Where in the bible is this located?

Question

Where in the bible does it say that masturbation is a sin. And where does it say That eing Biseual or gay is a sin. Where in the book does it say that these things are wrong? What book chapter, and verse?

Answer 1

Masturbation is not specifically mentioned in the Bible. This idea comes from the story of Onan in the Book of Genesis: In the story, Onan is the son of Judah and the brother of Er. When Er died Onan was required to marry Er's wife Tamar. In Genesis 38: 7-10, Onan refused to impregnate Tamar because the child would be considered Er's and not Onan's so Onan instead "spilt his seed upon the ground" and was slain for his transgression.

Onan's sin in this story is shirking his duty and dishonoring the memory of his brother. However, this story is sometimes misunderstood to be a general condemnation of "spilling one's seed" (ejaculating) which was at one time considered a sin largely because it was once erroneously believed that the sperm contained an entire miniature human being so that spilling one's seed was seen as murder. We now know that both sperm and egg cells are required create an embryo.

Many Christians often point to Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 as a proof that homosexuality is a sin. The first reads: "You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination".

While the second adds: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them." Both of these must be taken in the context of times in which they were written. As I mentioned before the sperm was considered an entire tiny human being so spilling it in any way was consider equivalent to murder. Also at this time the Israelites were a tiny nation surrounded by enemies determined to destroy them so they needed to build up their population. Also in ancient times being the "receiving" partner in an homosexual act was often considered degrading and an insult to male dignity -- "being treated like a woman" so to speak.

Christians also often cite Romans 1: 26 -27 in which the Apostle Paul seemingly condemns homosexual acts. However his condemnation seems to be of hetrosexuals behaving like homosexuals. And other similar passages by Paul may actually be condemning rape, homosexual prostitution, or the ancient practice of using sex as religious rite or sacrament. Regardless it is not really fair to judge people of today by standards of 2000 - 4000 years ago.