Unforgivable Sin against the Holy Spirit?

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Has any one ever figured out what this sin is and why is it unforgivable?
(It is mentioned five or six times in NT).

I thought the Church and Jesus (in different statements) taught that all sins, no
matter how terrible are forgivable. I believe Baptists, LDS and other
Protestant sects have their own idea of what it is.

What does the Church think it is? What do you think it is?
How do you interpret this statement:
Luke 12:8-10: "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven."
 
From what I understand, it means dying unrepentantly in mortal sin. You can’t just commit it in the middle of your life and have no shot at Heaven.
 
tobbias88 said:
Has any one ever figured out what this sin is and why is it unforgivable?
(It is mentioned five or six times in NT).

I thought the Church and Jesus (in different statements) taught that all sins, no
matter how terrible are forgivable. I believe Baptists, LDS and other
Protestant sects have their own idea of what it is.

What does the Church think it is? What do you think it is?
How do you interpret this statement:
Luke 12:8-10: "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven."
Click to expand...
The Pharisees saw the many miracles Jesus perfomed, curing the lame and the blind, driving out demons, yet they accused Jesus before the people of being in league with the devil. They refused to acknowledge the Holy Spirit who bore witness to the true identity of Jesus Christ, and so they blasphemed.
 
These threads already adress this issue quite thouroughly IMO (I searched the forums on “unforgivable” BTW)

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=517743&highlight=unforgivable
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=516044&highlight=unforgivable
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=508031&highlight=unforgivable

This one includes the “Ask an Apologist” list of references too
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=507901&highlight=unforgivable

Interesting stuff.👍
 
From my understanding blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable because by doing so one deny’s the agent of salvation.

Since one has rejected the agency through which God’s grace works within the individual one cannot be saved because the blasphemer has rejected “God’s offer” so to speak and salvation is no longer possible because that grace is no longer transferred and an ontological change can no longer be made because out of free will God’s merciful grace has been rejected and by doing so one has renounced salvation itself and due to this final impenitence and hardening of heart one closes themselves off completely from the Lord.

In effect by denying the Holy Spirit a choice has been made between the possibility of Salvation and the impossibilty of salvation and by choosing impossibility by blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, all possibilty for salvation becomes impossible by the free choice of the blasphemer.
 
I was taught that it is the sin of unbelief when I was a protestant. If that is wrong then I want to know what it is! 🤷
 
InspiritCarol;7360940]These threads already addressed this issue quite thouroughly IMO Thanks Carol for those referrals esp.breakdown of 6 Sins against Holy Spirit.
Looking at it with this understanding, unless there are many deadbed conversions, huge numbers of people are going straight to Hell; in fact most Europeans, Australians and large groups of Americans, north & south are all doomed. They had the truth, disregarded it and now utterly, utterly refuse to ever believe it again. 'All fairytales. All smoke & mirrors,’ they say. Then when we include China & Russia I guess 80 - 90% of the world is non-believers.(aggressive atheists). What an appalling thought!

Really really it is a frightening scenario since these people have deliberately shut themselves off from God’s mercy.
 
Judge lest you be judged.

I’ve always thought of the unforgivable sin directed as a more specific act against the Holy Spirit rather than the general denial’s of God so many “enlightened” atheists make. And to be honest with you every atheists ive met (beyond counting since i live in australia) has failed to have any real reason behind the atheism other than popular cultural opinion or a hatred resulting from a deep misunderstanding of religion and in particular christianity.

Anyways back to my point i think it would be perhaps a tad unwise to suggest that all the atheists have commited the unforgivable sin, because in denying God they perhaps still have not specifically blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, and as were aware one can blaspheme against the Father and the Son all you want but the possibility for forgiveness and mercy is there if one truly repents. So perhaps the atheists denials of God in general cannot be seen as the unforgivable sin since its not directed against the Holy Spirit specifically and the mind of the blasphemer cannot be known with certainty of the intention of their general insults and denials.

Saying that i do know atheists who have a high probability of having commited this sin, and a high probability anyway even if they havent of being later judged and found wanting by the Lord although i hope that God in his mercy will forgive them of their transgressions and guide them into the truth.
 
It is NOT just unbelief.

It is being exposed to the truth of the Christian Religion, and then believing that you are not capable of being forgiven. That your sin is so great, that God can not possibly forgive you.

That IS the sin against the Holy Spirit, to believe that there is actually no way that your sin can be forgiven.
 
(1) Despair,

(2) Presumption of God’s mercy,

(3) Impugning the known truth,

(4) Envy the spiritual good of another,

(5) Obstinacy in sin,

(6) Final impenitence.

Except for (4) all includes the denial of the real contrition (either perfect of imperfect). Naturally all includes the final impenitence.

I never understood how and why (4) Envy of another person’s spiritual good can prevent the final contrition.
 
This(below) to me sounds more like the ultimate sin against the Holy Spirit. Unlike Pentacostalists, most RCs are very lukewarm about the Holy Spirit and seldom address him in prayer. Perhaps we should turn more to him than to Jesus or Mary with our petitions and worries.

Taken from another site:
*The Greeks, led by their Patriarchs Photius and Cerularius, denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost and, after apparently renouncing their error, fell back into the same sin. They were threatened by Pope Nicholas V with God’s anger if they did not repent. This they obstinately refused to do.

Three years later, in 1453, Mahomet II, at the head of a formidable Moslem army, surrounded the city and after fierce fighting defeated the Greeks and captured Constantinople–this, on the very feast of the Holy Ghost. Fearful massacres, pillage and fires lasted three whole days, reducing the inhabitants to an awful plight. Mahomet, on the fourth day, entered the city, took possession of the Imperial Palace and turned the cathedral into a mosque. Constantinople has since then lain under the yoke of the Turks for over 500 years. *
 
The_Old_Medic said:
It is NOT just unbelief.

It is being exposed to the truth of the Christian Religion, and then believing that you are not capable of being forgiven. That your sin is so great, that God can not possibly forgive you.

That IS the sin against the Holy Spirit, to believe that there is actually no way that your sin can be forgiven.
Click to expand...
Right - and what I’ve been taught is that the only sin that cannot be forgiven, is the one that isn’t asked forgiveness for.
 
The only sin that God cannot forgive is the sin we refuse to let him forgive.

This sin, the one we hold onto over God’s forgivness, is the one that sends us to hell.

Refusal of God’s forgiveness cannot be forgiven here (unless we turn back and ask forgivness) and it cannot be forgiven in the hereafter (as it is too late).

It is the final refusal on our part, and therefore can be considered in a real sense the final blasphemy one can make against God.
 
www.newadvent.org sais that it depends on how you blaspheme that determines if it is forgivable or not. It says if you blaspheme through pure malice, this sin doesn’t even deserve to be forgiven. I thought that God could forgive any sin. Here is the link if you want to look at the page: newadvent.org/summa/3014.htm
 
*Hi everyone,
I am wondering if there is anyone who could help me understand this.
Please keep in mind you are trying to explain it to a seven year old.
I remember hearing about this sin when I went to first communion formation. I do not recall what the nun tried to explain to us. The only thing about this sin I ever understood was that the Unforgivable Sin against the Holy Spirit is the fact that one believes one can not be forgiven of a sin.
In reading some of the posts on this thread I am beginning to believe it might not be quite that simple or is it?

If there is some one who is a Catechism teacher who sees this post could you please help me understand how this list is unforgivable and if what I understand is correct or not. If it is not could you please help me understand how it is incorrect.

(1) Despair,

(2) Presumption of God’s mercy,

(3) Impugning the known truth,

(4) Envy the spiritual good of another,

(5) Obstinacy in sin,

(6) Final impenitence.

Thank you so much for your time and patience.🙂
 
tobbias88 said:
This(below) to me sounds more like the ultimate sin against the Holy Spirit. Unlike Pentacostalists, most RCs are very lukewarm about the Holy Spirit and seldom address him in prayer. Perhaps we should turn more to him than to Jesus or Mary with our petitions and worries.
Click to expand...
You see, even in our Nicene Creed, the paragraph concerning the holy spirit is shorter than the one of Jesus (yeah the first paragraph is the shortest… not my point). Saints will probably help us with those prayers. I can understand why we might seem to pay less attention to the spirit, because of that “awkward” feeling talking to someone who doesn’t speak. In fact, “he has spoken through the prophets”, but since after the revelation of John there are no more prophets, we feel like not being able to speak to the holy spirit.

Do Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost mean the exact same thing?
 
PLAT said:
Do Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost mean the exact same thing?
Click to expand...
Absolutely. One is the Latin-ate and the other is the Germanic expression for the same person and concept. Since World War I there seems to be a tendency in US English to banish the Germanic roots of the English language, this being one example. And I prefer the more earthy Germanic words in English. (apologies for that little rant - it really doesnt matter)

I always end the day with a prayer to the Holy Spirit that I learned in School doing my confirmation. Remember confirmation is really all about the Holy Ghost!

Come Holy Spirit Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the FIRE of your love
Send forth your SPIRIT and they shall be created
And YOU will renew the face of the Earth
Amen!

I’m thinking now if I should substitute “Ghost” for “Spirit”.

As for the sinning against the Holy Spirit, I suppose apostasy? I’ve heard de-baptism in Belgium, and there is a website in Ireland called “count-me-out” which enable people to de-register as Catholics. But personally if God never touched these peoples lives, then maybe their rejection is not as severe as that of the pharisees?
 
tobbias88 said:
Has any one ever figured out what this sin is and why is it unforgivable?
(It is mentioned five or six times in NT).

I thought the Church and Jesus (in different statements) taught that all sins, no
matter how terrible are forgivable. I believe Baptists, LDS and other
Protestant sects have their own idea of what it is.

What does the Church think it is? What do you think it is?
How do you interpret this statement:
Luke 12:8-10: "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven."
Click to expand...
Its not that Holy Mother the Church is unwilling to forgive every sin - these sins resist the power of forgiveness and thus resist the Holy Spirit.

Think about the words of Our Lord regarding how grievous are sins against the Holy Ghost: “Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”

The sins against the Holy Ghost are commonly said to be six in number: despair, presumption, impenitence, obstinacy, resisting truth, and envy of another’s spiritual welfare.

So if you think about the forces at work in each of these types of Sins - how can they be forgiven if the person who comits them has fallen into them as a vice?

A person who is in despair has given up all hope , so they dont try to save themselves.

A person who presumes to be saved doesnt pray , doesnt go to confession and the gravity of sin is lost on him.

Impenitence means a person completely disregards the Commandments and lives to serve his own will. You must want to give up sin and you must learn to fear offending GOD.

Obstinency to this degree can be like a Heretic who knows the truth but his pride prevents him from acknowleging truth.

Resisting truth as when the Church plainly teaches truth and the objector refuses to believe anyway - as in the denial of a Dogma.

Envy of someone elses welfare is the antithesis of Charity , in effect working against the salvation of souls rather to their betterment.

Another way of looking at it is to think of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost and then think of these sins above that attempt to thwart these 7 gifts which is the entire purpose of the Guidance of the Holy Ghost and the presense of the Holy Ghost in the 7 Sacraments. Those who live to work against the workings of the Holy Ghost for the Salvation of Souls are for all intents and purposes - working against everything Jesus Stood for and making a mockery of his Death on the Cross.

These are the sins against the Holy Ghost that are not forgiven.

Pax
 
The unforgivable sin is not asking for forgivness. This is because God will not grant forgivness to one who does not ask for it. Well actually its because WE are refusing the forgivness.

I hope this helps. God bless.
 
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