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Question

 

Gramps,

I have some questions. May I ask what is blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? Is this blasphemy against the Holy Ghost if a man slay me with innocent blood? I am so confused with this term of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. I hope you contact me as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Raphael

 

Answer

 

Raphael,

Lucifer, which means “the shinning one” or “light bringer”, was the son of the morning.  He knew God’s plan of salvation, but he rebelled against God and was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son.  He was then called Satan, the Devil or Perdition.  Those that followed him also rebelled against God and became sons of perdition.  Cain was taught the Gospel, was baptized and communed with the Lord.  He also rebelled against God and killed his brother Abel.  For this he was cursed and became a son of perdition.

Those who become sons of perdition and deny the Holy Ghost are the only ones who will not be forgiven.  In D&C 76:34-35, the Lord says:

“34 Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—

 

35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.”

Joseph Smith defined what a person has to do in order to become a son of perdition.  He stated:

“What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin?  He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against Him.  After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost there is no repentance for him.  He has to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it;  he has to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy.”  He further stated:  ‘For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.  Those who sin against the light and knowledge of the Holy Ghost may be said to crucify more than the body of our Lord, they crucify the Spirit.”

To paraphrase, he said that it would be equal to denying that the sun exists while at that very moment, the full warmth of its rays are shining upon his face.

If we turn this to the religious setting, it means once we reach a point of righteousness that allows us to see the Father (such as Joseph Smith did in the First Vision), and then afterwards deny that he exists, there is no forgiveness available for that sin.

Jesus even tells us we can see him in this life in John 14:15-23. Starting with verse 15 the discussion carries through to verse 23. He mentions another comforter in verse 16, then in verse 18 he says I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Then finally in verse 23

Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

In discussing this very verse, modern revelation tells us that this will be a literal appearance as found in Doctrine & Covenants 130:3:

John 14:23—The appearing of the father and the son, in that verse, is a personal appearance: and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion and is false.

The important point to remember is that precious few people have reached such a state of righteousness throughout human history. Thus, there aren’t many people alive today that are in danger of committing this sin.

Regarding the shedding of innocent blood, Doctrine and Covenants 132:27 also explains it as you mentioned;

The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant….

So in this I see two parts, first the murder of an innocent victim, along with a wholesale abandonment of Christ to the point that one assents to the death of the Savior, or in other words, wishes the Savior were truly dead.

This also goes in hand with what Joseph Smith said regarding denying God after having seen him in person.

 

Gramps

 

 

 

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