The unforgivable / eternal / unpardonable sin

Wrap-up:

Does a truly unforgivable sin exist?
Is it permanently unforgivable?
Our interpretation of the unforgivable sin
Narrowing down the interpretations, etc.

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Does a truly unforgivable sin exist?

Ron Graham of Simply Christians Australia notes that the terms "unforgivable sin" and "unpardonable sin" do not exist in the Bible.

He cites Mark 3:29 which says:

"... whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." (Revised Standard Version), or

"... he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation" (King James Version)

Note that the penalty -- guilt of sin or danger of damnation -- is different in these two translations.

He suggests that this passage, and others in the Bible, refer to an unforgiven sin, but not necessarily a totally unforgivable sin. He writes:

"Jesus spoke of sin that is 'unforgiven' and 'never forgiven.' He did not say it was unforgivable. Just as we do not assume that an unloved boy is unlovable, or an unused tool is unusable, so we should not say that an unforgiven sin is unforgivable. When Jesus calls a sin unforgiven, even when he says it can never be forgiven, let us not put words into his mouth and call the sin unforgivable ₁

Graham may have a point. It can be argued that The Revised Standard Version of Mark 3:29a could be interpreted as saying that someone blaspheming against the Holy Spirit never has had forgiveness. But the sinner could conceivably be granted forgiveness in the future. Mark 3:29b may imply that he/she may still be guilty of an eternal sin, but that guilt could be eventually be forgiven.

Mark 3:29a's wording in the King James Version and in the Revised Standard Version are identical. Mark 3:29b might be interpreted as saying that the sinner is "in danger of eternal damnation." However, damnation is not necessarily certain. There might be some wiggle room here.

A search of the King James Version of the New Testament reveals:

With over 50 references to the concept of forgiving in the Christian Scriptures, one might conclude that forgiveness is a major theme throughout. God forgives humans for their sins, and urges humans to do the same to each other. If Christians adopted Graham's interpretation, then Mark 3:29 and the two parallels in Matthew and Luke would no longer appear to conflict so radically with the rest of the Christian Scriptures.

Is it permanently unforgivable?

Matthew 12:31-32 ends with the statement attributed to Jesus that "... whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come." (ASV)

Some theologians have suggested that Jesus was speaking during the Jewish Age, and that his reference to the world to come is to the today's Christian Age. This passage remains silent about forgiveness after the Christian Age, in our future. If forgiveness were extended to sinners of the unforgivable sin in the future, then the three Gospel passages on this sin would be brought into harmony with the general theme of forgiveness found elsewhere in the Christian Scriptures.

Our interpretation of Mark 3:29 and parallels:

The vast majority of Christian denominations believe In a Trinity: a single deity composed of three persons -- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Denying the existence of the Trinity, or denying the existence of God, the Son, or the Holy Spirit as separate persons would be considered blasphemy by most Christians. The unforgivable sin in these Gospel passages could be interpreted as denying the existence of the Holy Spirit as a person within the Trinity.

The religions of the world have different concepts of deity. From a Christian worldview:

Further, even within Christianity, there are denominations that reject the traditional Trinity concept:

From a historical Christian view, these groups are blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and would have committed the unpardonable sin; their believers would be destined to spend eternity in Hell.

Of course, if one views deity from a Muslim point of view, it is the Christians who are committing the ultimate blasphemy by believing that God is divisible. And so on with other religions.

Is it possible to narrow down the dozens of interpretations of the unforgivable sin?

It may be possible to reject some of the many dozens of interpretations given for the unforgivable sin by analyzing the precise definition of the word "blasphemy."

Barnard Franklin, in his article "The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost" writes:

"The word 'blasphemy' in its various forms (as verb, noun, adjective, etc.) appears some fifty-nine times in the New Testament. It has a variety of renderings, such as, 'blasphemy,' 'reviled,' 'railed,' 'evil spoken of,' 'to speak evil of,' etc. ... It is evident from these that blasphemy is a sin of the mouth, a 'tongue-sin.' All New Testament writers except the author of Hebrews use the word. _2,3

In Matthew 12:32, the author attributes to Jesus the sentence:

"And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Emphasis ours)

One might conclude that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit must be spoken. It cannot be an action or thought. That would eliminate many, perhaps most, of the historical interpretations of this sin, such as murder, suicide, adultery.

How Christian groups deal with the unforgivable sin:

Most Christian groups, whether conservative Protestants, liberal Protestants, Roman Catholics or others downplay the importance of these passages, for various reasons:

References:

1. Ron Graham, "The Unforgivable Sin," (2005) at: http://members.datafast.net.au/
2. Barnard Franklin, "The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost: An Inquiry into the Scriptural Teaching Regarding the Unpardonable Sin," Bibliotheca Sacra, 93:220-233, (1936-April).
3. Kyle Butt, "Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit—The 'Unpardonable Sin'," Apologetics Press, at: http://www.apologeticspress.org/