Great Sin Research Articles

Masturbation: Vice or virtue?

The Kinsey research team has clearly defined masturbation as "deliberate self stimulation which effects sexual arousal."1 This term is commonly used by social scientists in spite of its etymology. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "masturbate" is a compound from the Latin roots manus (hand) and stuprare (to defile). Accordingly it is defined in that standard work as "to practice self abuse." That was certainly the meaning of the term when it was first used two centuries ago. Social scientists who are sensitive to etymology realize that the word "masturbation" carries too much manual association to be fully descriptive and, of more concern, has traditionally carried a negative moral judgment. Consequently, neologisms have been created for the phenomenon in recent years. But they also have their limitations and have not been accorded full acceptance. "Automanipulation" is too mechanical and vague; "autoerotism" is too broad, for it can also describe, for example, one's response to sensuous works of art; and "auto-orgasm" incorrectly assumes that orgasm is always the aim of this endeavor. Even though masturbation has a value-loaded etymology, it will be presumed that its original connotation can be disregarded?even as "manu facturing" is no longer associated with making by hand. It is often wrongly stated that masturbation is dealt with in the Bible. Kinsey, for example, claims that it is there treated as a greater sin than engaging in coitus outside of marriage.2 Also, the Catholic-edited Dictionary of Moral Theol ogy pronounced: "Direct voluntary pollution is properly called masturba tion. ... In the Holy Scriptures it is condemned as a sin which excludes a person from the Kingdom of Heaven."3 Actually masturbation is not mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures or in the New Testament. Why is it that that nonpru dish literature, which frankly refers to zo?philia, homosexuality, and other sexual variations, does not discuss masturbation? It is safe to assume that its omission displays that its practice was of no moral or cultic concern to the many writers of books now called the Bible. In this essay I shall first review in historical sequence the treatments of masturbation as a vice in the postbiblical Judaeo-Christian tradition. Then I shall focus attention on some benefits that can result from masturbation.

MENSENMACHT

SUMMARY In reading the De Regno of St.Thomas Aquinas, a theologian comes across many points that ask for further inquiries. All the more so as it turns out to be a theological reflection on human power rather than a philosophical treatise. How does St.Thomas reflect about human power? For me the striking issue is his so called naturalism. St.Thomas's use of natura leads up to a description of this naturalism as a basic attitude, wherein a theologian, thinking about human existence, searches at all times after its fundamental data and never contents himself with bare facts. The next question is: what in fact does St.Thomas reckon as belonging to the natura of human existence? Some remarks, almost carelessly made in the De Regno about servi, servitus, attract attention. In the second part, I have gathered his ideas about slavery. Theoretically St.Thomas rejects the doctrine of Aristotle about the natural slave and tries to harmonize the factual servitus with his naturalisme. But the rejection of Aristotle's theory makes no difference at all in practice. This emerges from a reading of his commentaries on some passages of the pauline epistles. The third part of this article is an attempt to understand critically the point of view of St.Thomas by confronting his ideas about slavery with those about tyranny, a connection he has made himself in the De Regno. Thus an inconsistency comes to light: appropriating God's place is condemned as the great sin of tyrant while in slavery the master is said to represent Christ; and this legitimates the submission of the servi. So we are compelled to seek for a broader scope of vision. Slavery comes in view as a symptom of the almost incurable dilemma of Christendom, the dilemma of human power over men and loyalty to the kingdom that is not of this world. And here St.Thomas's naturalism can maybe open new ways. In spite of the inconsistencies that can be pointed out, principally this naturalism dictates a continual search for the fundamental data of human existence, as the only possible way out of the dilemma. In our own times a growing body of scientific knowledge about human behaviour and natural processes does give us new possibilities of understanding natura. Theologically St. Thomas points in the De Regno to divine providence as belonging to the natura. So it could be that in his doctrine of providence nature again surpasses nurture: is God giving us space for a free and fearless searching for natura, even with regard to human power?

DR. JOB LEWIS SMITH (1827-1897) WRITES ABOUT MATERNAL EMOTIONS AS A CAUSE OF CONGENITAL DEFORMITY

The best known American pediatrician of his time with the single exception of Abraham Jacobi was Job Lewis Smith.1 In continuous practice of pediatrics in New York City for nearly 50 years, as well as the clinical professor of pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital Medical College for a large part of these years, Dr. Smith exerted an enormous influence on American pediatrics. His textbook of the diseases of children, based entirely on his own clinical experience, is still esteemed as a solid reliable work. In the second edition of this book, Smith wrote: It is the popular belief, and the belief of many physicians, that vivid mental impressions sometimes have a direct effect on the development of the foetus (sic). Many cases are on record in which infants were born with marks or deformities, corresponding in character with the objects which had been seen and had made a strong impression on the maternal mind at some period of gestation. . . . The multitude of facts which have accumulated justify the belief that deformity . . . is due to the emotions of the mother. . . . I have met the following cases. An Irish woman of strong emotions and superstitions was passing along a street in the first months of her gestation, when she was accosted by a beggar, who raised her hand, destitute of thumb and fingers, and in "God's name" asked for alms. The woman passed on: but reflecting in whose name money was asked, felt that she had committed a great sin in refusing assistance.

Contaminants on the Moon

Contaminants on the Moon

Sin or Crime and Punishment in "The Law of Manu"

Ancient Indian Laws are all very religious. The same holds good of the Law of Manu which I deal with here. In this Law, one who indulges in anti-social behavior must be punished, but on the other hand, he must be purified by himself in practicing the penance ordered by the law. Because an anti-social behavior is considered sinful from the point of view of religion and at the same time it is composed of criminal offence. These two are not considered separately at this time.There are two sorts of sins and crimes. One is a great sin or crime, and the other is a secondary sin or crime. I examined purifications and punishments for those sins and crimes.

Peer Gynt and the Idea of Self

PEER GYNT AND THE IDEA OF SELF Peer Gynt very probably will always be thought of as Ibsen's greatest work. Certainly, it is his most national and also his most universal drama. A great deal has been written about this poetic drama, and with so complex a work there are of necessity differences of view and differences of emphasis among the critics. I believe, however, that some of the differences of interpretation might well be reconciled if Peer Gynt were studied in relation to Ibsen's other "will" plays, if attention were given to the play's structure, and, above all, if its rich symbolism were considered as an integral part of the play's composition and not just as extraneous decoration or embellishment. The distinction that Ibsen makes between the Gyntish Self and the true Self attains clarity only when the symbolism has been elucidated. It is the true Self, not the Gyntish Self, that carries the principal theme of the play. I believe there will proceed from this approach to Peer Gynt an unequivocal statement of what Ibsen intended to convey in it. I The years from 1863 to 1873 might well be termed Ibsen's period of greatest achievement. This is the decade of the great "will" plays, Brand (1866), Peer Gynt (1867), and Emperor and Galilean (1873), which are introduced by Ibsen's only successful historical tragedy, The Pretenders (1863). The broad subject that gives cohesive unity to these four plays is that of an uncompromising personal idealism, which is explored with infinite variation through the theme on the nature of the will. Ideologically, these dramas have their roots in the early works of Ibsen, but, being products of a mature art, the four later dramas convey more authoritatively and convincingly than the preceding ones Ibsen's view of man's freedom of choice and freedom of action. Brand marks the height of Ibsen's accomplishment in tragedy within the early nineteenth century tradition, while the four plays as a whole reveal Ibsen's use of irony, ironic humor and the paradox at their best. I shall consider briefly the relationship of these four plays with the last of the early works (Love's Comedy), their own particular unity, and the special affinity between Brand and Peer Gynt. At the end of Love's Comedy (1862) the poet Falk assumes a position which can loosely be called idealistic. He has freed himself from the last "manacle of slavery" (tradition), and he can now carry on the war against the lie: social hypocrisy. But there is no assurance that he will succeed, for the point of view he adopts is not his own but that of Svanhild. Falk therefore sets out into the world with a breach in his armor, namely, that he has 103 104 MODERN DRAMA September relied on another's faith in his belief rather than on his own. The idealist Falk, who lived on borrowed goods, becomes the doubter and the procrastinator Skule of The Pretenders. Skule demonstrates that one could not live for or by another person's view; the best he could do was to die for it. The unity between Love's Comedy and The Pretenders is thus t...lrrough the Falk-Skule relationship, and this is extended into Brand. It is self-evident that Brand is an individual who not only has evolved his own view but who also has unshakable faith in it. The further unity between The Pretenders and Brand is achieved through the passive Hakon and Brand. Hakon, who had a complete but rather naive faith in himself because he was so certain of God's support in his endeavors, as he interpreted it, discovered eventually that some punishment was meted out from above even to him, and it was incomprehensible to him why he who had not sinned should be punished at all. There was confusion rather than doubt in Hakon's mind when he, answering Margrete's question of whether he realized he had condemned her father to death, said: "God, God,-why hast thou stricken me so sorely, when I have in nowise sinned!" (III, 241) But his great sin was his...

The Scandal of the "Great Sin" at Ugarit

The Scandal of the "Great Sin" at Ugarit

The "Great Sin" in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts

The "Great Sin" in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts