Sins against the Holy Ghost

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Francis_Pio

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The six of them, as I am aware, are…
  1. Despair
  2. Presumption
  3. Impenitence
  4. Obstinacy
  5. Resistance to Truth
  6. Envy of another’s spiritual good
They are defined as “unforgivable,” because by their nature, they exclude recourse to confession and the Mercy of God. Since one who commits these sins will not seek forgiveness, he will not obtain it.

I can see how this works for 1-5. Envying another’s spiritual good, however, does not seem to implicitly deny the need or reality of God’s Mercy. This being the case, what about it would make it “unforgivable?”
 
Let’s look at how the Church defines “envy.”
Envy is a capital sin. It refers to the sadness at the sight of another’s goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself, even unjustly (CCC 2539).
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Envy clearly is a very grave sin. On top of that, envy of another’s spiritual good (or piety, as it might be called) would be asserting that God has discriminatingly distributed His gifts among us and thus we would be placing ourselves on a level of question to Him–on His level.

Another way to look at it would be that to envy another’s spiritual good would be to (via that sin of envy) create schism among each other rather than the development of our own good, which, I believe, is how Aquinas interprets that.
 
Francis_Pio said:
The six of them, as I am aware, are…
  1. Despair
  2. Presumption
  3. Impenitence
  4. Obstinacy
  5. Resistance to Truth
  6. Envy of another’s spiritual good
They are defined as “unforgivable,” because by their nature, they exclude recourse to confession and the Mercy of God. Since one who commits these sins will not seek forgiveness, he will not obtain it.

I can see how this works for 1-5. Envying another’s spiritual good, however, does not seem to implicitly deny the need or reality of God’s Mercy. This being the case, what about it would make it “unforgivable?”
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Please cite where you got this list from? I’m interested to see who labelled these as unforgivable sins.

If I despair and later come to my senses and confess it, I am forgiven…
I myself have been guilty of the sin pf presumption and I obtained forgiveness in the confessional.

As far as I know, what the Church teaches, is that the only unforgivable sin is refusing forgiveness.

Please cite the source.

Thanks!
 
Francis_Pio said:
The six of them, as I am aware, are…
  1. Despair
  2. Presumption
  3. Impenitence
  4. Obstinacy
  5. Resistance to Truth
  6. Envy of another’s spiritual good
They are defined as “unforgivable,” because by their nature, they exclude recourse to confession and the Mercy of God. Since one who commits these sins will not seek forgiveness, he will not obtain it.

I can see how this works for 1-5. Envying another’s spiritual good, however, does not seem to implicitly deny the need or reality of God’s Mercy. This being the case, what about it would make it “unforgivable?”
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PennitentMan said:
Please cite where you got this list from? I’m interested to see who labelled these as unforgivable sins.

If I despair and later come to my senses and confess it, I am forgiven…
I myself have been guilty of the sin pf presumption and I obtained forgiveness in the confessional.

As far as I know, what the Church teaches, is that the only unforgivable sin is refusing forgiveness.

Please cite the source.

Thanks!
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I too am curious about both the origin of this list and the source of your assertion that they are “unforgivable”.

Thank you. 🙂
 
“Unforgivable” in the sense that if one persists in them, he cannot be forgiven, because they exclude the possibility of repentance. If one is persistent in despair, for instance, that person has lost all hope, and will never go to confession or bother to entertain the possibility that they can be saved. Envy doesn’t seem fall into this category, because it doesn’t seem to exclude recourse to confession by its very nature.

I think the list originally came from Aquinas, and was then presented in a more condensed form later on.

And no, these sins are not “unforgivable” if one snaps out of them and confesses. Impenitence is the only sin that truly cannot be forgiven, and I’m struggling to see how it is intrinsically a part of envying another’s spiritual good.
 
PennitentMan said:
Please cite where you got this list from? I’m interested to see who labelled these as unforgivable sins.

If I despair and later come to my senses and confess it, I am forgiven…
I myself have been guilty of the sin pf presumption and I obtained forgiveness in the confessional.

As far as I know, what the Church teaches, is that the only unforgivable sin is refusing forgiveness.

Please cite the source.

Thanks!
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Hi Penitent Man, as far as despair goes if you later come to your senses and confess then you are no longer in the state of despair, The key here is you at some point came our of despair and were penitent for it. You did not remain in that state. As for refusing forgiveness this is what happens to one in despair, so to me they are about the same thing.
 
Francis_Pio said:
“Unforgivable” in the sense that if one persists in them, he cannot be forgiven, because they exclude the possibility of repentance. If one is persistent in despair, for instance, that person has lost all hope, and will never go to confession or bother to entertain the possibility that they can be saved. Envy doesn’t seem fall into this category, because it doesn’t seem to exclude recourse to confession by its very nature.

I think the list originally came from Aquinas, and was then presented in a more condensed form later on.

And no, these sins are not “unforgivable” if one snaps out of them and confesses. Impenitence is the only sin that truly cannot be forgiven, and I’m struggling to see how it is intrinsically a part of envying another’s spiritual good.
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So, I guess then that the Church’s teaching about “refusing to be forgiven” being the only unforgivable sin still holds true.

The fact is that if I’m persisting in any sin, especially a mortal sin, by my own choosing, I cannot be forgiven.

So, really, Aquinas’ list should include all grave matter, done with full knowledge and consent.

As for your question on Evny, I don’t really know about that, but I tend to agree with Chorister’s summary, it makes sense 🙂
 
The only unforgivable sin is to refuse to allow God to forgive you-that would be the ultimate arrogant response .

We all struggle with sin, at least you are honest and able to identify yours.

Do not believe that God does not hear your cry and feel your pain-He does & He still loves you just as you are-even if the path to Him seems to be crumbling,

Never stop praying for His Guidance and His Mercy-only He sees your inner heart.

one question (rhetorical) : Are you sorry that your actions offend God? That is the real measure of contrition-find a good Holy priest and discuss your situation-
 
hello, i just wanted to ask about the sins of "despair’ im depressive so itend to despair easily and become helpless and hateful of life, am i sinning then ? does that mean that my depression is causing me to sin ? if its the case i ll do my best to combat it though im on medication to regulate my mood
 
etheldreda said:
hello, i just wanted to ask about the sins of "despair’ im depressive so itend to despair easily and become helpless and hateful of life, am i sinning then ? does that mean that my depression is causing me to sin ? if its the case i ll do my best to combat it though im on medication to regulate my mood
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No, yours are not sins of despair, rather a medical condition.-have you spoken to your priest about receiving the Anointing of the Sick Sacrament? Many have found the Grace received from that sacrament to be an enormous help.

Begin each day with prayer.

Be sure that you are well rested each day, exercise daily-(even if you have to walk in circles in your house while saying the rosary)and try to maintain a healthy diet.

Put your hope and trust in the mercy of Jesus and you will become better.

And always call someone, your doctor or best friend or priest if your depression suddenly worsens.

God Bless You
 
Jimdandy said:
No, yours are not sins of despair, rather a medical condition.-have you spoken to your priest about receiving the Anointing of the Sick Sacrament? Many have found the Grace received from that sacrament to be an enormous help.

Begin each day with prayer.

Be sure that you are well rested each day, exercise daily-(even if you have to walk in circles in your house while saying the rosary)and try to maintain a healthy diet.

Put your hope and trust in the mercy of Jesus and you will become better.

And always call someone, your doctor or best friend or priest if your depression suddenly worsens.

God Bless You
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thank you for answering me but the matter is even worse, i live in an arab muslim country and if i try walking aroung with a rosary i will be nicely persecuted, yes i have been to the priest and have told him my problems; for one he declared that prayer and penitance will help me alot, while the other ailemenst thai i suffer from like depressions and a sudden fear that brings me sudden anxiety., will only disappear once i leave this place.
the thing is that when i despair, i tend to feel that theres is no mercy and ene doubt because really its not paradise being here.please answer me and tell me your view
 
OK so you cannot walk around with a rosary-but you can keep count of the rosary beads on your fingers-Yes?

Praying the rosary will help you put you outside yourself and into the Passion of our Lord.

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, He wept. Then He prayed.
Many people forget this.

Again,regular exercise, balanced diet, the proper amount of sleep and taking your medications as described is vital to your mental health.

As for your panic attacks and situational depression-
these too will pass.

You are suffering much, I know.But you must offer up these sufferings to our Lord for the conversion of the hearts of unbelievers, for peace in the world, and in gratitude for the sufferings Jesus endured in order to give to us a way of being united to God while still on this earth, and the gift of eternal life.

It will not be easy, you will fall into despair often-try to make the Stations of the Cross daily-even if this means you only read about them.

Put yourself where Christ was:
He was persecuted, lied about, slandered, deserted by His closest friends.
He was innocent, but found guilty of blasphemy by His own people.
He was mocked, ridiculed,slapped, stripped, beaten and crowned with thorns.
He was paraded through a Holy City as a criminal.
He was subjected to cruel torture.
He was stripped of all His clothes, nailed to a crossbeam and then hung on a cross, with nailed feet until His human Body died.
And all the while he begged God to forgive His tormentors
And He gave us His Mother for intercession
And He promised Heaven to the repentant good thief
He died just for you.

God gave you life and He has a special purpose for that life.
Seek Him in sincerity, pray always-make your very life a prayer to God and He will shower you with His Grace and you will become well.

Our paradise awaits us in the next life, not this one.
We must become like the crucified Jesus.
Use your own pain to these ends and God will reward you in eternity.
 
thanks alot for your post it has helped me alot and reassured me too,indeed it is very difficult especially as my dad is muslim and only my mother is catholic. ill seek refuge in the rosary and prayer.
please pray for me, a lonely child in a land of heathens.
may God bless you all
pax vobiscum
 
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