Why can one be forgiven for blasphemy against Jesus and not aganist the Holy Spirit?

[Daniel_Marsh]

An arian, tried to claim to me that Jesus is not equal in nature to the Holy Spirit because one can blaspheme Jesus and be forgiven, but one can not blaspheme the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. Below is my explaination of why one can blaspheme against the son of man and be forgiven.

Does anyone have a better explaination?

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.

Mark 3:29
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

Luke 12:10
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.

Daniel 7:13-14
As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

The phrase “son of man” refers to the office of messiah ( Daniel 7:13-14 ) or can refer to Jesus’ human side, it does not refer to Jesus’ divinity. The nature of the Holy Spirit, the Father and Son of God is the same in their divine nature, but Jesus is also fully human, and is the Messiah. It is the role of the Messiah that “son of man” refers to in context. Thus speaking against the Messiah or even the human side of Jesus is forgivable. But, speaking against the divine Holy Spirit is not. They are equal in divine nature, but there is rank within the godhead. And, Jesus was speaking as the messiah in context.

You don’t go around vexing the Holy Spirit, because he will be your enemy!!!

Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

also, the role of the Holy Spirit comes into play

He is our seal of salvation, he lives in us, .

2 Corinthians 1:22
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Ephesians 1:13
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

He searches our hearts and prays for us

Romans 8:27
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

 

[LilyM]

An awful lot of translations of the New Testament simply refer to a general ‘sin’ against the Holy Spirit (taken by the CCC to be obstinate continuance in sin or lack of repentance) which cannot be forgiven rather than specifying blasphemy against the Spirit.

After all, when Jesus gave his Apostles power to forgive sins he gave it absolutely. He didn’t specify a particular sin or sins which could never be forgiven. This implies that all sins ultimately are forgivable if the sinner genuinely repents and asks forgiveness.

 

[jemfinch]

An awful lot of translations of the New Testament simply refer to a general ‘sin’ against the Holy Spirit

But the Greek word still remains “blasphemy.”

After all, when Jesus gave his Apostles power to forgive sins he gave it absolutely. He didn’t specify a particular sin or sins which could never be forgiven.

Sure He did. In Matthew 12 Remember, the Holy Spirit reminded the apostles of all Jesus taught them.

This implies that all sins ultimately are forgivable if the sinner genuinely repents and asks forgiveness.

I think in Matthew 12, Jesus was teaching more about the nature of the sin than the nature of God and His mercy. I think He was teaching that the nature of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is such that the sinner will never genuinely repent and ask for forgiveness. It might be the case that it’s a sin of the sort that the fallen angels committed, a sin which made them incapable of desiring or performing good.

Jeremy

 

[elvisman]

Daniel -
Remember who Jesus was speaking to at the time. He was speak about the pharisees, who accused him of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.
When Jesus told them that their sin against the Holy Spirit was unforgivable, he was speaking of their ongoing rebellion against the truth of God. They know who Jesus was and still refused to believe.
Remember, it is the Holy Spirit who reveals the truth. If we refuse to believe what the Holy Spirit reveals to us, we will not be forgiven. How could we when we are in active, ongoing disbelief?
This doesn’t mean that the Holy spirit is greater than Jesus.

 

[Ron_Conte]

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is nothing other than final impenitance, for it is to the Holy Spirit that we account the conversion of sinners.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not any words against the Holy Spirit. Nor is it ever the case under any circumstances whatsoever that a human being can sin in this life and be entirely unable to repent before death. But after death, one cannot repent from actual mortal sin. So Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit can only said to be complete after one has died: then one cannot be forgiven from the refusal to repent from actual mortal sin through the last moment of life. This is the only unforgiveable sin. It is unforgiveable because it is only complete after death.

Ron

 

[LP4H]

Correct me if I’m wrong, wasn’t Paul guilty of the same thing the Pharisees were, that is, rejecting Christ? He called himself the greatest sinner, and yet he was still forgiven when he accepted Christ. Don’t refusing to repent and rejecting Christ go hand in hand?

Here’s James Akin’s answer:

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/UNFORGIV.htm

This one isn’t Catholic, but he comes to the same conclusion, though he seems to arrive at it a little differently:

net-burst.net/guilty/sin.htm

 

[jemfinch]

When Jesus told them that their sin against the Holy Spirit was unforgivable, he was speaking of their ongoing rebellion against the truth of God.

It’s important to note that nowhere does Jesus indicated that the Pharisees had committed the unforgivable sin; he may only have been warning them about it.

Jeremy

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

The only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is not asking for forgiveness at all. This has been the Catholic Church’s interpretation of this verse for 2 millenia.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

This sin has always baffled me.
So are you saying, hypothetically,
that if a confused, frustrated person gets mad
at God and says something bad about the Holy Spirit, that he or she could be forgiven of that if they repent?

Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

This sin has always baffled me.
So are you saying, hypothetically,
that if a confused, frustrated person gets mad
at God and says something bad about the Holy Spirit, that he or she could be forgiven of that if they repent?

Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)

refer to post #8

 

[jemfinch]

The only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is not asking for forgiveness at all. This has been the Catholic Church’s interpretation of this verse for 2 millenia.

Evidence, if possible?

Jeremy

 

[TimOliv]

An arian, tried to claim to me that Jesus is not equal in nature to the Holy Spirit because one can blaspheme Jesus and be forgiven, but one can not blaspheme the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. Below is my explaination of why one can blaspheme against the son of man and be forgiven.

Does anyone have a better explaination?

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.

Mark 3:29
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

Luke 12:10
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.

Daniel 7:13-14
As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

The phrase “son of man” refers to the office of messiah ( Daniel 7:13-14 ) or can refer to Jesus’ human side, it does not refer to Jesus’ divinity. The nature of the Holy Spirit, the Father and Son of God is the same in their divine nature, but Jesus is also fully human, and is the Messiah. It is the role of the Messiah that “son of man” refers to in context. Thus speaking against the Messiah or even the human side of Jesus is forgivable. But, speaking against the divine Holy Spirit is not. They are equal in divine nature, but there is rank within the godhead. And, Jesus was speaking as the messiah in context.

You don’t go around vexing the Holy Spirit, because he will be your enemy!!!

Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

also, the role of the Holy Spirit comes into play

He is our seal of salvation, he lives in us, .

2 Corinthians 1:22
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Ephesians 1:13
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

He searches our hearts and prays for us

Romans 8:27
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Let’s not also forget that there is only one God. Three persons, one God. To say that one person is not equal in nature is, well, Arianism (heresy). Its just an attempt to say that Jesus was fully human but not divine.

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

My first two words were “An Arian” so well said brother.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Evidence, if possible?

Jeremy

Of course evidence is possible. Simply search the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“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.