Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
The one sin the Gospels call unforgivable, and Christians have long asked exactly what it is
Jesus warns of a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that will not be forgiven, which the tradition has understood as a persistent, knowing rejection of the Spirit's witness. Because the Gospel does not spell out its precise boundaries, interpreters across the centuries have explained it variously, often stressing a final, willful hardening of heart rather than a single momentary act. Its exact definition remains genuinely debated.
How it traveled
- MarkRome · c. 68 CEexplains
- MatthewAntioch · c. 80 CEexplains
- ActsRome · c. 84 CEapplies
- LukeRome · c. 84 CEexplains
- 1 JohnEphesus · c. 100 CEapplies
- JohnEphesus · c. 100 CEapplies
- The Catechetical Lectures of S. CyrilJerusalem · c. 386 CEexplains
- Select Orations of Saint Gregory NazianzenNazianzus · c. 390 CEexplains
- On the Holy SpiritMilan · c. 397 CEexplains
- Concerning RepentanceMilan · c. 397 CEexplains
- The Homilies of St. John ChrysostomConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEexplains
- A Commentary on the Acts of the ApostlesConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEapplies
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. JohnConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEexplains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the HebrewsConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEexplains
- Homilies on First CorinthiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEapplies
- The Homilies on the Statues to the People of AntiochConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEapplies
- The Letters of St. JeromeBethlehem · c. 420 CEexplains
- Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New TestamentHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- Expositions on the Book of PsalmsHippo Regius · c. 430 CEapplies
- Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. JohnHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of JohnHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- The EnchiridionHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- The Harmony of the GospelsHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90)Paris · c. 1274 CEexplains
- Treatise on the Angels (qq[50]-64)Paris · c. 1274 CEexplains
- Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from ItGeneva · c. 1564 CEexplains
- Seventeen Occasional SermonsNorthampton, Massachusetts · c. 1758 CEexplains
- Seven Sermons. On Important SubjectsNorthampton, Massachusetts · c. 1758 CEexplains
Key passages(20)
Each passage is tagged by what it does with the idea: explains it, applies it in practice, redefines it with a new meaning, or challenges it. Relevance shows how directly the passage is about this idea.
Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
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Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament · Augustine of Hippo
23. Therefore not only every word spoken against the Son of Man, but, in fact, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; because where there is not this sin of an impenitent heart against th
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Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme;
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but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”
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Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
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Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.
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Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament · Augustine of Hippo
Sermon XXI. [LXXI. Ben.] On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xii. 32, “Whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is t
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Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament · Augustine of Hippo
Mereatur. ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημία. 11. In order to seeing this more plainly, consider that which the same Lord also saith of the Jews, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin.”
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Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament · Augustine of Hippo
33. And since this is so, remission of sins, seeing it is not given but by the Holy Spirit, can only be given in that Church which hath the Holy Spirit. For this is the effect of the remission of sins
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The Enchiridion · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 83.—The Man Who Despises the Mercy of God is Guilty of the Sin Against the Holy Ghost. Now the man who, not believing that sins are remitted in the Church, despises this great gift of God’s m
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The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom · John Chrysostom
What means “the Kingdom”? “My coming.” See how again He conciliates and soothes them, and draws them to the knowledge of Himself, and signifies that they are warring with their own good, and contentio
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The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom · John Chrysostom
What now is it that He affirms? Many things have ye spoken against me; that I am a deceiver, an adversary of God. These things I forgive you on your repentance, and exact no penalty of you; but blasph
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The Letters of St. Jerome · Jerome
Letter XLII. To Marcella. At Marcella’s request Jerome explains to her what is “the sin against the Holy Ghost” spoken of by Christ, and shows Novatian’sa.d. Novatian, a Roman presbyter in the middl
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Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from It · John Calvin
20. Moreover, as hatred of sin, which is the beginning of repentance, first gives us access to the knowledge of Christ, who manifests himself to none but miserable and afflicted sinners, groaning, lab
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The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril · Cyril of Jerusalem
9. This Holy Ghost came down when the Lord was baptized, that the dignity of Him who was baptized might not be hidden; as John says, But He which sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me,
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A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles · John Chrysostom
The modern text inserts here: “But not so Ananias: he secretes a part of the price of the field which he sold: wherefore also he is punished as one who did not manage his business rightly, and who was
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“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
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Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from It · John Calvin
23. If you attend properly, you will perceive that the Apostle speaks not of one particular lapse or two, but of the universal revolt by which the reprobate renounce salvation. It is not strange that
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Concerning Repentance · Ambrose of Milan
12. And indeed I might also say to any one who thought that this passage spoke of repentance, that things which are impossible with men are possible with God; and God is able whensoever He wills to fo
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Concerning Repentance · Ambrose of Milan
24. The Lord then replies to the blasphemy of the Pharisees, and refuses to them the grace of His power, which consists in the remission of sins, because they asserted that His heavenly power rested o
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