St. Paul's sin

[Usagi]

I think (just my opinion, of course) that Aquinas understood that some people can harden their hearts to the point that they cannot/will not repent–everything must be their way, or no way, not even God’s way. Such people can commit such a sin and not repent and never intend to repent. Although, it would have to be deliberate. In the case of the Pharisees, I believe Our Lord was warning them against this for it was jealousy and envy which drove their words and actions more than any deliberate desire to thwart God. We cannot know anyone’s eternal destiny, but we can guard against hardening our hearts so that we don’t sin by rebelling against God willfully and knowingly.

I agree. It’s not that Aquinas was wrong, but that the poster who originally quoted Aquinas was misunderstanding or misusing the saint’s words.

In agreement with the Church today and most of us here, Aquinas states that impenitence is the only unforgivable sin. Of course it’s possible to be in a state of impenitence in this life – this life is the only time in which we can commit mortal sins at all. In Heaven there is no sin, in Purgatory we commit no new sins, and in Hell we are already experiencing the consequences of unrepented mortal sin and cannot be “damned again.” However, the state of impenitence still needs to persist until death in order to damn one.

What Aquinas is not saying is that there is some specific “unforgivable sin” that you can commit in this life, and once you’ve done so, God will not forgive you no matter how much longer you live or how heartily you repent.

Usagi