Theology Professor Compares Private Masses With Masturbation
Massimo Faggioli, a pro-Francis theology professor at Villanova University, suggested that Mass without congregation is a form of “liturgical onanism.”
The now-deleted tweet (March 31) was made public by Joseph Shaw of the English Latin Mass Society.
It said, “In the Catholic Church, some are using this pandemic for a theological agenda that reveals itself in liturgical onanism (like the document of the bishops of Umbria, Italy), but goes beyond that and needs to be addressed.“
What little I've read by Faggioli (and a little is too much) indicates that he 1) considers theology to be merely what is opposed to the Council of Trent, and 2) has been influenced by studying "theology" in Germany--which of course means that it was influenced by Hegel.
He seems to be an Historicist, i.e., statements of dogma are nothing else than a subjective comment bound to a certain time and place. Once that epoch is gone, the statements lose their relevance.
Well, if onanism is not masturbation, what is it? @Frà Alexis Bugnolo
Genesis 38:
8 Then Judah said to Onan, 'Take your brother's wife, and do your dutyas her brother-in-law, to maintain your brother's line.'
9 But Onan, knowing that the line would not count as his, spilt his seed on the ground every time he slept with his brother's wife, to avoid providing offspring for his brother.
10 What he did was offensive to Yahweh, who killed him too.
From then on, the act of polluting outside the propper natural place, in the air, self-congratulating, has been called onanism...
Tamar yielded herself to Onan specifically for the purpose of raising up a child to her late husband, Er.
Onan willingly engaged in the conjugal act with Tamar, apparently with absolutely no intention of impregnating her. It seems to me it should not be referred to as "the solitary sin" because in so doing, he sinned grievously against Tamar by taking her, and having her under a false pretense.
Of course, that's right, but, since very ancient times, in many languages, masturbation is called onanism
"since very ancient times, in many languages, masturbation is called onanism" ---Being ancient does not confer accuracy. That's a fallacy known as argumentum ad antiquitatem www.logicallyfallacious.com/cgi-bin/uy/webpages.cgi
To answer the question you asked Fr. Bugnolo, technically, the Sin of Onan was coitus interruptus.
www.straightdope.com/…/what-exactly-wa…
And, of course, coitus interruptus is a form of masturbation. And, of course, if you are talking about the way in which a word is used, its antiquity and universallity is relevant. But long ago that I gave up expecting that my boy made such profound distinctions
Onanism is not M*bation. If you are going to use explicit language which is unsuitable to children, then you should at least use the correct term.