Place John 15:22 about certain sin of the Jews.
For a clearer understanding of this, consider what the same person said about the Jews: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin." Indeed, it is not said as if the Jews would have been entirely without any sin if He had not come and spoken to them. He found them full and burdened with sins. Therefore, He says: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened." From what, if not the burdens of sins and transgressions of the Law? Because the Law entered that the offense might abound. Therefore, when He says elsewhere: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners," how, if He had not come, would they not have sin, unless because this statement, pronounced not universally nor particularly but indefinitely, does not mean all sin? But certainly, if we understand some sin which they would not have had unless Christ had come and spoken to them, otherwise, we would say the statement is false, which it is not. Therefore, He did not say: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin," so that the Truth would not lie. Nor did He definitely say: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no certain sin," lest pious enthusiasm should be insufficiently exercised. Indeed, in the abundance of the Holy Scriptures, we are nourished by the clear, exercised by the obscure; there hunger is driven away, here disgust. Because it is not said: "They would have no sin," let us not be disturbed since we recognize the Jews as sinners, even if the Lord had not come. But however, because it is said: "If I had not come, they would not have sin," it is necessary, even if not all, that they contracted some sin from the Lord's coming that they did not have before. This is precisely because they did not believe in His presence and His speaking to them, considering Him an enemy because He spoke the truth, and moreover, they killed Him. This great and terrible sin, they surely would not have had if He had not come and spoken to them. Therefore, when we hear, "They would not have sin," we do not understand all sin, but some sin; likewise, in today's reading, when we hear: "Blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven," not every blasphemy but certain blasphemy; and when we heard: "Whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him," we must understand not every word but a certain word.
It was said here about the Holy Spirit.
For even this statement, "But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven," certainly does not refer to any spirit, but we must understand it as the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Even if it were not stated more clearly elsewhere, who would be so foolish as to understand it otherwise? According to this rule of speech, the statement, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit," is also understood. For he did not say "of the Holy Spirit" there, and yet it is understood. Nor because he said "of water and the Spirit," is anyone compelled to understand every spirit. Therefore, when you hear "But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven," just as not every spirit, so too must not every spirit's blasphemy be understood.
The other evangelists agree with Matthew on this matter.
I see that you now want to hear what that blasphemy against the Spirit is, which shall not be forgiven, and what the word is which, if spoken against the Holy Spirit, shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come. I also would like to say what you are most eagerly waiting to hear; but bear with some delays for greater diligence, until, with the Lord's help, I can explain everything that comes to mind. For two other Evangelists, Mark and Luke, when speaking of this matter, did not say "blasphemy" or "word", so that we might understand not every blasphemy, but a certain one, and not every word, but a certain one. What then did they say? According to Mark, it is written: "Amen, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and all blasphemies with which they blaspheme. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin." According to Luke, it is written: "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." Is it because of some minor difference in wording that the truth of the same sentence is abandoned? For what other reason is there that the Evangelists do not say the same things in the same way, except so that we may learn to place emphasis on things through words, not words through things, and to seek nothing else in the speaker except the will for which words are brought forward to declare? For what does it matter to the point at issue, whether it is said: "The blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven," or whether it is said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven," unless perhaps because the same thing is said more plainly in this way than in that, and one Evangelist does not destroy but explains another? The blasphemy against the Spirit, it is said in abbreviated form, because it is not expressed whose spirit. For not every spirit is the Holy Spirit. Again, it can be said: the spirit of blasphemy, when one blasphemes with a spirit; just as it can be said: "the spirit of prayer," when one prays with a spirit; whence the Apostle says: "I will pray with the spirit, I will also pray with the mind." But when it is said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit," those ambiguities are resolved. Again, what is written: "He will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin," what is it other than what is read according to Matthew: "It shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come"? By different words and another mode of speech, the same sentence is expressed. And what is in Matthew: "Whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit," lest we understand anything other than blasphemy, the others said more plainly: "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit." Nevertheless, the same thing is said by all, nor does any of them depart from the speaker's will, for understanding which words are spoken, written, read, heard.
Difficulty in the words of Mark.
But someone may say: Behold, I have received and understood that when it is said: Blasphemy, neither "all" nor "certain" is expressed, it can indeed be understood as "all," but it is not necessary; however, unless "some certain one" is understood, what is said is false. So too with the word: if "all" is not said, or "certain," it is not necessary that "all" be understood; but unless "some certain one" is understood, in no way can what is said be true. But where it is read: He who blasphemes, how do I understand "some certain blasphemy," when it is not read "blasphemy," or "some certain word" where it is not read "word," but seems to be said generally: He who blasphemes? We respond to this contradiction thus: Because even here if it were said: "He who blasphemes against any blasphemy in the Holy Spirit," there would be no reason for us to think that some blasphemy should be sought when we ought to understand "all"; but because "all" cannot be understood, lest the hope of remission be taken away from Pagans, Jews, heretics, and all kinds of people who blaspheme in the Holy Spirit by their various errors and contradictions, it remains indeed that, in what is written: He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, shall not have forgiveness eternally, that person is understood who blasphemes not in all ways, but in such a way that he can never be forgiven.
A twofold temptation.
For just as in what is said: God tempts no one, it must be understood that God tempts no one in a certain manner of temptation, lest that which is written be false: The Lord your God is testing you, and lest we deny that Christ is God, or say the Gospel is false, where we read that He asked the disciple, testing him, He Himself knew what He was going to do. For there is a temptation that leads to sin, by which God tempts no one; and there is a temptation that tests faith, by which God deems it worthy to tempt. Thus, when we hear: Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, we must not accept every kind of blasphemy, just as not every kind of temptation.
Salvation is promised to the believer and baptized.
Moreover, when we hear: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved," we certainly do not understand it in the way of the one who believes as the demons believe and tremble, nor in the number of the baptized where Simon the magician could be baptized, but could not be saved. Just as, therefore, when he said: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved," he was not looking at all the believers and the baptized, but at some; precisely those established in that faith which, as the Apostle distinguishes, works through love; so, when he said: "He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever," he did not intend all, but a certain guilt of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, by which whoever has been bound will be solved by no remission ever.
A certain manner of eating the flesh of Christ peculiar to the pious.
Also, that which he says: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him," how should we understand this? Can we indeed accept those of whom the Apostle says that they eat and drink judgment upon themselves, even though they eat the very flesh and drink the very blood? Was Judas, the impious betrayer and seller of the master, although he first ate and drank the sacrament of his flesh and blood with the other disciples, as Luke the evangelist more clearly states, was he in Christ or was Christ in him? Many indeed who either deceitfully in their heart eat that flesh and drink that blood, or after eating and drinking subsequently become apostates, do they remain in Christ, or Christ in them? But certainly there is a certain mode of eating that flesh and drinking that blood, where one who eats and drinks in this manner abides in Christ and Christ in him. Therefore, it is not that whoever eats the flesh of Christ and drinks the blood of Christ abides in Christ and in him Christ, but in a certain mode; which manner, indeed, he himself saw when he said these things. So also, when he says: "He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever," it is not that whoever blasphemes is guilty of this unforgivable sin in any manner, but in a certain manner, which he intended for us to seek and understand, who uttered this true and terrible sentence.
He approaches the solution of the question.
Who then is this manner of blasphemy, or rather immoderation, what is this blasphemy, and what is the word against the Holy Spirit, now, as I think, the order itself demands that we say, and let us not further defer your expectation, detained so long but necessarily. You know, dearest ones, in that invisible and incorruptible Trinity, which the true faith and Catholic Church holds and preaches, that God the Father is not the Father of the Holy Spirit, but of the Son; and that God the Son is not the Son of the Holy Spirit, but of the Father; however, that God the Holy Spirit is not the Spirit of the Father alone or of the Son alone, but of the Father and the Son; and that this Trinity, although with the individual property and substance of each person preserved, nevertheless, because of the undivided and inseparable essence or nature of eternity, truth, and goodness, is not three gods, but one God. And by this, to the extent of our capacity, as far as it is allowed for us still to see through a glass and in a riddle, especially for such as we are, authority is hinted to us in the Father, in the Son nativity, in the Holy Spirit the communion of the Father and the Son, in the three equality. Therefore, what is common to the Father and the Son, through this they wished us to have communion both among ourselves and with them, and to be gathered into one through that gift which both have in one, that is, through the Holy Spirit God and the gift of God. For in this we are reconciled to divinity, and we delight in it. For what would it profit us to know any good thing, unless we also loved it? As we learn by truth, so we love by charity, so that we may know more fully and with happiness enjoy what we know. Moreover, charity is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. And because we were alienated from the possession of true goods by sins, charity covers a multitude of sins. Therefore, the Father is the true source of the Son to truth, and the Son is the truth born of the true Father, and the Holy Spirit is the goodness poured out from the good Father and the good Son; however, divinity is of all of them not unequal, nor separable is their unity.
Forgiveness of sins is given through the Holy Spirit.
First, therefore, the gift comes to us from the goodness of God at the beginning of our faith: the forgiveness of sins, to receive eternal life, which will be given at the end. For as long as they remain, there remain in some way enmities against God, and alienation from Him, which is from our own evil, as Scripture does not lie, saying: "Your sins have separated you from God." Therefore, He does not bestow His good things upon us unless He takes away our evils. And the former grow to the extent that the latter decrease; nor will the former be perfected unless the latter are brought to an end.
But now, that the Lord Christ forgives sins in the Holy Spirit, just as He casts out demons in the Holy Spirit, can be understood from this: after He rose from the dead, when He said to His disciples: "Receive the Holy Spirit," He immediately added: "If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." For that regeneration, where there is remission of all past sins, happens in the Holy Spirit, as the Lord says: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." But being born of the Spirit is one thing, and being fed by the Spirit is another; just as being born of the flesh, which happens when a mother gives birth, is one thing, and being fed by the flesh, which happens when she nurses the infant, is another—designed to drink with pleasure from where he was born so that he might live; to receive nourishment for living from where he received the beginning of being born. Therefore, the first benefit of the believers is the remission of sins by the kindness of God in the Holy Spirit. Thus also began the preaching of John the Baptist, who was sent as the forerunner of the Lord. For it is written: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’" Hence also it is written of the Lord Himself: "From then on Jesus began to preach: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’"
John also said, among other things, to those who came to be baptized by him: "I baptize you with water for repentance; but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." The Lord also said: "John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, which you will receive not many days hence," up to Pentecost. But when John said: "And with fire," although it can also be understood as the tribulation that believers would endure for Christ’s name, it is not inappropriate to see the same Holy Spirit signified by the name of fire. Therefore it is said on His coming: "They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them." Hence the Lord Himself also said: "I came to cast fire upon the earth." And the Apostle says: "Be fervent in spirit," because charity is inflamed by this. For it is spread in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us. The contrary to this fervor is what the Lord said: "The love of many will grow cold." But perfect charity is the perfect gift of the Holy Spirit. That earlier matter pertains to the forgiveness of sins, through which benefit we are rescued from the power of darkness, and the prince of this world is cast out by our faith, who works in the children of disobedience, by no other force than the association and bondage of sin. For in the Holy Spirit, by whom the people of God are gathered into one, the unclean spirit is cast out, who divides against himself.
Impenitence is a sin against the Holy Spirit.
Against this free gift, against this grace of God speaks the unrepentant heart. Therefore, this very unrepentance is the blasphemy against the Spirit, which will not be forgiven neither in this age nor in the future. . For he who speaks a very evil and exceedingly impious word against the Holy Spirit, by whom those baptized have all their sins forgiven, and whom the Church has received, so that to whomsoever it forgives sins, they are forgiven, calls down wrath upon himself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to everyone according to his deeds, through his own hardness of heart and impenitent heart, even though the patience of God leads him to repentance. Therefore, this impenitence (for thus we can somewhat designate both blasphemy and the word against the Holy Spirit which has no forgiveness forever); this impenitence, I say, against which both the herald and the judge cried out, saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; against which the Lord opened the mouth of the evangelical preaching, and against which He predicted that the very Gospel would be preached in the whole world; where, after He rose from the dead, He said to the disciples: "It was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem," this impenitence, indeed, has no forgiveness, neither in this age nor in the one to come; because repentance procures remission in this age, which may be effective in the future.
One should despair of no one in the present life.
But this impenitence, or impenitent heart, as long as anyone is living in this flesh, cannot be judged. For no one should be despaired of, as long as the patience of God leads to penance; nor does He take the impious from this life who does not wish the death of the impious as much as that he should return and live. He is a pagan today: how do you know whether he will be a Christian tomorrow? He is a faithless Jew today: what if he believes in Christ tomorrow? He is a heretic today: what if he follows the Catholic truth tomorrow? He is a schismatic today: what if he embraces Catholic peace tomorrow? What if those whom you know in any kind of error, and condemn as most desperate, repent and find true life before they end this life? Therefore, brothers, let what the Apostle says also admonish you: Do not judge anything before the time. For this blasphemy against the Spirit, for which there is never any forgiveness (which we understand not as all but as a certain kind, and that persistent hardness of the impenitent heart either mentioned, discovered or even shown as we think), as we have said, cannot be found in anyone, as long as they are still in this life.
A certain objection is refuted.