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a83192
Guest
could someone explain to me why Masturbation is looked down upon and forbidden by the Catholic Church?
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Mirror_Mirror
Guest
I recommend doing a thread search on “Masturbation” or look at the top of the Moral Theology board to find all the different information on masturbation. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
2352 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.”
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.
To simplify this, masturbation is a selfish act that turns you inward, towards self, sex is an unselfish act that turns you outward, towards your husband or wife. God gave us the gift of sex for uniting a husband and wife in a renewal of their wedding vows, expressing their love to each other, giving of themselves freely, faithfully, totally and fruitfully. “Fruitfully” means the act is procreative, that is open to new life. Masturbation is not an act that is open to life.
2352 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.”
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.
To simplify this, masturbation is a selfish act that turns you inward, towards self, sex is an unselfish act that turns you outward, towards your husband or wife. God gave us the gift of sex for uniting a husband and wife in a renewal of their wedding vows, expressing their love to each other, giving of themselves freely, faithfully, totally and fruitfully. “Fruitfully” means the act is procreative, that is open to new life. Masturbation is not an act that is open to life.
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GeorgeSword
Guest
It is selfish and lustful, and goes against nature. That is, there is no chance of procreation in the act and it is done entirely for pleasure.
O
OraLabora
Guest
Or in some cases, relief.It is selfish and lustful, and goes against nature. That is, there is no chance of procreation in the act and it is done entirely for pleasure.
N
NDfan
Guest
Then why does Leviticus 15 make the following distinction:It is selfish and lustful, and goes against nature. That is, there is no chance of procreation in the act and it is done entirely for pleasure.
16 “If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. 17 And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.
Clearly there is a distinction between having an emission of semen while lying with a woman and while not. What condition would there be in verse 16 for a man to have an emission of semen while not lying with a woman? Seems like masturbation. Leviticus does not speak against this practice but gives instructions on what the man shall do afterward.
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danfinocchio
Guest
First off, I’m a young single guy and I completely understand where you’re coming from.
I can’t send you the link now b/c I’m at work; but on youtube look up “jason evert effects of porn” It should be part 3 of a series. Its only a 3 minute clip. You will see how porn and masturbation will rob you of your ability to love your future wife. You will expect her to fulfill certain sexual “requirements” that are impossible b/c porn is fake.
Men are called to love as Christ loves, which is a self GIVING love. Masturbation/porn is essentially TAKING from women for selfish pleasure, not giving. Being free of porn/masturbation is so much BETTER than submitting to it. It is NOT repressive, you’ll be happier I promise! Click on the Chastity link up top on this website to learn more. Or if you’d like, private message me and I’ll be happy to talk more about it.
“Lust is a poor, weak, wimpering substitute when compared to the desire that will arise in our hearts when we are set free.” - CS Lewis
I can’t send you the link now b/c I’m at work; but on youtube look up “jason evert effects of porn” It should be part 3 of a series. Its only a 3 minute clip. You will see how porn and masturbation will rob you of your ability to love your future wife. You will expect her to fulfill certain sexual “requirements” that are impossible b/c porn is fake.
Men are called to love as Christ loves, which is a self GIVING love. Masturbation/porn is essentially TAKING from women for selfish pleasure, not giving. Being free of porn/masturbation is so much BETTER than submitting to it. It is NOT repressive, you’ll be happier I promise! Click on the Chastity link up top on this website to learn more. Or if you’d like, private message me and I’ll be happy to talk more about it.
“Lust is a poor, weak, wimpering substitute when compared to the desire that will arise in our hearts when we are set free.” - CS Lewis
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danfinocchio
Guest
Leviticus shows that the man is considered UNCLEAN, which means sin. While it doesn’t specifically say “Don’t masturbate” it says you will be unclean and have to wash yourself of it.
A
a83192
Guest
thanks. reallly helpful.First off, I’m a young single guy and I completely understand where you’re coming from.
I can’t send you the link now b/c I’m at work; but on youtube look up “jason evert effects of porn” It should be part 3 of a series. Its only a 3 minute clip. You will see how porn and masturbation will rob you of your ability to love your future wife. You will expect her to fulfill certain sexual “requirements” that are impossible b/c porn is fake.
Men are called to love as Christ loves, which is a self GIVING love. Masturbation/porn is essentially TAKING from women for selfish pleasure, not giving. Being free of porn/masturbation is so much BETTER than submitting to it. It is NOT repressive, you’ll be happier I promise! Click on the Chastity link up top on this website to learn more. Or if you’d like, private message me and I’ll be happy to talk more about it.
“Lust is a poor, weak, wimpering substitute when compared to the desire that will arise in our hearts when we are set free.” - CS Lewis
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Schn
Guest
To extend the monopoly on sexual pleasure.
S
sean1i0
Guest
Well, I figure I should throw my 2 cents into this one. I sincerely hope that it will help. First off, let me just confess that this is a sin with which I have struggled deeply in the past. Not to be so bold and proud as to say that I will definitely never struggle with it again, but the Lord has granted me the graces at this time to throw it off. I just pray for the continuing of the merciful graces of the Lord poured out through our Blessed Mother.
I will try to relate to you the ideas that were significant for me in understanding why this is a sin and a grave one at that. I think it is so important to be theologically grounded in this, because not only the World, but also liberal sects of Christianity will give you reasons that sound as if they are just too good to be true about sexuality. Well, in this case, they are just false. Remember that the Lord Jesus told us that His way is the straight and narrow path.
Anyway, let me get on with it. The main idea here, as I understand it at least, stems from Genesis. In the beginning God created the world and He said, “It is good.” So, in the beginning he created the material world not as something evil, but as something intrinsically good. It was the decisions of Adam and Eve that tainted the material world, at least part of it, by bringing sin into the world. But, as sin and death were brought into the world by a singular action of the first Adam, life and redemption from sin were brought into the world by a singular action by the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. In redeeming us, His grace redeemed nature, especially our nature, and His grace perfects nature, restoring it to what it was in the beginning: Good. Holy. Of God.
So, our bodies are not nasty and dirty, as Gnosticism would have us believe, but intrinsically good. The body is not some garbage that God put together for us to have our souls housed, they are expressions of our souls! In fact, that is one of the reasons why we, as a human race, are so blessed. We are the only creatures in all of Creation that can worship the Lord with a Spirit and a Body! And we are made in His Holy Image!
Furthermore, Paul says that Jesus did even more than that: His death and resurrection purchased us from the slavery of sin. Paul says that Christ owns us and that we owe Him everything. Even our bodies are his. In fact, we are all made a part of the mystical body of Christ through our baptisms.
Christ also redeemed the sacrament of marriage, perfecting it in an image of His relationship to His Church. Marriage is a covenant before God. As Scott Hahn brings up often, there is a key difference between a contract and a covenant. A contract is an exchange of goods. A covenant is an exchange of people. The covenant between Jesus and us exchanges our death (which is justice for our sins) for His innocent death. (Thus, as is said above, why we are His.) A marriage covenant exchanges two people for each other in front of God. They are now each other’s. Moreover, it is done in the presence of God, so it is of Him, so it is Holy. All God’s covenants have a method of renewing themselves. For marriage He created the marital act (sex) as a supremely good renewal of the marriage covenant. It is an expression of both of our bodies and our souls. As we have said before, both the soul and the body are good and are Holy. For these reasons, it is extremely Holy in the eyes of God. It has been given to us as a gift from God. It is supremely good. Anyone uses the marital act, either as it was meant to be used or not, quickly discovers these truths for themselves.
We also have proof from Genesis of the sacredness of the marital act in the story of Onan. He was the brother who would not give his dead brother’s wife a child, because it would not be his. He ended sex by shooting his seed upon the ground. God killed him for this. Now, some may say that his death was due to his not fulfilling his duty to give her children, but the Ancient Hebrews already had a punishment for that: public humiliation.
Therefore we know that his punishment was for defiling the marital act. Obviously, the above quoted portions of Leviticus also testify to this.
It is for all of these reasons and more that we know that to treat sex as something ordinary with which we may do as we please (such as masturbation, use of contraceptives, fornicaton, etc.) is to, by definition, profane it. And, of course, profaning something holy is a serious grievance. Not to mention that, as some people have already mentioned, you harm both yourself and your (future) spouse by using it selfishly and by depriving yourself of the capability of the full intimacy which God intended when making love to your wife. Therefore, it is wrong.
Phew…sorry that was so long-winded. Hopefully that was all as coherrent as I wanted it to be. And hopefully it helps.
I will try to relate to you the ideas that were significant for me in understanding why this is a sin and a grave one at that. I think it is so important to be theologically grounded in this, because not only the World, but also liberal sects of Christianity will give you reasons that sound as if they are just too good to be true about sexuality. Well, in this case, they are just false. Remember that the Lord Jesus told us that His way is the straight and narrow path.
Anyway, let me get on with it. The main idea here, as I understand it at least, stems from Genesis. In the beginning God created the world and He said, “It is good.” So, in the beginning he created the material world not as something evil, but as something intrinsically good. It was the decisions of Adam and Eve that tainted the material world, at least part of it, by bringing sin into the world. But, as sin and death were brought into the world by a singular action of the first Adam, life and redemption from sin were brought into the world by a singular action by the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. In redeeming us, His grace redeemed nature, especially our nature, and His grace perfects nature, restoring it to what it was in the beginning: Good. Holy. Of God.
So, our bodies are not nasty and dirty, as Gnosticism would have us believe, but intrinsically good. The body is not some garbage that God put together for us to have our souls housed, they are expressions of our souls! In fact, that is one of the reasons why we, as a human race, are so blessed. We are the only creatures in all of Creation that can worship the Lord with a Spirit and a Body! And we are made in His Holy Image!
Furthermore, Paul says that Jesus did even more than that: His death and resurrection purchased us from the slavery of sin. Paul says that Christ owns us and that we owe Him everything. Even our bodies are his. In fact, we are all made a part of the mystical body of Christ through our baptisms.
Christ also redeemed the sacrament of marriage, perfecting it in an image of His relationship to His Church. Marriage is a covenant before God. As Scott Hahn brings up often, there is a key difference between a contract and a covenant. A contract is an exchange of goods. A covenant is an exchange of people. The covenant between Jesus and us exchanges our death (which is justice for our sins) for His innocent death. (Thus, as is said above, why we are His.) A marriage covenant exchanges two people for each other in front of God. They are now each other’s. Moreover, it is done in the presence of God, so it is of Him, so it is Holy. All God’s covenants have a method of renewing themselves. For marriage He created the marital act (sex) as a supremely good renewal of the marriage covenant. It is an expression of both of our bodies and our souls. As we have said before, both the soul and the body are good and are Holy. For these reasons, it is extremely Holy in the eyes of God. It has been given to us as a gift from God. It is supremely good. Anyone uses the marital act, either as it was meant to be used or not, quickly discovers these truths for themselves.
We also have proof from Genesis of the sacredness of the marital act in the story of Onan. He was the brother who would not give his dead brother’s wife a child, because it would not be his. He ended sex by shooting his seed upon the ground. God killed him for this. Now, some may say that his death was due to his not fulfilling his duty to give her children, but the Ancient Hebrews already had a punishment for that: public humiliation.
Therefore we know that his punishment was for defiling the marital act. Obviously, the above quoted portions of Leviticus also testify to this.
It is for all of these reasons and more that we know that to treat sex as something ordinary with which we may do as we please (such as masturbation, use of contraceptives, fornicaton, etc.) is to, by definition, profane it. And, of course, profaning something holy is a serious grievance. Not to mention that, as some people have already mentioned, you harm both yourself and your (future) spouse by using it selfishly and by depriving yourself of the capability of the full intimacy which God intended when making love to your wife. Therefore, it is wrong.
Phew…sorry that was so long-winded. Hopefully that was all as coherrent as I wanted it to be. And hopefully it helps.
D
danfinocchio
Guest
I strongly recommend studying John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. You will better understand your relationship to Jesus, your identity as a man, the right way to treat women as well as the meaning of sex and life. If you’re in your early teens I recommend reading/listening to Jason and Chrystalina Evert. They have a lot of great material on the chastity link up top. They also host a show on EWTN- Theology of the Body for Teens Thurs. night at 10:30pm (eastern) and have stuff on youtube. If you’re in your late teens or older, I still recommend all those, but also try christopherwest.com or look up Christopher West on youtube. Everything these people say is straight from John Paull II. You’ll see that its not a set of lifeless rules telling you to repress your desires, but a way to truly live out your sexualty.
G
GeorgeSword
Guest
It says that it makes the man unclean. Unclean does not = okay. Besides, it is still possible to accidentally has an emission as well.Then why does Leviticus 15 make the following distinction:
16 “If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. 17 And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.
Clearly there is a distinction between having an emission of semen while lying with a woman and while not. What condition would there be in verse 16 for a man to have an emission of semen while not lying with a woman? Seems like masturbation. Leviticus does not speak against this practice but gives instructions on what the man shall do afterward.
C
Contarini
Guest
Because the sexual desire is given us to unite us with another person (preferably a person of the opposite sex to whom one is bound in a covenant relationship). Masturbation is, in one particular respect, the ultimate perversion of sex (the same angle from which homosexuality is a perversion also, although a less serious one–I say “in one respect” because obviously forms of sexual behavior that hurt other people are on a whole different level of evil).could someone explain to me why Masturbation is looked down upon and forbidden by the Catholic Church?
Edwin
J
jrgiancola
Guest
I could not disagree more with the opinion that masturbation is immoral or a sin. This teaching is NOT an ex cathedra dogma of the RCC and therefore is not infallible. The human body needs this physical release from time to time to maintain its health and wellness. I was married for 35 years to the greatest woman in the world; the Lord chose to take her to Him. I have no desire for any other woman and do not want another wife; nor do I want casual sex. Therefore I do masturbate when I feel the need and feel no guilt or shame for this. I also do not feel the need to be chaste to prove my love for God. God will judge me on what Jesus taught: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison, comfort the sick. I do not believe he cares in the least that I allow myself a little bit of sexual pleasure when I need this. I agree that no one should become a slave to anything or anyone; but masturbation is very normal, for male and female, and few if any become compulsive slaves to it. Let’s face it, sex with another person is much more enjoyable. I read the posting and replies to that 17 year old boy, something-jack I forget his screen name; I was and am outraged. Suggesting that a boy that age seek aversion therapy, intentionally inflict damage or harm or pain on his body to avoid masturbation. Why not tell him to flog himself with a whip or wear a hare shirt or eat dirt? Nobody here can convince me that Jesus would tell that boy to purposely inflict pain or harm onto his body just so he doesn’t masturbate. That’s so medieval and I thought Catholics had gotten past the inquisition theology.
M
Mirror_Mirror
Guest
First off, I am sorry for the loss of your wife. I pray that God will give you the strength to bear this cross during your life. I cannot begin to imagine life without my wife and I hope that you are able to find strength and comfort in Jesus.I could not disagree more with the opinion that masturbation is immoral or a sin. This teaching is NOT an ex cathedra dogma of the RCC and therefore is not infallible. The human body needs this physical release from time to time to maintain its health and wellness. I was married for 35 years to the greatest woman in the world; the Lord chose to take her to Him. I have no desire for any other woman and do not want another wife; nor do I want casual sex. Therefore I do masturbate when I feel the need and feel no guilt or shame for this. I also do not feel the need to be chaste to prove my love for God. God will judge me on what Jesus taught: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison, comfort the sick. I do not believe he cares in the least that I allow myself a little bit of sexual pleasure when I need this. I agree that no one should become a slave to anything or anyone; but masturbation is very normal, for male and female, and few if any become compulsive slaves to it. Let’s face it, sex with another person is much more enjoyable. I read the posting and replies to that 17 year old boy, something-jack I forget his screen name; I was and am outraged. Suggesting that a boy that age seek aversion therapy, intentionally inflict damage or harm or pain on his body to avoid masturbation. Why not tell him to flog himself with a whip or wear a hare shirt or eat dirt? Nobody here can convince me that Jesus would tell that boy to purposely inflict pain or harm onto his body just so he doesn’t masturbate. That’s so medieval and I thought Catholics had gotten past the inquisition theology.
Onto the topic at hand which is masturbation. Please refer to the following teachings from the Catholic church on this matter:
**2352 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.”
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.**
(bold mine)
As I mentioned above:
Mirror Mirror:
To simplify this, masturbation is a selfish act that turns you inward, towards self, sex is an unselfish act that turns you outward, towards your husband or wife. God gave us the gift of sex for uniting a husband and wife in a renewal of their wedding vows, expressing their love to each other, giving of themselves freely, faithfully, totally and fruitfully. “Fruitfully” means the act is procreative, that is open to new life. Masturbation is not an act that is open to life.
D
danfinocchio
Guest
jrgiancola:
First, I am sorry for the loss of your wife but I believe you are misled on this masturbation issue.
It is NOT a repressive practice. Its a freeing practice because you’re free from obeying every sexual inclination. Sexual (not lustful) desire is GOOD but masturbation is not the way to live it out. I don’t think anyone should seek therapy at 17. There is a healthy way to live this out and it has nothing to do with repression I promise.
If you do not think you need to be chaste, check out Rev 21:8: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the UNCHASTE, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
“Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
John Paul II said we should look at that quote not as a repressive barrier but instead in its ability to set us free because God does not call us to something impossible. In his Theology of the Body, John Paul II clearly takes a stance against masturbation. I strongly recommend taking up a study of this.
First, I am sorry for the loss of your wife but I believe you are misled on this masturbation issue.
It is NOT a repressive practice. Its a freeing practice because you’re free from obeying every sexual inclination. Sexual (not lustful) desire is GOOD but masturbation is not the way to live it out. I don’t think anyone should seek therapy at 17. There is a healthy way to live this out and it has nothing to do with repression I promise.
If you do not think you need to be chaste, check out Rev 21:8: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the UNCHASTE, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
“Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
John Paul II said we should look at that quote not as a repressive barrier but instead in its ability to set us free because God does not call us to something impossible. In his Theology of the Body, John Paul II clearly takes a stance against masturbation. I strongly recommend taking up a study of this.
O
OraLabora
Guest
The gentleman was married for 35 years, does not fornicate or commit adultery, doesn’t use porn, and is otherwise living a moral life.jrgiancola:
First, I am sorry for the loss of your wife but I believe you are misled on this masturbation issue.
It is NOT a repressive practice. Its a freeing practice because you’re free from obeying every sexual inclination. Sexual (not lustful) desire is GOOD but masturbation is not the way to live it out. I don’t think anyone should seek therapy at 17. There is a healthy way to live this out and it has nothing to do with repression I promise.
If you do not think you need to be chaste, check out Rev 21:8: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the UNCHASTE, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
“Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
John Paul II said we should look at that quote not as a repressive barrier but instead in its ability to set us free because God does not call us to something impossible. In his Theology of the Body, John Paul II clearly takes a stance against masturbation. I strongly recommend taking up a study of this.
That he feel the need for sexual release once a while is completely understandable. Is it against Church teaching? Yes.
Is it unreasonable to ask him to suddenly stop having physical relief after 35 years of marriage? Yes.
He should certainly try with the help of his confessor, but it won’t happen just because someone on an Internet forum says he must stop now.
D
davidv
Guest
How can you say yes to the second question? Why would you encourage someone to sin?The gentleman was married for 35 years, does not fornicate or commit adultery, doesn’t use porn, and is otherwise living a moral life.
That he feel the need for sexual release once a while is completely understandable. Is it against Church teaching? Yes.
Is it unreasonable to ask him to suddenly stop having physical relief after 35 years of marriage? Yes.
He should certainly try with the help of his confessor, but it won’t happen just because someone on an Internet forum says he must stop now.
O
OraLabora
Guest
Where did I encourage him to sin? I said it would be very hard not to in the circumstances and expecting him to stop cold turkey was an unreasonable expectation. In fact many of us take years to overcome this if at all.How can you say yes to the second question? Why would you encourage someone to sin?
Did you miss my last sentence? I’ll repeat it just in case you did:
“He should certainly try with the help of his confessor, but it won’t happen just because someone on an Internet forum says he must stop now.”
There’s nothing sinful about showing compassion for the gentleman’s situation.
J
jrgiancola
Guest
Thank you for your compassion. We sometimes forget that God’s greatest attribute is His mercy (Dives in Miserecordia, John-Paul II). I’m sure that Saint John, using the term “unchaste” in Revelation, was not referring to being totally abstinent but, rather, was referring to fornication. I lust after my wife constantly; since she was my wife, it can’t be adultery in any way shape or form.
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