C.S. Lewis On Porn And Masturbation
What did C.S. Lewis say about pornography and masturbation?
Lewis treated both as settling for far less than God offers. In Mere Christianity he wrote that people keep the sex instinct inflamed to make money, and that God will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. In The Weight of Glory he said our desires are not too strong but too weak, and we are far too easily pleased. He acknowledged his own early struggle.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the most famous and prolific Christian writers and scholars in modern history. His popular writings include The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was also a close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Did you also know that C.S. Lewis wrote on masturbation?
Lewis was one of the most influential Christian apologists whose works refuted popular objections to Christianity. His thoughts are still highly regarded and studied by Christians around the world.
Mere Christianity
Among his wide range of topics, Lewis expressed his views on pornography and masturbation. He stated in Mere Christianity that one factor in the growth of pornography was culture’s greed:
“There is nothing to be ashamed of in enjoying your food: there would be everything to be ashamed of if half the world made food the main interest of their lives and spent their time looking at pictures of food and dribbling and smacking their lips…. We grow up surrounded by propaganda in favor of unchastity. There are people who want to keep our sex instinct inflamed in order to make money out of us. Because, of course, a man with an obsession is a man who has very little sales-resistance. God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome.”
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The Weight of Glory
In The Weight of Glory, Lewis summarized a man’s battle with pornography as wanting to settle for rewards and satisfaction far below what God offers:
“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Lewis admitted to having a struggle with masturbation in his early years, and even confided in a personal letter to a friend:
“Lying on that study sofa…I had sensations which you can imagine. And at once I knew that the Enemy would take advantage of the vague longings and tendernesses to try and make me believe later on that he had the fulfillment that I really wanted. So I balked him by letting the longings go even deeper and turning my mind to the One, the real object of all desire, which (you know my view) is what we are really wanting in all wants… “
The Real Evil Of Masturbation
In another letter, he suggests that masturbation primarily results from a man’s desire to withdraw into his own selfish world.
“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.
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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 woman can rival.
Among those shadowy brides he is always adored, always the perfect lover; 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…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.”
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Grace Never Fails
Lewis admits that he didn’t understand why God does not always change a person’s desires all at once, but he had learned that God’s grace never failed
“The evidence seems to be that God sometimes works such a complete metamorphosis and sometimes not. We don’t know why: God forbid we should presume it went by merit.
He never in my unmarried days did it for me. He gave me–at least and after many ups and down, the power to resist the temptation so far as the act was concerned. Never did he stop the recurrent temptations, nor was I guarded from the sin of mental consent. I don’t mean I wasn’t given sufficient grace. I mean that I sometimes fell into it, grace or no…
The great discovery for me was that the attack does not last forever. It is the devil’s lie that the only escape from the tension is through yielding.”
You Can Find Freedom
It is possible to find freedom from pornography and masturbation addiction. The Conquer Series is a dynamic, action-packed series containing 10 teaching episodes and. A study guide, provided through the digital pass, provides additional tools for digging deeper into the lessons.
The Conquer Series gives practical, insightful Biblical teaching and proven principles that have helped millions of men in over 100+ countries to live porn-free lives.
Writing at the intersection of faith and neuroscience to help men and women break destructive cycles and walk in lasting freedom.
More articles by Jeremy Wiles →Frequently Asked Questions
Why did C.S. Lewis compare masturbation to a prison?
Because he saw it reversing what sex is for. Desire is meant to lead a man out of himself and into real union with another person. Lust turns it back inward, sending him into what Lewis called the prison of himself to keep a harem of imaginary brides who are always available, always adoring, and never require sacrifice. The danger, he warned, is coming to love the prison.
Does temptation ever stop completely?
Lewis was honest that it did not stop for him. What he learned instead was that the attack does not last forever. He called it the devil's lie that the only escape from the tension is to give in. That is worth holding onto in the moment. The pressure you feel right now has an expiration, even when it does not feel like it will pass.
Why doesn't God take the desire away instantly?
Lewis admitted he did not know. He observed that God sometimes works a complete change in a person and sometimes does not, and he refused to assume it had anything to do with merit. In his own unmarried years he was given the power to resist the act, though the temptations kept returning and he still sometimes fell. Grace, he insisted, never failed him.
Where did C.S. Lewis write about pornography?
Across several places rather than one essay. In Mere Christianity he described a culture that keeps the sex instinct inflamed in order to make money from it. In The Weight of Glory he framed the problem as desires that are too weak rather than too strong. Some of his most direct writing on masturbation appears in personal letters to a friend.
Can you actually get free from porn and masturbation?
Yes, and not by trying harder. Freedom from porn and masturbation is possible, and it comes through solid biblical teaching paired with proven principles rather than sheer effort. The Conquer Series is ten teaching episodes with a study guide for digging deeper, and it has helped millions of men in more than a hundred countries. You can start at SoulRefiner.com.
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