Blaspheme Your Way to Hell
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Update: Talked to Dave about it over lunch. He thinks that atheists are not necessarily acknowledging God or the Bible by doing this. Rather, they are so confident in their belief that there is no God, so 100 percent certain, that they would make a conscious decision to defy and mock Christian beliefs. I wonder if they would also close the bathroom door, turn out the lights, and say, “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, come out” in the pitch black, or chant “Candyman” five times before a mirror. Plenty of people I know who are not religious are nonetheless superstitious or at least believe in karma. In defying the sovereign Lord, these people are tempting a much worse fate than anything from the occult.
This is messed up.
One look at this, and I am disgusted on so many levels. This website purports to give people a one-way ticket to hell if they say “I deny the Holy Spirit” and offers a free DVD, The God Who Wasn’t There, to anyone who uploads a video of their unbelief onto YouTube. It has become so popular, it was reported by NBC. It’s based on a (probably faulty and deadly) interpretation of Mark 3:29: “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”
The context is after Jesus chooses the twelve and starts teaching in parables. The section is annotated as “Jesus and Beelzebub.”
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.” (NASB, Mark 3:20-30.)
I’m no theologian, but I sense that this verse is being grossly misinterpreted. I’ll try to figure it out later. If anyone has insight on this, please share.
I don’t understand why anyone would do this. If I were an atheist, and I wanted to defy God, I would act as if He didn’t exist – not follow a supposed rule or incantation that I think is from the Bible so that I can manipulate a being that I declare does not exist. Isn’t this an admission that the Bible is truth? Wouldn’t taking part in this madness be the antithesis of my identity as an atheist, because in trying to get God to turn His back on me forever, I’m acknowledging that He exists and that I am subject to His power, and relying on that power to get me sent to hell? I thought atheists didn’t believe in a heaven or hell?
That verse freaked me out in middle school because I didn’t know what exactly constituted blasphemy (haha, early lawyer tendencies). Were there ways of blaspheming that have been not humanly identified (likely since we’re ignorant humans) but incredibly pissed god off?
The way I understand it is that blasphemy means rejection of God, pure and simple. We can sin in a myriad of ways, but it does not amount to an outright denial of God. I don’t know if the phrase “I deny the Holy Spirit” is sufficient. Relationship with God is not about uttering magic phrases or formulas.
I don’t think you can commit blasphemy unconsciously. It sounds like a volitional act in this definition of blasphemy from dictionary.com:
1. impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.
2. Judaism.
a. an act of cursing or reviling God.
b. pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton (<span class="caps">YHVH</span>) in the original, now forbidden manner instead of using a substitute pronunciation such as Adonai.
3. Theology. the crime of assuming to oneself the rights or qualities of God.
4. irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless, etc.: He uttered blasphemies against life itself.
Guilty on count one. Bah.
Page 1 of 1 pages