FYI, this is not in the Bible. The Bible does not condemn masturbation, or mention it at all.
One can’t choose not to be hungry but you can choose whether to eat a bowl of soup or fifteen Big Macs. Also in a diet you can choose to skip junk food although you may naturally crave it-same concept here.
Jesus said it is preferable to even cut off your right hand rather than have it cause sin. Hmm what is generally considered sinful that you cand do with your right hand. :dubious:
I don’t know about you guys, but I tend to scan down the responses in a multi-response post, and skip the quote boxes, so it reads like a single answer from the OP. That is, unless I can’t figure out what the response by itself. This can sometimes be amusing, especially when the topic shifts suddenly:
This is how you know God is on your side.
(N.B. not giving you a hard time Curtis, just laughing at how it came across when I read it.)
Don’t you need your right hand to work the mouse? :dubious:
Seriously, I’d like to see an actual anti-masturbation citation.
Less seriously, after which, I’d like to see a mashup with the Song of Songs, preferably as a rap, or else as a Hank Williams style country tune.
No rush.
The Bible says that people who work on Sunday should be killed:
Curtis LeMay, have you been doing your Christian duties under Exodus 35:2?
If not, why not?
If your answer is that some parts of the Bible need to be modernized (i.e., isn’t it nice to have hospitals staffed on Sundays?), then can you really object when some people say that other parts of the Bible need to be modernized too, such as the bits about homosexuality?
You really think that’s what Jesus was talking about?
The Bible does not say that masturbation is a sin. The Bible does not say anything about masturbation at all.
Are you an A.I.?
If not, do you know any A.I.s? (And if yes, can I get their e-mail?)
WooHoo!!! I do it lefty!!!
Later guys…
It’s been a while since I read it, but isn’t there something about not spilling your seed on the ground? I always thought that meant masturbation.
Me too, but WIKI
That’s the story of Onan (Genesis 38:8-10) in which God kills a dude named Er for being “wicked” (exactly how is not specified). God then orders Er’s brother, Onan, to go sleep with Er’s wife and knock her up to give Er an heir. Onan pulls out porno style, “spilling his seed” on the ground because he does not want to sire any children he cannot legally call his own (any child conceived with his brother’s widow would be the legal child of his brother). God then kills Onan for disobeying him.
Onan’s offense was in not impregnating his brother’s widow, as ordered by God, but this passage has been oft interpreted as an admonition agains any kind of non-procreative sex. That’s not in the text, but it’s fairly commonly taken that way, and “Onanism” is sometimes used as a euphemism for masturbation.
Ah, got it now. Thanks for the clarification.
But if you’re gonna obey Genesis, you’ve got to obey the OT, which includes Leviticus, so…good luck, and don’t eat any rock badgers.
Hi Curtis,
How do you determine which portions of the Bible to obey or take as literal interpretations and which portions to ignore as “not word of God”?
You know, Curtis, I don’t think we’ve really interacted before, but I’ve always enjoyed reading your perspective because you’re coming from somewhere most of us are already past. It’s always neat, to me, to see people develop into adults and watch them form their opinions of the world. I absolutely mean this sincerely.
One thing you might want to consider in your responses in this thread is that your rather pat, one-line responses to complex and nuanced questions actually undermine your credibility in everything you claim to be in the OP. You’ve declared your stance and your worth in that stance, but have done nothing substantive to back up that declaration.
You’ve given some in-depth responses in Great Debates, for example. If you’re not prepared to give the same depth in this thread, it would be better for you to disengage from it.
Generally considered sinful by whom? I think you’re mixing up what you think the Bible says and what some misguided religious leader might say. Really, many, if not most, adults stopped telling that to kids years ago when it became obvious that not only wasn’t it true, but that it was normal and healthy, and something that most, if not all, adults do.I will bet you that any adult who says it’s sinful is probably doing it the most, while feeling shameful because somebody ignorantly taught them as children that it was a sin. (People used to think that if something was too pleasurable, then it must be a sin.) If your back itches, do you scratch it? It’s pretty much the same type of thing.
I think that you have far too good a brain not to question things more. “Faith” is often another word for “belief in something that your brain tells you is not so.” You must trust your brainpower and logic more than you trust your adherence to faith. This board should be teaching you that feelings and faith on topics are not the same as well-researched and tested results.
Q. Do you not agree that children can be taught to believe in things that aren’t true?
Q. How shall they discover for themselves what is true and what isn’t?
Q. If the Bible said that 2+2=5, would you have faith that it’s true? Or would you use your own brain to reason out the correct answer?
Curtis:
If you could choose one, or two, or three historical figures to sit around and have a chat with, who would you choose? And what would you want to talk about?
What Jesus said is pretty logical through inference but…
Corinthians I 7:9
That’s part of Mosaic Law along with kosher dietary rules which no longer apply to Christians.
Mosaic Law for instance.
- Yes.
- What do you mean? Please elaborate.
- God would not lie to us like that-there is no direct factual error in the Bible if one recognizes certain passages are symbolical.
HP Lovecraft, Abraham Lincoln, and a great theologian-maybe Jonathon Edwards and I’d like to talk about History, politics, and theology.
Why does this thread contain so many unanswered questions?
Hey, same with the Koran and the Jataka and the Bhagavad Gita. Excellent, well done.