Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

Hello everyone,

You know what it is, 95% of men and 50%-ish of women in modern society supposidly do this atleast once a week.

(supposed) Cons:

• <male> needs to produce more, draining the body of resources[/li]
• It's addictive and no addiction is good.
• You become more dependant on pleasure?
• <ethics>Makes one more self-centered?
• sin against spouse or husband?
• what Jesus said, if you look at a women as to have a passion with her you have already committed adultry in your heart. (if Jesus say that is sin it probably is bad somehow)
  

(supposed) Pros

• Relieves stress? (or is it rather that the stress causing crave just goes away after)
• (Pro?) pleasure
  

I don't imagine Jesus did it.

Galatians 5:24: And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
1 Thes 4:5: Don't be a slave of your desires or live like people who don't know God.

lets not make this a confession thread.
Will not mentioning it make it go away?
Too touchy of a subject?

There are a couple of words in Koine Greek that mean masturbate.

e.g. Malakhizo.
They do not occur in the Bible

I think that is a Freudian Slip?

Brant

Masturbation is a subject that I think Christians make too much of . Personaly I dont feel the bible condems it however it would condem being being a slave of it in the same way as eating to much or drinking to much .

Some research has shown that the risk of getting testicular cancer is reduced because of masturbation.

Because masturbation if it is a sin is a very very common one we should look also at this scripture .

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

If it is a sin in its own right then it is a sin common to men. As such making people feel guilty over this to the extent that religion can do might be a sin in itself because as the above scripture points out that such a common sin would not be included in the type of temptation that Jehovah would protect against .

However the question remains is it a sin ?

Well as Vicky has pointed out the Greek lauguage around the time the new testament was written did have a word for masturbation but this word is not contained in the bible and as the bible does not condemn it in black and white which is strange in itself considering how common it is I would not be overly concerned about it .

Does this practice make one selfish ? How would one go about proving this to be the case?

I think this may be a big non issue in the grand sceme of things .

1 Corinthians 7:8...

"Now I say to the unmarried persons and the widows, it is well for them that they remain even as I am. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to be inflamed [with passion]."

What kind of "self-control" might the scripture be referring to?

Friendly advice from God's Word.

.02,

gogh

One would think that, assuming that it always has been a common practice, that it would have been mentioned somewhere, like in Leviticus maybe? :read:

Back in the 70's, there was an article in Awake about prostate health.
The article stated that for good health, a married man should have sex (orgasm) :redface:, 3 times a week. :cheer: Of course, all us Bros loved that! :thumbsup: But,,,,it was removed from the bound volumes, and it is no where to be found on the CD. :angry: Does anyone remember that and have a copy? I don't remember the date. :confused:

The elder manual refers to it as "uncleanness" :whistle: :siskiss:

Who am I to judge, but if masturbation excludes one from the kingdom, the narrow road has become a tightrope.

Well...for some people...it's either that or spontaneously combust.

Now...the watchtower has written volumes on earth-shaking spiritual topics such as personal hygiene, sexual positions and practices and, not to be left out, masturbation. I served with an elder who was affectionately know as "the masturbation elder." For this brother, all personal problems had one thing in common: masturbation....and all problems could be solved by solving the great masturbation conundrum.

;)

Its interesting that scripture Gogh .

What might be the "self control" mentioned there in 1 Corinthians 7:8 .

Well it could be men or woman flirting to much or it might be along the lines of woman gossiping as is mentioned in 1 Tim 5:13 .

However if the implication of the mentioned sef control was referring to masurbation then this might only be refering to it if its taking over the persons life but again the koine Greek word that existed for masturbation is not used in the bible at all so it is far from clear that this is the implication of 1 Corinthians 7:8 .

Of course marriage for gay people back then as a way out from masturbation would not have been an option so what could they do. Explode I guess .

Ummmm....I have no idea.

But love that you all do.

Lynn

Well...chapter 7 begins:

1 Now concerning the things about which YOU wrote, it is well for a man not to touch a woman; 2 yet, because of prevalence of fornication, let each man have his own wife and each woman have her own husband. (NWT)

It would appear that the counsel is primarily directed to man/woman misbehavior in Corinth...but it could also include masturbation. In other words, better to marry than to mess around. Not sure it's the course of wisdom to marry someone just to avoid masturbation, however.

The Message Bible records 1 Cor 7 as follows:

1 Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? 2-6Certainly—but only within a certain context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder.

Not specific enough for another "rule."

gus

Does this really need to be discussed?

Does this really need to be discussed?

I don't know. What needs to be discussed at all?

I don't have a problem with it.

It might just be me; but I don't see spirituality as something separate from day-to-day life and living. It's the tremendous load of guilt that people carry that acts as the biggest obstacle to true Christian freedom.

I'm getting used to people feeling "uncomfortable" with certain subjects. Not respectfully discussing them hasn't seemed to help matters much though. I suppose if I wanted to pretend that real life isn't real, I could go back to the kingdom hall and stick my head back in the sand.

gus

My daughter had this as one of her signatures:-
"A freudian slip is when you mean to think of one thing but then think of your mother".

:rofl:........Any human behavior is fodder for discussion, if its done in good taste. I think this subject is important, because so much guilt has been attached to it, that it affects many peoples lives. I hope we have moved out of the Victorian age. A sensitive person tho, can choose to not read. Many a young person's self esteem :crybaby:has been shattered by well meaning Puritanicals.:confused: