Masturbation.

The only reference to masturbation in the Bible is the story of Onan in Genesis 38.

Onan was said to have "spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went into his brother's wife."  Genesis 38:9 (NRSV)

But this is not the reason why Onan was said to have displeased God.

What displeased God was the fact that by doing so he was failing to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law " [Genesis 38:8 (NRSV)] to Tamar whose husband had died.

It was the custom of the time that a man would marry his brother's widow if the brother died and sire children in his brother's name.

So there is no objection to masturbation in the Bible.

This is a good thing because all men masturbate.
And anyone who says he doesn't is a liar.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

Photo Credit: Michael Taggart Photography Flickr via Compfight cc