How Porn Weaponizes the Body
Romans 6 gives an amazing description of sin’s effect on the body. Sin reigns in the body, making us obey its passions (6:12). We can present our members (that is, our body parts) to sin as instruments of unrighteousness (6:13). This presentation of our body parts to sin has a compounding effect: offering them as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leads to more impurity and lawlessness (6:19). Sin begets more and deeper sin.
Nowhere is this more clear than in the use of pornography. Porn use effectively weaponizes the body. By habituating the body to sin, it turns the body into an enemy. Our bodies become tools, instruments in the hands of Sin and Unrighteousness. Sin becomes our slave master, and we feel as though we are debtors to the flesh, and therefore must live according to the flesh (Rom. 8:12).
The latest neuroscience on porn use confirms the Bible’s description.
Essentially, pornography rewires the brain. The brain is what scientists call “plastic”; it’s capable of being shaped and molded, and then of holding that new shape over time. Brain plasticity is particularly high during one’s teenage years; as we age, our brains become less malleable. Given that many men first encounter porn as teenagers, it’s no surprise that they become hooked and find it difficult to break the habit as they get older. Porn weaponizes the brain so that sin is easy and obedience is hard.
Looking at pornography triggers neurological, chemical, and hormonal events that leave a mark on the brain. Frequent use hardens the neural pathways and molds the brain so that it craves porn. Of course, this isn’t unique to porn. Alcohol, drugs, video games, smartphones, food—all of these can do the same. But porn is somewhat unique in that it is a poly-drug, meaning it is both an upper (a dopamine-high like cocaine) and a downer (an opiate-release like heroin). I won’t go into all of the details, but it is useful to see how the porn “high” that builds up to orgasm, and then the porn “crash” that occurs afterward is a potent and addictive drug.
The “upper” is caused primarily by dopamine, which is released when we see sexual images and become aroused. Novelty triggers excess dopamine, which is why many men don’t move straight to the pursuit of an orgasm, but instead linger and search for image after image after image. There’s a kind of “arousal addiction” that sets in as guys hunt for the perfect image. It’s basically the pornographic counterpart to foreplay prior to sexual intimacy. With each new image, the dopamine spikes.
“Sex is designed as the consummation of the one-flesh union between husband and wife. Orgasms are meant to strengthen the bonds of marriage.”
The “downer” of porn is primarily caused by opiates released through orgasm. It’s why we feel tired and relaxed after sex. But these opiates, along with the release of norepinephrine prior to orgasm, also has another effect: these chemicals and hormones are responsible for storing the memory of what caused the euphoric sensation. Basically, they take a neurological snapshot of what was happening when the pleasurable sensation occurred. In doing so, they bind us to the object that triggers the orgasm.
Now, it’s not difficult to see God’s purposes for this sort of mechanism. Sex is designed as the consummation of the one-flesh union between husband and wife. God intends for that neurological snapshot to be taken as a husband makes love to his wife, so that the two of them are more tightly bound together. Orgasms are meant to strengthen the bonds of marriage.
But compare the different snapshots that are taken when a man makes love to his wife and when a man looks at pornography. In the former, you have the presence of the wife. It’s a holistic experience engaging all five senses. There’s an emotional connection between them. There might have been a date earlier. It’s these circumstances that the brain remembers as the occasion for the pleasure of the orgasm. Conversely, when a man looks at porn, he’s alone in the dark. He’s a voyeur, watching other people engage in sexual activity. He’s clicking a mouse or typing on a computer or touching a screen. There’s no emotional connection with another human being. So, when he has an orgasm, his brain remembers “computer, dark, alone, scrolling, swiping.”
The effect of this is to habituate a man to be drawn to porn whenever he finds himself in similar circumstances. When he sits down at his computer alone in the dark, even if he has no intention of looking for pornography, the elephant gets restless. Like Pavlov’s dog, it’s been conditioned to respond to certain stimuli. Conversely, a man who has trained his body for porn may find it difficult to become and stay aroused when engaging with his wife. She doesn’t provide the endless novelty that he’s conditioned himself to. And so, sin becomes easy, and real relationships become hard.
All of this is bad enough. But then you add in the law of diminishing returns. Novelty inevitably wears off, so a man must find greater novelty, which eventually means greater corruption and perversion in order to attain the dopamine kick. C.S. Lewis describes this as “an ever-increasing desire for an ever-diminishing pleasure.” That’s why men tend to progress from soft-core pornography to hard-core pornography to a myriad of increasingly perverse forms of sexuality. Exacerbating all of this are the three deadly A’s of modern pornography: Affordability, Accessibility, and Anonymity.
Sexual sin has always been around. In the ancient world, a man could visit a brothel or a temple prostitute in order to pursue immorality. Sixty years ago, a man who wanted to look at porn could go to a store and purchase a magazine with a limited number of images from another human being (whose eyes he might try to avoid). But today there is an endless supply of images and videos in everyone’s pocket, and accessing it requires no human interaction at all. The modern porn problem is unusual because of its ability to deliver unending novelty, anywhere, with total (apparent) anonymity. Given these factors, it’s no wonder that pornography is so addictive in the modern world.
And its consequences are devastating.
From porn-induced erectile dysfunction that robs us of marital intimacy to the overwhelming shame and horror caused by the increasing corruption of pornographic images, from the isolation and loneliness birthed from our sense of shame to the apathy and acedia that numbs us to the beauty and goodness of the world, culminating in a sense of hopelessness about the future—the devastation is real and unmistakable.
Here’s the bottom line: porn use creates brain ruts, hardening the neural pathways and conditioning the body to make porn use easy and obedience hard. Our bodies become instruments of unrighteousness and impurity. Many men have had decades of habituation in porn use, going back to their formative years as children and teenagers. Their elephants have developed a taste for the endless novelty of porn, and their riders have begun to grow disillusioned and despairing of any possibility of change.
“Pornography rewires the brain. But by the grace of God, it’s possible to wire it back again.”
One last comment: everything I’ve said is meant as an explanation for why pornography is so addictive and difficult to overcome. But explanations are not excuses. Neuroscience can help to explain sin, but it can never excuse sin. Explanations should produce compassion in us (especially for those who were exposed to pornography at a young age, or whose pornography use came about as a result of sexual abuse or trauma). Explanations can also create patience in us, since we recognize how difficult it is to steer unruly elephants. At the same, as you consider the various layers of your own struggle, beware of the temptation to absolve yourself of responsibility. For most of us, it’s our choices that have weaponized our bodies and turned them into enemies. We may be in a pit, but we’re the ones who dug it.
More importantly, however, understanding the bodily dimension of the struggle can also give us hope. Pornography rewires the brain. But by the grace of God, it’s possible to wire it back again.
Excerpted with permission from More than a Battle by Joe Rigney. Copyright 2021, B&H Publishing.
Joe Rigney (Ph.D., University of Chester) serves as Assistant Professor of Theology and Literature at Bethlehem College & Seminary. He is the author of four books: Live Like a Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis’s Chronicles (Eyes & Pen, 2013), The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts (Crossway, 2015), Lewis on the Christian Life: Becoming Truly Human in the Presence of God (Crossway, 2018), and Strangely Bright: Can You Love God and Enjoy This World? (Crossway, 2020) Joe is also a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul. Joe lives in Minneapolis with his wife and three sons.