Masturbation, a mortal sin?

[Gizmo]

Sex and the Early Church

Clearly oral sex is never mentioned in the Scriptures, so therefore such teaching on it comes in the form of progressive revelation. Much of the early Church’s outlook on sacred sexuality was based on the notion that the semen alone contained a miniature human inside of it. There was no understanding of “moment of conception” as we know it today.

Revealed truth has always continued to grow and evolve. Despite the protestations and rhetorical whitewashings of many dogmatic traditionalists, the fact remains that Church teaching on matters such as sexuality <note that we are not talking about abortion here, which is expressly forbidden in Scripture> has changed. Evolved, grown, changed, over the centuries.

That change almost always (Counter-Reformation aside) stems from the voices of the faithful within the Church itself.

I love Pope John Paul II, I think Christopher West is a heckuva thinker and writer, but neither of them is the last Word. Nor should they be.

Good thing the Church does not practice Sola Scriptura, so the fact that it is not explicitly addressed in Scripture does not mean that it is not wrong. Also Christ has given the Church authority, which that does happen to be in the Scripture.

Those are some pretty big claims that you make about how doctrine changes. I would agree if you said develops, but changes - no you are wrong on that. This is not what this thread is about so I would start a new thread if I were you - do something about some of your doubts about the Church. At least there you would have an opportunity to give us examples of Church doctrines in faith or morals that have changed.

 

[PhoenixRoach]

I agree, this is off-topic and I’ll cease after this post. And I’m strong in my Catholic faith, but it is irritating to me when people say things like “consummated oral sex is a grave sin” as if that were, forever and ever amen, the final and never-evolving word on the subject.

And “evolve” and “change” really mean the same thing, don’t they? Evolution is just incremental change.

 

[distracted]

You can’t conceive a child by ejaculating inside the vagina while the woman is already pregnant, either.

when i said that, i wasn’t implying that that was the only reason it was wrong.
It goes against the unitive aspect of sex as well - in my opinion (it is more unitive to have intercourse). Plus, i just don’t see the point of doing it that way… to me, it just seems odd… (perverse even…)

Anyway, if a person doesn’t feel comfortable about it, there could be a good reason - as in it goes against his/her conscience.

There is something in the Bible about how if you think something is wrong, it is… (although the converse is not necessarily true, that if you think something is right, that makes it so).

 

[distracted]

But remember - marriage is no longer just from the natural law. It is a sacrament and therefore always requires that we honor the sacred dignity of it as a sacrament - something that is intended to bring holiness into the couple’s life. Sure marriage stems from the natural law but it does not end there.

thank you so much for saying this… Somewhere in the recesses of my cluttered, overwhelmed, No Spring Chicken Anymore mind, i kind of knew this but never articulated it as you have.

 

[distracted]

No - for your information - Phoenix, oral sex is wrong, it is a mortal sin. Faith and morals have never been up to theological speculation.

Is it really? I thought it wasn’t wrong as long as consummation occurred via intercourse… Is there a papal document on this?

I tend to feel oral sex is wrong, so was wondering if the Church officially taught about that…

 

[distracted]

Could masturbation be considered a disease? If done to excess, and causing major problems in a person’s life, perhaps so. Again, a long talk with an understanding Priest and/or Spiritual Director might be a good place to start

Just my opinion, but i think it is one of the worst diseases - because of the damage it causes. For one thing, i have heard from books on the saints (those who have had visions of Hell) that sins against chastity are primarily what cause most people 2 end up in Hell… probably because sex is so addictive & we humans can easily make it a god… It certainly is a “god” for the time we are carried away by “those feelings”. God, as you know, told us that to love him is the greatest Commandment. This sin goes against our neighbor also, because, for one, you are taking something away from your spouse or future spouse. It is a very selfish act and selfishness breeds selfishness… You can get to the point where all you really think about is Numero Uno.

It lessens one’s resolve to make much of an effort to find a spouse - or to even pray much that God provide one.

 

[joeybaggz]

I know that “With God anything is possible”…. can you please give me some advice to help me understand this situation and make this experience a little easier.

God Bless

Get ahold of The Catechism of the Catholic Church and read the appropriate sections. Then, as a couple of posters have said, find a confessor that you are comfortable with, and talk it over. Believe me, any priest who’s heard a dozen confessions or more has dealt with this.

In fact, talk it over with a couple of priests. And don’t get discouraged, you’re not alone.

Shalom

 

[Gizmo]

I am a male college student who is new to this site and in need of some advice. I have been “religious” my whole life but it was about two years ago when I finally found God and began to take my religion more seriously. Since then I have taken many steps to develop my faith and follow the words of the Christ. When ever I am in the need of help I turn to the Lord and I am consoled and shown the way (it truly is amazing). However, there has always been an issue that I have struggled to understand.

When I was about 12 years old I learned what porn was and since then I have been involved with masturbation. It started off small but quickly grew to something that I was obsessed with and lost control of. I always had the feeling that what I was doing was wrong but I could never find out if it was a sin or not. So I continued to masturbate and it soon became a habit and such a normal/ routine part of my life. However, now that I have found Jesus I see how poisoning porn is to my soul and against his teachings (Matthew 5: 28). Furthermore, I currently am in a long distance relationship and plan to wait till marriage to have sex, however, this leads to sexual tension which then leads to masturbation and even oral sex.

Nevertheless, for lent this year I finally decided to make the big step to follow what God has been trying to telling me. I have given up watching porn and masturbating this lent and for the past 3 week, with a lot of praying and reading of the bible, I have been successful. However, even though I am severely trying to save my soul I feel like when lent is over I will fall back to my old ways because masturbation has become such a rooted part of my life. I am scared because it is my understanding that looking at porn and masturbating is a mortal sin and I deeply do not want to continue to stain my soul with it…… How do people abstain from it? Is it ok to give it? (people say it’s natural), Is looking at porn to masturbate a mortal sin? Is oral sex a mortal sin?

I know that “With God anything is possible”…. can you please give me some advice to help me understand this situation and make this experience a little easier.

God Bless

I commend you for choosing to stop this act. You do know however that we should be giving up something that was good in our lives for Lent - not an evil. Even though giving this vice up is indeed a sacrifice - why don’t you just tell yourself that you have given it up for good, regardless of Lent. Cause in all seriousness one does not give up sin for Lent - one should just be giving up sin period. If you have gone this far into Lent in giving it up - way to go - seriously. With that amount of time gone by - this thing that used to be a habit is being broken down. Just remember that Satan will always try and fool us into thinking that we are 100% victorious and that we don’t need any safeguards anymore - but that is a lie. As we finish up the rest of Lent I suggest you determine what your safeguards are going to be. Figure out how you will keep this determination to leave this vice in the past.

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it but I would also make sure you delete or throw away any porn that you have. Even clear out your recycle bin on your computer so that it can never be restored. This will help you free yourself from this sin (that is if you have not already done this). Eliminate the sources of temptation! Not doing that would be like an alcoholic hanging out in a place where there is lots of liquor - or not throwing away any liquor he has in the house after getting treated.

 

[westboro]

I am a male college student who is new to this site and in need of some advice. I have been “religious” my whole life but it was about two years ago when I finally found God and began to take my religion more seriously. Since then I have taken many steps to develop my faith and follow the words of the Christ. When ever I am in the need of help I turn to the Lord and I am consoled and shown the way (it truly is amazing). However, there has always been an issue that I have struggled to understand.

When I was about 12 years old I learned what porn was and since then I have been involved with masturbation. It started off small but quickly grew to something that I was obsessed with and lost control of. I always had the feeling that what I was doing was wrong but I could never find out if it was a sin or not. So I continued to masturbate and it soon became a habit and such a normal/ routine part of my life. However, now that I have found Jesus I see how poisoning porn is to my soul and against his teachings (Matthew 5: 28). Furthermore, I currently am in a long distance relationship and plan to wait till marriage to have sex, however, this leads to sexual tension which then leads to masturbation and even oral sex.

Nevertheless, for lent this year I finally decided to make the big step to follow what God has been trying to telling me. I have given up watching porn and masturbating this lent and for the past 3 week, with a lot of praying and reading of the bible, I have been successful. However, even though I am severely trying to save my soul I feel like when lent is over I will fall back to my old ways because masturbation has become such a rooted part of my life. I am scared because it is my understanding that looking at porn and masturbating is a mortal sin and I deeply do not want to continue to stain my soul with it…… How do people abstain from it? Is it ok to give it? (people say it’s natural), Is looking at porn to masturbate a mortal sin? Is oral sex a mortal sin?

I know that “With God anything is possible”…. can you please give me some advice to help me understand this situation and make this experience a little easier.

God Bless

Whenever I read about a post/plight for help with this frustrating and embarrassing habit, I would offer the following:
For some, like myself, masturbation can be a very powerful habit, and in my case, an addiction that I even carried into my marriage.
A couple years ago, I happened upon a total ‘release’ from this powerful and discouraging repetitive sin. What happened is that I was so very upset to see someone take communion knowing that they had committed a certain sin, which I knew was a serious matter. It hurt me so much to witness this, that I began a ‘fast’ from Holy Communion to demonstrate that it is wrong to do something so serious and still take communion. What happened next was something I totally did not expect. From the day I began that communion fast, I felt NO URGE to masturbate! I could hardly believe it after all these years of feeling hopeless! This went on for four months until the Easter season, when I began taking communion again on Divine Mercy Sunday…to fulfill my Easter duties. Bear in mind, that I always sat in the front of the church and throughout this fast I was very self conscious of what people thought of me. At times I even broke out in a sweat just imagining the ‘judgement’ that must have been placed upon me by people who had no knowledge of why I was not taking communion. Still, I persevered day after day, as I attended mass every single day of the week. Also, I am an altar server as well as an extraordinary minister and throughout this four months I did not take communion while serving on the altar. I believe all this ‘exposure’ sent the demon(s) that were plaguing me to flight and I became totally free of my life long habit (addiction) of masturbation. It has now been three years since I last masturbated and I feel totally free from this awful condition! Even if you choose not to fast from the Eucharist, I would highly recommend some kind of fasting to anyone in the plight to conquer this condition. Fasting, praying and giving alms are three of the most powerful tools in our arsenal. Try fasting to overcome this habit. I think you might be more successful than any other means you can try. Don’t give up on your other spiritual exercises because they all work together to help you! I even went to weekly confession during this four month period…but DID NOT have to confess masturbation!!!
Finally, in so far as the seriousness of this sin, the Catechism is quite clear about it as being a serious intrinsic disorder, however, one must take in the culpability section of the Catechism when examining one’s conscience. IF we are doing all we can to stop sinning…than that is what truly matters. Habits and addiction are huge considerations in the issue of culpability in the Catechism. That means that this act may not be a serious sin at times during the struggle to rid oneself of the habit/addiction.
I hope this is helpful! God bless,