Taking the Road More Travelled

 

Matthew 12: 31:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

What is the unforgivable sin? The question is of ultimate importance. For it seems this is the sin that sends you to hell—other sins can be forgiven, the passage implies, not just in this world, but if necessary in the next. They send you to purgatory, but not hell.

A widely-read Orthodox catechism explains clearly and simply:

“’Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’ is conscious and hardened opposition to the truth, because the Spirit is truth (I John 5:6). Conscious and hardened resistance to the truth leads man away from humility and repentance, and without repentance there can be no forgiveness. That is why the sin of blasphemy against the Spirit cannot be forgiven, since one who does not acknowledge his sin does not seek to have it forgiven.” – Archpriest Alexivich Slobodskoy, The Christian Faith

The ultimate sin is denial. Without an admission of guilt, no forgiveness is possible, from either God or man.

Sadly, it is a common sin. Too many of us are too ready to deny good and evil, and avert our faces when we see evil done. It even seems the social norm.

Who cares if there are a lot of Jews being held in some distant camps?

Who cares if so many babies are aborted?

Why get involved in a war between Russia and Ukraine? No doubt they are both to blame.

More broadly, and less obviously, many of us seem to think we have a right to believe what we want to believe, instead of seeking truth. If we want to be a woman instead of a man, we can simply declare it so. If history does not suit our purposes, we can construct our own “narrative.”

And on it goes; on the high road to hell.