What exactly is the unforgivable sin?

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I’ve read in the Bible that to “blaspheme against The Holy Spirit” means committing a sin that you can never be forgiven of. In the context of the Bible, people said that Jesus had the spirit of a demon, which was why He could drive demons wout of people. But why can’t these people be forgiven of this? I mean, weren’t they were sinning out of ignorance? That’s the whole reason why Jesus was crucified- it was becaus people were rejecting him out of ignorance even after seeing Him work miracles. But later in The Acts, Peter asks the people who had The Lord crucified to repent, which means they could be forgiven. Peter even said that the people who had Him crucified did so out of ignorance. So, what exactly does it mean to blaspheme against The Holy Spirit, and why is it unforgivable? If we commit such a sin, does that mean we cannot go into the Heavenly Kingdom? Thanks so much, and may The Lord bless you! 😃
 
My SD, an old Redemptorist priest who was well-versed in Catholic theology and then confessor to many of our diocesan priests, told me that nobody really knows exactly what “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” would involve.

My personal opinion is that whatever it is, as long as my desire is to follow the teachings of Jesus I’m not going to worry about it. I’ve had my thoughts about ways to be very rude and even ungrateful toward God in my mind and heart, but it always seems like His mercy overpowers it.

MS
 
Catechism.

1864 “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.
 
Nelka said:
Catechism.

1864 “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.
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So, do you mean that if we ultimately refuse his mercy, we will not be forgiven? But what if we reject God, but end up asking for His mercy in the end? Are we still held accountable for that one time we rejected Him?
 
Worlds said:
I’ve read in the Bible that to “blaspheme against The Holy Spirit” means committing a sin that you can never be forgiven of. In the context of the Bible, people said that Jesus had the spirit of a demon, which was why He could drive demons wout of people. But why can’t these people be forgiven of this? I mean, weren’t they were sinning out of ignorance? That’s the whole reason why Jesus was crucified- it was becaus people were rejecting him out of ignorance even after seeing Him work miracles. But later in The Acts, Peter asks the people who had The Lord crucified to repent, which means they could be forgiven. Peter even said that the people who had Him crucified did so out of ignorance. So, what exactly does it mean to blaspheme against The Holy Spirit, and why is it unforgivable? If we commit such a sin, does that mean we cannot go into the Heavenly Kingdom? Thanks so much, and may The Lord bless you! 😃
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olrl.org/doctrine/cry.shtml
 
Thomas Aquinas lists, or has responded to six sins that supposedly go against the Holy Spirit [3]

despair: which consists in thinking that one’s own malice is greater than Divine Goodness, as the Master of the Sentences teaches,[4]

presumption: if a man wants to obtain glory without merits[5] or pardon without repentance[6]

resistance to the known truth,

envy of a brother’s spiritual good, i. e. of the increase of Divine grace in the world,

impenitence, i.e., the specific purpose of not repenting a sin,

obstinacy, whereby a man, clinging to his sin, becomes immune to the thought that the good searched in it is a very little one.

For more details check en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_sin#Roman_Catholicism

If you want to understand it better, you can also call it the eternal sin because you are always committing it. This is a sin in which the sinner never repents. Any sin can be repented for at any time.
 
SO i dont get it…we are all going to hell now because at some point or another we have all rejected God…and the Holy Spirit. So now that is unforgivable and every human goes to hell?
 
So if I have EVER committed these sins I will go to hell and thus who cares about living holy if I am just going to hell anyways???
 
detoutcoeur said:
In honor of today’s first feast day of Pope St. John Paul II**,
**
news.va/en/news/universal-church-marks-first-feast-day-of-st-john

a summary of his 1986 encyclical**,***** Dominum et Vivificantem ***,
*
*catholic-pages.com/documents/dominum_et_vivificantem-summary.asp

and from the EWTN Library: ***The Unforgivable Sin ***

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/UNFORGIV.htm
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Very good article (I read one). So the unforgivable sin is final impenitence. And this would mean that we should be open to being changed - converted in heart - so that we do not become impenitent and die in a state of eternal ingratitude.
 
ialsop said:
So if I have EVER committed these sins I will go to hell and thus who cares about living holy if I am just going to hell anyways???
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No, because you can go to confession. Final impenitence is dying while not being in a state of grace - dying in mortal sin. But this means we do need to be open to God in our lives so that our hearts grow in love and do not become bitter. This is why I think fairly regular confession is a really good idea even if living a ‘good’ life, as opposed to not hardly ever receiving the graces merited, from attending this ‘life-giving’ Sacrament.
 
Worlds said:
So, do you mean that if we ultimately refuse his mercy, we will not be forgiven? But what if we reject God, but end up asking for His mercy in the end? Are we still held accountable for that one time we rejected Him?
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If end the end we accept him, truly repent and ask forgiveness, then we ultimately haven’t rejected him.

But as the scripture says, ‘‘Today, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.’’ The more we reject him ‘‘today’’, the harder our hearts become. and the harder it becomes to repent, because each time we reject him, we turn away from him a little bit more.

This would not include those who are sorry for their sins and are trying, but it means those who reject him totally for the duration of their lives.
 
Worlds said:
I’ve read in the Bible that to “blaspheme against The Holy Spirit” means committing a sin that you can never be forgiven of. In the context of the Bible, people said that Jesus had the spirit of a demon, which was why He could drive demons wout of people. But why can’t these people be forgiven of this? I mean, weren’t they were sinning out of ignorance? That’s the whole reason why Jesus was crucified- it was becaus people were rejecting him out of ignorance even after seeing Him work miracles. But later in The Acts, Peter asks the people who had The Lord crucified to repent, which means they could be forgiven. Peter even said that the people who had Him crucified did so out of ignorance. So, what exactly does it mean to blaspheme against The Holy Spirit, and why is it unforgivable? If we commit such a sin, does that mean we cannot go into the Heavenly Kingdom? Thanks so much, and may The Lord bless you! 😃
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I believe blasphemy isn’t actually a one sin, but a continuous conscious decision, or the lack thereof. Blasphemy, in my opinion, is continuously rejecting God, with prior knowledge of God’s nature and existence. Kind of what Satan did, and is doing.
 
Nanotwerp said:
I believe blasphemy isn’t actually a one sin, but a continuous conscious decision, or the lack thereof. Blasphemy, in my opinion, is continuously rejecting God, with prior knowledge of God’s nature and existence. Kind of what Satan did, and is doing.
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I like that story. Then the reason it would be “unforgivable” is that it is not a specific act in the past that can be forgotten, but a persistent condition. Maybe it also implies a degree of stubbornness, in order to maintain it.

That would imply there is “still hope” for someone in this state, for them so see the Light and be reborn of the spirit, enter the kingdom, and all.
 
Mystical_Seeker said:
I like that story. Then the reason it would be “unforgivable” is that it is not a specific act in the past that can be forgotten, but a persistent condition. Maybe it also implies a degree of stubbornness, in order to maintain it.

That would imply there is “still hope” for someone in this state, for them so see the Light and be reborn of the spirit, enter the kingdom, and all.
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Yeah, and that’s why Satan commits the full act of blasphemy. Angels, being pure spirit, cannot ‘change their minds’ like humans can.
 
It seems to me that we are over-thinking it.If you die unrepentant, that is the unforgivable sin. If one goes through life and at times questions God or outright rebels against Him and then at a later time repents and asks for forgiveness. All will be forgiven. But if you die suddenly without repenting, you can not be forgiven.
 
Charles_Drake said:
It seems to me that we are over-thinking it.If you die unrepentant, that is the unforgivable sin. If one goes through life and at times questions God or outright rebels against Him and then at a later time repents and asks for forgiveness. All will be forgiven. But if you die suddenly without repenting, you can not be forgiven.
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In other words, dont do it and be safe.
 
Dying unrepentant being “the unforgivable sin” doesn’t sound possible to me.

If I get mad and feel rebellious toward God during the last five seconds of my life and shoot somebody, you are saying not even Jesus can “save me” from hell? We’re talking about the man who said about those who had just angrily tore his body to pieces and were in the very process of killing Him even though He was totally innocent, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

To say that God’s hands are tied by that rule? The Person who created the heavens and the earth and the human brain which calculates its logic to tell Him what He cannot do? If I’m wrong I would gladly be corrected because I’ve had a lot of confidence in the things my SD has told me. :hmmm:
 
Mystical_Seeker said:
Dying unrepentant being “the unforgivable sin” doesn’t sound possible to me.

If I get mad and feel rebellious toward God during the last five seconds of my life and shoot somebody, you are saying not even Jesus can “save me” from hell? We’re talking about the man who said about those who had just angrily tore his body to pieces and were in the very process of killing Him even though He was totally innocent, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
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It would appear that the Father answered this prayer through giving us the Sacrament of Reconciliation in response to the sacrifice Jesus made by dying on the Cross.
To say that God’s hands are tied by that rule? The Person who created the heavens and the earth and the human brain which calculates its logic to tell Him what He cannot do? If I’m wrong I would gladly be corrected because I’ve had a lot of confidence in the things my SD has told me. :hmmm:
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'Matthew 18:18

“I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” ’
 
Mystical_Seeker said:
Dying unrepentant being “the unforgivable sin” doesn’t sound possible to me.

If I get mad and feel rebellious toward God during the last five seconds of my life and shoot somebody, you are saying not even Jesus can “save me” from hell? We’re talking about the man who said about those who had just angrily tore his body to pieces and were in the very process of killing Him even though He was totally innocent, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

To say that God’s hands are tied by that rule? The Person who created the heavens and the earth and the human brain which calculates its logic to tell Him what He cannot do? If I’m wrong I would gladly be corrected because I’ve had a lot of confidence in the things my SD has told me. :hmmm:
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Hmmm…its not a matter of what Gd cant do, its a matter of what YOU did. Can you be in a relationship with somebody if they reject you? Not really, no…Can you invite somebody into your house if they refuse to come in? No. And mortal sin is just that, refusing to come in.
 
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