The unpardonable sin
Beelzebub. Of Blasphemy, and of Words.
(The Gospel History, Section 92)
Therefore I say unto you, All their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come; but he is guilty of an eternal sin: because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
The unpardonable sin
(The Saviour of the World, Vol VI Book III Poem XXXIV)
The Lord spake:—
“Men sin and then repent them: blackest sin
Is born of sudden yielding, desperate,
As one who gazing from a dizzy height
Makes unexpected plunge, surprising him:
The man who sinned comes to himself again;
Loathes that ill thing he did and hates himself;
Goes crying to his God to put away
This his so great offence:—an ingrate, he,
Ne’er seeing love and life poured out for him
By faithful hearts of friends till one lies dead,
Forgiveness on her lips no more, nor love:
By the corpse-light of Death, he reads his part;
Seeks where to hide his head, and—finds his God!
“That other lies; nay, lies in open day,
And finds himself unsheltered, unconcealed,
A target for men’s scornful eyes and speech!
Alone, and shaméd with excess of shame,
Lo, in that solitude, One, he perceives,
Who is the Truth; his soul comes home to God,
Forgiveness finds he, and goes forth, true man.
“Another grovels filthy in lust’s stye;
Debased, debauched and glorying in his shame,
What hope for him? His God’s forgiveness yet,
Going forth to unclean places, finds a way;
One day he’s sick of self and loathes it all,
This gluttony of vice; he turns him round,—
His God is standing waiting to forgive,
And that poor soul is cleansed.
Another, see,
Has dyed his heart in the red hue of hate,
Nor kept his hands from murder; as he lies
Alone in prison cell shut out from all
The social cheer with which men hail their mates,
He sees it is his sin that barricades
From speech or touch with men, from prayer to God;
Out of the deep he cries: ‘Have pity, Lord!’
An answer comes,—tears and a broken heart;
And it shall be forgiven, that deadly sin;
God turns to the repentant.”
“Is no sin
Beyond God’s vast forgiveness?”
“There’s one sin
Finds no forgiveness now nor evermore;
For, see you, shame and broken hearts invite
The great Physician’s healing. Who binds up
The unwounded limb, the arrogant high heart?
There are who see a holy man do works,
Live life reproachless, full of gentle deeds
Which flow from him, in commerce with his God;
One comes; saith he, ‘A devil hath done this;
’Tis more than flesh can do, and must be wrought
By him whose hand wields all the strength of hell!’
What for the man who lies, misnames the good,
Proclaims it evil, of the devil born?
For him no pardon is: a bird will perch
On slenderest twig and sing aloud his joy;
Is no twig spread for him, he takes his flight
To place where he can rest: that Dove, divine
Forgiveness, must find place to rest and croon;
The shattered potsherds of a broken heart
Offer fit perch, while smooth complacency
Affords no foothold; so, the easy man
Who sullies with suspicion goodness shewn
By the meek soul and mild, the place of tears
Is not for him; how shall he be forgiven?
The act requireth two; man who repents,
And God who pardons him; the guileful man
Who sees men false, for he is false himself,
Yields no place for forgiveness.
Verily,
All sins that men may do your God forgives,
Though they blaspheme the Father, mock the Son;
But there’s a sin forgiveness cannot find;
Who scorns the Holy Ghost, no hope for him,
In this world nor another. ‘How,’ say ye,
‘Shall men blaspheme against the Holy Ghost?
Here is a sin we know not; who’s to blame
For the offence unwitting?’ Understand;
All love, all goodness, a man manifests,
Is as the light of candle in dark place;
The Spirit shines within him, wherefore he
Emits love, joy and gentleness, perforce;
Now comes a man and rails,—‘This goodness, pah,
There’s brimstone in its flame,—the devil’s torch!’—
See you, that man blasphemes the Holy Ghost
From whom all goodness flows. Behold your fault,
Who said that I cast out by sorcery
The devil from yon wretched man. One task,
One labour, is for every man; to know
The good he sees, the truth he hears;—nor dare,
Confounding truth and error, good and ill,
Cry, ‘Which is which? How is a man to know?’”
St. Matthew xii. 31-32.
St. Mark iii. 28-30.
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