what is the UNFORGIVABLE SIN?

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mike00077

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I hear so much about this so called unforgivable sin but i never heard any one talk about what the unforgivable sin is. So I was just wondering what this so called unforgivable sin, because I always thought that if you were really sorry for your sins you can be forgiven. But if there is an unforgivable sin is it heracy?:confused:
 
what if someone is Excumuniccated from the Catholic church,like martin luther,did he commit the unforgivable sin?
 
fine if no one is going to view this all i have to say is…BUMP!!!
 
mike00077 said:
I hear so much about this so called unforgivable sin but i never heard any one talk about what the unforgivable sin is. So I was just wondering what this so called unforgivable sin, because I always thought that if you were really sorry for your sins you can be forgiven. But if there is an unforgivable sin is it heracy?:confused:
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Denying the Holy Spirit…claiming that the acts of the Holy Spirit are acts of Satan/evil.
 
**Matthew 12:32
**

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
 
jay29 said:
**Matthew 12:32
**

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
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ok,so :confused: what does this mean?
 
mike00077 said:
I hear so much about this so called unforgivable sin but i never heard any one talk about what the unforgivable sin is.
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Are you a Catholic?

The Catholic Church’s teaching is quite clear. The unforgiveable sin is final impentinence. This means refusal to ask for forgiveness for mortal sins committed.
mike00077 said:
So I was just wondering what this so called unforgivable sin, because I always thought that if you were really sorry for your sins you can be forgiven.
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Yes. So, if one refuses to be sorry that is called impenitence. “Final impenitence” means you died in this state of refusing to ask for forgiveness.
mike00077 said:
But if there is an unforgivable sin is it heracy?:confused:
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No. One may repent of heresy and be reconciled to the Church.
 
mike00077 said:
what if someone is Excumuniccated from the Catholic church,like martin luther,did he commit the unforgivable sin?
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Excommunication is a penalty that is lifted when the person asks for forgiveness and rejects whatever it is they did to incur it.

Martin Luther did not seek reconciliation with the Church and died in that state. To the degree he did this with full knowledge and free will he may have been guilty of final impenitence. Only God knows this with certainty.
 
I think it’s been adequately explained that the only sin which is unforgiveable is the one that forgiveness is never asked for. So final impenitence is indeed the only unforgiveable (in the sense that it literally is an impossibility for it to be forgiven).

By the way - the way these forums work, if you post a question, you aren’t going to get an answer immediately like you would in an internet chat room. So you have to have patience and not bump every couple of minutes.
 
mike00077 said:
I hear so much about this so called unforgivable sin but i never heard any one talk about what the unforgivable sin is. So I was just wondering what this so called unforgivable sin, because I always thought that if you were really sorry for your sins you can be forgiven. But if there is an unforgivable sin is it heracy?:confused:
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Mike,

(Matt 12: 31-32) "That I assure you, is why every sin, every blasphemy, will be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit, will not be forgiven. Whoever says anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever says anything against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or the age to come.

Ufamtobie
 
1ke said:
Are you a Catholic?

The Catholic Church’s teaching is quite clear.
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Hello 1ke,

Is it? Is it that clear? I wonder, if you asked 1000 Catholics this question, how many of them would know the answer.

I am a Roman Catholic, so I know that it could take a lifetime to learn, know and appreciate everything “Catholic”, wouldn’t you agree?

For instance, I have never met anyone who could recite the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church from memory, or anyone who could state from memory, the names of all of the Catholic Martyrs and Saints, or all that the Doctors of the Church have written, or recite from memory, all of the Papal letters and encyclicals. Can you see my point?

Non-Catholics are not the only ones who come here to CAF to find the answers to Catholic questions; Catholics also come here to learn about their own faith.

BTW, I don’t believe that the answer to the question posed here is quite as clear as you have stated and I will address this in a later post.

This was an excellent question Mike 00077, welcome to Catholic Answers Forums.

Note: Many of my comments here, were meant to be taken in the general sense.

Peace
 
1ke said:
Are you a Catholic?

The Catholic Church’s teaching is quite clear. The unforgiveable sin is final impentinence. This means refusal to ask for forgiveness for mortal sins committed.
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That is incorrect. The unforgiveable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which means crediting satan for works of the spirit. Jesus spoke about this when the pharisees said Jesus was casting out demons through the power of satan. Straight from scripture.
Yes. So, if one refuses to be sorry that is called impenitence. “Final impenitence” means you died in this state of refusing to ask for forgiveness.
No. One may repent of heresy and be reconciled to the Church.
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rubbish rubbish rubbish
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church – “Search for: “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”.

**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.

**1031 **The Church gives the name *Purgatory *to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.
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Mark 3:28-28

28 Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.
29 But whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit 11 will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin."

Matthew 12:31

31 Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit 22 will not be forgiven.

Luke 12:10

10 5 "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
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Part 1-

Sins against the Holy Ghost

The sin or blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is mentioned in Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:22-30; Luke 12:10 (cf. 11:14-23); and Christ everywhere declares that it shall not be pardoned. In what does it consist? If we examine all the passages alluded to, there can be little doubt as to the reply.
Let us take, for instance, the account given by St. Matthew which is more complete than that of the other Synoptics. There had been brought to Christ “one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw”. While the crowd is wondering, and asking: “Is not this the Son of David?”, the Pharisees, yielding to their wonted jealousy, and shutting their eyes to the light of evidence, say: “This man casteth not out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.” Jesus then proves to them this absurdity, and, consequently, the malice of their explanation; He shows them that it is by “the Spirit of God” that He casts out devils, and then He concludes: “therefore I say to you: Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not he forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.”
So, to sin against the Holy Ghost is to confound Him with the spirit of evil, it is to deny, from pure malice, the Divine character of works manifestly Divine. This is the sense in which St. Mark also defines the sin question; for, after reciting the words of the Master: “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost shall never have forgiveness”, he adds at once: “Because they said: He hath an unclean spirit.” With this sin of pure downright malice, Jesus contrasts the sin “against the Son of man”, that is the sin committed against Himself as man, the wrong done to His humanity in judging Him by His humble and lowly appearance. This fault, unlike the former, might he excused as the result of man’s ignorance and misunderstanding.
But the Fathers of the Church, commenting on the Gospel texts we are treating of, did not confine themselves to the meaning given above. Whether it be that they wished to group together all objectively analogous cases, or whether they hesitated and wavered when confronted with this point of doctrine, which St. Augustine declares (Serm. ii de verbis Domini, c. v) one of the most difficult in Scripture, they have proposed different interpretations or explanations.

Found here at the online - Catholic Encyclopedia .
 
Part 2-

Sins against the Holy Ghost

St. Thomas, whom we may safely follow, gives a very good summary of opinions in II-II.14. He says that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost was and may be explained in three ways.
  • Sometimes, and in its most literal signification, it has been taken to mean the uttering of an insult against the Divine Spirit, applying the appellation either to the Holy Ghost or to all three Divine persons. This was the sin of the Pharisees, who spoke at first against “the Son of Man”, criticizing the works and human ways of Jesus, accusing Him of loving good cheer and wine, of associating with the publicans, and who, later on, with undoubted bad faith, traduced His Divine works, the miracles which He wrought by virtue of His own Divinity.
  • On the other hand, St. Augustine frequently explains blasphemy against the Holy Ghost to be final impenitence, perseverance till death in mortal sin. This impenitence is against the Holy Ghost, in the sense that it frustrates and is absolutely opposed to the remission of sins, and this remission is appropriated to the Holy Ghost, the mutual love of the Father and the Son. In this view, Jesus, in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 did not really accuse the Pharisees of blaspheming the Holy Ghost, He only warned them against the danger they were in of doing so.
  • Finally, several Fathers, and after them, many scholastic theologians, apply the expression to all sins directly opposed to that quality which is, by appropriation, the characteristic quality of the Third Divine Person. Charity and goodness are especially attributed to the Holy Ghost, as power is to the Father and wisdom to the Son. Just, then, as they termed sins against the Father those that resulted from frailty, and sins against the Son those that sprang from ignorance, so the sins against the Holy Ghost are those that are committed from downright malice, either by despising or rejecting the inspirations and impulses which, having been stirred in man’ssoul by the Holy Ghost, would turn him away or deliver him from evil.
    Found here at the online - Catholic Encyclopedia .
 
Part 3-

Sins against the Holy Ghost

It is easy to see how this wide explanation suits all the circumstances of the case where Christ addresses the words to the Pharisees. These sins are commonly reckoned six: despair, presumption, impenitence or a fixed determination not to repent, obstinacy, resisting the known truth, and envy of another’s spiritual welfare.
The sins against the Holy Ghost are said to be unpardonable, but the meaning of this assertion will vary very much according to which of the three explanations given above is accepted. As to final impenitence it is absolute; and this is easily understood, for even God cannot pardon where there is no repentance, and the moment of death is the fatal instant after which no mortal sin is remitted. It was because St. Augustine considered Christ’s words to imply absolute unpardonableness that he held the sin against the Holy Ghost to be solely final impenitence. In the other two explanations, according to St. Thomas, the sin against the Holy Ghost is remissable – not absolutely and always, but inasmuch as (considered in itself) it has not the claims and extenuating circumstance, inclining towards a pardon, that might be alleged in the case of sins of weakness and ignorance. He who, from pure and deliberate malice, refuses to recognize the manifest work of God, or rejects the necessary means of salvation, acts exactly like a sick man who not only refuses all medicine and all food, but who does all in his power to increase his illness, and whose malady becomes incurable, due to his own action. It is true, that in either case, God could, by a miracle, overcome the evil; He could, by His omnipotent intervention, either nullify the natural causes of bodily death, or radically change the will of the stubborn sinner; but such intervention is not in accordance with His ordinary providence; and if he allows the secondary causes to act, if He offers the free human will of ordinary but sufficient grace, who shall seek cause of complaint? In a word, the irremissableness of the sins against the Holy Ghost is exclusively on the part of the sinner, on account of the sinner’s act.

Found here at the online - Catholic Encyclopedia .

END.
 
I’ve been told that not accepting God’s forgiveness is the unforgivable sin. Essentually you are saying that God can’t forgive your sin because it is so terrible, so you are choosing to reject God’s forgiveness.
 
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