Does the Bible talk about porn addiction? Porn can bury its hooks into nearly anyone, even Christians. Nearly every day, I speak with someone whose life has been hijacked by porn, most of them churchgoers.
A lot of the world has caught on to the problem. “Porn addiction” has become a common way to describe what millions are experiencing, even though the phrase is rife with ambiguities. In fact, recent studies are now confirming what sex addiction therapists have been saying for decades: Porn actually damages the brain.
Now that neuroscience is entering the discussion about porn, how should Christians integrate this information into their understanding of God, the Bible, and humanity?
The Bible on Addiction vs. Moral Responsibility
More often than not, when Christians respond negatively to recent developments in neuroscience, the fear is that by dissecting the organ of all our feelings, thoughts, and decisions, we will somehow lose our belief in moral responsibility. If I come to believe that porn has warped my brain, I can eventually say, “I’m not responsible for this problem. My brain made me do it.”
The field of neuroscience is actually bringing a much older conversation to the foreground—a conversation that has been present in addiction recovery circles for the better part of 80 years: Is addiction a disease?
The History of the Addiction Model
Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, was among the first who likened alcoholism to a disease. He didn’t actually believe alcoholism was a disease, but that it was like a disease. It was a pragmatic description: He felt the disease metaphor helped men and women open up about their problems. Once you were in the doors of many AA meetings, however, it was clear that while the problem could be described as a sickness, moral responsibility was never lost. The men and women at AA still felt the moral weight of their decisions.
Christian counselor Ed Welch points out that the Bible itself uses the disease metaphor when talking about sin. Citing passages like Isaiah 1:5-7 and 53:6, he states that Scripture emphasizes that sin has many things in common with a disease. Like a disease, sin affects our entire being, it is painful, it leads to death, and it is absolutely tragic (Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave, 61).
The Bible and Moral Responsibility
However, the Bible never loses sight of moral responsibility. Alcoholism and porn addiction are a lot like diseases—they feel as if we have been taken over by a virus, making us spiral out of control—but it is a voluntary slavery. Dr. Welch calls this the dual nature of sin:
“This enlarged perspective indicates that in sin, we are both hopelessly out of control and shrewdly calculating; victimized yet responsible. All sin is simultaneously pitiable slavery and overt rebelliousness or selfishness. This is a paradox, to be sure, but one that is the very essence of all sinful habits” (Addictions, p.34).
Just like the Bible, as Christians, we can and should speak of slavery to porn as a sickness, but a sickness we have chosen. Disease is a good metaphor for sin, but it is not the only metaphor.
The Bible and the Idols of Porn Addiction
Sin is not merely a disease, it is depravity.
The Bible reveals that sin springs not from our physical bodies but from our hearts, from the core of who we are (Mark 7:21-23). Sin is fundamentally not just a lapse in judgment or a dysfunction. Sin is a movement away from God.
Christian counselor David Powlison rightly points out that in the Bible, idolatry is the most frequently discussed problem. Idolatry not only receives the spotlight in the Bible, but it also forms the core of our sinful habits. The Bible does not relegate idolatry to the creation of statues; it internalizes the problem. Idols are something taken into the heart (Ezekiel 14:3). Instead of loving God with one’s whole heart, soul, and might, as sinners, other things receive our trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear, and delight. We choose to give these desires primacy, and then these desires end up ruling us.
Sin is, as it were, a “worship disorder.”
As sinners, it is the idols of the heart that so often drive a preoccupation with porn. In his book, Closing the Window, Tim Chester describes six core motivations that commonly fuel porn addiction:
1. Respect – When our craving for respect becomes an idol, porn offers us a fantasy world where we are worshipped and adored.
2. Relationship – When our craving for intimacy becomes an idol, porn offers the illusion of relationship without the risks of rejection or vulnerability.
3. Refuge – When life gets tough and our craving for escape becomes an idol, porn gives us a fantasy world where we are never a failure and where there are no expectations.
4. Reward – When our desire for reward becomes a sinful sense of entitlement, porn gives us a fantasy world where our underappreciated egos can “get what we deserve.”
5. Revenge – When our anger at life or God or our spouse gets out of control, porn can become our tantrum at a world that isn’t catering to our desires.
6. Redemption – When self-pity becomes a consuming desire, porn offers us a fantasy where we can feel “normal” or even a place where we can punish ourselves.
These are core desires of the heart that must be addressed if someone desires to break free from the grip of pornography.
The Bible and Sin Against the Body
Sin, at its root, is idolatry in the heart. But just because desires in the heart are at the root of pornography doesn’t mean there aren’t physical consequences. Disease is not just a metaphor for sin. In a very real sense, porn actually makes our brains sick.
In 1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul writes, “Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” There is a sense in which sexual sin is unique in the damage it does to the body. Perhaps modern neuroscience is unearthing a significant way in which sexual sin hurts us.
In his book, The Porn Circuit, Sam Black explains how porn impacts the human brain. A cocktail of hormones and neurotransmitters is released while watching porn. This gives the brain an unnatural high as surge after surge of dopamine is released. Eventually, the brain fatigues, leaving the viewer wanting more but unable to reach a level of satisfaction. As a result, the viewer starts to become numb to everyday pleasures. He or she begins to seek out novel, more intense porn to get the same high. Repeatedly watching porn also weakens the cingulate cortex, the region of the brain responsible for moral and ethical decision-making. It weakens our ability to control sexual thoughts on a day-to-day level.
Neuroscience Reflects the Biblical Language of Sin
This neurologically describes what the Bible says about how sin permeates the body and mind:
- Paul writes that slavery to sin does not just stem from the heart, but it is something that finds a beachhead in the very members of our physical bodies. “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:21-23, italics added).
- James writes, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” (James 4:1, NKJV, italics added).
- Paul says when we give ourselves up to sensuality, it results in “darkened” understanding, “ignorance,” and “hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:18-19).
We now can see on an MRI what the Bible has led us to expect all along—that sin in our members includes, to an extent, our brains.
Why Talk About the Brain at All?
What advantages are there to bringing brain science into the discussion about porn addiction?
1. Brain Science Confirms What the Bible Says About Porn Addiction
God’s Spirit and revelation are completely sufficient to change someone’s life. The Bible affirms this again and again. It is the law of the Lord that revives the soul and enlightens the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8). It is the God-breathed Scriptures that train us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is by believing in God’s precious promises that we become more like Him (2 Peter 1:4).
For many Christians—from veterans in the faith to lukewarm churchgoers—information about how porn impacts the brain is a wake-up call, alerting them to principles the Scriptures have always said, but now they can see those principles etched on the very fabric of their neurons.
- The Bible has always taught us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), and now we can literally “map” how our thoughts change the way we see the world.
- The Bible has always taught that sexual sin has physiological consequences (1 Corinthians 6:18), and now we can see some of those consequences under a brain scanner.
- The Bible has always taught us to trump the desires of the flesh with the longings of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17), and now we can see the way new, healthy neurological pathways are the key to overcoming old habits.
Neurology is like the new archaeology of the soul. Just as a new archaeological find in the Holy Land can buttress our faith and call attention to passages long forgotten, so scientific studies of the human brain can be used by God to awaken us to believe in truths God wrote centuries ago.
2. Brain Science Helps Us Understand Detoxing From Porn
Internet pornography is a modern phenomenon that has no parallel in history. As a result, slavery to it is not only more common, but the slavery tends to have a deeper neurological impact.
Understanding that porn is physiologically addictive can prepare those who are quitting porn to brace themselves for the pain of breaking the cycle. Christian counselor Brad Hambrick states,
“I think it is very helpful for us to understand that there are strong physiological things that go on in the arousal cycle—that when we begin to pull away from sex we should not have been apart of, that we are going to go through something that feels like withdrawal…We are going to have to physically and morally detox, and detox is a very painful, unpleasant experience.”
The experienced Christian counselor knows that when a man or woman is in drug detox, they don’t just need a Bible study. They need to take radical steps to distance themselves from the source of the addiction. They need special care from loving individuals. Quitting porn, likewise, will require a program of detox, taking radical action, especially in the early stages.
Withdrawal from porn will not merely be an obedience issue. It will be a brain issue. For more see 10 Signs of Porn Addiction Withdrawal (And How to Manage Them).
3. Brain Science Helps Us Fight a Dualistic View of Ourselves
For centuries, the Church has had to fight a dualistic view of the human person. What often comes with dualism is a false belief that matter (the body) is a necessary evil and that the spirit (or soul or heart) is what really matters.
In today’s psychology-conscious church, dualism shows up in how we isolate our problems as either “medical” or “spiritual.” Anything below the neck is a medical problem and requires a physician. Anything above the neck is a spiritual problem and requires you to suck it up, repent, and trust Jesus more.
Neuroscience is reminding us to see ourselves as the Bible does: a whole person. Ed Welch writes that human life cannot be imagined without both the inner and outer person, and the brain is the place where we more clearly see the interplay of mind and body.
“At the level of the brain, this unity suggests that the heart or spirit will always be represented or expressed in the brain’s chemical activity. When we choose good or evil, such decisions will be accompanied by changes in brain activity…This does not mean the brain causes these decisions. It simply means that the brain renders the desires of the heart in a physical medium. It is as if the heart always leaves footprints on the brain” (Blame It On the Brain?, p.47-48).
None of our problems are either totally physical or totally spiritual. One nearly always spills over into the other. Fighting dualism ensures that the church will always be champions of the best that medicine has to offer while always keeping the heart central.
The Bible Teaches You to Present Your Brain to God
The principles Paul gives in Romans 6 for the transformation of our character are of vital importance to a porn addict (or any Christian for that matter):
- Principle #1: Remember and believe that, in His death and resurrection, Christ has died to sin. He is no longer lives in this sinful realm (Romans 6:10).
- Principle #2: Remember and believe that by the Spirit, we are united to the One who is dead to sin: Christ is in us. We no longer belong to this sinful age. We belong to the sinless age to come (Romans 6:8).
- Principle #3: Reckon or consider yourself dead to sin (Romans 6:11). You are not dying to sin (a process). You are not commanded to die to sin (an imperative). You are indeed dead to it. United to Christ, your whole identity has changed. So meditate on this. Chew on this. Reconsider it. Get this idea deep into your soul.
- Principle #4: “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6:13b). Fighting from our new identity, now Paul tells us to be practical. Present the very members of your physical body to God as His instruments.
This last principle brings up highly practical applications for how we use our eyes, our ears, our mouths, our feet, and our hands. Holiness may start in the heart, but it always works itself out in the day-to-day actions of real life.
As we learn more about the three-pound organ between our ears, we can also begin to think of ways to present our brains to God as well.
For instance, neurologist Dr. William Struthers says that in a study of how porn impacts the brain, researchers paid close attention to areas of the brain that “light up” when viewing pornography. Dr. Struthers says,
“If you take a man or a woman, and you put them into a brain scanner, and you show them these [porn] clips, these areas [of the brain] will light up, and they will light up in a very robust fashion. However, if you take individuals and bring them in and tell them, ‘We are going to show you some video clips; we would like you to try to keep your sexual arousal level low,’ you will actually see decreased activity here in these regions. When you are given instruction or when there are expectations about what you should do when you view [porn], and those are exercised, you can actually dampen down this signal and make it less severe. That’s just by them being told. These are actually heterosexual men and women going into the brain scanner, and all they are told is just try to not get so horny.”
Knowing this has profound implications for a man or woman surrounded by sexual triggers and temptations. Knowing how we are wired allows us to make conscious decisions that impact our reactions to temptation. If a sexually tempting image or thought comes across our path we can “present” our brain to God in a simple prayer:
“God, I know you have wired me to enjoy sex, but I also know that to lustfully indulge in this would be sinful. You have wired my brain to be able to have control over how aroused I get by this. I am not doomed to be a victim of my sex drive. I am dead to sin. Sin no longer defines who I am, so therefore I choose to shut down my arousal response to this and turn my eyes and thoughts elsewhere.”
The Bible Teaches Us to Fight Porn With Pure Pleasure
Neurology paints a picture of what freedom from porn looks like. Sam Black writes,
Simply avoiding bad habits leads to failure. Spending time thinking about avoiding porn can bring up the mind’s storehouse of images, videos, and encounters, which can lead to anxiety and tension that begs for release. New and rewarding pathways are needed to avert crashes.
Neurologists agree that the old pathways that exit toward uncomfortable behaviors and acting out won’t go away, but intentionally creating new pathways allows a person to avoid swerving off the edge toward the crash. Over time and after building new and positive habits and ignoring paths to porn use, the cravings for porn and the constant cues for sexual thought will diminish and willpower will return. With practice, patience, and perseverance, freedom from porn can be the new reality (The Porn Circuit, p.30).
Brain science confirms what the Scriptures have said all along. The only way to kill the desires of the flesh is to walk in the desires of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17)—following new pathways of holy pleasure to trump the old sinful ones. Merely following don’t-touch-don’t-taste rules “are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23). Rather, change comes as we redirect our minds and passions to things above (Colossians 3:1-2).
And lest we think this means we must constantly walk around in a holy fog and avoid physical pleasures, God calls us to embrace whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy—wholesome pleasures become a means to practicing God’s presence (Philippians 4:8).
The world is full of holy pleasures for God’s people. Paul writes, “To the pure, all things are pure” (Titus 1:15). Gary Thomas explains this text:
In context, Paul is arguing against hyper-religionists trying to saddle Christians with arbitrary rules and prohibitions. These teachers wanted to enslave believers to the old belief that if a defiled person touches something (food, drink, or even another person), this something becomes defiled. Paul cleverly turns this around, saying if someone is pure, then whatever they touch becomes pure!
I’m arguing that we need to look at pleasure and the good gifts of this earth through the eyes of redemption. When our hearts are cleansed and transformed by God, the very things that used to cause us to stumble can now become friends of faith. Not all things, of course; anything specifically against the will and commands of God, regardless of what kind of pleasure is seems to offer, will always destroy our souls. But the good things of this earth, created by God to be received with thanksgiving and praise—things such as friendship, good food and fine drinks, laughter, sex, and family life—can be redeemed to season our life and faith in many positive ways. God can even give us the power to take what we formerly misused and transform it into an instrument of praise (Pure Pleasure, p.22-23).
Neurologically speaking, this means as we replace old habits with new habits, new neural pathways are formed. Over time we no longer look to porn as our release valve to entertain our idols, but rather we use healthy pleasures as means of delighting in God as the giver of every good and perfect gift.
Giving Life to Our Mortal Neurons
Neurology is a rapidly advancing science. New discoveries are made every day, and this should excite us as Christians. Just as sure as each discovery of distant galaxies brings more color and vibrancy to the phrase “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1a), so each new map of neural pathways adds depth to the phrase, “God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27a).
What makes neurology helpful to so many is that people can see that sanctification does not merely happen in the ethereal place of the soul but in the very concrete building blocks of the brain. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus’ body from the grave gives life to our mortal neurons (Romans 8:11).
Will knowledge about brain science make or break everyone’s escape from porn? No. Many men and women have escaped porn’s grip without a lick of neuroscience. But it does offer Christians new handles by which to grasp the solutions.
And in a world rife with porn, we need all the handles we can get on holiness.
A very good and educational read. Keep up the good work. Addressing these issues early on with kids and family should be encouraged. Our children are exposed to suggestive language and materials early on in life and as a parent I believe that the right information and tools are vital for everyone.
The above reply was meant for Harris. I didn’t realize it would post the whole thing here (sorry Luke).
Harris, the link to “God’s Divine Dilemma” is:
http://davidandkimfrazier.com/files/Gods_Divine_Dilemma..pdf
Thanks David
Forgive my annonimity, but I have a personal experience that began in 2006. In a nutshell I was advised to seek professional assistance for “sex and love addiction”, I have had the blessings of having the ability to seek the world’s best therapists, using the most advanced modalities of therapy including neurocognitive feedback. Basically I lost ten years of the prime of my life, and everything except my life itself, but have finally been granted freedom and healing, even purity in my soul from none other than the Lord, no doubt. (Four months absolute purity/no sexual thoughts entertained for more than a passing second). Have not put “story” together as much of time was bedridden depression (3years), but know God has spared me to tell. Maybe you could offer some advise as I’m just now starting to think their might be hope, for me, in THIS life. I submit this in love and frailty, please honor annonimity, for now anyway.
Sounds like you’ve made some great strides! Why exactly aren’t you hopeful since you’ve seen so much change already?
Great article. I recently got covenant eyes and I feel like a new man. But the problem is many people are making fun of God and saying belief in God is not rational since an all powerful God who really cares about people would not let evil exist – in other words they say evil is ultimately God’s own fault because he allowed it and deluded humans into thinking they had free will. I can’t think of any way to answer this, and it makes me wonder if God is just a delusion I created in my mind. Please help.
Hi Harris! Glad to hear Covenant Eyes is helping you.
If you want a good explanation of evil and suffering, watch this video with Pastor Tim Keller.
“How could a Good God allow evil to exist?”
First of all, He would not, and He did not! If He did, then He is not good or He is not God. He, being infinitely holy and good could not create anything but what is holy and good, and as we read in the creation (Genesis1-3) everything was “good.” But man and woman chose to reject the goodness of God with their ingratitude as they listened to the Devil (serpent) convince them that God was the cruel tyrant who was withholding something from them. They “chose” to eat of the forbidden tree thereby declaring with their actions that God was not good and disobeying Him was. Sin and evil were born into this world as result.
Why would a good God put something so desirable (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) in the garden and then tell Adam and Eve they cannot have it? Understanding that God who is infinite in love and overflowing with it created man as a receptacle in which He can pour out this uncontainable, overflowing love. If you had a container that was spilling over with its content, wouldn’t you look to find something that could catch the overflow? When you are overwhelmed with feelings of joy and love, don’t you look for someone you can share that with? How painful is it when that love is not returned? How blessed would you feel if that person only loved you because they were “programmed” to love you without a choice? How would you ever know that they truly loved you by choice unless there was a choice not to love you? We are a people who want to be loved by people’s choice are we not? Now do you understand why God would give man a choice? He desires, like we do, to be chosen out of the myriads of other “choices” and when we choose to love Him, we are doing what we were created for and thoroughly pleasing the heart of God, our Creator.
Why would God allow evil? He would not and did not! As soon as Adam and Eve sinned and the curse of evil entered the world, we read in Genesis 3:15 how God immediately set out in His infinite love and goodness to redeem man. God promised there that He would solve the problem of evil that the serpent inspired by crushing his head by a descendant of Eve (which as you study the Bible, learn to be Jesus the Messiah who fulfilled that promise on the cross of Calvary). We also read in Genesis that God covered up Adam and Eve with animal skin, which means that an animal was sacrificed to cover their sin. Remember, God said if they ate of the fruit they would surely die. If they did not, then God was a liar or He was wishy-washy and not steadfast. A God that is eternal, perfect, and the First Cause of the entire universe could only be immutable (unchanging). He can only fulfill all He says because He “spoke” the world into existence. Since we came into being through His spoken Word, then if He changed the word He spoke, all existence would change too. Adam and Eve listened to the words of the serpent (the Devil who is only a liar) rather than God’s Word which is eternally Truth, and they sinned against God. However, the first thing God did, being moved by His infinite love and mercy, was cover their sin. He before promised them that sin would be punishable by death, but animals (innocent creatures) paid for their sin so they would not have to. As animals were sacrificed mankind would have to face the ugliness of sin and evil, and the goodness of God who would do such a mercy so they would not have to die apart from Him.
Why would God allow evil? He did not! He solved the problem of evil already when He sent His Son Jesus to be the final sacrifice for sin on the cross. Evil and sin is solved at the cross. All who complain about evil or sin refuse to go there and receive the most wonderful Gift that God has ever given, His only Son! You should be very glad that God did not come and just obliterate evil, because you (and I) would have been in that number and eternally cut-off from God with no hope, left with only evil forever!
Let’s say God came down right now to remove evil from the world and left all those who are “good.” When is the last time “good” people never did anything evil? Has history not proven that “good people” corrupt? So that means God would have to continually come down over and over and over to remove the evil people that had corrupted from their “goodness” the last time He came. No, an infinitely wise God would never have such an absurd and foolish solution as this! He would come ONCE, and only once to solve this dilemma we call evil.
God came down and took on the form of man (Philippians 2:6-7). Jesus left His heavenly throne to take up a Roman cross; He set aside His Royal Crown to put on a crown of thorns; He left the palaces of heaven and lived like a nomad in the world He created. He was born the target of assassination, served like a pauper, and suffered and died like a criminal. Jesus did not consider His divine equality with God as something to be held onto, but instead He “emptied Himself… and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6–8). In Hebrews it says, “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross” (12:2). Emptied, humbled, and sacrificed: This is the “Man” that joyfully left all He had to find you, sold all He had to purchase you, labored with all He had to raise you up from the dead, and spent all He had to unite you with Him in eternal life. Apparently He sees you as that precious of a treasure. Can you do the same for Him?
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” plagues the thoughts of many people. On the other hand, we could just as easily ask, “Why do good things happen to bad people?” The solution to this unexpected conundrum can be found by examining our corrupted assumptions. In simpler terms, we wrongly expect justice (righteous people receiving righteous things and wicked people receiving wicked things) even though life itself has continuously proven this preconceived notion to be pure fantasy. Solomon saw this injustice of life and called it futility.
First, you might expect that bad things should happen to bad people (wicked outcomes for wicked people, etc.). Be careful here not to agree to swiftly; if this “justice” of yours were the case, we would all be doomed to be under God’s wrath forever. Our hearts should be overflowing with worship and gratitude that God has not given any of us what we really deserve (death) and has given what we never would deserve (eternal life). The “futility” that Solomon saw was the real futility.
The solution to this seemingly futile problem is found at the cross: Jesus, the only One who is righteous, getting what the wicked deserve (eternal death apart from God), so we who are all wicked could get what only He deserves (eternal life with God). The next time you are plagued by the foolish question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” you need to ask the right question: “Why do good things happen to bad people” Better stated, “Why did the best thing in history happen to me? What did I do so good to get Jesus to save me?” If you are demanding justice, be careful, you just might get what you demand! Get into the habit of saying this: “Death was mine and Jesus took it; Life is mine and He lost it.” God did not desire to remove evil; He did infinitely better than that— He dealt with its root of sin, and He did it by giving Himself to death on our behalf. The problem of “evil” has been solved. The Cross changes everything!
Q: Why did the worst thing in history (crucifying Jesus, God Incarnate) happen to the most righteous Person in history?
A: To conquer the reason “bad things” happen to people (sin and evil).
For more info on this topic, I wrote an article called, “God’s Divine Dilemma.” Here is the direct link: http://davidandkimfrazier.com/files/Gods_Divine_Dilemma..pdf
Hey Harris, Norm Geisler has written a book, “If God, Why Evil”, that explains the existence of evil. Your question will be answered in this book. You may also find Norm Geisler on You Tube explaining the existence of evil. Evil is not a thing, evil is a lack in a good thing. Like rust on a car or a wound on your body and is the result of free will.
Hey Luke,
Thank you for writing up this blog. I think it is tremendously important, as a Counselor myself in a Christian context and church, that we begin to open up this discussion to the church. Having walked with many through understanding pornography addiction, reduction to a simply “morality” is not enough to change anyone. God made us, and our brains, and in understanding our brains, we can understand God more.
I am also a big fan of integrating faith and neuroscience, as my experiences thus far continue to show that whether it is porn addiction, or marriage counseling, or anything else, it continues to validate God’s truth claims, not negate them.
One critique or question I might raise for you, and perhaps you can work up another post on this- is discussing cause versus consequence. As I am reading this post, I completely agree that what Sam Black and others point out is that the use of porn decreases healthy brain function and turns our dopaminergic system upside down, completing distorting “normal”. However, many tend to get lost in the neuroscience discussion as if it is saying it is a “cop out” to the cause- the initial cause.
I believe that spiritually speaking, we’d agree that the cause of one initially turning to porn is a worship issue, however, I do think that the cause is also neurologically relevant, as we understand a fallen brain prior to porn exposure. This post seems mostly directed at the consequences of ongoing use, both spiritually and neurologically, which I think is also good and necessary. I’d like to open up a more complex understanding, neurologically and spiritually, of what initially makes one more predisposed to use pornography.
And here’s my concern, if I am not making complete sense, is that often times those addicted to pornography have wrongly defined their problem, as if they “just really like porn”, when in actuality, many times, they happen to stumble upon pornography and due to life circumstances (ex. my parents are getting a divorce, I am failing at school, I have no friends, I am being bullied- any number of things that tap into the things you listed above from Tim Chester), the marriage of porn use and emotional pain become powerfully married.
But, what is going on that brain- perhaps the adolescent brain- prior to the porn exposure, and what makes certain situations, both in real life and neurologically, a breeding ground for addiction?
These are some things I have examined on my own, but I’d love for the church to work on a continuing to redefine and deepen this, rather than seeing it as a simple morality issue.
Thanks for reading my ramblings. I hope we can continue this discussion.
Great questions, Tyler. You are correct that the article is intentionally limited in scope, describing the man or woman who is already entrenched in the habit. It does not try to unlock how the fall impacts the brains of “normal” (i.e. not yet exposed to porn) people, and that is indeed a more complex question. It would most definitely deserve a post of its own.
Do you have any thoughts on this (other than what you’ve already said here)?
Thanks for this good article on porn
You’re welcome, Elvin!
This article was awesome! I will definitely recommend it to any of my friends who have this struggle.
Thanks for spreading the word!
This is great information. I think it will be helpful to many. Thanks for publishing.
You’re welcome, Lisa. I hope this blesses many.
Thank you! That’s really the only thing that needs to be said: Thank you.
Thanks, Ryan, for the encouragement!
Thanks, anything is possible I quit after 25 years.
I lead a group for the women whose husbands are porn addicted and this article is great ! Thank you
Thanks, Mary! Glad you found it beneficial!
My ex-husband left me and my children over porn addiction. He has been addicted for 33 years. What are the chances he will change and want his family back? Should I even want him back after what he did to us?
It is not wrong to want your husband back, even after his sin. You share a bond with him that is unbreakable in this life. That said, forgiveness is often a difficult thing, and regaining trust can be a monumental task. I cannot say what “the chances” are he will change, because I’ve seen both drastic turn-arounds and stubborn resistance, often in the most “unlikely” people.
Have you found help for your own wounded heart in all of this? What you’ve been through, with his porn addiction and the desertion of his family, has had to be very difficult for you.
thank sor this article
Glad you like it, Trevor.
That dualism you mentioned is a basic tenet of neoplatonism, and made me think of a term coined by Randy Alcorn called “Christoplatonism” — basically the thought that physical things are evil and spiritual things are good. Thanks for the article.
I’ve not heard that term coined before. I like it. Unfortunately, its found in so many sectors of church, not the least of which areas like this.