"Masturbation is sex with self. Sex with self is sex with someone other than your husband or wife to whom you are legally and lawfully married.Therefore, masturbation is a violation of temple covenants."
- LDS author Andrew Pippanne, creator of the website rowboatandmarbles.org
According to the LDS church, one cannot masturbate and still enter the temple worthily. Just because an unlearned bishop, ward member, friend, sex therapist etc. doesn't specifically "ask" it in a temple interview, gives permission, or says it's natural and OK, etc., it doesn't mean the LDS church says it's ok. Before we go into everything the LDS church says about masturbation, lets first break down what "Being Worthy" actually means, according to the LDS church.
MASTURBATION
1. To stimulate yourself sexually. In other words, to have sex by yourself, with yourself.2. Get sexual gratification through self-stimulation
3. Excitation of one's own or another's genital organs, usually to orgasm, by manual contact or means other than sexual intercourse."
4. Erotic stimulation especially of one's own genital organs commonly resulting in orgasm and achieved by manual or other bodily contact exclusive of sexual intercourse, by instrumental manipulation, occasionally by sexual fantasies, or by various combinations of these agencies.
(***Note sexually stimulating oneself with, or without orgasm, is still masturbation.)
The LDS church states:
" Those who enter the temple must be worthy, which means that they keep the commandments and are prepared to make and keep sacred temple covenants."
"You do not have to be perfect to enter the temple—the temple is there to help us become perfect. The Church member who is living the basic laws such as **chastity**, tithing, and the Word of Wisdom, and who answers the interview questions honestly, should feel worthy to enter the house of the Lord."
- Quorum of the 70, President Carlos E Asay https://www.lds.org/new-era/1997/03/the-temple-the-place-for-you?lang=eng
WORTHY, WORTHINESS
To be personally righteous and to stand approved in the sight of God and his appointed leaders. - LDS. org
CHASTITY
Chastity is sexual purity. Those who are chaste are morally clean in their thoughts, words, and actions. Chastity means not having any sexual relations before marriage. It also means complete fidelity to husband or wife during marriage. - lds. org
SEXUAL PURITY
The sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. - lds. org
CHASTE
What does it mean to be chaste?
“To be chaste, you must be morally clean in your thoughts, words, and actions. You must not have any sexual relations before you are legally married. When you are married, you must be completely faithful to your husband or wife” (True to the Faith, 29).
What exactly are the limits of appropriate physical affection?
We have been taught a clear principle: “Never do anything outside of marriage to arouse the powerful emotions that must be expressed only in marriage. Do not arouse those emotions in another person’s body or in your own body” (True to the Faith, 32).
What does it mean to break the law of chastity?
“The Ten Commandments include the command that we not commit adultery, which is sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband (see Exodus 20:14). The Apostle Paul said that it is ‘the will of God’ that we ‘abstain from fornication,’ which is sexual intercourse between an unmarried person and anyone else (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Latter-day prophets repeatedly speak out against these sins and against the evil practice of sexual abuse. (Self abuse)
https://www.lds.org/youth/ask/top/sexual-purity?lang=eng#what-does-it-mean-to-break-the-law-of-chastity
RIGHTEOUS, RIGHTEOUSNESS
Being just, holy, virtuous, upright; acting in obedience to God’s commands; avoiding sin. - LDS .org
VIRTUOUS
Virtuous behavior implies..pure thoughtsand clean actions.Will not lust in his heart for to do is to "deny the faith" and to lose the Spirit. (See D&C 42:23.)
He will not commit adultery “nor do anything like unto it.” (D&C 59:6.)This means fornication, self-abuse, child molestation, or any other sexual perversions.. - lds. org
PROCREATION
1. The process by which an organism produces others of its biological kind
2. The sexual activity of covering and bearing biological offspring.
(Wiki & Freedictionary .com)
SELF ABUSE
Masturbation, a rather common indiscretion, is not approved of the Lord nor of his church, regardless of what may have been said by others whose "norms" are lower. Latter-day Saints are urged to avoid this practice. Anyone fettered by this weakness should abandon the habit before he goes on a mission or receives the holy priesthood or goes to the temple.."
- Spencer W Kimball
The Lord condemns self-abuse. Self-abuse is the act of stimulating procreative power of one's own body. President Boyd K. Packer,President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said,
“Do not be guilty of tampering or playing with this sacred power of creation.
“… It is not pleasing to the Lord, nor is it pleasing to you. It does not make you feel worthy or clean." - lds.org
DEFINITION OF "SEX"
sexual activity, including specifically sexual intercourse (Oxford dictionaries)
Sex is shorthand for sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual stimulation. (vocabulary. com)
TEMPLE WORTHY
"Some of the questions a bishop may ask in temple interview are:
1. Your testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
2. Whether you sustain the President of the Church.
3. Whether you live the law of chastity, pay tithing, are honest with others, and keep the Word of Wisdom.
4. Whether you strive to attend church, keep the covenants you have made, and keep your life in harmony with the commandments of the gospel.
"The Lord has set the standards of worthiness to enter the temple, as expressed by the Psalmist:
'He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart' (Psalm 24:3–4).
Let me give a word of caution here. We cannot go to His holy house unworthily without bringing upon ourselves the judgments of God. For God will not be mocked.
When couples who have not fully repented of past sins go to the temple to be married, they are starting their marriages on very shaky ground. I believe this is one of the main causes of divorce in temple marriages. If a man who is dishonest in his personal life, as it pertains to his wife and children or his business dealings, goes to the temple, he is heaping damnation upon his own soul and is in great need of repentance.
President Hunter said: “It is the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church worthy to enter the temple.”! If our young men or young women on their way to the mission field, go to the temple unworthily, it is a great mistake. We must prepare them for the temple first, and then they will be prepared for missions. President Hunter said, “Let us prepare every missionary to go to the temple worthily and to make that experience an even greater highlight than receiving the mission call.”
- Elder J Ballard Washburn
(in Conference Report) LDS. org
“When you sign your recommend, you make a commitment to the Lord that you sure WORTHY of the privileges granted to those who hold such a recommend. There are several standard questions that I will ask...You are to respond honestly to each one"..
One who goes into the house of the Lord must be free from any unclean, unholy, impure, or unnatural practice."..
Remember the Lord knows all things and will not be mocked. We are trying to help you. Never lie to try to obtain a call, recommend, or a blessing from the Lord.
If an applicant is not keeping the commandments or there is something unsettled about his or her life that needs putting in order, it will be necessary for that individual to demonstrate true repentance before a temple recommend is issued."
- LDS. org
"We have..had young men go out into the mission field unworthily, who lied to the bishop and stake president to get there. It is certainly not right and is most displeasing in the sight of the Lord...
...It is much better to postpone a mission for a period than to go unworthily. In almost every case he can repent and prepare himself for a mission."
- Elder N Eldon Tanner
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1978/10/the-blessing-of-church-interviews?lang=eng .
"Personal worthiness is an essential requirement to enjoy the blessings of the temple. Anyone foolish enough to enter the temple unworthily will receive condemnation."
- Richard G Scott LDS. org
"He or she should know that unless there is true worthiness, there will be no blessing gained, and condemnation will fall upon the head of him or her who unworthily crosses the threshold of the House of God.”
- David E Sorenson LDS .org
"Holy temples may also be defiled and desecrated by members of the Church who go into the temple and make covenants unworthily, or which they are not prepared or willing to accept and carry forward. When people go to the temple and then make light of its sacred principles, they are defiling it. When unrepentant people accept the holy ordinances without full determination to prove worthy of them, they are helping to violate the sacredness of the holy temple and they are desecrating holy places.
When promises are made and covenants are entered into without serious or pure intent to magnify them, pollutions may occur in the holy temples. It is not only a matter of receiving a recommendation to enter the temples of the Lord, but it is also a matter of one having a pure, sweet, and repentant spirit as well."
- Spencer W Kimball
"The scriptures repeatedly teach that the Spirit of the Lord will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle. When we worthily partake of the sacrament, we are promised that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us].” To qualify for that promise we covenant that we will “always remember him” (D&C 20:77). Those who seek out and use pornography for sexual stimulation obviously violate that covenant. They also violate a sacred covenant to refrain from unholy and impure practices. They cannot have the Spirit of the Lord to be with them. All such need to heed the Apostle Peter’s plea: “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee".
When persons entertain evil thoughts long enough for the Spirit to withdraw, they lose their spiritual protection and they are subject to the power and direction of the evil one... "
- Dallin H Oaks
"If the adversary could succeed in any way to overcome you, it would be to keep you from the temple or to entice you to go there unworthily."- Elder Kent F Richards LDS. org
Masturbation Quotes
"The Lord has made it clear that immorality involves more than extramarital sexual intercourse. Some other things that the Lord has clearly told us to refrain from include necking and petting, masturbation, pornography, etc.
The world rationalizes that masturbation is natural and healthy. However, President Spencer W. Kimball states the Lord’s view as follows: “Prophets anciently and today condemn masturbation. It induces feelings of guilt and shame. It is detrimental to spirituality. It indicates slavery to the flesh, not that mastery of it and the growth toward godhood which is the object of our mortal life. …No young man should be called on a mission who is not free from this practice.”
(The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 77.)
https://www.lds.org/manual/family-home-evening-resource-book/building-a-strong-family/teaching-about-procreation-and-chastity?lang=eng
*
"Masturbation is considered by many in the world to be the
harmless expression of an instinctive sex drive. Teach your children
that the prophets have condemned it as a sin throughout the ages and
that they can choose not to do it. Throughout childhood, boys and girls
have touched their own genitals frequently to wash and to dress. This is
a behavior that usually has the same meaning as keeping one’s feet warm
in the winter, enjoying a swim on a hot day, or scratching an itch. We
ought to be friendly to our bodies and appreciate the body’s marvelous
range of senses. This innocent touching is not the kind of behavior
warned against by prophets through the ages. The sin of masturbation
occurs when a person stimulates his or her own sex organs for the
purpose of sexual arousal. It is a perversion of the body’s passions.
When we pervert these passions and intentionally use them for selfish,
immoral purposes, we become carnal.
Masturbation
is not physically necessary. There is already a way by which the male
system relieves excessive spermatic fluid quite regularly through the
nocturnal emission or wet dream. Monthly menstrual flow expels the
female’s egg and cleanses the womb. For both sexes, physical or
emotional tensions can be released by vigorous activity. Thus, in a
biological sense, masturbation for either gender is not necessary."
*
"The scriptures often refer respectfully but plainly to the body and its parts. There is no embarrassment and often there is sacred symbolism. It is the world that makes the divinely created body an object of carnal lust. For example, it makes the female breasts primarily into sexual enticements, while the truth is that they were intended to nourish and comfort children. It promotes male sexual aggression in contrast to Christ’s example of tenderness, long-suffering, kindness, and steadfastness in the home.
.. Teach your children that they will find joy in their bodies when they use them virtuously after the manner taught by Christ.
Also teach your children that they cannot separate sexual behavior from other aspects of relationships, roles, and values. This is one of the false assumptions of those who promote selfish and indulgent behavior. This is not only wicked, but it negates the true purposes of sexual intimacy, which are to create families and strengthen bonds between husband and wife.
Your children will see in movies and magazines and in the lives of some people around them those who seem to be able to break the Lord’s commandments concerning sexual expression and still live happy, prosperous lives. Make sure they understand that they must not be misled by appearances, for “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). They cannot expect to break the laws of God in one area of their lives and have the rest of their lives unaffected."
https://www.lds.org/manual/a-parents-guide/chapter-5-teaching-adolescents-from-twelve-to-eighteen-years?lang=eng
*
"God’s Law of Moral Cleanliness
God has never changed His laws and commandments concerning sexual sin, although man has tried to change them to suit his own pleasure. The law of chastity means that a man must not have intimate physical relations with anyone except his own wife. The Lord has commanded, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). The law of chastity is not limited to just adultery, however. It extends to all improper uses of the divine power of procreation. Among the other ways man misuses this sacred power are fornication (including living together without marriage), homosexuality,abortion, and masturbation.
Chastity also includes cleanliness in thought ..."
https://www.lds.org/manual/duties-and-blessings-of-the-priesthood-basic-manual-for-priesthood-holders-part-a/gospel-principles-and-doctrines/lesson-34-moral-cleanliness?lang=eng
*
“‘The Bible makes plain that evil, when related to sex, means not the use of something inherently corrupt but the misuse of something pure and good. It teaches clearly that sex can be a wonderful servant but a terrible master: that it can be a creative force more powerful than any other in the fostering of a love, companionship, happiness or can be the most destructive of all of life’s forces.’” - Spencer W. Kimball
Being morally clean implies physical restraint and self-control. Our children need to see that control of these feelings is not a negative thing any more than controlling certain motions of leg or hand muscles in athletics is negative."
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/12/talking-with-your-children-about-moral-purity?lang=eng
*
“The Lord specifically forbids certain
behaviors, including all sexual relations before marriage, petting, sex
perversion (such as homosexuality, rape, and incest), masturbation, or
preoccupation with sex in thought, speech, or action.”
*
A boy should be taught about the power of creation within his body and that the Lord intended that this power should be used exclusively in marriage. He should be cautioned against sexual self-stimulation (masturbation)."
https://www.lds.org/manual/family-home-evening-resource-book/building-a-strong-family/teaching-about-procreation-and-chastity?lang=eng
*
"President J. Reuben Clark gave me great light many years ago on a great tremendous subject. He said (and these are my words, not his) that the sex urge does not have to be satisfied, that Satan’s old lie is that itdoes have to be satisfied.
I am sorry to tell you that there are men in high places who have some fairly major moral problems, even as youth have the same problems.
We shouldn’t have a problem with masturbation."
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1975/04/a-self-inflicted-purging?lang=eng
*
Aaronic Priesthood Manual 2 :
" ...Being morally clean and virtuous requires self-discipline and self-control. For example, President Spencer W. Kimball spoke plainly about sinful sexual desires and practices. Explain that you are going to read a number of President Kimball’s statements regarding morality and self-discipline.
Note: If you think the young men do not understand the terms used, read the definitions below to clarify the terms. Then read the quotations following each definition. Present only the prophet’s statements. Emphasize self-discipline,and limit the discussion, if any is necessary, to defining the terms used in the quotations.
1. Our Conduct toward Our Own Bodies
Definition
Masturbation: stimulating oneself sexually.
Quotation
“Masturbation … is not approved of the Lord nor of his church, regardless of what may be said by others whose ‘norms’ are lower” (President Kimball Speaks Out [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], p. 10).
https://www.lds.org/manual/aaronic-priesthood-manual-2/lesson-25-personal-purity-through-self-discipline?lang=eng
*
Young Women Manual:
"Sometimes young people do not understand the specific definitions of words they hear describing immorality. If questions arise during the discussion, you may want to use the following definitions given by President Spencer W. Kimball.
Masturbation: To sexually stimulate oneself. “Masturbation … is not approved of the Lord nor of his Church, regardless of what may be said by others whose ‘norms’ are lower” (Spencer W. Kimball, President Kimball Speaks Out [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], p. 10).
https://www.lds.org/manual/young-women-manual-2/living-a-virtuous-life/lesson-33-the-sacred-power-of-procreation?lang=eng
*
Do you understand that sexual transgression—whether masturbation, homosexuality, fornication, adultery, or the use of pornographic materials—can lessen spiritual strength and lead to apostasy?
https://www.lds.org/manual/the-life-and-teachings-of-jesus-and-his-apostles/section-11-the-early-apostles-send-their-witness-to-the-world/chapter-53-for-there-are-certain-men-crept-in-unawares?lang=eng
*
"Our youth seem confused about the definition of moral cleanliness. Some young men and women take a certain definition and then push it to its limits to see how far they can go without being immoral by that definition. I suggest an opposite approach."
- Russell M Ballard
*
“The early
apostles and prophets mention numerous sins that were reprehensible to
them. Many of them were sexual sins—adultery, being without natural
affection, lustfulness, infidelity, incontinence, filthy communications,
impurity, inordinate affection, fornication. They included all sexual
relations outside marriage—petting, sex perversion, masturbation, and
preoccupation with sex in one’s thoughts and talking. Included are every
hidden and secret sin and all unholy and impure thoughts and
practices."
- Spencer W Kimball
*
"Some have suggested that pornography should be a separate question in the temple recommend interview. It is already. At least five different questions should elicit a confession and discussion on this subject if the person being interviewed has the spiritual sensitivity and honesty we expect of those who worship in the house of the Lord."
- Dallin H Oaks
*
"Jeffrey Satinover, psychiatrist and advisor to the National
Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, said:
"Pornography really does, unlike other addictions, biologically cause
direct release of the most perfect addictive substance. . . . That is,
it [leads to] masturbation, which causes release of the naturally
occurring opioids. It does what heroin can't do, in effect."
*
C.S. Lewis has a wonderful passage in which he describes what may be the root reason that God gives us this commandment (cited by LDS.org):
"For me the real evil of masturbation would be that it takes an appetite which, in lawful use, leads the individual out of himself to complete (and correct) his own personality in that of another (and finally in children and even grandchildren) and turns it back: sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides. And this harem, once admitted, works against his ever getting out and really uniting with a real woman. For the harem is always accessible, always subservient, calls for no sacrifices or adjustments, and can be endowed with erotic and psychological attractions which no real woman can rival. Among those shadowy brides he is always adored, always the perfect love: no demand is made on his unselfishness, no mortification ever imposed on his vanity. In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself….
Masturbation involves this abuse of imagination in erotic matters (which I think bad in itself) and thereby encourages a similar abuse of it in all spheres. After all, almost the main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little, dark prison we are all born in. Masturbation is to be avoided as all things are to be avoided which retard this process. The danger is that of coming to love the prison."(C.S. Lewis, letter to Keith Masson (3 June 1956); cited in Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C.S. Lewis (HarperOne, 2008)
**For more information about masturbation click HERE and also read this great Fairmormon article.
https://www.fairmormon.org/blog/2013/01/02/fair-questions-4-whats-wrong-with-masturbation