Sin against the Holy Spirit

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The sin against the Holy Spirit ( Greek τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημία , Latin blasphemia Spiritus = blasphemy of the spirit) is, according to the Christian understanding, a sin in which an obvious work of the Holy Spirit is attributed to evil or the devil . Later tradition has condensed the concept of sin, which consists of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, into the concept of "sin against the Holy Spirit" and discussed in this context whether and, if so, which sins cannot be forgiven . Concept and matter are understood and interpreted differently in Roman Catholic and Protestant teaching.

Biblical context

The term goes back to the New Testament , whose synoptic Gospels report, following the expulsion of demons by Jesus , that some Pharisees or scribes accuse Jesus of casting out evil spirits through Beelzebub , the chief of demons (Matthew 12:24 ESV , parallel in Mark 3:22 ELB and Luke 11:15 ELB ).

Jesus replies "in parables" that Satan's rule must first be defeated by a stronger one (Mk 23-27; Matt 12.29; Lk 11.21-22) before demons can be driven out. He, Jesus, brings about this through the “Spirit of God” (Mt 12.28) or through the “finger of God” (Lk 11.20), through which the kingdom of God comes to men.

In Mark and Matthew , Jesus immediately announced that all sins can be forgiven, including all conceivable blasphemies, except the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:29; Mt 12: 31-32).

All sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men; but the blasphemy of the spirit will not be forgiven. And if anyone speaks a word against the Son of man, he will be forgiven; but if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, he will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the future. ( Matthew 12 : 31-32 ESV )

This logion can also be found - albeit in a different context - in Luke (Lk 12: 9-10).

Roman Catholic understanding

The Church Fathers and, in their wake, the scholastic dogmatics have further developed the term and include in detail:

  • Measured hope of salvation ( praesumptio )
  • Desperation in salvation ( desperatio )
  • Resistance to the known truth (impugnatio veritatis agnitae)
  • Envy of another's gift (invidentia fraternae gratiae)
  • Stubbornness in sin (obstinatio)
  • Unrepentant to death (impoenitentia)

These sins should not be confused with the seven major sins .

The current catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) does not name individual sins, but formulates generally:

Those who deliberately refuse to accept God's mercy through repentance are rejecting the forgiveness of their sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardening can lead to unrepentant death and eternal ruin. (No. 1864)

Protestant understanding

Against the old church interpretation of the “measured certainty of salvation” as a sin against the spirit, the Reformation doctrine of salvation used only faith ( sola fide ) as a prerequisite for salvation. Protestant interpreters therefore emphasize the power of all- forgiving grace, as it is also expressed by Jesus in connection with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:28 ESV ). Forgiveness, however, requires that people seek it or at least not consciously reject it. "Grace that is thrown at us, like the plaster on the wall, would not be grace" (Pohl).

In this sense, only blasphemes the Holy Spirit who ascribes the obvious work of God to the devil. It's not about doubting faith or grumbling against an absent or allegedly unjust God .

In the Protestant discussion, the term has been brought into connection with the apostasy from evangelical teaching, for example in the interpretation of the fate of the Italian renegade Francesco Spiera .

literature

Source texts
Lexicons
Research literature
  • David Flusser : Sin against the Holy Spirit. In: Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich (Ed.): "How good are your tents, Jaakow ...". Festschrift for Reinhold Mayer's 60th birthday. Bleicher Verlag, Gerlingen 1986, pp. 139-144.
  • Thomas Gerhard Ring: Augustine's interpretation of the "sin against the Holy Spirit" in Mt 12,31f  LUT . In: Augustiniana 50 (2000), pp. 65-84.
  • Amy M. Donaldson: Blasphemy against the Spirit and the Historical Jesus . In: Society of Biblical Literature: Seminar papers 139 (2003), pp. 157-171.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Must be presented in more detail historically and in terms of dogma: Augustine , Petrus Lombardus and Thomas Aquinas
  2. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997 (accessed March 1, 2018)
  3. ^ Adolf Pohl : The Gospel according to Markus , Wuppertal 1986, p. 174.
  4. ↑ So also Adolf Schlatter : The Evangelist Matthäus. Stuttgart 7th edition 1982, p. 408.