Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, is publishing a book online about pornography and masturbation. Each week a new chapter is added, which you can read online and/or download a PDF. The first five chapters are already available at Porn Again Christian, where you can also read a table of contents that lists the dates of upcoming chapters.
There is a whole line of thought that would seem to teach us that an action is sin if it hurts another person. Obviously stealing, lieing and murder are sins because of the offense to another person. One might argue that viewing pornography is not sin becuase it’s done in private. The same with masturbation. No one is hurt, right? Here’s a couple of scriptures to put those notions to the test: Go to Exodus 20 and read the 10th commandment. “Thou shalt not covet” forbids a private sin that takes place in the mind. You don’t have to “do” anything to covet, or desire, what is not yours. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), what does Jesus say about adultery? If a man looks at a woman and lusts for her, he has committed adultery already in his heart. Sin is not just in action. Our thoughts can be sinful, and make us just as guilty as our deeds.
Masturbation is a sin. Adam Turner (you can follow his link in the comment thread below) insists that not only is it not a sin, but is rather a God-given blessing. According to Adam, pleasuring one’s self is what God meant for us to do, in order to relieve sexual tension and make life easier for us. Read about the lives of Jesus and Paul; it is obvious that God’s main objective was for life to be easy. Pornography and masturbation have ruined many marriages, despite Adam’s argument that it saved his. The concept of “solo sex” is a perversion of the healthy relationship God meant for us to have, and Adam’s website if false teaching. Any time one individual has been given “special insight” by God that goes against every established teaching of the church, that should be a red flag something is not right.
The Master's Table 
I think that Mark Driscoll’s idea that solo sex is a form of homosexuality is simply silly. When I masturbate I am not lusting after another man, I am merely enjoying my body’s God given potential for pleasure.
Thank God there are healthier, more balanced viewpoints concerning masturbation than the one Mark Driscoll shares.
If there is anything the Bible is specific about it is sexual sin. It leaves no srone unturned. But, it does not forbid solo sex.
It is almost like some authors have concluded that God left something out when He did not condemn masturbation, and they need to help Him complete His list of sexual sins.
I just came across another free, downloadable book on sexual sins and men: http://www.13waystoruinyourlife.com/
Haven’t read it bc I’m not a man, but thought it could be useful for someone.
Adam Turner is right about the Bible leaving “no stone unturned.” If masturbation were a sin, the Bible would have told us so. Like the story in the Old Testament when God struck a man dead because he “spilled his seed” on the ground. God left nothing out.
Okay, let’s say Driscoll is wrong and it’s not homosexual for you to masturbate. What are thinking about when you masturbate? Are you imagining beautiful women doing sexy things, or even looking at pornography? That’s not homosexual, but it is sin according to Exodus 20 and Matthew chp. 5.
Good Lord, my blog just went PG-13.
Dear Clark,
Thanks for your honest response to my comments, and for having taken the time to look at my site.
May I suggest that you also look at the Links section and see what some others have said. The arguements for and against solo sex are both strong, and passionate. But, as I am sure you already know, I am not the only Christian in the “pro” camp. There are other Bible believing Christians who think like I do.
And, I do not profess to be right in all of my thoughts and conclusions. Nor do I think I have “special insight.” Sometimes I just like to think “outside the box.”
I hesitate to say this since I’m in agreement with Clark on the general topic and not with Adam.
But, the specific reference that Clark made to the man in the Old Testament that God struck dead for “spilling his seed” has nothing to do with masturbation. The reference is to Onan in Genesis 38. He was Judah’s 2nd son. His first son Er had married Tamar but was struck dead by the Lord for doing evil (we aren’t told what the evil was in his case). Judah then tells Onan to have sex with Tamar to raise up offspring for Er (this was the custom in the ancient world – and is commanded in Deuteronomy 28:5). Onan didn’t want to do this because he knew the offspring would not be his (legally, of course they would be genetically). So when he would have sex with Tamar he would spill his semen on the ground so that she would not conceive a child. This was his duty by custom, and later by biblical mandate. Masturbation wasn’t what he did that was evil (he didn’t do it anyway) but refusing to produce offspring for his brother is what was evil.
By the way, your blog may be PG-13 but Genesis 38 would probably get an R rating, especially when you get to the part about Judah having sex with a prostitute who turns out to be his daughter in law.
Lonely Pilgrim is correct about the OT reference, and I knew I was fudging a little to site it. Onan “spilled his seed on the ground” instead of producing offspring for his brother. My Bible professor in college used this passage to speak against the pull-out method of birth control. In the most conservative sence however, if you think about it, the sperm Onan spilled represented the potential to create life. Life is a gift from God. Perhaps wasting it was the evil he did. So whether by “pulling out” early during sex, or by masturbating alone, you seed is wasted. Whether you can buy into this logic or not, I still insist pleasuring one’s self is a perversion to God’s plan that a man be pleasured sexually by his wife.
Sorry Brian; I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids and your dog.
Clark,
In my opinion, the idea of imaginary crimes – those which do no harm to people or animals, but which are forbidden anyway, is a pernicious one with no place in modern ethics.
However, you’re right that the Bible is replete with examples of “Thou shalt not…” rules with no bearing on human reality. Anyone know what the punishment for gathering sticks on a Sunday is? Anyone of you wear mixed fabrics? The shear quantity of trivial misdemeanours mentioned in the Bible boggles the mind. Women who sew pillows – woe to them, apparently. Most of these have about as much clarity and sense as Clark’s justification against masturbation above.
So which ones do we take as God’s will and which are no more than historical oddities or stories with no direct moral lesson? It seems “The Church” cannot agree on many of these verses, which underlines the ambiguity further. Why is the Bible so unclear?
Thought crimes are something we might expect in despotic regimes, not enlightened modern democracies.
I gotta say here, “thoughts” are a matter of the heart. Jesus told us that if you hate someone that is the same as murder. That’s because thoughts often lead to actions. A person who murders most certainly hates the one he/she has killed in some sense. That said, I think to say that “Thought crimes are something we might expect in despotic regimes, not enlightened modern democracies” is to mix the lines between church and state. Jesus clearly calls us to examine the thoughts and intents of our hearts. The state cannot do that. The state can only force adherence to societal laws. Jesus holds us to higher laws than the state. That said, how Jesus’ commandment bears on this whole issue at large is a matter of debate.
Not sure I agree with this statement, “Any time one individual has been given “special insight” by God that goes against every established teaching of the church, that should be a red flag something is not right.” If this is true, than the Reformation was wrong…just a thought. But, I do get your point. There is something to be said about a “majority” report. It’s just not an end-all, be-all.
Eshu – Oh gosh, where to start. We’re not talking about the thought police here, circa Big Brother or the old Soviet Union. We’re talking about keeping your thoughts pure because God sees past everything we do right into the heart. God knows the intent of our hearts, the Bible says even better than we know ourselves. I’m not trying to please a government, but to please God with pure thoughts and actions.
Secondly, all of the mixed fabric, gathering sticks, avoid pork, don’t cut your beard stuff is about separating Israel from the other nations. He called them out to be different. All of thier food laws, clothing, hairstyle and Sabbath commandments apply to no one but the Hebrews of the Old Testament. Paul explains that we are no longer under the law but under grace. You want a tatoo? Help yourself. God is looking at your heart, not your arm. And the only thing that really matters if whether it has been washed by the blood of the Lamb.
Prodigal Jen – just ignore Eshu. He comes on here from time to time to harass me, he’s not a believer. He knows just enough Bible to confuse people. “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” I think you’re comments are right on the money.
Jesus said the only two commandments we must live by are to love God with all your heart, mind and strength, and secondly to love your neighbor as yourself. You cannot keep these 2 commands and break any one of the ten commandments. (And filling a mind with porn isn’t loving God with all one’s mind, it’s training the mind to lust after carnal desire. We often swap genuine love and affection for temporary physical pleasure.)
prodigaljen,
Thanks for your responses.
“Jesus told us that if you hate someone that is the same as murder. That’s because thoughts often lead to actions. “
But it isn’t the same because – and I think this is important – no one got hurt. It might be worrying to know that someone is having murderous thoughts, but I’m glad if such a person restrains themselves from action. The same for any crime. Perhaps they would get help or realise the harm their thoughts would do if put into action and try to resolve their feelings more constructively. In which case I wouldn’t like to see them punished, whether by humans or God.
That wasn’t the only thing Jesus said about hate. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can’t be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26
So I guess all his disciples were (in the eyes of the Lord), murderers?
“That said, I think to say that “Thought crimes are something we might expect in despotic regimes, not enlightened modern democracies” is to mix the lines between church and state.”
That’s good to hear. So I take it that you wouldn’t be looking to the Bible if you were elected and in a position to make or vote on laws?
Clark,
My apologies for making you feel harassed – that’s not my intention. Nor do I intend to confuse anyone, maybe just un-confuse myself.
“Paul explains that we are no longer under the law but under grace.”
Then surely it would be better to leave out those laws altogether? Does Paul even specify exactly which verses don’t apply any more? Maybe a note at the start of Deuteronomy indicating that this has been superseded and is only included for historical interest or similar?
I think my point still stands, the church (or rather – the many churches) don’t offer a clear interpretation of the Bible. They’ve had a couple of thousand years to work it out and if anything rifts and schisms in Christianity are widening. I think it’s understandable, because there’s no way to objectively decide who’s right and who’s wrong. As an example, the verse allegedly on masturbation is far from clear. Adam reads it and feels God is telling him it hurts no one and it is not a problem. You read it and know in your heart that God thinks masturbation is wrong. So how can we work out who is right? Can we ask God to give us a definitive answer? Can we do some experiment to see who gets smited?
“Then surely it would be better to leave out those laws altogether?” Paul says that the law is a tutor to him, or perhaps a schoolmaster. Not the separation laws (eat kosher, don’t cut the beard), but the laws regarding how to live, to treat one another, restitution, and honoring God. God gave Moses the Law, and knew that the Hebrews would fail to keep them. Our failure to keep the Law, to ever do good enough on our own to please God, shows us that we need a savior. We cannot be good enough, and need someone to do it for us. The Law has not been abolished; it has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Reading the Old Testament teaches us about God, and what it takes to please him. It takes perfection, and you and I don’t have it. But by the grace of Jesus and his work on the cross, we can take credit for his perfection.
Once again, Jesus said these are the commandments you must keep: to love God with all you heart, mind and strength, and then love your neighbor as yourself. We don’t need a long list. Jesus said if we love him we will keep his commandments. Jesus was the perfect example of submitting to God’s will, and we are instructed to be imitators of Christ. You don’t need to go through Leviticus crossing off laws like a line item veto. It is all fulfilled in Christ.
And that my friend is the gospel.
Adam and I disagree on whether or not one particular action is sin. If Adam is a born-again believer, and I suspect that he is, his sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ the same as mine. I never said that I didn’t masturbate, by the way. I believe it is a sin, and ask forgiveness when it happens. Each one of us fails daily to live perfectly without sin. You, me, your church pastor, the Pope (sorry Catholics). Yet when God looks at the heart of a Christian believer, he sees the blood of Jesus. In heaven, Adam and I will kneel side by side and worship the Lord, and at that time will fully agree on everything. If you’re there, we will as well.
Dear Clark,
Thanks for your kind words, and for the positive tone you regularly use in your blog.
Yes, I very much am a Born Again believer. Not without failures and flaws, but like you doing my best to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my being, and trusting in His Blood to cover those areas where I fail, or where I am mistaken.
Not only will we together fall on our faces before Him in Eternity, I also think that even when we worship in the here and now, in the realm of the Holy Spirit we stand together before His Throne.