I just thought that was an interesting theory.
How do you mean they would not have the challenges to commit the sin of self abuse (there, I think I found an apt term for that) back then as we do now?
Firstly, we are not interested in wacked out "theories" that some drug peddlar "discovers" in his basement or in his dreams. We have the truth as attested to by our forefathers and as WITNESSED in a mass revelation of G-d on Mt. Sinai, witnessed by the nation of Israel. We protected and safeguarded this holy truth, which contains not only this supernatural experience on the mountain, but also the scores of other miracles provided for the Jewish people by Hashem throughout the text. Of course, that is yet another shortsightedness of this guy's despicable theory, but we've already refuted him. Back on the subject matter at hand, also contained in this text are the prophesies fulfilled and those we still await, and we will cherish this gift from G-d and treat it with the dignity and honor it deserves.
I understand if you mean that asking tough questions, and deep philosophical questions about Torah causes you to have more respect for the work. Of course pursue those questions, and we all do/should. But this was not what you displayed here. Instead, you used disgusting language and immaturity that is entirely inappropriate for the holiness of our sacred Torah. So watch the language and try to have respect by having... respect, rather than disrespect. There are ways to question (even on topics like this that are sexual or graphic in nature) without doing so in a brazen immature fashion that puts a negative or insolent remark against the Torah, G-d forbid, or slanders our great Jewish prophets and leaders, G-d forbid.
As to your question. Well MassuhDgoodname has stated some of the reasons already in this thread. They got married younger, they had sometimes even multiple wives, etc. But I would add this. They were also more righteous than us in those generations. The farther we get away from the generation that received revelation on Mt. Sinai the further removed we are from 'consciousness' of G-d and the more we err (also requires us to build more emunah = faith). This kind of challenge would not only be less challenging (they had other more pressing issues like idol worship, which for us today is not such a challenge), but it would also be easier to resist even thinking bad thoughts due to the modest environment, societal norms etc. I would also note that our generation is consumed by sex. It is all around us, women expose themselves, nudity is everywhere, and immodest behavior has become the norm, university/frat style parties are the accepted way to 'have fun.' This is not only new in the modern world vs. the ancient, this is fairly new compared to the 1940's and 50's when women did dress modestly. It is difficult to imagine what the world looked like then. In the modern period, we also have dirty magazines and all the other filth that gets circulated and through the internet, and men get into bad habits - and quickly in life. There are many reasons why this subject/sin would be beneath the dignity of those earlier generations. It is unfortunate that we have many men struggling with this problem today, but it is a challenge that can be defeated and we can amass great reward for doing so.
Maybe going in depth on a topic like this one (the 'self abuse' issue) might be more appropriate in a private venue rather than a public forum like this, but it is a legitimate question when framed properly and in a respectful manner.
Granted, it's still the same torah with exception to the 9 spelling variants,
But every single word is still the same. Even in the Yemenite Torah where they have a few varations on silent letters or spell certain words in a different manner (for instance, a yud in a place where there is no yud elsewhere but the word is pronounced the same way because in both cases it's the same word and can be spelled with a vowel -vowels are not written in Torah script - or with a yud. Thus the yud is unnecessary for the ee sound built into the word. These are the sort of variations we're talking about.) the Torah from front to back is still all the same Hebrew words in the same precise order without exception and pronounced the same (phonetically speaking, of course with varying dialects/accents in different cultures and parts of the world). This is actually quite a feat that we were able to preserve the Torah in such precise authenticity word for word. Of course we were given an Oral Tradition with the instructions on how to transmit the Torah that ensured our potential to do this, and we obviously fanatically cherished it as sacred from G-d so as to not add in our own errors to His holy books, but still it is a pretty underrated literary achievement in my opinion.
