Matters Arising: Sins Against the Holy Ghost

Rev. Fr. Nicholas Mary, CSSR

Fr. Nicholas answers topical questions in the light of moral theology and canon law.

Our Lord warns us that ‘he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin’ (Mk 3:29. Cf. Mt 12:32, Lk 12:10). The Catechism in turn lists six sins against the Holy Ghost. Does that mean that if we are guilty of one of these sins, we shall never be forgiven?

The Roman Catechism has this to say about the scope of the Church’s power to forgive sins:

‘The testimony of St. John assures us that the Lord, breathing on the Apostles, said: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” Nor is the exercise of this power restricted to particular sins. No crime, however heinous, can be committed or even conceived which the Church has not power to forgive, just as there is no sinner, however abandoned, however depraved, who should not confidently hope for pardon, provided he sincerely repent of his past transgressions. Furthermore, the exercise of this power is not restricted to particular times. Whenever the sinner turns from his evil ways he is not to be rejected, as we learn from the reply of our Saviour to the Prince of the Apostles. When St. Peter asked how often we should pardon an offending brother — whether seven times —, “Not only seven times,” said the Redeemer, “but till seventy times seven.”’1

The essential thing to understand about this ‘everlasting’ or ‘unforgivable’ sin is that you cannot have committed it if you are still in this life and are presently concerned whether or not you have committed it. Though the traditional catechisms do indeed list six sins against the Holy Ghost, it is only one of them — final impenitence — which is of its nature unforgivable; the others lead to it, but can all be forgiven. And you can only have committed the sin of final impenitence by resisting grace (and forgiveness) to the very end of life. In this interpretation of the Gospel, the Church principally follows St. Augustine, as here summarised by St. Thomas Aquinas:

‘Augustine, however, says that blasphemy or the sin against the Holy Ghost, is final impenitence when, namely, a man perseveres in mortal sin until death, and that it is not confined to utterance by word of mouth, but extends to words in thought and deed, not to one word only, but to many. Now this word, in this sense, is said to be uttered against the Holy Ghost, because it is contrary to the remission of sins, which is the work of the Holy Ghost, Who is the charity both of the Father and of the Son.’2

Fr Koch elaborates:

‘There is a class of transgressions which may be embraced under the collective term, “sin against the Holy Ghost.” They all involve a deliberate and obstinate opposition to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as witnessed in the exercise of Christ’s power over nature and the demons, and continued in the miracles of grace. He still works in the souls of the faithful. Consequently, the sin against the Holy Ghost consists in openly opposing divine Revelation and the operation of the Holy Spirit both in and outside of man, more particularly in deliberately despising or rejecting supernatural grace. And as the Holy Ghost operates in souls especially through the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, the sin against the Holy Ghost is opposed to these three virtues in particular. With this idea in mind, St. Augustine and Peter Lombard enumerated six distinct sins against the Holy Ghost, which may, however, be reduced to one, i.e., deliberate apostasy or final impenitence. The other five are merely preliminary acts of impenitence, which may be forgiven, whereas final impenitence is by its very nature unpardonable not because it is beyond the reach of divine mercy, or on account of its objective enormity, but because the impenitent man deliberately rejects grace. He who sins against the Holy Ghost cannot obtain forgiveness for the simple reason that he refuses to be forgiven.’3

And thus we arrive at the six sins referred to above:

‘The sins against the Holy Ghost according to the Catechism are: (1) presumption of God’s mercy, (2) despair, (3) resisting the known Christian truth, (4) envy at another’s spiritual good, (5) obstinacy in sin, and (6) final impenitence. This division is popular rather than scientific, but it correctly describes the psychological stages of the malice that leads to final impenitence. The so-called sin against the Holy Ghost, therefore, is not a single sin but the sum total of a bad life. At what stage actual impenitence sets in, God alone knows. The Church assumes that every man wishes to die in the state of grace. ‘St. Augustine says that as long as there is life there is hope, that “the Almighty Physician knows no incurable disease,” and while grace has a chance to work, no sinner need be given up.

‘A man may be addicted to some evil passion or vice, though morality, faith, contrition, and penance are by no means extinct in his soul. Conversely, he may be in the state of impenitence without having entirely relinquished the practice of religion and virtue, for he may keep up a semblance of piety out of selfishness or hypocrisy. On the other hand, there is a state of the soul which logically and psychologically, though only by gradual and almost unnoticeable stages, superinduces complete impenitence. As every sin committed by a Catholic receives added gravity from the fact that it is the act of one who possesses the true faith and has access to the means of grace, so the sin against the Holy Ghost begins with an abuse of divine truth and grace, with resistance to the inspirations that come from above, especially the call to conversion or to a more perfect state of life. This initial stage is followed by habitual neglect of the duties of one’s vocation, and, finally, by sacrilegious reception of the Sacraments.’4

Fathers McHugh and Callan, OP consider how the five preparatory sins set the soul up for final impenitence:

“(a) Man is kept from sin by the hope mingled with fear which the thought of God, as both merciful and just, excites in him. Hence, despair and presumption which remove these divine preventives of sin are blasphemies against the Holy Ghost.

(b) Man is kept from sin, next, by the light God gives him to know the truth and by the grace He diffuses that all may perform good. Hence, resistance to the known truth and displeasure at the progress of God’s kingdom are also sins against the Spirit of truth and holiness.

(c) Man is kept from sin by the shamefulness of sin itself and the nothingness of the passing satisfaction it affords; for the former inclines him to be ashamed of sin committed, or to repent, while the latter tends to make him tire of sin and give it up. Hence, the resolve not to grieve over sin and obstinate adherence to such a resolve are also sins against the Holy Ghost.’5

And how they are said to be both unpardonable and pardonable at the same time:

‘The sins against the Holy Ghost are unpardonable according to their nature, just as some diseases are incurable according to their nature, because not only do they set up an evil condition, but they also remove or resist those things that could lead to betterment. Thus, if one despairs, or presumes, or resists truth or good, or determines not to abandon error or evil, one shuts out the remedy of repentance, which is necessary for pardon; whereas, if one sins through passion or ignorance, faith and hope remain and help one to repentance.

‘The sins against the Holy Ghost are not unpardonable, if we consider the omnipotence of God. Just as God can cure miraculously a disease that is humanly incurable, so can He pardon a sin which, according to its nature, is unpardonable; for He is able to bring hope and repentance to those who were in despair, for example. Hence, we repeat, there is no sin which, if repented of, cannot be forgiven in this life.’6

It is thus futile to worry whether we have committed a sin that cannot be forgiven. On the contrary, if we have the misfortune to find ourselves on the road to final impenitence due to having committed sins of presumption or despair, of resisting the known truth, of envy at another’s spiritual good, and of obstinacy in sin, let us hasten to repent of them, and obtain their forgiveness through the Sacrament of Penance while there is yet time. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2) †


 

  • 1

     Fr J.A. McHugh, O.P. & Fr C.J. Callan, O.P. (transl.), The Catechism of The Council of Trent (Wagner, New York, 1934) pp. 114–5 (cf. John 20:23 and Mt 18:21–2).

  • 2

    Summa Theologica, II.II, Q. 14, Art. 1 (English Dominican translation). In an interesting article in the American Ecclesiastical Review for October, 1942, Fr. Raymond F. Stoll summarises the various nuances of teaching concerning this matter amongst the Fathers of the Church before and after St. Augustine. Much of what they wrote was produced to combat the error of Novatian, the third-century heretic who denied the power of the Church to forgive certain sins. ‘Final impenitence may be understood in two ways,’ Fr Stoll writes: ‘a) perseverance in sin until death, which is not a specific sin, but a circumstance that may accompany any sin; b) a positive resolve or determination on the part of the sinner not to repent, which is one of the six sins against the Holy Spirit.’ With this distinction made, it is clear that not all the Fathers would have agreed with St. Augustine that the unforgivable sin referred to by Our Lord is final impenitence in the first sense, but that some considered it to have been an instance of the second kind which, though consisting of what is in principle a forgivable sin, was rendered unforgiven in point of fact by the final non-repentance of the specific individuals addressed by Our Lord, and whose eventual damnation He would have foreseen. The difference between these two interpretations is minimal, and that of St. Augustine has largely prevailed.

  • 3

    Fr. A. Koch (transl. Fr A. Preuss), A Handbook of Moral Theology, (B. Herder, St. Louis, 1928), Vol. II, 3rd rev. ed., pp. 92–3.

  • 4

    Ibid. pp. 84–5

  • 5

    Fr J. A. McHugh, OP & Fr C. J. Callan, OP, Moral Theology, (Wagner, New York, 1958), rev. ed., no. 899.

  • 6

     Ibid. no. 900.

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