Michael Baird April 20th, 2007
photo by Xenith.org (terms)
Boingboing.net has a post about a challenge to have people commit the eternal sin and post it up on youtube.
Now, officially, I’m a Christian. Raised in a somewhat religious household. Attended a non-denominational Bible Church in Chillicothe, Illinois. Attended church weekly, sometimes by force. But I would like to think that I paid attention, learned good from bad and was lucky enough to attend a small town church with a gentle and sensible pastor with a relatively realistic view on life and religion. It is where I came to realize that religion isn’t always a hootin, hollerin glamour show. It is personal, and a choice that can not be forced on others. And that your actions will make more of an impact than your words ever will. So I like to think that I have a fairly informed view of the Christian religion.
That being said, I was unaware of an eternal sin, other than not accepting Christ as your savior…
So, intrigued with the subject, I had an interesting google talk exchange with my brother, a graduate in some ministerial capacity from Wheaton College (for whatever reason I can never remember exactly in what), who I usually default to when a religious question pops up.
He said in his life of attending church he can only recall one or two instances where the eternal sin is brought up. So rarely spoken of in church perhaps because pastors and ministers don’t want to explain to the Sunday attendees that the big sell has a caveat.
Yes God will forgive you of ALL sins no matter what. No questions asked, no matter how many times you sin, no matter what the sin is……..except for that one sin.
He pointed me towards a nice write-up by pastor John Piper from Bethlehem Baptist Church that gives a bit more of an interpretation of the unforgivable sin. It does appear to exist and for people who believe, apparently there is a line you can cross that puts you beyond repentance. Whether making a video and denying the existence of the Holy Spirit will put you over the line is probably debatable.
From John Piper’s article:
The unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws for ever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven.
Making the video may not cross the line, but posting it on youtube might just do the trick. Who knows…
