I seem to remember back in my JW days, a scripture that said something to the effect that if you publicly denounce Jehover, you would never be forgiven of it? I really want to bring this up to my ever-persistant family as a good reason for me not to come back to meetings and try to be reinstated. I have already told them that I will never, ever, ever come back, that I don't even believe in God per-se. But I was wondering if I am really off-base here, or if there is a scripture that says something about not being forgiven for declaring yourself an athiest? Can any of you bible scholars out there help me out?
Unforgivable Sin?
by Low-Key Lysmith 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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NeonMadman
What Jesus actually said (at Matthew 12:31,32) was:
Mat 12:31 "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
Mat 12:32 "Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
A similar comment appears at Luke 12:10. Jesus was responding to the religious leaders' attribution of His miracles to the power of Satan. Most commentators understand these verses to mean that one who persistently rejects the work of the Holy Spirit (as in Jesus' miracles and in leading people toward salvation) cannot be saved, because such a person has rejected the very Source of salvation.
The Watchtower injects the concept that one can be so hardened by sin as to be beyond the possibility of repentance (and, of course, they apply that to apostates primarily). However, I'm not aware of them ever saying that one commits the unforgivable sin simply by denying the existence of God.
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TheEdge
As a child I heard this - the unforgivable sin is sinning against the Holy Spirit. It scared me (I didn't know what it meant, not sure as I do now) - I asked what it meant, but got an even scarier answer - can't remember exactly, but was personal.
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inbyathread
LKL said "But I was wondering if I am really off-base here, or if there is a scripture that says something about not being forgiven for declaring yourself an athiest?"
Here is my understanding about sinning against the holy spirit.
If you are questioning whether you sinned or not, then you haven't. There have been enough bible characters that have done bad things and still have been shown forgiveness. JW's teach that people change over time that is why they go back and knock on a door year after year seeing if something has changed in that persons life that maybe they would like to know more about Jehovah and start a study.
Someone may have made statements like LKL but only Jehovah knows if it was unforgiveable. I a mere human will give, anyone who questions their sin, the benefit of the doubt. Give them opportunity to show that they do acknowledge and want to know Jehovah.
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DaCheech
I guess all of us "apostates" are sinning against the holy spirit by denouncing it as given to us by the "jehovars"
In the real world we are not, because we are denoucing the Watchtower and what "they" made of "jehovar"
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IP_SEC
The so called unforgivable sin is less of a singular act and more of a headstrong willful course which would put a person at odds or working against the 'Holy Spirit'. That is where the hardening of the heart comes in. Example an apostate could repent, but the likelihood of that is very low once they have rejected the range of the teachings of the Council of Brooklyin'. *I mean really, knowing what you know now, would you go back?* A liar could commit the unforgivable sin as well, becoming so hardened in his course so as to never come back. On the other hand since he could still have a soft spot for the Society's teachings it would be much more likely that he could repent and come back than if he were an apostate. Only Jehovah would know if you had commited an unforgivable sin. Anyone worred about it probably hasnt
IPSec
OOps, What inbyathread said
Holy crap I think I just started my time for the morning of field svs!!!! :)
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garybuss
The unforgivable act for a Jehovah's Witness, is baptism as a Jehovah's Witness. The Witnesses baptized me when I was 12 and they have never forgiven me for allowing them to do that. That's the only reason they shun me. (Actually, the shunning has been a true gift. I would never want to change it.)
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fairchild
Mark3:29 whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of everlasting sin.
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SixofNine
You apostates, always trying to avoid your divine retribution. The latest bible research shows that you were right when you were 15, the unforgivable sin is masturbation.
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mkr32208
I always figured it was urinating on a giant stack of watchtower publications... Guess I'm out forever!