From: Danny:

There are no texts in the Bible that mention masturbation except for one possible text -- Leviticus 15:16 which reads "If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening". The Levitical law appears to take it for granted and merely denotes it as a temporary uncleanness. 

It should be noted that Leviticus 15:1-15 also deal with emissions of various kinds (these are left unspecified, but probably have to do with infections). The conjunction of verse 16 with verse 17-18 (where verse 18 says it is unclean when a man has sex with a woman and emits semen) would suggest that verse 15 has to do with masturbation. It may well only refer to what are called nocturnal emissions, but I think that unlikely. It probably refers to all forms of seminal emission which would include nocturnal emissions and masturbation. 

From: Carrol: 

Masturbation seems to me to be a misuse of God's gift of sex, which is supposed to be used to give each other mutual pleasure and, in the case of masturbation, is directed toward giving one's self pleasure. 

From: Maurice:

I think your reply is spot-on Carrol. The problem with masturbation is that it is essentially selfish. 

Mind you, I think some church folk have overplayed the seriousness of masturbation by using scare tactics and a lot of quite erroneous information. I don't know how many generations you have to tell "Stop it! Or you will go blind!" before they stop believing you. In the normal course of events most young people who experiment with it grow out of it. Giving them a great attack of guilt does nothing to help. 

In the days when I taught sex and reproduction (teaching computers is much easier), when the question of masturbation came up, I simply told my students that they would find better things to do as they matured.

From: Eugene:

By the grace of God, I have basically overcome this problem physically.  What I do still struggle with is seeking out pictures of (clothed) men with attractive beards and/or long hair. Even though I don't actually masturbate and I don't generally fantasize about actual indecencies, the fact that I have gone looking for attractive men and that they often are gay men who are showing their pictures, even if they do have their clothes on, strengthens my feelings of gayness. I feel that this is not good spiritually. 

From: Aunt B:

I look at masturbation this way: 

If you haven't had an itch for some time and you go lay own in a bed of poison ivy just so you can scratch ... then that is silly ... but if you have an itch in the middle of your back, and you try to ignore it...it will drive you crazy until you find a coat hanger, a knitting needle, or the bark of an old tree trunk to eliminate the itch......get my point? 

From: Ralph:

When we look at how Jesus relates thoughts and actions, we get into some "iffy" territory. The guys discussed porno and masturbation and their exchanges may be read on web at  Men's Talk 

In areas where the Bible is silent, I prefer to be silent.