HATH NEVER FORGIVENESS.
By Wm. Penniman
WE read (Mark 3:29) that “he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” I notice this text, not so much because it is relied on to prove eternal suffering, but because when rightly understood it corresponds with the position taken in regard to 2 Thess. 1:9 and other similar texts. Kriseos, the Greek for damnation, signifies, according to Liddell and Scott, separation or a separating. When is one so completely separated from God as when banished from His presence by a total destruction or cessation of existence? The American Bible Union renders this text: “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath no forgiveness forever, but is in danger of eternal sin.” In Campbell’s translation (Living Oracles) the words “is in danger of eternal damnation” are rendered, “but is liable to eternal punishment.” The Emphatic Diaglott reads: “But whosoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness to the age, but is exposed to aionion judgment.” In the marginal notes the writer says: “Aionion judgment is a Hebraism for punishment, the effect of sin.” This criticism accords well with the Bible Union translation, for the rendering, “is guilty of eternal sin,” implies, will incur the punishment of sin. It matters not how we take the words “aionion kriseos,” or eternal damnation, they mean one and the same thing, and that is (as kriseos is sometimes defined punishment), “an eternal separation from God, an everlasting destruction from His presence,” or an everlasting punishment, all of which terms have been defined to mean an eternal loss of life. The closing words of John 5:29 (where Christ speaks of the resurrection and punishment of the wicked), the Emphatic Diaglott renders “resurrection of judgment.” This perfectly accords with the Diaglott rendering of the closing words of Mark 3:29, showing that judgment or punishment is the true sense. May the Lord help us to study His Word carefully and prayerfully and to live according to its teachings, and thus gain “eternal life.”
WM. PENNIMAN.