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What is defined as porn?


Hello. What is defined as porn? Must it be rough sex, or just a general sex scene? I don't watch porn, but can enjoy sex scenes in movies. Is it just as bad as watching porn, and why? Why is it ethically wrong to look at and enjoy people who are having sex? Does the Bible say anything about it, or that it is not okay to satisfy yourself? What do Christians think about masturbation?



Hello and thank you for asking!

Porn is an abbreviation for pornography, which comes from the Greek words porneia (meaning fornication) and grafia(meaning drawing or graphic representation). When the word "fornication" is used in the Bible, it usually refers to adultery, either by cheating on one's spouse or having sex with another person one is not married to. So even though the word pornography is not found in the Bible, you can say that pornography means showing pictures (and film) of people in sexual situations, and usually, this is sex outside of the relationship the Bible says sex belongs in, namely the marriage between a man and a woman.

There is, of course, a difference between hard porn, which portrays detailed sexual acts with close-ups of genitals and perhaps many different people having sex with each other in different ways, and sex scenes in regular feature films and series. In the porn industry, a lot of abuse and even human trafficking takes place. In many places in the world, girls and women are sold as sex slaves and used for the filming of pornographic films. There are also many who struggle with a strong addiction to porn, and who are unable to stop porn even if they really want to.

For more info, read more about porn here:

Why do we get addicted to porn?
Is it a sin to watch porn?

Nevertheless, it is not entirely unproblematic to see sex scenes in films and series. It is only natural that sexual feelings and longings are awakened in us when we see depictions of sexual acts in pictures and films. But in the vast majority of cases, this is about people who are neither married to each other nor have bound themselves to be faithful to each other for the rest of their lives. The action in the films and series is also such that we are easily influenced to sympathize with the characters and live into the action as if we were part of it. Then our own thoughts and fantasies are also affected by content that arouses longings and feelings linked to sex outside the framework that God intended for sexual cohabitation.

God has created sex to be something good that binds two spouses together and should be a blessing. But at the same time, sex is something private that we are not supposed to share with anyone other than our spouse. In the Bible, we can read that the first people before the fall were naked and that they were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25). When sin and selfishness had not yet entered the world, nakedness was very natural. But after the Fall, people became aware that they were naked and covered themselves(Genesis 3,7). God made clothes for them from skins (Genesis 3:21), which confirms that nudity is now something private that we should not show to everyone around us.

Even though the typical hard porn on the Internet can do more harm than sex scenes in movies and series, we would still recommend being careful with such sex scenes. The thoughts and fantasies these create are usually something other than what God wants for us. He wants sexuality to be lived out between two spouses who are faithful to each other and who have bound themselves to love and honor each other "for good and bad until death do them part", as we promise at the marriage ceremony. And just as it would not be good to watch neighbors or friends having sex with each other, the sexual scenes in films and series are also actions that should be private and not shared with many others.

There is nothing directly in the Bible about satisfying yourself sexually, it is not wrong to touch your body and explore what feelings you get. At the same time, the Bible is clear that it is not indifferent to what happens in our thoughts and imaginations. Jesus said it so radically that anyone who looks at another person with sexual desire, i.e., fantasizes about having sex with the person, is, in reality, committing adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:28), even if one does not do any physical, sexual acts with this person. The problem with porn and sex scenes is that they create sexual fantasies that, when combined with masturbation, make us fantasize about sex outside of what God intended for us.

For more info, read more about it here:
What is lust?
Is it ok to masturbate?
Could it be a good idea to not masturbate?
Addicted to masturbation and pornography


Kind regards BoyandGirl.info

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