i am routinely masturbating & fantasizing about jessica alba, am i sinning? the bible never said, "don't masturbate & fantasize about jessica alba."

the bible indicates several things about God's will for us - we are to be saved, spirit filled, sanctified, submissive to one another. can you do those things & still masturbate? if so, then go ahead.

the problem is that christians often try to justify what they're doing, rather than do what is justafiable. we try to get away with as much as possible - sin a little, but not too much so we can still be OK. this is what leads us to take verses out of context - we're searching for validation for what we have done or want to do.

but it's really not that complicated. my advice to you: worry less about whether masturbation is a sin, and learn as much as you can about what the bible says about you and your relationship to God. as you understand its basic principles, you can apply them to specific choices - like masturbation.

Originally Posted by whilhelm

the problem is that christians often try to justify what they're doing, rather than do what is justafiable. we try to get away with as much as possible - sin a little, but not too much so we can still be OK. this is what leads us to take verses out of context - we're searching for validation for what we have done or want to do.

An interesting view, especially in the light of my post above. Wouldn't you say that in the case of the Bible, the various Christian translating teams have actually done the very opposite of that which you have described? In replacing untranslatable references with the taboo du jour (despite the fact that there is actually no evidence linking that archaic reference to that particular taboo) and passing it off as fact, they have, in all intents and purposes created a sin when in reality, it may not be one. In short, they have indeed ensured that the verses will be taken out of context, although the intended result is designed to support the doctrines, rather than oppose them.

As for the rest of your post, I do agree that it is a good idea to use one's judgement, taking in to account that which one believes to be so when deciding on those issues that have considerably more room for interpretation due to their lack of representation (or indeed misrepresentation) in the scriptures. I just wished to point out that conscious misrepresentations and misconstructions can occur both ways.

Originally Posted by Iseult

I just wished to point out that conscious misrepresentations and misconstructions can occur both ways.

it's a great point - i wouldn't argue with you.

i'm sure the translators - some - may have manipulated their mission to support a specific bent along the way. but i don't think they were purposeful. that is, if they misrepresent a word or concept, i believe that they believe they are right. i don't think they willfully distorted the truth in order to make a case.

i think that, in every case, a verse that appears to contradict a biblical theme or principle is either being misunderstood or taken out of context. i don't think any, when interpreted by other scriptures, truly do contradict the bible in its entirety.

i think human nature is to walk as close to the flame without being in the flame. "how unbiblically can i act but still call myself biblical?" is the question most of us are asking when we debate moral choices. often times the answer is pretty obvious, but we can tweak our perspective a little & approach the bible as a piece of literature and wind up with some ambiguity to play with. then we go looking for evidence that - whatever it is we want to do but think we shouldn't - we're still OK.

instead of trying to be as christlike as possible, we try to be as unchristlike but still be a christian. this is the problem i think we have with using specific verses to support this choice or that. the bible is not silent about much, when listened to as a whole.

what did you have in mind - specifically?