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- Title
REVISITING THE UNPARDONABLE SIN: INSIGHT FROM AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE.
- Authors
LITFIN, DUANE
- Abstract
Jesus's indictment of the "eternal sin" of blaspheming the Holy Spirit has perplexed his church from the beginning, leading to a variety of interpretations. Most of these interpretations have attempted to soften the harshness of Jesus's indictment by redefining the unpardonable sin or by supplying the unwritten premise "unless they repent." This article, by contrast, seeks to concede the sharpness of Jesus's verdict and then asks what there was about the Pharisees' offense that prompted it. To answer this question, this article looks to the ancient rhetorical treatment of apodeixis. Jesus's opponents were the beneficiaries of an extraordinary measure of both verbal and apodictic light. To this maximum light they responded with maximum rejection. This unique combination of maximum light and maximum rejection is what prompted Jesus's adamant verdict. Because these maximal conditions can no longer be met, the "eternal sin" of the Pharisees cannot be reenacted today.
- Subjects
UNPARDONABLE sin; BIBLICAL teaching on the Holy Spirit; JESUS Christ; BIBLICAL criticism; PHARISEES
- Publication
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2017, Vol 60, Issue 4, p713
- ISSN
0360-8808
- Publication type
Article