What is the unforgivable sin?

For a truly fearful thing is written in the Gospels, where Christ has plainly said, Whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come . And there is often fear, lest a man should receive this condemnation, through speaking what he ought not concerning Him, either from ignorance, or from supposed reverence. The Judge of quick and dead, Jesus Christ, declared that he hath no forgiveness; if therefore any man offend, what hope has he?

Cyril of Jerusalem, Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 20 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Vol. 7)

16. Believe thou also in the Holy Ghost, and hold the same opinion concerning Him, which thou hast received to hold concerning the Father and the Son, and follow not those who teach blasphemous things of Him . But learn thou that this Holy Spirit is One, indivisible, of manifold power; having many operations, yet not Himself divided; Who knoweth the mysteries, Who searcheth all things, even the deep things of God : Who descended upon the Lord Jesus Christ in form of a dove; Who wrought in the Law and in the Prophets; Who now also at the season of Baptism sealeth thy soul; of Whose holiness also every intellectual nature hath need: against Whom if any dare to blaspheme, he hath no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come : “Who with the Father and the Son together ” is honoured with the glory of the Godhead: of Whom also thrones, and dominions, principalities, and powers have need .

Cyril of Jerusalem, Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 8 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Vol. 7)

Many things have ye spoken against me; that I am a deceiver, an adversary of God. These things I forgive you on your repentance, and exact no penalty of you; but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven, no, not to those who repent. … That this sin is above all things unpardonable. Why so? Because Himself indeed they knew not, who He might be, but of the Spirit they received ample experience.

John Chrysostom, John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 44 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 10)

For in proof that He is speaking of what was said of Him before the crucifixion, He added, “Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Ghost,” there is no more forgiveness. Wherefore? Because this is known to you; and the truths are notorious which you harden yourselves against. For though ye say that ye know not me; yet of this surely ye are not ignorant, that to cast out devils, and to do cures, is a work of the Holy Ghost.

John Chrysostom, John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 44 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 10)

Secondly, one may sin through certain malice, by contemptuously rejecting the things whereby a man is withdrawn from sin. This is, properly speaking, to sin against the Holy Ghost, as stated above (A[1]) ; and this also, for the most part, presupposes other sins, for it is written ( Prov. 18:3 ) that "the wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth." Nevertheless it is possible for a man, in his first sinful act, to sin against the Holy Ghost by contempt, both on account of his free-will, and on account of the many previous dispositions, or again, through being vehemently moved to evil, while but feebly attached to good.

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A4

Sin committed through certain malice, in so far as it results from the inclination of a habit, is not a special sin, but a general condition of sin: whereas, in so far as it results from a special contempt of an effect of the Holy Ghost in us, it has the character of a special sin. According to this interpretation the sin against the Holy Ghost is a special kind of sin, as also according to the first interpretation: whereas according to the second, it is not a species of sin, because final impenitence may be a circumstance of any kind of sin.

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A1

Therefore, conversely, it is possible for a man, according to the malice of the devil who tempts him, to be led to commit the most grievous of sins which is that against the Holy Ghost. I answer that, As stated above (A[1]) , in one way, to sin against the Holy Ghost is to sin through certain malice.

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A4

In another way it happens that by reason of contempt, that which might have prevented the choosing of evil, is rejected or removed; thus hope is removed by despair, and fear by presumption, and so on, as we shall explain further on (QQ[20],21). Now all these things which prevent the choosing of sin are effects of the Holy Ghost in us; so that, in this sense, to sin through malice is to sin against the Holy Ghost. Reply to Objection 1: Just as the confession of faith consists in a protestation not only of words but also of deeds, so blasphemy against the Holy Ghost can be uttered in word, thought and deed. Reply to Objection 2: According to the third interpretation, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is condivided with blasphemy against the Son of Man, forasmuch as He is also the Son of God, i.e. the "power of God and the wisdom of God" ( 1 Cor. 1:24 ).

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A1

Hence they say that when a man sins through weakness, it is a sin "against the Father"; that when he sins through ignorance, it is a sin "against the Son"; and that when he sins through certain malice, i.e. through the very choosing of evil, as explained above ( FS, Q[78], AA[1] ,3), it is a sin "against the Holy Ghost." Now this may happen in two ways. First by reason of the very inclination of a vicious habit which we call malice, and, in this way, to sin through malice is not the same as to sin against the Holy Ghost. In another way it happens that by reason of contempt, that which might have prevented the choosing of evil, is rejected or removed; thus hope is removed by despair, and fear by presumption, and so on, as we shall explain further on (QQ[20],21).

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A1

Athanasius (Super Matth. xii, 32), Hilary (Can. xii in Matth.), Ambrose (Super Luc. xii, 10), Jerome (Super Matth. xii), and Chrysostom (Hom. xli in Matth.), say that the sin against the Holy Ghost is literally to utter a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, whether by Holy Spirit we understand the essential name applicable to the whole Trinity, each Person of which is a Spirit and is holy, or the personal name of one of the Persons of the Trinity, in which sense blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is distinct from the blasphemy against the Son of Man ( Mat. 12:32 ), for Christ did certain things in respect of His human nature, by eating, drinking, and such like actions, while He did others in respect of His Godhead, by casting out devils, raising the dead, and the like: which things He did both by the power of His own Godhead and by the operation of the Holy Ghost, of Whom He was full, according to his human nature.

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A1

And hence may be obtained a definition of the sin against the Holy Ghost; first, that it is open rebellion against God in the transgression of the first table; secondly, that it is a malicious rejection of the truth; for, when the truth of God is not rejected through deliberate malice, the Holy Spirit is not resisted. Lastly, unbelief is here employed as a general term; and malicious design, which is contrasted with ignorance, may be regarded as the point of difference.

John Calvin, Calvin, Commentary on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon 1 Timothy 1.3 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 43)

From all that has been said, we may conclude that those persons sin and blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, who maliciously turn to his dishonor the perfections of God, which have been revealed to him by the Spirit, in which His glory ought to be celebrated, and who, with Satan, their leader, are avowed enemies of the glory of God. We need not then wonder, if for such sacrilege there is no hope of pardon; for they must be desperate who turn the only medicine of salvation into a deadly venom.

John Calvin, Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 2 1.13 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 32)

Why is this, but because those only are blasphemers against the Spirit, who slander his gifts and power, contrary to the conviction of their own mind? Such also is the import of the reason assigned by Mark for the extreme severity of Christ’s threatening against the Pharisees; because they had said that he had the unclean spirit; for in this manner they purposely and maliciously turned light into darkness; and, indeed, it is in the manner of the giants, as the phrase is, to make war against God.

John Calvin, Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 2 1.13 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 32)

Accordingly, they are mistaken who make the sin against the Holy Ghost to consist in the transgression of the second table; and they are also mistaken, who pronounce blind and thoughtless violence to be a crime so heinous. For men commit the sin against the Holy Spirit, when they undertake a voluntary war against God in order to extinguish that light of the Spirit which has been offered to them. This is shocking wickedness and monstrous hardihood. Nor is there room for doubting that, by an implied threatening, he intended to terrify all who had been once enlightened, not to stumble against truth which they knew; because such a fall is destructive and fatal; for if, on account of ignorance, God forgave Paul his blasphemies, they who knowingly and intentionally blaspheme ought not to expect any pardon.

John Calvin, Calvin, Commentary on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon 1 Timothy 1.3 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 43)

As our Lord declares blasphemy against the Holy Ghost to be more heinous than all other sins, it is of importance to inquire what is the meaning of that term. Those who define it to be impenitence may be refuted without any difficulty; for it would have been in vain and to no purpose for Christ to say, that it is not forgiven in the present life. Besides, the word blasphemy cannot be extended indiscriminately to every sort of crimes; but from the comparison which Christ makes, we shall easily obtain the true definition.

John Calvin, Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 2 1.13 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 32)

Transgressions of the second table, although they are voluntary, are forgiven; but he who knowingly and willingly breaks the first table sins against the Holy Spirit, because he is in direct opposition to God. He does not err through weakness, but, by rushing wickedly against God, gives a sure proof of his reprobation.

John Calvin, Calvin, Commentary on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon 1 Timothy 1.3 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 43)

But those who are convinced in conscience that what they repudiate and impugn is the word of God, and yet cease not to impugn it, are said to blaspheme against the Spirit, inasmuch as they struggle against the illumination which is the work of the Spirit. Such were some of the Jews, who, when they could not resist the Spirit speaking by Stephen, yet were bent on resisting (Acts 6:10). There can be no doubt that many of them were carried away by zeal for the law; but it appears that there were others who maliciously and impiously raged against God himself, that is, against the doctrine which they knew to be of God.

John Calvin, Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion III.3

5. God lets us know that the only peculiarly remediless sin and way of sinning under the gospel is to sin in an especial manner against the Holy Ghost. And this of itself is sufficient to convince us how needful it is for us to be well instructed in what concerns him; for there is somewhat that doth so, which is accompanied with irrecoverable and eternal ruin; and so is nothing else in the world.

John Owen, Owen, Pneumatologia 1.1

1. Blasphemous words against the Holy Ghost are the worst kind of tongue-sins, and unpardonable, v. 31, 32 .

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Matthew 12.3 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5)

Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, shall stumble at the meanness of his appearance, and speak slightly and spitefully of him, it is capable of some excuse: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But unto him that blasphemes the Holy Ghost, that blasphemes the Christian doctrine, and maliciously opposes it, after the pouring out of the Spirit and his attestation of Christ's being glorified ( Acts ii. 33; v. 32 ), the privilege of the forgiveness of sins shall be denied; he shall have no benefit by Christ and his gospel.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Luke 12.1 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5)

It is not all speaking against the person or essence of the Holy Ghost, or some of his more private operations, or merely the resisting of his internal working in the sinner himself, that is here meant; for who then should be saved? It is adjudged in our law, that an act of indemnity shall always be construed in favour of that grace and clemency which is the intention of the act; and therefore the exceptions in the act are not to be extended further than needs must. The gospel is an act of indemnity; none are excepted by name, nor any by description, but those only that blaspheme the Holy Ghost; which therefore must be construed in the narrowest sense: all presuming sinners are effectually cut off by the conditions of the indemnity, faith and repentance; and therefore the other exceptions must not be stretched far: and this blasphemy is excepted, not for any defect of mercy in God or merit in Christ, but because it inevitably leaves the sinner in infidelity and impenitency.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Matthew 12.3 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5)

30. Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit - Is it not astonishing, that men who have ever read these words, should doubt, what is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost? Can any words declare more plainly, that it is "the ascribing those miracles to the power of the devil which Christ wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost?"

John Wesley, Wesley, Notes on the Bible 2.3

The sin against the Holy Spirit in particular has never been fully explained by the most learned divines. It is not difficult to show from Scripture what the sin is not. It is difficult to show clearly what it is.

J.C. Ryle, Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew Matthew 12:22-37 (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Vol. 1)

Of this nature must the sin against the Holy Ghost surely be. “This is the condemnation,” (not the sins that men have committed, but the condition of mind in which they choose to remain,) “that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” In this sin against the Holy Ghost, I see no single act alone, although it must find expression in many acts, but a wilful condition of mind.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

Which of these, I pray, is liker to the sin against the Holy Ghost? To mistake the meaning of the Son of man may well fill a man with sadness. But to care so little for him as to receive as his what the noblest part of our nature rejects as low and poor, or selfish and wrong, that surely is more like the sin against the Holy Ghost that can never be forgiven; for it is a sin against the truth itself, not the embodiment of it in him.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

This in its highest form, as our Lord teaches us, is the unpardonable sin, or blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. It was because the Pharisees thought that Christ was evil, that his works were the works of Satan, that He declared that they could never be forgiven.

Charles Hodge, Hodge, Systematic Theology II.8.14 (Vol. 2)

And the one unpardonable sin is the sin of clear recognition that a given thing is contrary to God’s will, and unfaltering determination, notwithstanding, to do it. That is the only sin that cannot be pardoned, ‘either in this world or in the world to come.’

Alexander Maclaren, Maclaren, Matthew IX to XVIII 2.28 (Expositions of Holy Scripture, Vol. 7)

This is the unpardonable sin. … That sin was without excuse and would not be forgiven in their age or in the coming one ( 12:32). People often ask if they can commit the unpardonable sin. Probably some do who ridicule the manifest work of God's Spirit in men's lives and attribute the Spirit's work to the devil.

A.T. Robertson, Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 2.12

In committing that sin man willfully, maliciously, and intentionally attributes what is clearly recognized as the work of God to the influence and operation of Satan. … The root of this sin is the conscious and deliberate hatred of God and of all that is recognized as divine.

Louis Berkhof, Berkhof, Systematic Theology 2.2.4

Several passages of Scripture speak of a sin that cannot be forgiven, after which a change of heart is impossible, and for which it is not necessary to pray. It is generally known as the sin or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The Saviour speaks of it explicitly in Matt. 12:31,32 and parallel passages; and it is generally thought that Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26,27, and John 5:16 also refer to this sin.

Louis Berkhof, Berkhof, Systematic Theology 2.2.4

The name "sin against the Holy Spirit" is too general, for there are also sins against the Holy Spirit that are pardonable, Eph. 4:30. The Bible speaks more specifically of a "speaking against the Holy Spirit," Matt. 12:32; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10. It is evidently a sin committed during the present life, which makes conversion and pardon impossible. The sin consists in the conscious, malicious, and willful rejection and slandering, against evidence and conviction, of the testimony of the Holy Spirit respecting the grace of God in Christ, attributing it out of hatred and enmity to the prince of darkness. It presupposes, objectively, a revelation of the grace of God in Christ, and a powerful operation of the Holy Spirit; and, subjectively, an illumination and intellectual conviction so strong and powerful as to make an honest denial of the truth impossible.

Louis Berkhof, Berkhof, Systematic Theology 2.2.4

Impenitence is the one sin for which there is no forgiveness. For if one who ceases to sin is pardoned even after he has sinned, and if prayer has power to bend the judge; it follows that every impenitent sinner must provoke his judge to wrath. Thus despair is the one sin for which there is no remedy. By obstinate rejection of God’s grace men turn His mercy into sternness and severity. … For, so long as they live in sin, it cannot be put away.

Jerome, Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 147 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Vol. 6)

24. The Lord then replies to the blasphemy of the Pharisees, and refuses to them the grace of His power, which consists in the remission of sins, because they asserted that His heavenly power rested on the help of the devil. And He affirms that they act with satanic spirit who divide the Church of God, so that He includes the heretics and schismatics of all times, to whom He denies forgiveness, for every other sin is concerned with single persons, this is a sin against all. For they alone wish to destroy the grace of Christ who rend asunder the members of the Church for which the Lord Jesus suffered, and the Holy Spirit was given us.

Ambrose of Milan, Ambrose, Concerning Repentance 3.4 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Vol. 10)

But that blasphemy of the Spirit Himself, whereby in an impenitent heart resistance is made to this so great gift of God even to the end of this present life, shall not be forgiven. For though a man so oppose himself to the truth, as to resist God speaking, not in the Prophets, but in His Only Son (since for our sakes He was pleased that He should be the Son of Man, that He might speak to us in Him), yet shall he be forgiven when in repentance he shall have recourse to the goodness of God, who forasmuch as He “willeth not the death of the wicked, but rather that he should turn from his way and live,” hath given the Holy Spirit to His Church, that whosoever forgiveth sins in the Spirit, they should be forgiven.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

22. And let it not seem absurd, that whereas a man who perseveres in hardened impenitence even to the end of this life, speaks long and much against this grace of the Holy Spirit; yet the Gospel has called this so long contradiction of an impenitent heart, as though it were something of short duration, “a word,” saying, “Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” For though this blasphemy be long continued, and made up of, and drawn out at length in very many words, yet it is the manner of Scripture to call even many words “a word.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

34. Whosoever therefore shall be guilty of impenitence against the Spirit, in whom the unity and fellowship of the communion of the Church is gathered together, shall never have forgiveness; because he has stopped the source of forgiveness against himself, and deservedly shall he be condemned with the spirit, which is divided against himself, who is himself also divided against the Holy Spirit which is not divided against Himself. And of this the very testimonies of the Gospel warn us, would we with good attention search them. For according to Luke the Lord does not say, “That he who blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven:” in that place where He is answering those who said that He cast out devils by the prince of the devils.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

36. But in this passage according to Matthew, the Lord far more plainly explained what he intended to be understood here; namely, that he it is who speaks a word against the Holy Ghost, who with an impenitent heart resists the Unity of the Church, where in the Holy Spirit is given the remission of sins. For this spirit they have not, as has been said already, who even though they bear and handle the sacraments of Christ, are separated from His congregation. For when He spoke of the division of Satan against Satan, and how that He Himself cast out devils by the Holy Spirit, that Spirit, namely, which is not, as the other, divided against Himself; lest any one should think because of those who gather together their irregular assemblies under the Name of Christ, but without His fold, that the kingdom of Christ also was divided against itself, He immediately added, “He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad,” that He might show that they did not belong to Him who by gathering “without” wished not to “gather” but “to scatter abroad.” And afterwards He subjoined, “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

23. Therefore not only every word spoken against the Son of Man, but, in fact, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; because where there is not this sin of an impenitent heart against the Holy Ghost, by whom sins are remitted in the Church, all other sins are forgiven. But how shall that sin be forgiven, which hinders the forgiveness of other sins also? All sins then are forgiven to them in whom is not this sin, which shall never be forgiven; but to him in whom it is, since this sin is never forgiven, neither are other sins forgiven; because the remission of all is hindered by the bond of this one. It is not then that “whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man shall be forgiven,” but “whoso speaketh against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven,” for that in the Trinity the Holy Ghost is greater than the Son, which no heretic even has ever maintained; but since whosoever he be that resisteth the truth and blasphemeth the Truth, which is Christ, even after such a manifestation of Himself among men, as that the Word who is the Son of Man and very Christ, “became flesh and dwelt among us;” if he have not also spoken that word of the impenitent heart against the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said,

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

37. Thus then hath He altogether forced us to understand that the remission of no sin nor blasphemy can be effected anywhere else, save in the gathering together of Christ, which scattereth not abroad. … But because this is not so (“for he that is not with Christ is against Him, and he that gathereth not with Him scattereth abroad”); therefore all manner of sin and all blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men in this congregation, which Christ gathereth together in the Holy Spirit, who is not divided against Himself.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

28. And thus sins, because they are not forgiven out of the Church, must be forgiven by that Spirit, by whom the Church is gathered together into one. In fact, if any one out of the Church repent him of his sins, and for this so great sin whereby he is an alien from the Church of God, has an heart impenitent, what doth that other repentance profit him? seeing by this alone he speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, whereby he is alienated from the Church, which hath received this gift, that in her remission of sins should be given in the Holy Ghost?

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

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 spake 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

But whoso stands out as an enemy to this gift, so as not in repentance to seek it, but by impenitence to gainsay it, his sin becomes unpardonable; not sin of any one specific kind, but the contempt, or even opposing of the remission of sins itself. And so a word is spoken against the Holy Spirit, when men never come from the dispersion to the congregation which has received the Holy Spirit for the remission of sins.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

As then he doth not “dwell in Christ and Christ in him,” who “eateth the Flesh and drinketh the Blood of Christ” in any manner whatsoever, but only in some certain manner, to which He doubtless had regard when He spake these words. So in this expression also, “He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

As then when He said, “He that believeth 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, “worketh by love:” so when he said, “He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

So the expression, “hath never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offence;” 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 speaketh 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.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

As therefore, how long a time soever any of us have laboured in preaching the Gospel, he is not called a preacher of the words, but of the word; and how long time soever any of you may have attentively and diligently listened to our preaching, he is called a most earnest “hearer” not of the words, but “of the word;” so after the style of the Scripture and the custom of the Church, whoso throughout his whole life in the flesh, to whatever length it may be extended, shall have spoken no matter how many words, whether by mouth, or the thought only with an impenitent heart, against that remission of sins which is granted in the Church, he speaks “a word” against the Holy Ghost.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

For although He has said in the same passage, “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come;” yet it may seem that He admonished them for this purpose, that they should come to His grace, and after accepting of it should not so sin as they have now sinned. For now they have spoken a word against the Son of man, and it may be forgiven them, if they be converted, and believe on Him, and receive the Holy Ghost; but if, after receiving Him, they should choose to envy the brotherhood, and to assail the grace they have received, it cannot be forgiven them, neither in this world nor in the world to come. For if He reckoned them so condemned, that there was no hope left for them, He would not judge that they ought still to be admonished, as He did by adding the statement, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.22 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

But this is the hardness of heart even to the end of this life, which leads a man to refuse to accept remission of his sins in the unity of the body of Christ, to which life is given by the Holy Ghost. For when He had said to His disciples "Receive the Holy Ghost," immediately added, Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Whosoever therefore has resisted or fought against this gift of the grace of God, or has been estranged from it in any way whatever to the end of this mortal life, shall not receive the remission of that sin, either in this world, or in the world to come, seeing that it is so great a sin that in it is included every sin; but it cannot be proved to have been committed by any one, till he has passed away from life.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, The Correction of the Donatists 11 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 4)

But so long as he lives here, "the goodness of God," as the apostle says, "is leading him to repentance;" but if he deliberately, with the utmost perseverance in iniquity, as the apostle adds in the succeeding verse, "after his hardness and impenitent heart, treasures up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God," he shall not receive forgiveness, neither in this world, neither in that which is to come.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, The Correction of the Donatists 11 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 4)

Chapter 83.—The Man Who Despises the Mercy of God is Guilty of the Sin Against the Holy Ghost. Now the man who, not believing that sins are remitted in the Church, despises this great gift of God’s mercy, and persists to the last day of his life in his obstinacy of heart, is guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, in whom Christ forgives sins. But this difficult question I have discussed as clearly as I could in a book devoted exclusively to this one point.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, The Enchiridion 83 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 3)

The word or blasphemy spoken against the Holy Ghost is final impenitence, as Augustine states (De Verb. Dom. xi), which is altogether unpardonable, because after this life is ended, there is no pardon of sins. or, if by the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, we understand sin committed through certain malice, this means either that the blasphemy itself against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable, i.e. not easily pardonable, or that such a sin does not contain in itself any motive for pardon, or that for such a sin a man is punished both in this and in the next world, as we explained in the SS, Q[14], A[3] .

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica III.Q86.A1

Who, then, is not amazed at the exceeding majesty of the Holy Spirit, when he hears that he who speaks a word against the Son of man may hope for forgiveness; but that he who is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has not forgiveness, either in the present world or in that which is to come!

Origen of Alexandria, Origen, The Works of Origen 2.3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4)

And on one occasion, scarcely even the apostles themselves are deemed worthy to hear the words, “Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you.” For this reason, also, I think it follows that he who has committed a sin against the Son of man is deserving of forgiveness; because if he who is a participator of the word or reason of God cease to live agreeably to reason, he seems to have fallen into a state of ignorance or folly, and therefore to deserve forgiveness; whereas he who has been deemed worthy to have a portion of the Holy Spirit, and who has relapsed, is, by this very act and work, said to be guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Origen of Alexandria, Origen, The Works of Origen 2.3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4)

As the Saviour converses with those not yet able to receive what is perfect, condescending to their littleness, while the Holy Spirit communes with the perfected, and yet we could never say on that account that the teaching of the Spirit is superior to the teaching of the Son, but only that the Son condescends to the imperfect, while the Spirit is the seal of the perfected; even so it is not on account of the superiority of the Spirit over the Son that the blasphemy against the Spirit is a sin excluding impunity and pardon, but because for the imperfect there is pardon, while for those who have tasted the heavenly gift, and been made perfect, there remains no plea or prayer for pardon.

Theognostus of Alexandria, Theognostus, From His Seven Books of Hypotyposes or Outlines 2.3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6)

And He bestowed His forgiveness not only on a transgressor of such a character as that, but even on one who did offence to the Son of man. But if a man dealt thus with the Holy Spirit, He made him subject to two curses,—namely, to that of the law of Moses, and to that of His own law; to the law of Moses in truth in this present life, but to His own law at the time of the judgment: for His word is this: “It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” There is the law of Moses, thus, that in this world gives pardon to no such person; and there is the law of Christ that punishes in the future world.

Archelaus, Archelaus, The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 3.30 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6)

24. Wherefore, neither must we imagine, as some do, that the word which is spoken against the Son of Man is forgiven, but that which is spoken against the Holy Ghost is not forgiven, because Christ became the Son of Man by reason of His assuming flesh, in which respect the Holy Ghost of course is greater, who in His Own Substance is equal to the Father and the Only-begotten Son according to His Divinity, according to which also the Only-begotten Son Himself is equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. For if this were the reason, surely nothing would have been said of any other kind of blasphemy, that that only might appear capable of forgiveness, which is spoken against the Son of Man, regarded only as man. But forasmuch as it is first said, “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men;” which in another Evangelist is also thus expressed, “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme;” without doubt, that blasphemy also which is spoken against the Father is included in that general expression; and yet that alone is laid down as unpardonable, which is spoken against the Holy Ghost.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

35. And in the narrative of the two other Evangelists, the occasion of speaking out this sentence of the blasphemy of the Spirit arose from the mention of the unclean spirit, who is divided against himself. For it had been said of the Lord, that “He cast out devils by the prince of the devils.” In that place the Lord says, that “by the Holy Spirit He casteth out devils,” that so the spirit who is not divided against Himself may overcome and cast out him who is divided against himself; but that that man would abide in his perdition, who refuses through impenitence to pass over into His peace, who is not divided against Himself. For thus runs the narrative of Mark; “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offence.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

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, hath never forgiveness, but shall be held guilty of an eternal offence.” 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 blasphemeth 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

12. For in that He saith 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. … 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

For were there not some whose sins, though not remitted in this life, shall be remitted in that which is to come, it could not be truly said, “They shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in that which is to come.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, City of God 21.24 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 2)

I answer that, According to the various interpretations of the sin against the Holy Ghost, there are various ways in which it may be said that it cannot be forgiven. For if by the sin against the Holy Ghost we understand final impenitence, it is said to be unpardonable, since in no way is it pardoned: because the mortal sin wherein a man perseveres until death will not be forgiven in the life to come, since it was not remitted by repentance in this life.

Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q14.A3

Already we begin to perceive, that the reason why blasphemy against the Spirit exceeds other sins, is not that the Spirit is higher than Christ, but that those who rebel, after that the power of God has been revealed, cannot be excused on the plea of ignorance. Besides, it must be observed, that what is here said about blasphemy does not refer merely to the essence of the Spirit, but to the grace which He has bestowed upon us. Those who are destitute of the light of the Spirit, however much they may detract from the glory of the Spirit, will not be held guilty of this crime. We do not maintain, that those persons are said to pour contempt on the Spirit of God, who oppose his grace and power by hardened malice; and farther we maintain, that this kind of sacrilege is committed only when we knowingly endeavor to extinguish the Spirit who dwells in us.

John Calvin, Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 2 1.13 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 32)

32. Neither in the present life What these words mean, Mark briefly explains by saying, that those who have spoken against the Spirit are exposed to eternal judgment Every day we ask from God the forgiveness of sins, and every day he reconciles us to Him; and, finally, at death, he takes away all our sins, and declares that he is gracious to us. The fruit of this mercy will appear at the last day. The meaning therefore is: — “There is no reason to expect that those who shall have blasphemed against the Spirit will obtain pardon in this life, or will be acquitted in the last judgment.”

John Calvin, Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 2 1.13 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 32)

Since it was the Lord’s intention to cut off all hope of pardon from this flagitous wickedness, he did not consider it enough to say, that it would never be forgiven, but in the way of amplification employed a division by which he included both the judgment which every man’s conscience pronounces in the present life, and the final judgment which will be publicly pronounced at the resurrection.

John Calvin, Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion III.5

To exclude hence the real internal operations of the Holy Ghost, is to destroy the gospel. And, as we shall see farther afterward, this is the true ground and reason why there is a sin against the Holy Spirit that is irremissible: for he coming unto us to make application of the love of the Father and grace of the Son unto our souls, in the contempt of him there is a contempt of the whole actings of God towards us in a way of grace; for which there can be no remedy.

John Owen, Owen, Pneumatologia 2.5

There is indeed one spot so black, that Christ's blood does not wash away, viz. the sin against the Holy Ghost. Not but that there is virtue enough in Christ's blood to wash it away; but he who has sinned that sin will not be washed; he contemns Christ's blood, and tramples it under foot.

Thomas Watson, Watson, A Body of Divinity 5.4

What the sentence is that is passed upon it; It shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. As in the then present state of the Jewish church, there was no sacrifice of expiation for the soul that sinned presumptuously; so neither under the dispensation of gospel grace, which is often in scripture called the world to come, shall there be any pardon to such as tread underfoot the blood of the covenant, and do despite to the Spirit of grace: there is no cure for a sin so directly against the remedy. … Or, this is a sin that exposes the sinner both to temporal and eternal punishment, both to present wrath and the wrath to come.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Matthew 12.3 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5)

32. Whosoever speaketh against the Son of man - In any other respects: It shall be forgiven him - Upon his true repentance: But whosoever speaketh thus against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come - This was a proverbial expression among the Jews, for a thing that would never be done. It here means farther, He shall not escape the punishment of it, either in this world, or in the world to come. The judgment of God shall overtake him, both here and hereafter.

John Wesley, Wesley, Notes on the Bible 1.12

Difficult as these words undoubtedly are, they seem fairly to prove that there are degrees in sin. Offences arising from ignorance of the true mission of the Son of Man, will not be punished so heavily as offences committed against the noontide light of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The brighter the light, the greater the guilt of him who rejects it.

J.C. Ryle, Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew Matthew 12:22-37 (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Vol. 1)

But for him that speaketh against the Spirit of Truth, against the Son of God revealed within him, he is beyond the teaching of that Spirit now. For how shall he be forgiven? The forgiveness would touch him no more than a wall of stone.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

But there are two sins, not of individual deed, but of spiritual condition, which cannot be forgiven; that is, as it seems to me, which cannot be excused, passed by, made little of by the tenderness even of God, inasmuch as they will allow no forgiveness to come into the soul, they will permit no good influence to go on working alongside of them; they shut God out altogether. Therefore the man guilty of these can never receive into himself the holy renewing saving influences of God’s forgiveness. God is outside of him in every sense, save that which springs from his creating relation to him, by which, thanks be to God, he yet keeps a hold of him, although against the will of the man who will not be forgiven. The one of these sins is against man; the other against God.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

To return then to our immediate text: Is the refusal of forgiveness contained in it a condemnation to irrecoverable impenitence? Strange righteousness would be the decree, that because a man has done wrong—let us say has done wrong so often and so much that he is wrong—he shall for ever remain wrong! … What then shall I say of such a doctrine of devils as that, even if a man did repent, God would not or could not forgive him?

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

All sin is unpardonable. … But the special unpardonableness of those sins, the one of which I have spoken and that which we are now considering, lies in their shutting out God from his genial, his especially spiritual, influences upon the man. Possibly in the case of the former sin, I may have said this too strongly; possibly the love of God may have some part even in the man who will not forgive his brother, although, if he continues unforgiving, that part must decrease and die away; possibly resentment against our brother, might yet for a time leave room for some divine influences by its side, although either the one or the other must speedily yield; but the man who denies truth, who consciously resists duty, who says there is no truth, or that the truth he sees is not true, who says that which is good is of Satan, or that which is bad is of God, supposing him to know that it is good or is bad, denies the Spirit, shuts out the Spirit, and therefore cannot be forgiven.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

I am far less anxious to show what the sin against the Holy Ghost means, than to show what the nonforgiveness means; though I think we may arrive at some understanding of both. … And even setting aside the duty of the matter, and seeking for justification as if the duty were doubtful, it is reason enough for inquiring into such passages as this before me, that they are often torture to human minds, chiefly those of holy women and children.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 4 (Vol. 1)

To blaspheme Christ in the former condition—when even the apostles stumbled at many things—left them still open to conviction on fuller light: but to blaspheme Him in the latter condition would be to hate the light the clearer it became, and resolutely to shut it out; which, of course, precludes salvation. (See on Heb 10:26-29). The Pharisees had not as yet done this; but in charging Jesus with being in league with hell they were displaying beforehand a malignant determination to shut their eyes to all evidence, and so, bordering upon, and in spirit committing, the unpardonable sin.

Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Matthew 12

Then, again when it is said (Mt 12:32), that to speak against or blaspheme the Son of man is pardonable, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is not pardonable, it is not to be conceived that this arises from any greater sanctity in the one blessed Person than the other. These remarks so narrow the question that the true sense of our Lord's words seem to disclose themselves at once. It is a contrast between slandering "the Son of man" in His veiled condition and unfinished work—which might be done "ignorantly, in unbelief" (1Ti 1:13), and slandering the same blessed Person after the blaze of glory which the Holy Ghost was soon to throw around His claims, and in the full knowledge of all that.

Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Matthew 12

What, then, is this sin against the Holy Ghost—the unpardonable sin? One thing is clear: Its unpardonableness cannot arise from anything in the nature of sin itself; for that would be a naked contradiction to the emphatic declaration of Mt 12:31, that all manner of sin is pardonable.

Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Matthew 12

To say that a thing can never happen either here or hereafter, in this world or in the world to come, is a familiar way of saying that it can never happen under any circumstances. Our Lord simply said that blasphemy of the Holy Ghost can never be forgiven.

Charles Hodge, Hodge, Systematic Theology IV.1.4 (Vol. 3)

To forgive the sin against the holy spirit would be to damn the universe to the pit of lies, to render it impossible for the man so forgiven ever to be saved. He cannot forgive the man who will not come to the light because his deeds are evil.

George MacDonald, MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons 8 (Vol. 3)

It is unforgivable, because the soul which can recognise God’s revelation of Himself in all His goodness and moral perfection, and be stirred only to hatred thereby, has reached a dreadful climax of hardness, and has ceased to be capable of being influenced by His beseeching. It has passed beyond the possibility of penitence and acceptance of forgiveness. The sin is unforgiven, because the sinner is fixed in impenitence, and his stiffened will cannot bow to receive pardon.

Alexander Maclaren, Maclaren, Mark 1.14 (Expositions of Holy Scripture, Vol. 8)

It is unpardonable, not because its guilt transcends the merits of Christ, or because the sinner is beyond the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, but because there are also in the world of sin certain laws and ordinances, established by God and maintained by Him. And the law in the case of this particular sin is, that it excludes all repentance, sears the conscience, hardens the sinner, and thus renders the sin unpardonable. In those who have committed this sin we may therefore expect to find a pronounced hatred to God, a defiant attitude to Him and all that is divine, delight in ridiculing and slandering that which is holy, and absolute unconcern respecting the welfare of their soul and the future life. In view of the fact that this sin is not followed by repentance, we may be reasonably sure that they who fear that they have committed it and worry about this, and who desire the prayers of others for them, have not committed it.

Louis Berkhof, Berkhof, Systematic Theology 2.2.4

Finally, The Lord did not say, “the baptized Catholic who shall speak a word against the Holy Ghost;” but “he who,” that is whosoever speaketh, 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 speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost,” that is who blasphemeth 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, “speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost;” and yet the Church doth 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

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 divers 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 hath never forgiveness,” he must be meant, not who hath in any way whatever blasphemed; but he who hath blasphemed in such a particular way, that he can never be pardoned.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

Are they then to be left, and accounted without all hope, since the sentence is fixed, “Whosoever speaketh 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.”

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

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 peradventure 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?

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

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 speaketh any word whatever,” or “whosoever speaketh some certain word,” but indefinitely, “whosoever speaketh 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

For there is a temptation which induces to sin, with which “God tempteth 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

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 speaketh any word whatsoever against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him;” but “whosoever speaketh 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.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

Wherefore there is no necessity for any one to think, that every blasphemy or every word which is spoken against the Holy Ghost hath 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. … 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 hath not expressed it.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

But what is the nature of that sin which shall not be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come, you are so far from knowing, that, though you believe that we are actually living in it, you yet promise us forgiveness of it through your baptism. And yet how could this be possible, if the sin be of such a nature that it cannot be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come?

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 4.62 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 4)

"Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come?" —they do not perceive that according to their interpretation of the passage none can be delivered. For who is there that does not speak against the Holy Ghost and sin against him, whether we take the case of one who is not yet a Christian, or of one who shares in the heresy of Arius, or of Eunomius, or of Macedonius, who all say that He is a creature; or of Photinus, who denies that He has any substance at all, saying that there is only one God, the Father; or of any of the other heretics, whom it would now take too long a time to mention in detail?

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, The Correction of the Donatists 11 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 4)

Is there then any unpardonable sin but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost? This is meant of the remitting of the temporal punishment. Though Manasseh repented, and we have reason to think even the persecutions and murders he was guilty of were pardoned, so that he was delivered from the wrath to come; yet, as they were national sins, they lay still charged upon the land, crying for national judgments.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Second Kings 24.1 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 2)

(2.) Here is an exception of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which is here declared to be the only unpardonable sin.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Matthew 12.3 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5)

When the Holy Spirit is much poured out, and men’s lusts, lukewarmness, and hypocrisy are reproached by its powerful operations, then is the most likely time of any, for this sin to be committed. If the work goes on, it is well if among the many that show an enmity against it, some be not guilty of this sin, if none have been already. Those who maliciously oppose and reproach this work, and call it the work of the devil, want but one thing of the unpardonable sin, and that is, doing it against inward conviction.

Jonathan Edwards, Edwards, Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God 2

The malignity which some of them have discovered, to me approaches near to the unpardonable sin; and they had need beware, lest they indeed sin the sin which is unto death: for as I believe it can be committed in these days, as well as in the days of the apostles, so I think persons are now in more danger of committing it than at other times.

Jonathan Edwards, Edwards, Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God 1

We are taught, secondly, in these verses, that there is such a thing as an unpardonable sin.Our Lord Jesus Christ declares that "unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven." These dreadful words must doubtless be interpreted with scriptural qualification. … There is such a thing as a sin "which shall not be forgiven."

J.C. Ryle, Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke Luke 12:8-12 (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Vol. 3)

People seem to forget that there is such a thing as an unpardonable sin, and that if salt has once lost is saltiness, it cannot be seasoned again. The Bible teaches that no sinner is so unlikely to be saved as the person who after making a strong spiritual profession of faith falls away and returns to the world.

J.C. Ryle, Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke Luke 14:25-35 (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Vol. 3)

The sin against the Holy Ghost, though somewhat similar, is not identical with this sin; for that sin may be committed by those outside the Church (as in Mt 12:24, 31, 32); this, only by those inside.

Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Hebrews 6

There has been quite a variety of opinions respecting the nature of the unpardonable sin. (1) Jerome and Chrysostom thought of it as a sin that could be committed only during Christ's sojourn on earth, and held that it was committed by those who were convinced in their hearts that Christ performed His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, but in spite of their conviction refused to recognize these miracles as such and ascribed them to the operation of Satan. However, this limitation is entirely unwarranted, as the passages in Hebrews and I John would seem to prove.

Louis Berkhof, Berkhof, Systematic Theology 2.2.4

And truly the death of the Lord became [the means of] healing and remission of sins to the former, but Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him; but the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the money which He had entrusted to them, with usury; and from those to whom He had given most shall He demand most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom.

Irenaeus of Lyons, Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV 28 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1)

For God, who is rich in mercy, according to his unchangeable purpose of election does not take his Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously. Neither does he let them fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification, or commit the sin which leads to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit), and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by him, into eternal ruin.

Reformed Churches, Canons of Dort, Canons of Dort 5.6

Observe, There is a kind of sanctification which persons may partake of and yet fall away: they may be distinguished by common gifts and graces, by an outward profession, by a form of godliness, a course of duties, and a set of privileges, and yet fall away finally. … Those have done despite unto the Spirit of grace, the Spirit that is graciously given to men, and that works grace wherever it is,—the Spirit of grace, that should be regarded and attended to with the greatest care,—this Spirit they have grieved, resisted, quenched, yea, done despite to him, which is the highest act of wickedness, and makes the case of the sinner desperate, refusing to have the gospel salvation applied to him.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on Hebrews 10.3 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 6)

After receiving "full knowledge (so the Greek, compare 1Ti 2:4) of the truth," by having been "enlightened," and by having "tasted" a certain measure even of grace of "the Holy Ghost" (the Spirit of truth, Joh 14:17; and "the Spirit of grace," Heb 10:29): to fall away (as "sin" here means, Heb 3:12, 17; compare Heb 6:6) and apostatize (Heb 3:12) to Judaism or infidelity, is not a sin of ignorance, or error ("out of the way," the result) of infirmity, but a deliberate sinning against the Spirit (Heb 10:29; Heb 5:2): such sinning, where a consciousness of Gospel obligations not only was, but is present: a sinning presumptuously and preseveringly against Christ's redemption for us, and the Spirit of grace in us.

Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Hebrews 10

73. But the question before us is rendered more urgent by what the Apostle John says: “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and the Lord shall give him life for him who sinneth not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” For he manifestly shows that there are certain brethren for whom we are not commanded to pray, although the Lord bids us pray even for our persecutors. Nor can the question in hand be solved, unless we acknowledge that there are certain sins in brethren which are more heinous than the persecution of enemies.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.22 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

And by that grace they receive so great a freedom, that although as long as they live here they are fighting against sinful lusts, and some sins creep upon them unawares, on account of which they daily say, “Forgive us our debts,” yet they do not any more obey the sin which is unto death, of which the Apostle John says, “There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” Concerning which sin (since it is not expressed) many and different notions may be entertained.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 35 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 5)

It is a sin unto death when men incorrigibly continue in their sin, but they sin more deeply, who proudly lifting themselves up oppose piety and sincerity, accounting mammon of more worth than obedience to God, and caring nothing for his canonical precepts. The Lord God is not found among such, unless, perchance, having been humbled by their own fall, they return to a sober mind.

Anonymous (NPNF), Anonymous, The Seventh Ecumenical Council.  The Second Council of Nice 14.5 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Vol. 14)

Some are so given up in their apostasy as that they “sin unto death;” with such we are not to concern ourselves, 1 John v. 16. But it is very rare that we can safely make that judgment concerning any in this world.

John Owen, Owen, Pneumatologia 7.7

We know that whosoever is born of God (and the believer in Christ is born of God, v. 1 ) sinneth not ( v. 18 ), sinneth not with that fulness of heart and spirit that the unregenerate do (as was said ch. iii. 6, 9 ), and consequently not with that fulness of guilt that attends the sins of others; and so he is secured against that sin which is unavoidably unto death, or which infallibly binds the sinner over unto the wages of eternal death; the new nature, and the inhabitation of the divine Spirit thereby, prevent the admission of such unpardonable sin.

Matthew Henry, Henry, Commentary on First John 5.5 (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 6)

21. But this impenitence or impenitent heart may not be pronounced upon, as long as a man lives in the flesh. For we are not to despair of any so long as “the patience of God leadeth the ungodly to repentance,” and doth not hurry him out of this life; “God, who willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he should return from his ways and live.” … What if they, whom thou observest now in any kind of error that can be, and whom thou condemnest as in most desperate case, what if before they end this life, they repent and find the true life in that which is to come?

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 6)

Thou hast to fear lest hope slay thee; and, when thou hopest much from mercy, lest thou fall into judgment: again, thou hast to fear lest despair slay thee, and, when thou thinkest that the grievous sins which thou hast committed cannot be forgiven thee, thou dost not repent, and thou incurrest the sentence of Wisdom, which says, “I also will laugh at your perdition.” … Accordingly, for the sake of those who are in danger by despair, He has offered us a refuge of pardon; and because of those who are in danger by hope, and are deluded by delays, He has made the day of death uncertain.

Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 34 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 7)

Now this passage shows, that when a man falling through weakness of the flesh, denies the truth though he knows it, this does not amount to “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” ( Matthew 12:31, 32 .)

John Calvin, Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 3 1.35 (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 33)