Question?

[Gideon4God]

Masturbation is it a sin in the Catholic Church?

 

[marciadietrich]

Yes, it is a sin according to Catholic teaching.  Until recently I thought it was a sin according to all of Christian teaching as well.   

This from the Catechism:

 

Offenses against chastity

2351 Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.

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."138 "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."139

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.

So yes, it is a sin, but there is consideration as to whether it is mortal or not for the person, and on how to counsel a person on this subject.

Marcia

 

[kern]

I thought this was going to be about Mass also -- what were you trying to do with that title?

-Chris

 

[Wolseley]

The thread has been renamed and posts/quotes edited to remove offensive content.
---Wolseley.

 

[chelcb]

Originally posted by Wolseley
The thread has been renamed and posts/quotes edited to remove offensive content.
---Wolseley.

 

That is really sad that the title needed to be changed and the contents removed, what are some people thinking when the post such things?

For the original poster in this thread:

Why wouldn't it be? Why would anyone think it was okay?

 

[jukesk9]

Originally posted by marciadietrich
Yes, it is a sin according to Catholic teaching.  Until recently I thought it was a sin according to all of Christian teaching as well.    

Curious, what denominations say it's okay?

 

[Wolseley]

I don't think there are any denominations that actively encourage it, although I have read some books by mainline Protestants who see it as a sort of inevitable pressure-release mechanism. I recall one author who said it should only be considered a problem if you spend more time masturbating than you do praising God, or if you allow it to develop into a compulsive habit. Obviously they didn't seem to consider it to be a serious sin, just a weakness at worst, a normal response to sexual appetite at best.

 

[jukesk9]

Thanks Wols.

 

[Hoonbaba]

Originally posted by marciadietrich
Yes, it is a sin according to Catholic teaching.  Until recently I thought it was a sin according to all of Christian teaching as well.   

This from the Catechism:

 

So yes, it is a sin, but there is consideration as to whether it is mortal or not for the person, and on how to counsel a person on this subject.

Marcia

Hi Marcia,

Thanks for quoting the Catechism on that.  I had no idea the Catholic Church actually addressed it in such detail!!

I think I'll go get myself a Catechism soon

God bless!

-Jason

 

[Gideon4God]

Thank you for you honest answers and I apologize if I offended anyone with my original post. I was going for witty not rude but I guess I put my foot in my mouth as usually. Sorry.

 

[chelcb]

Originally posted by Wolseley
I don't think there are any denominations that actively encourage it, although I have read some books by mainline Protestants who see it as a sort of inevitable pressure-release mechanism. I recall one author who said it should only be considered a problem if you spend more time masturbating than you do praising God, or if you allow it to develop into a compulsive habit. Obviously they didn't seem to consider it to be a serious sin, just a weakness at worst, a normal response to sexual appetite at best.

 

That is a dangerous postion to have. The thing is, it's disordered to not be able to control ones passions.  

 

[kern]

For some, perhaps masturbation "satisfies" a sexual urge that might otherwise manifest itself in premarital sex, which is much more dangerous than masturbation. Masturbation does not carry a risk of STDs or pregnancy, cannot result in any abuse of power (like rape or date rape or coerced sex), etc.

-Chris

 

[chelcb]

Originally posted by kern
For some, perhaps masturbation "satisfies" a sexual urge that might otherwise manifest itself in premarital sex, which is much more dangerous than masturbation. Masturbation does not carry a risk of STDs or pregnancy, cannot result in any abuse of power (like rape or date rape or coerced sex), etc.

-Chris

 

Kern,

 

Or the opposite could happen and one becomes only focused on their pleasure and then the steaks keep rising to seek that out and then we have a real mess.

 

[chelcb]

Ps. A mortal sin is a mortal sin which they all merit hell so we should not have the attitute that one should be or could be choosen over the other.

I'm not thinking that you feel this way, I am only pointing out yet another demension of sin.

 

[Hoonbaba]

Originally posted by kern
For some, perhaps masturbation "satisfies" a sexual urge that might otherwise manifest itself in premarital sex, which is much more dangerous than masturbation. Masturbation does not carry a risk of STDs or pregnancy, cannot result in any abuse of power (like rape or date rape or coerced sex), etc.

-Chris

I think it's important to mention this verse:

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. " (Matt 5:28)

How is this relevant you ask?

Because the sin was committed in his heart, whether he physically committed adultery or not.  I think the same principle can apply when it comes to masturbation.  Sure, there aren't any STDs or whatnot, but the sin was still committed.

Just a thought...

-Jason

 

[Malachi383]

You are saying settling for masturbation so that way they wont have premarital sex? If they cant control their sexual desires, then they shouldnt get married! For if they truly knew what sex was, they would want to wait. And it also wouldnt be about them and their desires, and hence, wouldnt need to touch.

Also, since when do we simply downgrade to a 'lesser' evil when confronted with another sin? Also, there is a perfectly good and God-ordained option available - CHASTITY UNTIL MARRIAGE!

And that brings up another topic - is it a lesser evil? Masturbation often involves lust, which is adultery in the heart according to Matthew 5. So either way it is adultery. So take the 3rd! 3rd option that is....

 

[chelcb]

Not to mention that is is closed off to life.

 

[Hoonbaba]

Originally posted by Malachi383
Also, since when do we simply downgrade to a 'lesser' evil when confronted with another sin? Also, there is a perfectly good and God-ordained option available - CHASTITY UNTIL MARRIAGE!

Uhm...I thought chastity is encouraged after marriage too =) Then again, maybe we have 2 different definitions of chastity.

-Jason