Whosoever shall Speak a Word against the Holy Spirit

On the words of the Gospel, Matthew 12:32 , Whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. Or, on the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

1. There has been a great question raised touching the late lesson of the Gospel, to the solution of which I am unequal by any power of my own; but our sufficiency is of God, to whatever degree we are capable of receiving His aid. First then consider the magnitude of the question; that when you see the weight of it laid upon my shoulders, you may pray in aid of my labours, and in the assistance which is vouchsafed to me, may find edification for your own souls. When one possessed with a devil was brought to the Lord, blind and dumb, and He had healed him so that he could speak and see, and all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the Son of David? The Pharisees hearing it said, This fellow does not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? In these words He wished it to be understood from their own confession, that, through their not believing in Him they had chosen to belong to the kingdom of the devil, which as being divided against itself could accordingly not stand. Let then the Pharisees make choice of which they will. If Satan cannot cast out Satan, they can find nothing to say against the Lord; but if he can, then let them much more look to themselves, and depart out of his kingdom, which as being divided against itself cannot stand.

2. But now that they may not think that it is the prince of the devils in whom the Lord Jesus Christ casts out devils, let them attend to what follows; And if I, He says, by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. He spoke this undoubtedly of his disciples, the children of that people; who as being the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were well conscious that they had learned no evil arts from their Good Master, that through the prince of the devils they should cast out devils. Therefore, He says, shall they be your judges. They, He says, the base and contemptible things of this world, in whom none of this artificial malice, but the holy simplicity of My power is seen; they shall be My witnesses, they shall be your judges. Then He subjoins, But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then the kingdom of God has come unto you. What is this? If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, He says, and your children, to whom I have given no hurtful and deceitful doctrine but a simple faith, can in no other way cast them out; no doubt the kingdom of God has come unto you; whereby the kingdom of the devil is subverted, and you also are subverted with it.

3. And after that He had said, By whom do your children cast them out? to show that in them it was His grace, not their own desert; He says, Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except He first bind the strong man, and then He will spoil his house? Your children, says He, who either have already believed in Me, or who shall yet believe, and cast out devils, not through the prince of the devils, but through the simplicity of holiness, who assuredly either once were, or still are what you are also, sinners and ungodly; and so in the house of the devil, and the vessels of the devil, how could they be rescued from him whom he held so firmly through the iniquity which reigned over them, unless he were bound by the chains of My justice, that I might take away from him his vessels which once were vessels of wrath, and make them vessels of mercy? This it is which the blessed Apostle also says when he rebukes the proud, and those who boast as it were of their own deserts, For who makes you to differ? That is, who makes you to differ from the mass of perdition derived from Adam and from the vessels of wrath. And that no man might say, My own righteousness, he says, What have you, that you did not receive? And on this point he says of himself also, We also once were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. So then he himself was a vessel in the house of that strong one, strong in evil, when he was a persecutor of the Church, a blasphemer, injurious, living in malice and envy, as he confesses. But He who bound the strong one, took away from him this vessel of perdition, and made it a vessel of election.

4. Afterwards, that the unbelievers and ungodly, the enemies of the Christian name, might not suppose by reason of the various heresies and schisms of those who under the Christian name gather together flocks of lost sheep, that the kingdom of Christ also is divided against itself, He next adds, He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathers not with Me, scatters abroad. He does not say, he who is under the outward profession of My Name; or the form of My Sacrament; but he who is not with Me is against Me. Nor does He say, he who gathers not under the outward profession of My Name; but he who gathers not with Me, scatters abroad. Christ's kingdom then is not divided against itself; but men try to divide that which was bought with the price of the Blood of Christ. For the Lord knows them that are His. And, let every one that names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity. For if he depart not from iniquity, he belongs not to the kingdom of Christ, even though he name the Name of Christ. To give then some illustrations for example's sake, the spirit of covetousness, and the spirit of luxuriousness, because the one heaps together, and the other lavishes, are divided against themselves; yet they belong both to the kingdom of the devil. Among idolaters the spirit of Juno and the spirit of Hercules, are divided against themselves; and both belong to the kingdom of the devil. The heathen Christ's enemy, and the Jew Christ's enemy, are divided against themselves; and both belong to the kingdom of the devil. Arianus and Photinianus both are heretics, and both are divided against themselves. The Donatist and Maximianist both are heretics, and both divided against themselves. All men's vices and errors that are contrary to each other are divided against themselves, and all belong to the kingdom of the devil; therefore his kingdom shall not stand. But the righteous and the ungodly, the believer and the unbeliever, the Catholic and the heretic, are indeed divided against themselves, but they do not belong all to the kingdom of Christ. The Lord knows them that are His. Let no one flatter himself upon a mere name. If he would that the Name of the Lord should profit him, let him that calls upon the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity.

5. But these words of the Gospel, though they had some obscurity, which I think by the Lord's assistance I have explained, were yet not so difficult, as that which follows would seem to be. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. What then will become of those whom the Church desires to gain? When they have been reformed and come into the Church from whatsoever error, is the hope in the remission of all sins that is promised them a false hope? For who is not convicted of having spoken a word against the Holy Ghost, before he became a Christian or a Catholic? In the first place, are not they who are called Pagans, the worshippers of many and false gods, and the adorers of idols, forasmuch as they say that the Lord Christ wrought miracles by magical arts, are not they like these who said that He cast out devils through the prince of the devils? And again, when day by day they blaspheme our sanctification, what else blaspheme they but the Holy Ghost? What? Do not the Jews— they who spoke concerning our Lord what gave occasion to this very discourse— do they not even to the present day speak a word against the Holy Ghost, by denying that He is now in Christians, just as the others denied Him to be in Christ? For not even did they revile the Holy Ghost, by asserting either that He existed not, or that though He existed, yet that He was not God, but a creature; or that He had no power to cast out devils; they did not speak thus unworthily, or anything like it, of the Holy Ghost. For the Sadducees indeed denied the Holy Ghost; but the Pharisees maintained His existence against their heresy, but they denied that He was in the Lord Jesus Christ, who they thought cast out devils through the prince of the devils, whereas He did cast them out through the Holy Ghost. And hence, both Jews and whatsoever heretics there are who confess the Holy Ghost, but deny that He is in the Body of Christ, which is His One Only Church, none other than the One Catholic Church, are without doubt like the Pharisees who at that time although they confessed the existence of the Holy Ghost, yet denied that He was in Christ, whose works in casting out devils they attributed to the prince of devils. I say nothing of the fact that some heretics either boldly maintain that the Holy Ghost is not the Creator but a creature, as the Arians, and Eunomians, and Macedonians, or so entirely deny His existence, as to deny that God is Trinity, but assert that He is God the Father only, and that He is sometimes called the Son, and sometimes the Holy Ghost; as the Sabellians, whom some call Patripassians, because they hold that the Father suffered; and forasmuch as they deny that He has any Son, without doubt they deny His Holy Spirit also. The Photinians again who say that the Father only is God, and the Son a mere man, deny altogether that there is any third Person of the Holy Ghost.

6. It is plain then that the Holy Ghost is blasphemed both by Pagans, and by Jews, and by heretics. Are they then to be left, and accounted without all hope, since the sentence is fixed, Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come? And are they only to be deemed free from the guilt of this most grievous sin who are Catholics from infancy? For all those who have believed the word of God, that they might become Catholics, came surely into the grace and peace of Christ, either from among the Pagans, or Jews, or heretics: and if there be no pardon for them for the word which they have spoken against the Holy Ghost, in vain do we promise and preach to men, to turn to God, and receive peace and remission of sins, whether in Baptism or in the Church. For it is not said, It shall not be forgiven him except in baptism; but, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

7. Some think that they only sin against the Holy Ghost, who having been washed in the laver of regeneration in the Church, and having received the Holy Spirit, as though unthankful for so great a gift of the Saviour, have plunged themselves afterwards into any deadly sin; as adultery, or murder, or an absolute apostasy, either altogether from the Christian name, or from the Catholic Church. But how this sense of it may be proved, I know not; since the place of repentance is not denied in the Church to any sins whatever; and the Apostle says that heretics themselves are to be reproved to this end, If God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. For what is the advantage of amendment without any hope of forgiveness? Finally, The Lord did not say, the baptized Catholic who shall speak a word against the Holy Ghost; but he who, that is whosoever speaks, be he who he may, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Whether then he be a heathen, or a Jew, or a Christian, or a heretic from among Jews or Christians, or whatsoever other title of error he have, it is not said, this man, or that man; but whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, that is who blasphemes the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. But moreover if every error contrary to truth, and inimical to Christian peace, as we have shown before, speaks a word against the Holy Ghost; and yet the Church does not cease to reform and gather out of every error those who shall receive remission of sins, and the Holy Ghost Himself, whom they have blasphemed; I think I have discovered an important secret for the clearing up this so great a question. Let us seek then from the Lord the light of explanation.

8. Lift up then, Brethren, lift up unto me your ears, and your hearts unto the Lord. I tell you, my Beloved; perhaps there is not in all holy Scripture found a more important or more difficult question. Wherefore (that I may make you a confession about myself), I have always in my discourses to the people avoided the difficulty and embarrassment of this question; not because I had no ideas of any sort on the subject, for in a matter of such great importance, I would not be negligent in asking, and seeking, and knocking; but because I did not think I could do justice to that understanding of it which was in some degree opened to me, by words suggested at the moment. But as I listened to today's lesson, upon which it was my duty to discourse to you, as the Gospel was being read, there was such a beating at my heart, that I believed that it was God's will that you should hear something on the subject by my ministry.

9. First then, I pray you to consider and understand that the Lord did not say, No blasphemy of the Spirit shall be forgiven, or, whosoever speaks any word whatsoever against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks a word; for had he said the former, there would have remained to us no subject of disputation at all. Since if no blasphemy, and no word which is spoken against the Holy Ghost, shall be forgiven unto men; the Church could not gain any one out of all the classes of ungodly sinners who gainsay the gift of Christ, and the sanctification of the Church, whether Jews, or heathens, or heretics of whatsoever sort, and some even of little knowledge in the Catholic Church itself. But God forbid that the Lord should say this: God forbid, I say, that the Truth should say that every blasphemy and every word which should be spoken against the Holy Ghost, has no forgiveness neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

10. His will indeed was to exercise us by the difficulty of the question, not to deceive us by a false decision. Wherefore there is no necessity for any one to think, that every blasphemy or every word which is spoken against the Holy Ghost has no remission; but necessary it plainly is, that there should be some certain blasphemy, and some word which if it be spoken against the Holy Ghost can never attain to pardon and forgiveness. For if we take it to mean every word, who then can be saved? But if again we think there is no such word, we contradict the Saviour. There is then without doubt some certain blasphemy and some word which if it be spoken against the Holy Ghost, shall not be forgiven. Now what this word is, it is the Lord's will we should enquire; and therefore He has not expressed it. His will, I say, was that it should be enquired into, not denied. For the style of the Scriptures is often such, that when anything is so expressed as not to be limited either to a universal or particular signification, it is not necessary that it should be understood universally, and not particularly. This proposition then would be expressed in its whole extent, that is, universally, if it were said, All blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; or, Whosoever speaks any word whatsoever against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. But it would be expressed partially, that is, particularly, if it were said, Some certain blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. But because this proposition is laid down neither in a universal, nor a particular form (for it is not said, Every blasphemy; or some certain blasphemy of the Spirit; but only indefinitely, blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; neither is it said, Whosoever speaks any word whatever, or whosoever speaks some certain word, but indefinitely, whosoever speaks a word), there is no necessity that we should understand every blasphemy and every word; but necessary it plainly is that the Lord designed some kind of blasphemy, and some word to be understood; though He would not express it, that, if we should receive any right understanding of it by asking, and seeking, and knocking, we might not entertain a low esteem of it.

11. In order to seeing this more plainly, consider that which the same Lord also says of the Jews, If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin. For this again was not said with any such meaning, as if He intended it to be understood that the Jews would have been without any sin at all, if He had not come and spoken to them. For indeed He found them full of and laden with sins. Wherefore He says, Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden. Laden! With what, but with the burdens of sins and transgressions of the Law? For the Law entered that sin might abound. Since then He says Himself in another place, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; how would they not have had sin if He had not come? If it be not that this proposition being expressed neither universally, nor particularly, but indefinitely, does not constrain us to understand it of all sin? But certainly unless we understand that there was some sin which they would not have had if Christ had not come and spoken unto them, we must say that the proposition was false, which God forbid. He does not say then, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had had no sin; lest the Truth should lie. Nor again did He say definitely, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had some certain sin; lest our devout earnestness should not be exercised. For in the full abundance of the Holy Scriptures we feed upon the plain parts, we are exercised by the obscure: by the one, hunger is driven away, and daintiness by the other. Seeing then that it is not said, they had had no sin, we need not be disturbed, though we acknowledge that the Jews would have been sinners, even if the Lord had not come. But yet because it is said, If I had not come, they had not had sin; it must needs be that they contracted, though not all, yet some sin which they had not before, from the coming of the Lord. And this verily is that sin, that they believed not in Him who was present with and spoke to them, and that counting Him as an enemy because He spoke the truth, they put Him besides to death. This sin so great and terrible it is clear they had not had if He had not come and spoken to them. As then when we hear the words, They had not had sin; we do not understand all, but some, sin; so when we hear in today's lesson, Blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; we understand not all, but a certain kind of blasphemy; and when we hear, Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him; we ought not to understand every, but some certain word.

12. For in that He says also in this very text, But blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; surely we must needs understand not blasphemy of every spirit, but the Holy Spirit. And though He had not expressed this anywhere else more plainly, who could be so silly as to understand it in any other way? According to the same rule of speech is this expression also understood, Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit. For He does not say in that place, and of the Holy Spirit; yet this is understood. Nor because He said of water and of the Spirit, is any one forced to understand it of every spirit. Wherefore when you hear, But the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; as you must not understand it of every spirit, so not of every blasphemy against the Spirit.

13. I see that you are now wishing to hear, since it is not every blasphemy of the Spirit, what that blasphemy is which shall not be forgiven, and what that word is, since it is not every word which if it shall be spoken against the Holy Ghost, shall not be forgiven neither in this world, neither in the world to come. And for my part I should be willing to tell you at once, what you are so very intently waiting to hear; but bear for a while the delay which a more careful diligence requires, till by the Lord's assistance I shall unfold the whole meaning of the passage before us. Now the other two Evangelists, Mark and Luke, when they spoke of the same thing, did not say blasphemy or a word, that we might understand it not of every blasphemy, but of some sort of blasphemy; not every word, but some certain word. What then did they say? In Mark it is thus written, Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies, where-withsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, has never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offense. In Luke it is thus: And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. Is there any departure from the truth of the same proposition because of some diversity in the expression? For indeed there is no other reason why the Evangelists do not relate the same things in the same way, but that we may learn thereby to prefer things to words, not words to things, and to seek for nothing else in the speaker, but for his intention, to convey which only the words are used. For what real difference is there whether it is said, Blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven; or he that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. Except perhaps that the same thing is declared more plainly in this last than in the other form; and so one Evangelist does not overthrow, but explains the other. Now blasphemy of the Spirit is an unevident expression; because it is not directly said what spirit; for every spirit is not the Holy Spirit. Thus it might be called blasphemy of the spirit, when a man blasphemes with the spirit; as that may be called prayer of the spirit, when one prays with the spirit. Whence the Apostle says, I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. But when it is said, he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, these ambiguities are removed. So the expression, has never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offense; what is it, but what according to Matthew is expressed, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come? The very same idea is expressed in different words and different forms of speech. And what is in Matthew, Whosoever speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, that we might not understand it of anything but blasphemy, others have more clearly expressed, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. Yet the same thing is said by all; nor did any one of them depart from the intention of the Speaker, for the sake of understanding which only are words spoken, and written, and read, and heard.

14. But one may say, See I have admitted and understood that where the word blasphemy is used, and neither all, nor some certain blasphemy expressed, it may be understood either of all, or of some certain blasphemy, but not necessarily of all; but again if it be not understood of some, that that which is said would be untrue: so again if it is not said every or some certain word, it is not necessary that every word should be understood, but unless some word be understood, in no way can what is said be true. But when we read, He that shall blaspheme, how can I understand any certain blasphemy, when the word blasphemy is not used, or any certain word, when the word word is not used, but it seems to be said as it were generally, He that shall blaspheme. To this objection I reply thus. If it were said in this passage also, He that shall blaspheme with any kind of blasphemy whatever against the Holy Ghost, there would be no reason why we should think that some particular blasphemy was to be sought for, when we ought rather to understand all blasphemy; but because all blasphemy could not be meant, lest the hope of forgiveness in case of their amendment should be taken away from heathens, and Jews, and heretics, and all kinds of men, who by their various errors and contradictions blaspheme against the Holy Ghost; it remains without a doubt, that in the passage where it is written, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, he must be meant, not who has in any way whatever blasphemed; but he who has blasphemed in such a particular way, that he can never be pardoned.

15. For as in that it is said, God tempts no man, it is not to be understood that God tempts no man with any kind, but only not with some certain kind of temptation; lest that be false, which is written, The Lord your God tempts you; and lest we deny that Christ is God, or say that the Gospel is false, when we read that He asked His disciple tempting him; but He Himself knew what He would do. For there is a temptation which induces to sin, with which God tempts no man, and there is a temptation which only proves our faith, with which even God vouchsafes to tempt. So when we hear, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, we must not take it of every kind of blasphemy, as neither in the other place, of every kind of temptation.

16. So again when we hear, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; we do not of course understand it of one who believes in such a way as the devils believe and tremble; nor of those who receive baptism in such sort as Simon Magus, who though he could be baptized, could not be saved. As then when He said, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, He had not in his view all who believe and are baptized, but some only; those, to wit, who are settled in that faith, which, according to the Apostle's distinction, works by love: so when he said, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, he did not intend every kind, but a specific sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, by which whosoever shall be bound, he shall never by any remission be loosed.

17. That expression also of His, He that eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood dwells in Me, and I in him, how must we understand? Can we include in these words those even of whom the Apostle says, that they eat and drink judgment to themselves; when they eat this flesh and drink this blood? What! Did Judas the impious seller and betrayer of his Master (though, as Luke the Evangelist declares more plainly, he ate and drank with the rest of His disciples this first Sacrament of His body and blood, consecrated by the Lord's hands), did he dwell in Christ and Christ in him? Do so many, in fine, who either in hypocrisy eat that flesh and drink that blood, or who after they have eaten and drunk become apostate, do they dwell in Christ or Christ in them? Yet assuredly there is a certain manner of eating that Flesh and drinking that Blood, in which whosoever eats and drinks, he dwells in Christ and Christ in him. As then he does not dwell in Christ and Christ in him, who eats the Flesh and drinks the Blood of Christ in any manner whatsoever, but only in some certain manner, to which He doubtless had regard when He spoke these words. So in this expression also, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness, he is not guilty of this unpardonable sin, who shall blaspheme in any way whatever, but in that particular way, which it is His will, who uttered this true and terrible sentence, that we should seek out and understand.

18. Now as to what that mode, or immoderateness rather, of blasphemy is, what that particular blasphemy, and what that word against the Holy Ghost, the order of my discourse requires me to say what I think, and not to put off any longer your expectation which has been so long but so necessarily deferred. You know, Dearly beloved, that in that invisible and incorruptible Trinity, which our faith and the Church Catholic maintains and preaches, God the Father is not the Father of the Holy Spirit, but of the Son; and that God the Son is not the Son of the Holy Spirit, but of the Father; but that God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit not of the Father only, or of the Son only, but of the Father and the Son. And that this Trinity, although the Property and particular Subsistence of each person is preserved, is yet, because of the undivided and inseparable Essence or Nature of Eternity, Truth, and Goodness, not three Gods but One God. And by this means, according to our capacity, and as far as it is granted us to see these things through a glass darkly, especially being such as we now are, there is conveyed to us the idea of Origination in the Father, Nativity in the Son, and the Communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit, and in the Three Equality. By That then which is the Bond of communion between the Father and the Son, it is Their pleasure that we should have communion both among ourselves and with Them, and to gather us together in one by that same Gift, which One They both have, that is, by the Holy Spirit, at once God and the Gift of God. For in This are we reconciled to the Divinity, and take delight in It. For what would the knowledge of whatever good we know profit us, unless we also loved it? But as it is by the truth that we learn, so is it by charity that we love, that so we may attain also to a fuller knowledge, and enjoy in blessedness what we know. Love moreover is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. And because it is through sin that we are alienated from the possession of true good, Love covers a multitude of sins. So then the Father is Himself the True Origin to the Son, who is the Truth, and the Son is the Truth, originating from the True Father, and the Holy Spirit is Goodness, shed abroad from the Good Father and the Good Son; but in all Three the Divinity is equal, and the Unity Inseparable.

19. First then in order to our receiving eternal life which shall be given at the last, there comes to us a gift from God's goodness from the beginning of our faith, to wit, the remission of sins. For while they remain, there remains in some sort enmity against God, and alienation from Him, which comes from what is evil in us; since Scripture does not speak falsely, which says, Your sins separate between you and God. He does not then bestow on us His good things, except He take away our evil things. And the former increase in proportion as the latter are diminished; nor will the one be perfected, till the other be brought to an end. But now that the Lord Jesus forgives sins by the Holy Ghost, just as by the Holy Ghost He casts out devils, may be understood by this, that after His Resurrection from the dead, when He had said to His disciples, Receive the Holy Ghost, He immediately subjoined, Whosesoever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they shall be retained. For that regeneration also, in which there is a remission of all past sins, is wrought by the Holy Ghost, as the Lord says, Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But it is one thing to be born of the Spirit, another to be nourished by the Spirit; just as it is one thing to be born of the flesh, which happens when the mother is delivered of her child; another to be nourished by the flesh, which happens when she gives suck to her infant, who turns himself that he may drink with pleasure there whence he was born, to have life; that he may receive the support of life from thence, whence he received the beginning of his birth. We must believe then that the first blessing of God's goodness in the Holy Ghost is the remission of sins. Whence the preaching of John the Baptist, who was sent as the forerunner of the Lord, also begins with it. For thus it is written, In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judæa, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Hence too the beginning of our Lord's preaching, as we read, From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now John, among the other things which he spoke to those who came to be baptized by him, said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. The Lord also said, John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence, even at Pentecost. Now as to John's expression, with fire, though tribulation also might be understood, which believers were to suffer for the name of Christ; yet may we reasonably think that the same Holy Spirit is signified also under the name of fire. Wherefore when He came it is said, And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. Hence also the Lord Himself said, I have come to send fire on the earth. Hence also the Apostle says, Fervent in the spirit; for from Him comes the fervour of love. For it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. And the contrary to this fervour is what the Lord said, The love of many shall wax cold. Now perfect love is the perfect gift of the Holy Spirit. But the first gift is that which is concerned with the remission of sins; by which blessing we are delivered from the power of darkness; and the prince of this world, who works in the children of disobedience by no other power than the fellowship and the bond of sin, is cast out by our faith. For by the Holy Spirit, by whom the people of God are gathered together into one, is the unclean spirit who is divided against himself cast out.

20. Against this gratuitous gift, against this grace of God, does the impenitent heart speak. This impenitence then is the blasphemy of the Spirit, which shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. For against the Holy Spirit, by whom they whose sins are all forgiven are baptized, and whom the Church has received, that whosesoever sins she remits, they may be remitted, does he speak, whether in the thought only, or also in the tongue, a very heinous and exceedingly ungodly word, who when the patience of God leads him to repentance, after his hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds. This impenitence then, for so by some one general name may we call both this blasphemy and the word against the Holy Ghost which has no forgiveness for ever; this impenitence, I say, against which both the herald and the Judge cried out, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; against which the Lord first opened the mouth of the Gospel preaching, and against which He foretold that the same Gospel was to be preached in all the world, when He said to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead, it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem: this impenitence, in one word, has no forgiveness neither in this world, nor in the world to come; for that repentance only obtains forgiveness in this world, that it may have its effect in the world to come.

Continue to Part II

By Saint Augustine

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