Unforgivable Sin
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
- 18) And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.
- 19) And again, I say, thou shalt not kill; but he that killeth shall die.
- Joseph Smith, "The King Follett Sermon"
- "I know the scriptures and understand them. I said, no man can commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body, nor in this life, until he receives the Holy Ghost; but they must do it in this world. Hence the salvation of Jesus Christ was wrought out for all men, in order to triumph over the devil; for if it did not catch him in one place, it would in another; for he stood up as a Savior. All will suffer until they obey Christ himself."
- ...
- "All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- "When a man begins to be an enemy to this work, he hunts me, he seeks to kill me, and never ceases to thirst for my blood. He gets the spirit of the devil—the same spirit that sins against the Holy Ghost. You cannot save such persons; you cannot bring them to repentance; they make open war, like the devil, and awful is the consequence."
- ...
- "Hear it, all ye ends of the earth —all ye priests, all ye sinners, and all men. Repent! Repent! Obey the gospel. Turn to God; for your religion won’t save you, and you will be damned. I do not say how long. There have been remarks made concerning all men being redeemed from hell; but I say that those who sin against the Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven in this world or in the world to come; they shall die the second death. Those who commit the unpardonable sin are doomed to Gnolom—to dwell in hell, worlds without end. As they concocted scenes of bloodshed in this world, so they shall rise to that resurrection which is as the lake of fire and brimstone. Some shall rise to the everlasting burnings of God; for God dwells in everlasting burnings and some shall rise to the damnation of their own filthiness, which is as exquisite a torment as the lake of fire and brimstone."
- Enoch 45:1-2
- "concerning those who deny the name of the dwelling of the holy ones and the Lord of Spirits"
- Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith", p. 129
- "Again, if men sin wilfully after the have received a knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation to come, which shall devour these adversaries."
- Dennis Prager, "Do Not Misuse God's Name",
- Surprisingly thoughtful take on the unforgivable sin and the third of the 10 Commandments
- Ken Murray, "Are you sure You really know the Third Commandment?", United Church of God: Beyond Today, 18 Nov 2011
- Another older source for the ideas expressed by Dennis Prager.
- Points out that the word that is translated by the KJV in Exodus 20:7 as "vain", could also be translated as "false".
Notes
The concept of the unforgivable sin is a concept that haunts Christian imagination. The idea that in spite of Christ's sacrifice and love, that we might do something that would put us outside the scope of his redemption no matter what we might do thereafter is enough to make one take notice, but to add, on top of that, the great uncertainty with which this sin is described gives the idea an air of supernatural horror. It is a ghost sin lurking in the shadows, very real and very terrifying. There are a couple of confusing constructions of this sin which I will detail further below.
Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain
Exodus 20:7 (KJV) provides the scriptural backing for not taking the name of the Lord (and, by extension, other religious figure) in vain, and this was clearly taken seriously by the Hebrews, who went so far in the way of avoiding the use of the Lord's name, that the pronunciation of the word Jehova, as the ancient Hebrews would have rendered it, is extremely uncertain. In common use, this idea provides the foundation for why modern Christians consider it taboo to refer to God as a casual plea in moments of brief or minor pain and frustration. However, Exodus 20:7 makes the tantalizing assertion that "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" suggesting that the commandment is actually a description of the unforgivable sin, which seems like an altogether shocking suggestion if the intention is simply to forbid casual use of God's name. Of course, this could also be interpreted as simply an initial statement that guilt is associated with the sin, meant to be understood to apply to all sins similarly listed, and this guilt might be redeemable.
It has pointed out by a number of sources, that there are issues with the translation that muddy our ability to understand what was intended by Exodus 20:7. The suggestion has been made that the intended meaning of the passage is that we are not to act as false representatives of God in committing evil. (Essentially, what would often be referred to as "antichrist".) Such an interpretation would seem to make the apparent description of the sin as unforgivable, a little more coherent.
Murder
There are a few different references to the idea that murder is the unforgivable sin. D&C 42:18, for example, states: "he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come." As awful as murder is, it's a difficult pill to swallow, as killing would seem to be something that honorable people do for good reasons at times. (eg. In times of war, as a police officer, in self defense, etc.) It is also true that God has, at times, commanded people to kill. It would seem likely that the wording is intended to reflect the idea expressed in the 10 Commandments that "thou shalt not kill", which would have a more specific meaning in the original Hebrew.
The idea has been expressed that the unforgivable sin is some extreme form of murder, such as intentionally killing an innocent person. To that end, the idea has also been expressed that the unforgivable sin is actually intentionally rebelling against God, knowing full well of his truth and justice, in such a way that you effectively assent to the crucifixion of Christ.
This would bring a kind of unity with the exegesis of the Unforgivable Sin based on taking the name of the Lord in vain.
I feel like I still need to gather more scriptural evidence on the subject. (Certainly I am aware of more evidence available to be gathered here.)
Summary
In a certain light, the unforgivable sin has been described in terms of an extreme of murder, and extreme of swearing, and and extreme of bearing false witness against your neighbor. These are 3 of the 10 commandments. This suggests both that the two views above may be reconcilable, and also that there may even be other ways of describing the Unforgivable Sin.