Chapter XI.
On the origin of final sins, which are sins against the Holy Spirit.
Concerning final or irremissible sins, of which kind are sins against the Holy Spirit, the following must be held: that although every sin generally is against the triune and one God, yet by appropriation a certain sin is said to be against the Father, another against the Son, and another against the Holy Spirit.
Now this sin against the Holy Spirit is called irremissible in this age and in the age to come, not because it cannot be forgiven in this age, but because it is rarely or scarcely forgiven in this age with respect to guilt, and little or almost no remission is made for it in the future with respect to punishment.
Now there are six species of this sin, namely: envy of fraternal grace, opposition to acknowledged truth, despair, presumption, obstinacy of mind, and final impenitence.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since sin denotes a departure from the first principle who is triune and one, every sin deforms the image of the Trinity and defiles the soul itself with respect to its threefold power, namely the irascible, the rational, and the concupiscible; and it proceeds from free choice, which bears in itself the mark of the Trinity: of the Father, by reason of capacity; of the Son, by reason of reason; and of the Holy Spirit, by reason of will.
Although these three concur together in every fault, nevertheless each of them through its own defect can be the ground of disordering the others. Now the defect regarding capacity is impotence, regarding reason is ignorance, and regarding will is malice. And hence it is that since certain sins arise from impotence, certain from ignorance, and certain from malice — and power is attributed to the Father, wisdom to the Son, and will to the Holy Spirit — certain sins are said to be against the Father, certain against the Son, and certain against the Holy Spirit. And since nothing is more in the will than the will itself, and the will itself is the origin of sin, no sin is so purely and entirely voluntary as that which proceeds from a corruption existing in the will.
For since the involuntary is said in two ways, namely through violence and through ignorance — the first through defect of power, the second through defect of knowledge — when the will by its own corruption alone, although it can resist and knows this to be evil, chooses something, then it is said to sin from deliberate malice; and such a sin proceeds purely from the wickedness of the will of free choice and directly assails the grace of the Holy Spirit.
And because it proceeds purely from freedom of choice, it therefore has no color of excuse, and for this reason little or almost nothing of the punishment ought to be relaxed for the one who is punished. Because indeed it directly assails the grace of the Holy Spirit, through which the remission of sin is accomplished, it is therefore called irremissible, not because it can in no way be remitted, but because, as far as it is in itself, it directly assails the medicine and remedy through which the remission of sin is accomplished.
And since the remission of sin is accomplished by God through penitential grace within ecclesiastical unity, the differences of this sin are taken according as they directly assail those three things. For they either assail penitential grace itself in itself; or in relation to God, from whom it is given; or in relation to the Church, in which it is received. If in relation to the unity of the Church: since the unity of the Church consists in faith and charity, that is, in grace and truth, there is thus a twofold sin, namely envy of fraternal grace and assailing of acknowledged truth.
If in relation to God who gives: since all His ways with respect to justification are especially mercy and truth , there is thus a twofold sin: one, namely, which assails mercy, and this is despair; another, which assails justice, and this is presumption of impunity. — But if it assails penitential grace itself in itself or according to itself, it is thus twofold: because penitential grace causes one to recoil from sins committed and to guard against sins to be committed. Against the first is obstinacy of mind; against the second is final impenitence, insofar as final impenitence means the resolution not to repent; for thus it is a species of sin against the Holy Spirit. But insofar as final impenitence denotes the continuation of sin unto the end, it is thus the consequence of all mortal sins that are not remitted in this life, and especially of all species of sin against the Holy Spirit.
And thus every sin takes its beginning from pride and has its consummation or end in final impenitence; and whoever arrives at this falls into hell, from which no one sinning mortally can be delivered unless the grace of Christ the Mediator intervenes. And therefore the whole company of those to be saved desired His incarnation — to which Mediator, our Lord, be all honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.