What do you consider the worse sin a person could commit? Rape, Murder, Child Molestation, Suicide? Personally I think the "worse" sin is pride. The belief that you know better than God -- because that is the one thing that removes us the furtherest from him.
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. if you can explain to me what that looks like, that wouuld be great. edit: Mark 3:29
Child Molestation Rape Murder . . . . Suicide (not sure how this made the list --- must have had an easy bracket)
cool Is 'sin' being used in a strictly religious context then? I should repectfully bow out of this thread before it morphs into theological dissertation. (I'll probably still read -- but can't much pretend i'll understand..).
I did not intend "sin" to be in a strict theological sense -- though if you lean that way it is hard to seperate.
http://www.carm.org/uni/Mark3_29.htm Here is the verse: "Believe me, all men's sins can be forgiven and all their blasphemies. But there can never be any forgiveness for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. That is an eternal sin." Here is the analysis: This sin is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit -- which is stating that Jesus did His miracles by the power of the devil.
i've heard that analysis before. i've talked to pastors before who had different ideas. the best idea i have of it is this: if you're worried about whether or not you've blasphemed the Holy Spirit, the chances are pretty strong you haven't! remember of course that the Holy Spirit is to come AFTER Christ's ascension. thats' why i have doubts about the analysis, above.
Maybe blasphemy of any part of the Big Holy Threesome would count? Come to think of it, I have never anyone say "Holy Spirit damn it", so there might something to this after all.
I had a pet theory on blaspheming the Holy Spirit, based, unfortunately, on almost no research. The blasphemy would essentially be the denial of the message of the Holy Spirit (salvation from sin thru Christ's death). Having denied that, you'd be denied entry into His presence. That all sins but that one can be forgiven dovetails in well with all you having to do for salvation is to believe in Jesus for your salvation. Essentially, that makes not being a Christian the unforgivable sin that sends the nonbelievers to Hell and, for the believers who refrain from that sin, all their others are forgiven. I feel like I haven't explained that well, but I'm hitting Submit anyway....
and you don't have a problem believing in a god that would grant free will and then punish those that use that free will to not believe in him?
That's my list too. Suicide is bad, but I separate it in my mind from euthenasia, which I think should be allowed in some circumstances.
i've heard that as well...which would be consistent with other places in the New Testament which assert the same.
Well, first, I'm an atheist so I don't believe in such a god. But, secondly, no I wouldn't have a problem believing in such a god. It would be very presumptuous of me to make judgements as to whether God's behavior meets my requirements.
