{"id":7726,"date":"2026-07-01T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7726"},"modified":"2026-05-27T16:10:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T08:10:28","slug":"361-idolatry-blasphemy-of-the-holy-spirit-unforgiveable-sins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7726","title":{"rendered":"361. Idolatry. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit &#038; Unforgiveable Sins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>22\u00a0<\/sup>And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, \u201cHe is possessed by Be-el\u2032zebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.\u201d\u00a0<sup>23\u00a0<\/sup>And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, \u201cHow can Satan cast out Satan?\u00a0<sup>24\u00a0<\/sup>If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.\u00a0<sup>25\u00a0<\/sup>And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.\u00a0<sup>26\u00a0<\/sup>And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.\u00a0<sup>27\u00a0<\/sup>But no one can enter a strong man\u2019s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house. <sup>28\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cTruly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;\u00a0<sup>29\u00a0<\/sup>but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin\u201d\u2014\u00a0<sup>30\u00a0<\/sup>for they had said, \u201cHe has an unclean spirit.\u201d<\/span> [<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Mark 3:22-30<\/span>, <em>NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-Blind-and-Mute-Man-Possessed-by-Devils-James-Tissot-1886-1896.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7727\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-Blind-and-Mute-Man-Possessed-by-Devils-James-Tissot-1886-1896.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"595\" height=\"875\" \/>\u00a0<\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Blind and Mute Man Possessed by Devils, James Tissot, 1886-1896, Brooklyn Museum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In a class for basic theological formation of the laity, a question was raised that links <em>idolatry<\/em> to <em>blasphemy<\/em> of the Holy Spirit and <em>unforgiveable<\/em> <em>sins<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>On Idolatry: expand our list of idols<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Naturally religious, human creatures will worship something or someone. Idolatry is <\/em><em>trusting in created things rather than the Creator for our hopes and happiness. The idol may be a material object or a person, a god invented by human fear or imagination, or a philosophical system. Whatever it is, it will govern the human thoughts and actions, but it will be something less than the true God. And it will be very consequential because that on which we focus our attention and attach our allegiance will grow to dominate us (Psalm 115:48).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the leading Exodus narrative of the Old Testament, no sooner had the Israelites been miraculously delivered from Egypt, than they made a golden calf \u2013 <strong>something tangible<\/strong> and therefore \u2018easier\u2019 for them to worship. It was a replacement, not a representation of the Lord. Through Moses, God blasted such blatant idolatry. So the first of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:3 (and Deuteronomy 5:6) says: \u201cYou shall have no other gods before me.\u201d Emphasizing exclusive devotion, worship, and love, this commandment forbids idols and anything else that humans choose to place above God in their lives. This is the foundation for the most important spiritual rule taught by Christ, and the first and foremost principle for Christian living, namely, to love God with all one\u2019s heart, mind and soul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Through prophet Isaiah, God\u2019s adamant message reads: <em>\u201cI am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols\u201d<\/em> (Isaiah 42:8). God will not be satisfied with anything less than the allegiance of the whole world. Idolatry is a prison, a kind of blindness; God wants to set us free from all such forms of bondage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clearly, \u201cidols\u201d are not confined to mere tangible objects like the golden calf; rather, there are a very large number of possible idols. Perhaps more subtle in developed countries, there are more subtle forces at work against our Christian faith, such as the infiltration of various \u201cNew Age\u201d beliefs and practices. Martin Luther King Jr. sees the world as being awash in \u201clittle gods\u201d that seek our affection. In particular, he stresses that denying false loves was just as important as embracing genuine love: it is crucial to carefully distinguish God, who is beyond the world, who loves us and who is deserving of our love, from worldly idols. We must work on ourselves in order to be rightly oriented towards justice. Beautiful writings may be fueled not by love but by lovelessness, by racism and homophobia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Without doubt, the most prevalent idol in contemporary times is money\u00a0(Matthew 6:24). Wealth is something difficult to renounce altogether because it\u2019s a necessary part of life. Yet, the pull of money is insidious and it easily captures a higher priority than worshipping or serving God. St Paul explains the knock-on effects on our behaviour well:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><em>\u201cThose who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(I Timothy 6:9,10).<\/span><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><em>ver praised. Amen.\u201d<\/em> <em>(Romans 1:21,25)<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In sum, [a] idolatry manifests in different forms of bondage and is certainly not confined to mere tangible idol-worship (see, for example, six things in Proverbs 6:16-19, \u201cstubbornness\u201d in 1 Sam 15:23, putting \u201cstuffs\u201d ahead of God in Lk 17: 26-37); (b) God hates idolatry (Deut 6:13-15) because idols in a person\u2019s life repudiates, renounces and replaces God; (c) do not combine Christianity with other religions or belief systems and expect our relationship with God to be unaffected\u00a0(I Cor 10:14-22). Singapore Cardinal William Goh\u2019s short reflection is germane in this context:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><em>The modern idols of our time are no longer carved from stone or wood but are found in the pursuits of relativism, materialism, pleasure, pragmatism, power, and status. These false gods promise happiness but ultimately leave us empty, anxious, and enslaved. When we allow worldly success or possessions to define us, we lose sight of eternal values and the true source of life and love &#8211; God Himself. Only by detaching from these passing idols and turning our hearts toward God can we find lasting peace, joy, and freedom.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>On Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and Eternal Sin: expand our concept<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Markan passage in 3:22-30 cited above is significant for identifying what a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is. In <em>Mark:<\/em> <em>The Gospel of Service<\/em>, we explained in part:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><em>The unforgivable blasphemy (3:28-30) is to attribute Jesus\u2019 works to an unclean spirit rather than to the Holy Spirit. In works of healing and exorcism, the Son of God is engaged in battle with the forces of Satan. A man observing all this is not just being blind when evil to him is good and good evil, he actually looks on the goodness of God and calls it the evil of Satan. He refuses the guidance of God\u2019s Spirit that reveals God\u2018s truth and enables humanity to recognize the truth when they see it. In such a case, the man is no longer able to seek forgiveness and risks eternal judgment. As this Beelzebul incident involved the scribes who were informed and educated religious leaders, we must note the risk that intellectual ability may equally aid or deflect faith and the challenge of gospel truth. <\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Catholics doing minimal research will however go on and read that <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Church_Fathers\">Church Fathers<\/a>\u00a0considered additional interpretations other than it being to attribute the Holy Spirit&#8217;s works to Satan.\u00a0St <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Aquinas\">Thomas Aquinas<\/a>\u00a0lists six sins that go against the Holy Spirit, all basically having to do with <strong><em>impenitence and obstinacy<\/em><\/strong>, with heart hardened by clinging to sin. St <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Augustine_of_Hippo\">Augustine himself had remarked that this Markan passage is<\/a> one of the more difficult passages of Scripture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unforgivability of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit removes entrance to means of salvation. Still, God can work miracles. The Catechism of Trent thus indicates that the Church believes no offence, however serious, cannot be taken away by Baptism, or absolved in Confession. No one, however wicked and guilty, has no hope. Commenting on \u201cBut whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin,\u201d the\u00a0<em>Catechism <\/em>states, \u201cThere are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss\u201d (#1864). Once we are in a position where we have closed our minds to God\u2019s presence in our lives, how can God reach us?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Insisting that \u201cthe gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin,\u201d\u00a0The Catholic Church thus adopts St Augustine\u2019s view: <strong><em>only dying unrepentant for one&#8217;s sins is the only unforgivable sin<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0What the Catechism of the Catholic Church underlines in this regard is that while no sin is absolutely \u201cunforgivable\u201d, some sins represent a deliberate <strong><em>refusal to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Repentance_(theology)\">repent<\/a>\u00a0and accept the infinite mercy of God<\/em><\/strong>. In refusing God\u2019s forgiveness, one may in fact be engaged in <strong><em>self-condemnation to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christian_views_on_Hell#Roman_Catholicism\">Hell<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. Then, one damns oneself by final impenitence, says St John Paul II:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><em>\u201cEternal damnation\u201d, therefore, is not attributed to God\u2019s initiative because in his merciful love he can only desire the salvation of the beings he created. In reality, it is the creature who closes himself to his love. Damnation is precisely definitive separation from God, freely chosen by the human person and confirmed with death that seals one\u2019s choice for ever. God\u2019s judgement ratifies this state.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2018<strong>Blasphemy\u2019<\/strong>, then, does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it \u201c<strong><em>consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d For a proper exegesis<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">\u201cIf Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because <strong><em>this \u201cnon-forgiveness\u201d is linked, as to its cause, to \u201cnon-repentance,\u201d in other words to the radical refusal to be converted<\/em>.<\/strong> This means the <strong><em>refusal to come to the sources of Redemption<\/em><\/strong>, which nevertheless remain \u201calways\u201d open in the economy of salvation in which the mission of the Holy Spirit is accomplished.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Copyright \u00a9 Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh, July 2026. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To comment, email\u00a0<u><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"mailto:jeffangiegoh@gmail.com\">jeffangiegoh@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>22\u00a0And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, \u201cHe is possessed by Be-el\u2032zebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.\u201d\u00a023\u00a0And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, \u201cHow can Satan cast out Satan?\u00a024\u00a0If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.\u00a025\u00a0And if a house <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7726\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh","author_link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?author=1"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">From Our Perspective<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"22\u00a0And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, \u201cHe is possessed by Be-el\u2032zebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.\u201d\u00a023\u00a0And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, \u201cHow can Satan cast out Satan?\u00a024\u00a0If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.\u00a025\u00a0And if a house&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7726"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7764,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7726\/revisions\/7764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}