consist in this, the mere and bare denying of the personality or the deity of the Holy Ghost. As it doth not consist therein, so neither doth it consist in every opposition, or in a bare opposition unto the work of the Holy Ghost, as distinct from the Father and the Son. Unto God the Father belongs power; unto the Son, wisdom; unto the Spirit, holiness. The work of the Father is to create; the work of the Son, to redeem; the work of the Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, to sanctify. And hereupon some have thought, that opposition unto holiness is the sin against the Holy Ghost. But you find here it is a blasphemy, therefore not every opposition. And if you look into Acts vii., you find that Stephen speaking of the Jews, saith at verse 51," Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ear, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost:" yet they did not sin this sin against the Holy Ghost: why? for Stephen prays for them at the last verse, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." But now saith the apostle John, in 1 John v. 16, "There is a sin unto death, I do not say that ye shall pray for it." Had they in Stephen's account sinned this sin unto death, he would not have prayed for them; but he did pray for them. So that this sin against the Holy Ghost, doth not consist in every opposition unto the work of the Holy Ghost, as it is distinct from the Father and the Son. : As it doth not consist therein, so it is not necessary that every man that sins the sin against the Holy Ghost, should be an universal apostate, backsliding from the profession of the gospel, and the power thereof. I know it is ordinarily thought so; but I say, it is not necessary that whosoever doth sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, should be a gospel apostate, backsliding from the gospel, and the power thereof, once professed for these pharisees, who sinned against the Holy Ghost, never professed the gospel, neither do we read of any backsliding in them, from the power of the gospel once professed; and yet they sinned against the Holy Ghost. Surely, therefore, such a gospel apostacy is not of the essence of the sin against the Holy Ghost. Only here I must distinguish concerning the word apostacy. A man may be said to be an apostate two ways: either because he doth decline and fall away from the profession of the truth, and power of godliness, once professed; or else because he doth rebel against truth revealed, and the will of God manifested, and will go no further. I will express it thus: five or six men go a great journey, suppose to Wales, or into the north, to Scotland; when they come about the middle of the way, two or three of them say, These ways are dirty, and longer than we intended, and therefore we will go no further; but say the other, Let the way be as dirty, and as long as it may be, we will go on; and on they go: which of these men do depart one from the other; do those that go on depart from them that stay? No; those that will go no further depart, they are the forsakers. So in the way to heaven, professors set out together, and some find the way long, further than they thought of, We will go no further, say they, and we will have no more light; but say the other, God willing, we will on; and on they go. Which of these two sorts are the apostates? Those that will go no further: they think not so, but the Lord knows the truth, that those that will go no further are they that leave and forsake the other. I will give you one scripture for it, it is in Numb. xiv. ; there were certain spies went into the land of Canaan, and they brought an ill report upon the good land," and the children of Israel murmured against Moses," verse 2; whereupon Moses speaks unto them, and saith at verse 9, "Only rebel not against the Lord." The words in the Septuagint, which greek the New Testament follows, are, "Only be not apostates against the Lord." So that in Septuagintal language, those that rebel against light revealed, and will go no further, are called apostates. Now, indeed, this kind of apostacy always goes with the sin against the Holy Ghost, but not the former, always; for we do not find that the pharisees were guilty of the former, for they did not profess the gospel. So that the essence of this sin doth not consist in apostatizing or backsliding from the profession of the gospel and the power thereof. Some think that this sin doth consist in final unbelief and impenitency; but final impenitency and unbelief is not the sin against the Holy Ghost, for by final unbelief and impenitency, they either understand that impenitency and unbelief which a man lives and dies in, or that which he purposeth to continue in to the last. The latter cannot be the sin against the Holy Ghost, for many have purposed to continue in their unbelief to their death, and yet have been converted and par doned.* And the first cannot be the sin against the Holy Ghost, for, 1. The Jews whom Christ spake unto did then commit this sin, and yet they had not continued in it to their death. 2. Final unbelief is rather a sin against the Son; but the sin against the Holy Ghost is distinguished from that. 3. Our Saviour saith, Those that commit this sin shall not be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come. Not in this world. If therefore final unbelief or impenitency be this sin, then Christ should threaten that he that dies in his sin shall not be forgiven whilst he lives. 4. If a man sin against the Father or Son, and die impenitently in that sin, he shall not be forgiven either in this life or in the life to come: but herein the sin against the Holy Ghost is worse than the sins against the Father or the Son, and therefore it cannot consist therein. 5. The apostle saith, 1 John v. 16, " There is a sin unto death, I say not that you pray for it." Doth he say that we must not pray for a man, and for the forgiveness of his sin when he is dead? 6. It is that sin for which there lies no remission, but a man may sin such a sin whilst he lives: for if any man sin wilfully, there remaineth no sacrifice for sin, and wilfully a man may sin before his death. 7. It is such a sin as a man may know another man is guilty of whilst he lives, for saith the apostle, "There is a sin unto death, I say not that you pray for it:" but final unbelief and impenitency is not known till death. 8. Our Saviour saith, "He that speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven." But a word may be spoken against the Spirit long before a man dies, and therefore surely this sin against the Holy Ghost doth not consist in final impenitency and unbelief; final unbelief and impenitency is not this sin against the Holy Ghost. 9. For then all wicked men living under the gospel, and dying impenitently, should sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is false.* * Altissiodorensis, lib. ii. Tract. 30, in Sentent. Desperatissimos convertit Deus.-Augustin. Sic homo potest penitere de finali impenitentia.-Altissiodorensis, ib. † Blasphemia in Spiritum Sanctum ea esse videtur qua quis destinata malitia contra proprium animi sui sensum Spiritus Sancti gratiam et virtutem deique gloriam oppugnat.-Luc. Brugen. in Matt. xii. * Ος αν ειπη λογον κατα του υιού του ανθρωπου αφεθησεται, ος δε αν ειπη κατα του αγιου πνεύματος ουκ επι διατι οτι τουτο γνοριμον υμιν εςτι και προς τα δηλα εναιχυντείε.—Chrysostom in Math. xii. You will say, then, What is this sin against the Holy Ghost, and wherein doth it consist? Affirmatively. It is that wilful sinning against God, whereby a man doth maliciously oppose and blaspheme the proper and peculiar work of the Holy Ghost, and that after he hath been convinced thereof by the Holy Ghost. I say, It is a wilful sinning against God; and so the apostle speaks, saying, "If any man sin wilfully, after he hath received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more. sacrifice for sin," Heb. x. 26. So that the sin for which there is no sacrifice, and of which there is no remission, is a wilful sin. Now a man is said to sin wittingly, willingly, and wilfully wittingly, in opposition to ignorance; willingly, in opposition to force and constraint; wilfully, in opposition to light, knowledge and reason; and so he that sins against the Holy Ghost doth sin; for says the apostle, " If any man sin wilfully, after he hath received the knowledge of the truth," or after the acknowledgment, ηy exiуrwow, &c. He that commits this sin doth also oppose and blaspheme the proper and peculiar work of the Holy Ghost; for it is called here, a blasphemy, and a blaspheming of the Spirit, as distinct from the Father and the Son. Now the work of the Father is to create, the work of the Son to redeem, the work of the Holy Ghost to sanctify; and therefore he that sins this sin, doth oppose and blaspheme holiness and goodness; and so these Jews did: for when our Saviour Christ did cast out the devil, that unclean spirit, they said, he did it by the power of the devil, calling the work done, a work of the devil, and did oppose him therein.* Yet this is not all, for, It is that sin, whereby a man doth maliciously oppose, and blaspheme; and so the word EKOGwe, Heb. x. 26, is used by the Septuagint, Exod. xxi. 13, 14. And thus did those pharisees sin, for the Evangelist tells us, that when Christ saw their thoughts, verse 25, "He said unto them," &c. So that it was not a bare opposing or blaspheming, but a malicious opposing and blaspheming of this great work of the Holy Ghost, which made them so deeply guilty.† * Dicere verbum contra spiritum sanctum est verbis impugnare Deum sanctificantem. Cajet. in Matt. ii. vide sixth Senens. in locum. + Peccatum in spiritum sanctum dicitur illud ex carta malitia sit quod solent VOL. IV. But how can a man sin, ex malitia, or maliciously, seeing that, voluntas temper ferter in bonum, et omnis peccans est ignorans. Now if the will be always carried out upon what is good, and every man that sins, doth sin ignorantly, how any can man be said to sin maliciously, or ex malitia? Yes, very well: for although the will be always carried out upon that which is good; yet that good, is either morally good, called, bonum honestum, honest good; or naturally good, called, bonum utile, or jucundum, profitable, or delightful good. Now the will is not always carried out upon that which is honestly good in appearance; for voluntas est appetitus universalis, the will is an universal appetite. And if the will should be always carried out upon that which is honestly good in appearance, then, as Suarez reasons well, every thief and adulterer, should be an heretic, which no man will say. And if the will may be carried out sometimes upon that which is pleasantly, or delightfully, or naturally good; then it may hate that which is morally, and spiritually, and honestly good; for, amor odii causa, love is the cause of hatred; the will doth naturally hate that which is contrary to the thing loved; and if the will may hate that which is honestly and spiritually good, then it may oppose and blaspheme the same, and that out of hatred and malice; for every man speaks evil of and opposes what he hates. If this be a reason why a man cannot sin maliciously, or ex malitia, because the will is always carried out upon what is good; then the devils and damned in hell, do not sin maliciously, or ex malitia; for they have wills in hell, as well as men on earth; but I presume it will not be said that the devils and damned in hell do not sin maliciously; for then if they sin upon some mistake, and ex ignorantia, they should have some excuse for their sin.* distingui tria genera peccatorum, peccatum in patrem es infirmitate humana, peccatum in filium ex ignorantia, quod patri appropriatur potentia filio sapientia, peccatum in spiritum sanctum, ex malitia quia bonitas attribuitur spiritui sancto. Altissidorens. Lib. 2. Tract. 30. in Sent. Scot. in Sent. Lib. 2. Ques. 2. *Non existimo absolute necessarium ad operandum malum per voluntatem ut præcedat defectus erroris in judicio intellectus vel speculativo vel practico. Suar. Metaphys. disp. de necess. et conting. Eff. Sect 7. Prima Propositio.-Cum perfecta scientia et consideratione vel habituali vel naturali potest esse peccatum et defectus in voluntate, est communis sententia et certa de fide. |