Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

[Troy]

What did Jesus mean when he said

"Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” Mark 3:28-29

Did he mean the literally blasphemy or just not accepting it? I'm not sure if I understand. Any thoughts?

Could Jesus Christ be saying that it is unrighteous and evil to slander the name of the Holy Spirit to the point that it warps the intended view to make it look evil or does it mean something else?

Maybe He is saying that it is unforgivable because it not only hinders you from salvation but it can hinder others as well.

[K. Ayato]

This is a tricky subject to be sure. To start off, let's take a quick look at what the Holy Spirit does. He bears witness to Christ, and ultimately to the Father. I could be wrong, but it sounded like Jesus was saying rejecting the witness of the Spirit was the one thing that couldn't be forgiven. Translated into what we understand, it's rejecting the call of salvation. Once a person is dead in their sins, it's too late.

That's my best guess. I'm no Bible scholar and just reflecting on what I've read in the Word and learned from church. If someone has more to add and shows that I made a mistake, I stand corrected.

Found something that might explain it better. http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhel ... ains_2.htm

[ClaecElric4God]

Yeah, I'm gonna agree with K-chan here. To the best of my knowledge, that's the best explanation. I've heard it preached and discussed, and it's what I believe.

[Xeno]

The other main view of blasphemy is the attributing the powers Jesus is said to have had to demonic forces. Essentially claiming that Jesus couldn't have been an agent of God, and his healing abilities were granted to him by Satan.

It's really hard for a modern day believer to blaspheme the holy spirit, not that hard to blaspheme Jesus himself, but it's not unforgivable to blaspheme Jesus.

http://carm.org/what-blasphemy-holy-spirit-can-christian-commit-it

Let's also not forget that the definition of blasphemy is the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk. So to simply reject something isn't the same as speaking wrongfully about it in an attempt to misrepresent the subject.

A person doesn't blaspheme because they're offered Jesus at church and turn it down for whatever reason. They blaspheme when they say that it's magic, it's all of the devil, or maybe even (in my case) explainable scientifically.