Commandments such as thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, are understandable to everyone and can be followed. Even those who have committed murders and grave sins can be forgiven if they sincerely repent of what they have done. However, in Orthodoxy there are 2 sins that cannot be washed away and forgiven. These include completed suicide (since it is impossible to repent of it) and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Many people cannot understand what it is, so they are afraid. This is what the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is and how it manifests itself.
Why can an atheist be forgiven?
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Christ says: “...if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; But if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the next?”
This means that, due to a misunderstanding or delusion, a person can be an atheist for some time, but at the end of his life he can sincerely repent and become a Christian, even if only for a short time. However, the following actions are considered blasphemy against the Holy Spirit:
- Creation of heretical teachings that deny the Trinity and the Holy Spirit;
- Denial of God's grace;
- Blasphemy in general.
These are not only abusive words on the walls, but also attempts to turn people away from the temple, denial of the Grace and Kindness of God. What is cultivated in Satanism, where the first commandment is not to love. God is love and every Christian knows this. However, in some cases a person begins to doubt God altogether, especially if prayers do not help and the person cannot get out of the veil of worries and troubles.
...Kill Lazarus too
The Lord spoke words about blasphemy against the Spirit after the Pharisees accused him of witchcraft: Then they brought to Him a man possessed by a demon, blind and dumb; and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb man began to speak and see. And all the people marveled and said, Is this not the Christ, the son of David? The Pharisees, having heard this, said: He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Matthew 12 :22-24). The logic of the detractors of that time is clear: the Pharisees did not want to admit that the power of God was at work in the wandering preacher. But they could not deny the supernatural origin of this power, since Christ performed miracles in front of the people and no one could accuse Him of deception. Therefore, the Pharisees decided to explain these miracles as demonic action. This is what Christ called blasphemy against the Spirit.
Two thousand years have passed since then, Christianity has become the faith of hundreds of millions of people and has largely determined the development of world history. Nowadays, it is unlikely that it would occur to anyone to accuse Christ of making an agreement with the demonic prince. But this does not mean at all that for modern man Christ’s warning about blasphemy against the Spirit has ceased to be relevant. Today, as at all times, a person can fall into this grave sin and destroy himself forever, remaining unrepentant in it.
The fact is that, by accusing Christ of using demonic power to perform miracles, the Pharisees, to put it mildly, were being dishonest. They knew very well that not even the most powerful magician had ever opened the eyes of a man born blind, healed lepers, and even more so, raised the dead. Such miracles could only be performed by God's power, and this was obvious even to the most implacable opponents of Jesus. And finally, He performs the most amazing, unprecedented and unimaginable miracle - in front of many witnesses, He resurrects the dead Lazarus, who had already lain in the grave for four days! All of Judea was filled with admiring rumors about this event. After all, only God is able to resurrect a stinking four-day corpse. Residents of Jerusalem greet Christ with palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna,” which literally means “Save!” No one doubts that Jesus is the same promised Messiah about whom the prophets spoke, and the most convincing proof of this is the resurrected Lazarus accompanying Christ. But what do the high priests do, before whose eyes all this is happening? They decide to kill Christ, and with Him, Lazarus...
John Chrysostom called blasphemy against the Spirit a shameless rejection of obvious truth, and the decision of the high priests fits this definition most precisely. But, unfortunately, it is precisely this form of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that is quite accessible to each of us today.
Saint Athanasius the Great
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He considered any distortion and preaching of church teaching that denies the divine nature of Christ and the Holy Spirit to be a blasphemy against the Spirit of God. Usually such people are sure that the Lord is evil and that all he does is send people sorrow and suffering, but does not love them at all.
About forgiveness without repentance
Quite often, blasphemy against the Spirit seems to be a kind of guaranteed method of spiritual suicide, when just one abusive phrase addressed to a certain address entails irreversible consequences due to some divine “over-offensiveness”, which does not allow God to forgive the blasphemer, even if, after time, he repents of his thoughtless actions. words. How true is this opinion?
There is such a funny phenomenon in modern popular culture - fan fiction. This is a literary genre in which fans of a literary work, based on it, compose their own continuations of their favorite stories. This genre, frankly speaking, is not for everyone, but there is one very correct principle: in terms of their characteristics, the heroes of fan fiction must exactly correspond to the heroes of the original work or historical prototypes. Violation of this rule is referred to in the genre by the English abbreviation OOS - Out Of Character, which can be translated into Russian as “falling out of character.” The most obvious example of such a “loss” was once described by the English writer G. K. Chesterton: “...It is much more natural to believe in something that is beyond the limits of our reason than in something that does not go beyond these limits, but simply contradicts it. If you tell me that the great Gladstone was haunted in his dying hour by the ghost of Parnell, I would rather be an agnostic and say neither yes nor no. But if you assure me that Gladstone did not take off his hat at Queen Victoria's reception, patted the queen on the back and offered her a cigar, I will strongly object. I won't say it's impossible; I will say it's incredible. I am more confident that this did not happen than that there was no ghost, because the laws of the world that I understand are violated here.”
Thus, OOC is an action that the hero can never perform under any circumstances, otherwise he will simply cease to be himself.
And when it comes to the fact that the God of Christians does not want to forgive the person who blasphemed Him, even if he repents, this looks like a typical example of Out Of Character in an unsuccessful fan fiction, because such an idea of God completely contradicts the gospel narrative. Christ, God incarnate, through His earthly life gave the world all the completeness of ideas about Divine properties accessible to human perception. It would take quite a long time to list them, but we can say with complete confidence that among them there is no ruthless vindictiveness and rejection of sinners asking for mercy. Even Judas, at the very moment of betrayal, Christ calls His friend. So can such a God really not forgive a repentant blasphemer?
We again find the answer from St. Athanasius the Great: “It should be noted that Christ did not say: he will not be forgiven the one who blasphemed and repented, but the one who blasphemes, that is, the one who remains in blasphemy. For due repentance resolves all sins . The Church clearly says that there is no sin that cannot be healed by repentance. And blasphemy is not a special exception to this rule. Even in relationships between people, we see the same principle: if a little grandson rashly called his grandmother a “stupid” and then came to her to ask for forgiveness, will she drive him away from her, proudly pursing her lips? For God, any blasphemer is like a foolish fool who himself does not really understand what he is doing. And He loves every person immeasurably more than the kindest grandmother loves her grandchildren.
As for the blasphemy against the human nature of Christ, the holy fathers say absolutely amazing things. It turns out that Christ forgives the grossest insults of this kind to His detractors even without repentance on their part!
This is what Saint Theophylact of Bulgaria writes, explaining the words of the Savior: “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. This means that whoever blasphemes against Me, according to the appearance of the simple Son of Man, eating, drinking, dealing with tax collectors and harlots, whether he repents or does not repent of his blasphemy, he will be forgiven . For to such a person his unbelief is not considered a sin. For what did he see that was conducive to faith? On the contrary, what did he not see worthy of blasphemy? He saw a man treating harlots and spoke blasphemy against him, and therefore sin was not imputed to him. For, naturally, he could think: what kind of Son of God is he who deals with harlots? Therefore, the one who does this, and yet pretends to be the Son of God, he can revile and call him a deceiver.”
“...But when these people see that He works undoubted miracles, and yet they blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that is, the working of miracles that come from the Holy Spirit, then how will they receive forgiveness if they do not repent? When they were offended by the flesh of Christ, in this case, even if they did not repent, they will be forgiven as people who were offended, but when they saw Him doing the works of God and still blasphemed, how will they be forgiven if they remain unrepentant? »
Saint Basil the Great
He blasphemes the Holy Spirit who attributes the actions and fruits of the Holy Spirit to the enemy. Many, often zealous ones, are subjected to this, recklessly calling those who show good zeal vain, falsely accusing them of anger, and falsely attributing many similar things out of crafty suspicions.
He considered envy of those Christians who receive virtues for their prayers to be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Such people begin to suspect sincere Christians of hypocrisy and try to find something bad in their words and actions; this is what is considered blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Especially if such people publicly express their own opinions.
What is truth?
Christ tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit...will guide you into all truth... (John 16:13 ). But what is truth? People use this word so often that they have already become accustomed to it and do not particularly bother themselves with searching for its meaning, especially since a great many definitions of truth have accumulated in philosophy, and it can be quite difficult for an unprepared person to understand them. However, in Christianity this concept has a very specific meaning: truth is God’s creative plan for the world and man. And if a person lives in accordance with this plan, then he stands in the truth. If not, then he is likened to Satan, who refused to participate in the divine plan of creation, and ... did not stand in the truth (John 8:44 ), turning from a bright angel into an enemy of God and a murderer of people.
Thus, the instruction in all truth given by the Holy Spirit consists in exposing those of our actions that contradict God’s plan for us and the world around us. This happens through the action of conscience, which directly points a person to his inappropriate thoughts, words and actions.
This is where it becomes possible for everyone to blaspheme the Holy Spirit in the form of rejection of obvious truth, when a person, knowing absolutely for sure that he is wrong, still continues to do evil. Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote: “When do people contain truth in untruth? - Then, when they know the truth, and do not fulfill it, when life does not correspond to knowledge; one thing is on their mind and conscience, sometimes in words, and the other in life and deeds, in the feelings of the heart and the mood of the will. ...This untruth increases a hundredfold when someone does something wrong at the very time when his mind and conscience disgust him and does not tell him to do it. This is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit , about which the Lord pronounced a terrible definition - unforgiveness either in this age or in the future.”
And the point here is not at all about God’s mercy or its absence. We are accustomed to perceiving the word “forgiveness” in the categories of the ethics of interpersonal communication, when it means the removal of guilt, the refusal of the injured party to impose any sanctions against the offender. But among the many meanings of the word “simple” (from which “forgiveness” comes) there are also such as - straight (as opposed to the evil one - curved, like a bow), whole, pure. Therefore, to forgive also means to cleanse, straighten, and most importantly, to restore lost integrity, that is, to heal. And when we talk about forgiveness received from God, it should be understood first of all as healing, cleansing, correction in a person of what was distorted by sin.
So who risks being left with God unhealed, unpurified, uncorrected? The answer to this is as simple as it is sad: one who considers himself healthy, clean and not in need of any correction, even after seeing his dirt, sores and deceit in all their ugliness.
Saint John Chrysostom
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He said that those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit are like those who call honey bitter and the sun black. And this is not a misconception. Of course, a Christian will forgive him, as will God, but, in the distorted world of values, a person himself is ready to get lost. He is simply unable to perceive the Grace of God, so he begins to suffer.
Patristic disclosure of the doctrine of the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
The main patristic interpretations of blasphemy include those of St. Athanasius the Great, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Isidore Pelusiot, St. Simeon the New Theologian and Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria.
Saint Athanasius the Great (293–373)
The Archbishop of Alexandria, the great father and teacher of the Church, became especially famous for his fight against Arianism and his firm, unshakable faith. He was the recognized leader of the struggle for Nicene Orthodoxy, for the definitions of the First Ecumenical Council, and left many theological works of an exegetical, apologetic and ascetic nature.
In “Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew,” Athanasius I the Great was the first to give a detailed interpretation of the Savior’s teaching about the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: “The Holy Scriptures proclaim to us that Christ, by ineffable unity, is two-part, namely, Divinity and humanity. For the Word became flesh (John 1:14). So, Christ Himself calls the Divinity of the Word the Holy Spirit, just as He said to the Samaritan woman: the Spirit is God (John 4:24), and the humanity of the Word is the Son of Man, for he says: now is the Son of Man glorified (John 13:31). And the Jews, who always insulted God, fell into deep blasphemy in relation to Christ. Some, tempted by His flesh, by the fact that He was the Son of Man, considered Him a prophet and not God, and called Him a meat drinker and a wine drinker (Matthew 11:19); and He granted them forgiveness; because then only preaching was supposed to begin, and it was inconceivable for the world to believe in God who became man. This is why Christ says: Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, that is, against His body, will be forgiven him (Matthew 12:32). For I dare to say that even the most blessed disciples did not have a perfect understanding of His Divinity until the Holy Spirit descended on them on the day of Pentecost; because even after the resurrection, having seen Him, they worshiped Him and began to doubt (Matthew 28:17), but they were not condemned for this. But those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that is, the Divinity of Christ, and say that Beelzebub, the prince of demons, will cast out demons (Luke 11:15), will not be released either in this age or in the next (Matthew 12:32). It should be noted that Christ did not say: he will not be forgiven the one who blasphemed and repented, but the one who blasphemes, that is, the one who remains in blasphemy. For due repentance resolves all sins. Others, examining what has been said that he who blasphemes the Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the next, say that there are four ways in which the remission of sins is accomplished, and two of them take place here, and two in the next age. Since our memory is not able to remember all the sins of an entire life in order for a person to repent of them here, our humane Lord, as they say, has prepared two ways of repentance for those who have not repented in the next century. When someone has done good without distinction, or motivated by mercy and compassion for one’s neighbor, or for some other philanthropic motive, then in the next century, during the judgment, this will be weighed, and if there is any advantage in this, then he will be forgiven. And this is the first way. And the second is the following: when someone, possessed by sins, hears what the Lord says: Judge not, lest you be judged, and being afraid, does not condemn anyone for his life, then, as a keeper of the commandment, he will not be condemned, because the All-False One does not forget His commandments. The other two ways of forgiveness take place here. When someone, being in sins, according to the providence of God, is exposed to misfortunes, needs, illnesses - for through this God, in a way unknown to us, cleanses him - and if the tempted one gives thanks, then he receives a reward for gratitude. If he does not give thanks, then he is condemned for the sins for which he suffers punishment, and, moreover, he will be held accountable for ingratitude. Therefore, whoever sins in something before people has many opportunities to receive forgiveness. For whoever sins against one person and does good to another person is justified by the same nature against which he sinned. But blasphemy against the Spirit is unbelief, and there is no other way to receive forgiveness than to become faithful; and the sin of atheism and unbelief will not be forgiven either here or in the next century.”
This interpretation is consistent with another definition of the sin of blasphemy given by the holy father of the Church: “The Lord said this, not making a comparison between blasphemy against the Son and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and not in the sense that the Spirit is greater, and therefore blasphemy against the Spirit has great guilt. Let this not happen! For He previously taught that everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, that the Spirit will receive from the Son and glorify the Son, and that it is not the Spirit who gives the Son, but the Son who gives the Spirit to the disciples, and through the disciples to those who believe in Him. But since the blasphemy in both cases concerns Himself, in one case there is less blasphemy, and in the other much more, then the Lord said this. <… > Both blasphemy concerns the Lord Himself, and He said about Himself - both: Son of Man, and: Spirit, in order to indicate human nature with the first name, and with the word “Spirit” to designate His spiritual, intelligent and true Divinity. For in the meaning of His bodily nature, he attributed the blasphemy, in which forgiveness can be obtained, to the Son of Man, but about the unforgivable blasphemy he declared that it extended to the Spirit, so that by this difference from the bodily nature he could point to His Divinity.”
Saint Athanasius gave another important definition related to blasphemy: “The Council of Nicaea truly serves as a denunciation against all heresy and casts down those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit and call Him a creature.” This definition applied to the teachings of the Semi-Aryan Doukhobors. The Holy Fathers of the Local Council of Alexandria in 362, which was presided over by Saint Athanasius himself, wrote to the Antiochians: “Invite everyone who wants to be at peace with us... as well as those who have retreated from the Arians, accept them as fathers of children... do not demand anything from them more, but only to anathematize the Arian heresy and confess the faith confessed by the holy fathers in Nicaea, and also to anathematize those who claim that the Spirit is a creature and is separated from the essence of Christ. For not to divide the Holy Trinity and not to say that something from It is a creature means truly to retreat from the hated heresy of the Arians. And those who pretend to attribute to themselves the faith confessed at Nicaea and dare to blaspheme the Holy Spirit do no more than deny the Arian heresy in words, but contain it in their hearts.”
Saint Athanasius the Great, together with the fathers of the Local Council, determined that the division of the Most Holy Trinity, the separation of the Spirit from the essence of Christ and declaring Him a “creature,” that is, creation, is a mortal sin. Anyone who professes a teaching that contains blasphemy against the Holy Spirit can be accepted into church communion only after publicly rejecting the false teaching.
Saint Basil the Great (330–379)
Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, Basil the Great, is an ecumenical father and teacher of the Church, a fighter against Arianism, for which he was persecuted more than once. He compiled a liturgy that has survived to this day. He is the author of many wonderful theological works.
One of the interpretations of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is given by the saint in the “Rules of a Godly Life”: “Rule 35. Those who see in someone the fruit of the Holy Spirit, everywhere preserving an equal degree of godliness, and do not attribute it to the Holy Spirit, but attribute it to the enemy, - they blaspheme the Holy Spirit Himself.” This rule is supplemented by another interpretation of Basil the Great: “He blasphemes the Holy Spirit who attributes the actions and fruits of the Holy Spirit to the enemy. Many, often zealous ones, are subjected to this, recklessly calling those who show good zeal vain, falsely accusing them of anger, and falsely attributing many similar things out of crafty suspicions.”
As can be seen from the above quotes, Saint Basil considers blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and slander against a Christian out of envy of the gifts of the Spirit received by him to be a sin. The blasphemy consists in the fact that a person who shows zeal in a godly life, suddenly, based on the mere suspicion of anger and arrogance, begins to be considered vain, and false accusations are brought against him. And if during his ascetic life he received any gift as a reward from the Holy Spirit, then this gift is declared to be the action of demonic power. Even good Christians who try to hastily draw conclusions and conclusions about someone can fall into this terrible sin of blasphemy.
The saint also explains what blasphemy can lead to and who the blasphemer is like: “Blasphemy against the Spirit leads you to evil and illicit concepts. As soon as you spoke about the Spirit, which you should not say, it became clear to you that you had been abandoned by the Spirit. Just as one who closes his eyes has his own darkness within himself, so one who is separated from the Spirit, becoming outside the Enlightener, is enveloped in spiritual blindness.”
Saint John Chrysostom (344–407)
The great father and teacher of the Church, Archbishop of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom left behind a large number of conversations and works of an exegetical nature on many books of Holy Scripture. He became famous for his struggle for the high morality of all Christians, and, first of all, the clergy. The main weapon of this struggle were his sermons, which have also reached us. The saint shortened the rite of the Liturgy of Basil the Great, and this shortened liturgy is known to us under the name of the Liturgy of John Chrysostom.
The saint wrote about blasphemy: “Just as the one who considers the sun dark does not disparage this luminary, but provides clear evidence of his blindness, and just as the one who calls honey bitter does not diminish its sweetness, but reveals his illness, so likewise condemning the works of God... Blasphemy does not degrade the greatness of God... He who blasphemes inflicts wounds on himself... All torments, both present and future, are insufficient for the soul (blaspheming the Spirit).” “Truly there is no sin worse than blasphemy against the Spirit, there is not even an equal to it. In it there is a multiplication of evils, in it everything is brought into disorder and entails merciless punishment and unbearable vengeance.”
The most detailed and profound interpretation of the Gospel teaching about blasphemy was given by John Chrysostom in Discourse 41 from the “Commentary on St. Matthew the Evangelist,” in which he especially emphasized the knowledge of the Pharisees and lawyers about the Spirit of God and His actions: “So, first, let us listen carefully to these words : All sin and blasphemy, He says, will be forgiven by man: but whoever blasphemes against the Spirit will not be forgiven by man: and whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven him; and whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the next (vv. 31, 32). What do these words mean? You said a lot about Me, that I am a deceiver, that I am an adversary of God. I will forgive you this and will not demand your punishment if you repent; but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven even to those who repent. How is this possible? After all, this guilt was also forgiven by those who repented. Many of those who spewed blasphemies against the Spirit subsequently believed, and everything was released. What do these words mean? That sin against the Holy Spirit is predominantly unforgivable. Why? Because they did not know who He was; and we have already received sufficient knowledge about the Spirit. So, whatever the prophets said, they spoke according to the inspiration of the Spirit, and in the Old Testament everyone had a very clear concept of Him. So, the words of Christ have this meaning: let you be offended by Me according to the flesh in which I have put on; but can you say about the Spirit that we do not know Him? That is why your blasphemy will be unforgivable, and here and there you will suffer punishment for it. Although many were only punished here, such as, for example, the fornicator who unworthily partook of the Mysteries among the Corinthians, you are both here and there. So, I forgive you everything with which you slandered Me before the cross, even the fact that you want to crucify Me on the cross, and your very unbelief will not be held against you. Those who believed before the cross did not have full faith, therefore He everywhere forbids announcing Himself to anyone before suffering, and on the cross itself He prayed that the Jews would be forgiven their sin. But what you said about the Spirit will not be forgiven you. And that Christ points to the blasphemy that the Jews spoke against Him before the cross, this can be seen from the following: whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven him; and whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be released. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is known to you, and you are not ashamed to reject the obvious truth. If you already say that you don’t know Me, then you undoubtedly know that casting out demons and performing healings is the work of the Holy Spirit. So, you do not only blaspheme Me, but also the Holy Spirit. Therefore, your punishment, both here and there, is inevitable. Some are punished both here and there; others are only here; others only there; and others are neither here nor there. And here and there - like, for example, these very blasphemers of the Holy Spirit. They suffered punishment here too, when they were subject to terrible disasters, after the capture of their city, and there they will suffer the most severe, like the inhabitants of Sodom and many others. There, just like, for example, a rich man who was scorched by flames and did not have even one drop of water. Here, like, for example, the fornicator of Corinth. Neither here nor there - like the apostles, like the prophets, like blessed Job: and their suffering was not a consequence of punishment, but of exploits and struggle."
Let us pay attention to the thought of St. John Chrysostom that the rejection of obvious truth is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, as well as to the differentiation of punishments that those guilty of this sin will suffer.
Venerable Isidore Pelusiot (... c. 436)
Saint Isidore was a resident and presbyter of a monastery near the city of Pelusium on the Nile River. Under the influence of his teacher John Chrysostom, he wrote (according to various estimates) from two to ten thousand letters and teachings. Dogmatist, exegete and philosopher, ascetic and prayer book, Isidore Pelusiot always placed the Holy Scripture at the forefront of his teachings. The Monk Isidore enjoyed special respect from many bishops and emperors, who came to his cell for blessings.
Touching on the topic of blasphemy, the Monk Isidore paid special attention to the question of why, given the single essence of the Most Holy Trinity, only blasphemy against the Spirit is punished and why it is not excusable: “Therefore listen: whoever speaks a blasphemous word against the Son of Man, as the Lord has said, is not subject to condemnation, because for those who have a painful intellectual eye, the inexpressibly united God is inconceivable with the poverty of visible flesh, until the hidden Divinity is known, and in those who have a pure mind, for whom the incarnate Divinity became clear, there was no unbelief at all, and the Lord did not threaten them with judgment. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not excusable, because the very deeds, becoming obvious, expose those who blaspheme that they are ungrateful and ungrateful. For when the suffering ceased and the demons were cast out by the power of the Divine, the murmurers of the Jews slandered that Divine signs were being performed about Beelzebub. About this blasphemy uttered against God’s essence, the Lord said that it is unforgivable.”
The saint emphasized that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit through declaring Him an unclean spirit - Beelzebub - is blasphemy against the very Essence of God, since God is the purest Spirit, and also pointed out the main reason for the unforgivability of this sin: the works visible to everyone that the Holy Spirit does.
The Monk Isidore Pelusiot especially warned that one must always speak with reasoning about spiritual things, especially about the affairs of the Holy Spirit: “We are not commanded to cast pearls before swine, that is, before those mired in passions and leading a bestial life, lest they trample them underfoot, With your crafty undertakings you blasphemed the name of God and, having turned, did not tear you to pieces.”
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian (949‑1022)
The outstanding Byzantine theologian and poet was born into a noble family and grew up at the imperial court, but at the age of twenty, leaving the world, he went to the Studite monastery. Eleven years later he had already become abbot of the monastery of St. Mamantos in Constantinople. Since 1005, the Monk Simeon was in exile in Asia Minor. Numerous theological works vividly reflected his personal experience of smart doing - the unceasing Jesus Prayer.
In his Homily 64, the monk wrote: “About blasphemy. Whoever says that in modern times it is impossible to receive the Holy Spirit, and whoever blasphemes the actions of the Holy Spirit, saying that such actions are from the devil, introduces a new heresy into the Church of God.
Since our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Holy Gospel: all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven by man: but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven by man... neither in this age nor in the next (Matthew 12:31, 32), then we must examine and to know what kind of blasphemy that happens against the Holy Spirit? There is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit when someone attributes the actions of the Holy Spirit to the devil, as Basil the Great says (Cr. 273). When someone sees that some Christian brother performs miracles, or has any gift of the Holy Spirit, such as contrition of heart, or tears, or humility, or understanding of divine things, or anything else that the Holy Spirit gives to those who love God - and says that this is the deception of the devil - he blasphemes the Holy Spirit. Also, the one who says that those who are worthy of the influence of the Divine Spirit, as sons of God, and who fulfill the commandments of God and their Father, are deceived by the devil - and this one blasphemes the Holy Spirit acting in them, just as the Jews blasphemed the Son of God when , seeing how the demons were cast out by Christ, they blasphemed with great insolence that He was casting out demons about Beelzebub, the prince of demons. But others, hearing this, do not hear and, seeing this, do not see, and about everything about which Divine Scripture testifies and certifies that it comes from the Holy Spirit and from Divine influence, as if they had lost their temper and rejected all Divine Scripture, and having thrown out all the knowledge given by this Scripture from the mind, the damned do not tremble to say that such actions occur due to intoxication and demons. As if they were unfaithful and complete ignoramuses, not learned in the Divine mysteries, when they hear about the Divine illumination or illumination of the soul and mind, or about contemplation and dispassion, or about humility and tears from the action and grace of the Holy Spirit, immediately, as if not having the strength to endure of the great brilliance and power of these words, the eyes of their souls are darkened more than they are enlightened, and with great insolence they decide that this is from the delusion of demons, and the damned do not tremble either at the judgment of God or at the harm caused to those who hear them. Moreover, they do not hesitate to assert, boldly, that in present times nothing of the kind comes from God in any of the believers; and this is extreme wickedness, more than heresy.”
So, following Basil the Great, the Monk Simeon attributes the attribution of the grace-filled gifts of the Spirit in ascetics to the action of demons to the sin of unforgivable blasphemy. Blasphemy is the accusation of demonic delusion of those who have been granted the influence of the Divine Spirit through mental, unceasing prayer, after cleansing from passions.
Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria (... ca. 1107)
Archbishop of Ohrid, Blessed Theophylact is not one of the saints whose memory is celebrated throughout the Church, but since ancient times he has enjoyed the glory of a father and teacher of the Church.
The Bulgarian archbishop from the Greeks, Theophylact began his service as a deacon of the main temple of the Byzantine Empire - Sophia of Constantinople. His main duty there was to explain the Holy Scriptures and write instructive words on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarch. He left us numerous theological works, most of which are interpretations of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
The explanatory Gospel of Blessed Theophylact - “The Good News” - has had the widest fame and authority throughout the Orthodox world for almost a thousand years. In his work on the “Good News”, he relied on the works of the holy fathers, primarily John Chrysostom.
Giving interpretations of the Gospel texts, Blessed Theophylact, of course, paid attention to fragments related to the doctrine of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Below we present his reasoning.
To the Gospel of Matthew: “Every other sin has at least a small excuse, for example, fornication, theft, for we usually refer to human weakness and therefore deserve some excuse. But when someone sees miracles performed by the Holy Spirit and attributes them to demons, what excuse can he have? Obviously, he knows that they come from the Holy Spirit, but he maliciously blasphemes them - how can he be forgiven? Thus, when the Jews saw that the Lord ate and drank, that He communicated with publicans and harlots and did everything else characteristic of Him as the Son of Man, and then they blamed Him as a poisoner and a wine drinker, then in this they are worthy of apology and in this not Repentance will be required from them, since they were tempted, as it seemed to them, not without reason. But when they saw that He performed miracles, and yet they slandered and blasphemed the Holy Spirit, calling it a demonic work, how will they be forgiven of this sin if they do not repent? So, know that whoever blasphemes the Son of Man, seeing Him living like a man, and calls Him a friend of fornicators, a glutton and a wine drinker because Christ did this, then such a person, if he does not repent, will not give an answer for it, he will receive forgiveness, because under the cover of the flesh he did not imagine God in Him. But whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit, that is, the spiritual works of Christ, and calls them demonic, unless he repents, will not be forgiven, since he had no plausible reason for blasphemy, like, for example, the one who slandered Christ, seeing Him among fornicators and tax collectors. This will not be forgiven him either here or there - but he will be punished both here and there.
Many are punished here only, but not there, like poor Lazarus; others here and there, like the Sodomites and those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit; others are neither here nor there, for example, the apostles, the Forerunner and others.”
To the Gospel of Mark: “What the Lord says here means the following: that people who sin in everything else can still apologize in some way and receive forgiveness through God’s condescension towards human weakness. For example, those who called the Lord a food drinker and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, will receive forgiveness for this. But when they see that He works undoubted miracles, and yet they blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that is, the working of miracles that come from the Holy Spirit, then how will they receive forgiveness if they do not repent? When they were offended by the flesh of Christ, in this case, even if they did not repent, they will be forgiven as people who were offended, but when they saw Him doing the works of God and still blasphemed, how will they be forgiven if they remain unrepentant?
To the Gospel of Luke: “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. This means that whoever speaks blasphemy against Me, in his appearance as a simple Son of Man, eating, drinking, dealing with tax collectors and harlots, whether he repents or does not repent of his blasphemy, he will be forgiven. For to such a person his unbelief is not considered a sin. For what did he see that was conducive to faith? On the contrary, what did he not see worthy of blasphemy? He saw a man treating harlots and spoke blasphemy against him, and therefore sin was not imputed to him. For, naturally, he could think: what kind of Son of God is he who deals with harlots? Therefore, the one who does this, and yet pretends to be the Son of God, he can revile and call him a deceiver.
And whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. These words have such a meaning that anyone, seeing Divine signs and great and extraordinary deeds, does not believe and blasphemes, attributing the actions of the Holy Spirit to Beelzebub, spewing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and saying that these signs are performed by the evil spirit, and not by God, if he does not repent, he will not be forgiven and forgiven. He who speaks blasphemy against the Son of Man is not charged with sin, and therefore he is forgiven even without repentance, but he who sees the works of the Spirit of God and blasphemes without repentance will not be forgiven, but will be counted as the greatest sin.”
Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria draws the main attention to the fact that the sin of blasphemy is punished both in this life and in the future, and without repentance it will never be forgiven.
Summing up the results of the consideration of the main interpretations of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church of the Gospel teaching about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, we can say that they attributed to this mortal sin, subject to eternal condemnation and punishment:
- sin of godlessness and unbelief,
- the sin of rejecting obvious truth,
- the sin of dividing the Holy Trinity through the separation of the Holy Spirit from the essence of Christ and declaring Him a creature and not God,
- the sin of attributing any gifts of a Christian, received for a zealous, God-pleasing life from the Holy Spirit, to the action of demonic forces,
- the sin of declaring the influence of the Divine Spirit on an ascetic who was able to achieve pure contemplative prayer as a demonic delusion or the result of intoxication,
- the sin of attributing to the devil the works and miracles of the Spirit of God visible to everyone.
The Holy Fathers, following the Apostle Paul, confirmed that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit should be anathema. Anyone who commits this sin or accepts false teaching containing it must be excommunicated from the Church until he publicly renounces his errors, that is, brings repentance.
Repentance, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, is “one of the seven Christian Sacraments established by Jesus Christ. A Christian, sincerely and heartily repenting of his sins and intending to correct his life, with faith in Christ and with hope in His mercies, verbally sets out his sins before the priest, who also verbally absolves him of his sins. With the visible expression of forgiveness by the priest, the penitent is invisibly absolved by Christ Himself and again becomes innocent and sanctified, as after baptism. At first, repentance consisted only of external cleansing sacrifices; later, the prophets began to demand internal change during repentance, in the form of a decision to live better; in the Gospel, repentance is already understood as rebirth, a complete change of being. In apostolic times there were two types of repentance: 1) secret, before the priest, and 2) open, public, before the entire church community.”
About what awaits the unrepentant, the Venerable Nile of Sinai (... c. 450) wrote: “Woe to the blasphemer: his tongue is tied, and he is not able to justify himself in any way before the Judge,” and the Venerable Ephraim the Syrian (306–373) argued : “Neither the Lord, nor His Baptism, nor even the mercy of God, which covers evil with good deeds, forgives the sins of a blasphemer on this earth.”
Arseny Pisarev, hieromonk From the book: Unforgivable sin. About the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. – M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2007
References:
Athanasius the Great, St. Creations: In 4 volumes – Holy Trinity Lavra, 1902–1903. Reprint: M.: Publishing house of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, 1994. T. 4. pp. 441–443. Right there. T. 3. P. 84, 86. Sylvester (Malevansky), bishop. Experience of Orthodox dogmatic theology (with a historical presentation of dogmas). – T. 2. Kyiv: Printing house G. T. Korczak-Novitsky, 1892. P. 408. Basil the Great, St. Spiritual instructions. – M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House; A new book; Kovcheg, 1998, pp. 302–303. Basil the Great, St. Creations: At 7 o'clock - Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1900–1902. Part 5. Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 1901. P. 295. This refers only to asceticism, recognized by other ascetics and prayer books known to the Church. Basil the Great, St. Creations: In 7 hours. Part 4. P. 331. Treasury of spiritual wisdom: Extracts from the works of the holy fathers, arranged in accordance with the annual circle of Gospel readings / Comp. M. Neigum, prot. - Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 2001. P. 258, 202. Handbook of the clergy: In 8 volumes. - M.: Publishing house. Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1994. T. 7. P. 659. John Chrysostom, St. Complete collection of works: In 12 volumes - St. Petersburg, Reprint: M.: St. St. Publishing House. John Chrysostom, 2000. T. 7. Book 1. pp. 440–441. Treasury of spiritual wisdom. P. 202. Handbook for a clergyman. T. 7. P. 659. Simeon the New Theologian, St. Creations: In 4 volumes - Athonite Russian Panteleimon Monastery, 1890. Reprint: Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 1993. T. 2. pp. 125–127. We are talking about undoubted ascetics of piety, known to the Church, and not about all persons in general called such. Theophylact of Bulgaria, bl. Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew // Theophylact of Bulgaria, Blessed. Blagovestnik: In 3 books. – M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2000. Book. 1. pp. 116–117. Right there. pp. 276–277. Theophylact of Bulgaria, blessed. Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke // Theophylact of Bulgaria, blessed. Blagovestnik: In 3 books. – M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2000. P. 492–493. We are talking about undoubted ascetics of piety, known to the Church, and not about all persons in general called such. Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 2 volumes. T. 2. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house P.P. Soikina, b. g. S. 1825–1826. A clergyman's handbook. T. 7. P. 659. Ibid. P. 658.
Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria
He believes that blasphemy is attribution to the devil, devaluation of miracles and the providence of God, and deliberate distortion of Christian teaching. If ordinary sins are committed due to a person’s weakness and difficulty resisting temptations, then blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is akin to intentional Satanism. It is for this reason that he does not say goodbye. Especially if good Christian deeds are called the devil's deeds.
However, with sincere repentance, this sin is also forgiven, unless a person tries to turn other people away from Christianity. The most unforgivable sin is completed suicide, since a person will not be able to repent of it.
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Practical Considerations
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit lies at the end of the descending progression. People with open hearts saw Jesus' miracles and accepted Him and His message. Others accepted miracles without yet accepting Him as the Son of God (Matthew 16:13-17). His own family thought He was crazy (Mark 3:20-21). Those guilty of blasphemy, or perhaps almost accused (Mark 3:30), attributed miracles to Satan. At any point along this path, people could come to faith, but at the end of the story we are looking at, faith was no longer an option for those people.
Paul was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, an abuser, and a cruel man (1 Timothy 1:13). Yet he did not personally see Jesus and claimed that these miracles were from Satan. Once we see miracles and vehemently reject them, attributing them to Satan, then nothing can wake us up. The longer sin lasts, the more it takes root in a person. When Peter preached to thousands (Acts 2:38), he made no distinction or exception against those guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
No one should be denied God's mercy if a person truly repents of sins and comes to God. The Spirit Himself invites everyone to come to Him (Revelations 22:17). If you are afraid that you have committed the “unpardonable sin,” you most certainly have not. However, becoming entrenched in sin is a scary thought in any case. It can begin in carelessness, continue in indifference, and end in entrenchment.
In Hebrews it began with sidetracking (2:1), then moved to an unbelieving heart (3:11-12), and then led to the impossibility of repentance (6:4-6).
Notice that the downward spiral begins with us becoming friends with the world (James 4:4), then we begin to love it (1 John 2:15), then the laws of the world begin to govern us (Romans 12:2) and finally we are condemned along with the whole world (1 Corinthians 11:32). So the problem is not whether God will forgive. And the question is whether a person can repent. Jesus knew hearts and knew that those He spoke to had passed the point of “no return”—they were fully established in sin. Even so, His Words could have been a warning that they might be beyond that point. A great miracle of resurrection might be their last hope.
The Holy Spirit is the one who can help
In terms of spiritual state, there are three types of Christians in the church:
- They burn and flame with the Holy Spirit: they glorify the Lord with their lives and labors for His sake.
- They burn, but not as much as at the beginning: fatigue is visible, a certain coldness, but the person is still “living” and working.
- They barely burn, almost smolder: if there is spiritual life, then barely...
But for all of us, children of God, there is saving grace - the gift of the Holy Spirit. For those who are able: thank the Lord for this! For those who are weak: ask the Lord for help, because He has strength! Those who understand that their life in God is “dying” - confess to Him, let Him open your eyes to what exactly Satan was able to catch you in, repent of this, leave this sin - and the Holy Spirit will renew you, ignite you with a new one fire! The Lord has a lot of grace, He wants to help us, but no one will do the work of confession and filling with the Holy Spirit for us, this is our responsibility before the Lord (see Luke 11:9-13).
Filling with the Holy Spirit is a commandment of God, and the Holy Spirit is a sign of His great grace and mercy towards us, a sign of His priceless, all-consuming love, which gave His life for us on the Cross.
