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blasphemous |
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1. |
grossly
irreverent toward what is held to be sacred; "blasphemous
rites of a witches' Sabbath";
"profane utterances against the Church"; "it is sacrilegious
to enter with shoes on" |
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2. |
characterized by
profanity or cursing; "foul-mouthed and blasphemous"; "blue
language"; "profane words" |
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WordNet®
3.0, © 2006 by |
blasphemous [ˈblasfəməs] adjective
(of
speech or writing about God, religion etc) irreverent and without respect
See More of http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blasphemous
The
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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BLASPHEMY
blas'-fe-mi (blasphemia):
In classical
Greek meant primarily "defamation" or "evil-speaking" in general;
"a word of evil omen," hence, "impious, and irreverent speech
against God."
the town clerk of
(i) uttering impious words (Revelation
13:1,5,6; 16:9,11,21;
17:3); (ii)
unworthy conduct of Jews (Romans 2:24) and
Christians (1 Timothy
6:1; Titus
2:5, and perhaps 1 Timothy 1:20);
(iii) of Jesus Christ, alleged to be usurping the authority of God (Matthew 9:3 = Mark 2:7 = Luke 5:21),
claiming to be the Messiah, the son of God (Matthew 26:65 =
Mark 14:64),
or making Himself God (John 10:33,36).
Saul
strove to make the Christians he persecuted blaspheme their Lord (Acts 26:11). So
was he himself a blasphemer (1 Timothy 1:13;
compare James 2:7).
3.
The Unpardonable Sin:
"Every
sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the
Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the
Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the
Holy of Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in
that which is to come" (Matthew 12:31,32
= Mark 3:28,29;
Luke 12:10).
As in the Old Testament "to sin with a high hand" and to blaspheme
the name of God incurred the death penalty, so the blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit remains the one unpardonable sin. These passages at least imply beyond
cavil the personality of the Holy Spirit, for sin and blasphemy can only be
committed against persons. In Mt and Mr a
particular case of this blasphemy is the allegation of the Pharisees that
Jesus Christ casts out devils by Beelzebub. The general idea is that to
attribute to an evil source acts which are clearly those of the Holy Spirit,
to call good evil, is blasphemy against the Spirit, and sin that will not be
pardoned. "A distinction is made between Christ's other acts and those
which manifestly reveal the Holy Spirit in Him, and between slander directed
against Him personally as He appears in His ordinary acts, and that which is
aimed at those acts in which the Spirit is manifest" (Gould, Mark at the
place). Luke does not refer to any particular instance, and seems to connect
it with the denial of Christ, although he, too, gives the saying that
"who shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be
forgiven." But which of Christ's acts are not acts the Holy Spirit, and
how therefore is a word spoken against Him not also blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit? John identifies the Holy Spirit with the exalted Christ (John
14:16-18,26,28). The solution generally offered
of this most difficult problem is concisely put by Plummer (Luke ad loc.): "Constant
and consummate opposition to the influence of the Holy Spirit, because of a
deliberate preference of darkness to light, render repentance and therefore
forgiveness morally impossible." A similar idea is taught in Hebrews 6:4-6,
and 1 John
5:16: "A sin unto death." But the natural meaning of Christ's
words implies an inability or unwillingness to forgive on the Divine side
rather than inability to repent in man. Anyhow the abandonment of man to
eternal condemnation involves the inability and defeat of God. The only
alternative seems to be to call the kenotic theory into service, and to put
this idea among the human limitations which Christ assumed when He became
flesh. It is less difficult to ascribe a limit to Jesus Christ's knowledge
than to God's saving grace (Mark 13:32;
compare John
16:12,13). It is also noteworthy that in other
respects, at least, Christ acquiesced in the view of the Holy Spirit which He
found among His contemporaries. See
HOLY
SPIRIT. |
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BLASPHEMY
This
is the anglicized form of the Greek word bla·sphe·mi´a.
The Greek term basically means injurious, defamatory, or abusive speech and was
used with reference to such speech whether directed against God or against
humans. (Compare Re 16:11; Mt 27:39.) The English word “blasphemy,” however, is
usually restricted to irreverent or abusive speech against God and sacred
things. It is thus the antithesis of words of worship directed to the Divine
Being.—See ABUSIVE SPEECH.
In
view of the name Di·a´bo·los (meaning “Devil”
or “Slanderer”) given to him, it is evident that the first one guilty of
blasphemy was God’s original adversary. Though his speech to Eve in
The
“calling on the name of Jehovah” that started in the time of Enosh during the pre-Flood period must not have been of an
upright and proper nature, for Abel long before that had undoubtedly been
directing himself to God by the divine name. (Ge
4:26; Heb 11:4) If, as some scholars hold, this calling on God’s name was in
the sense of misusing it and improperly applying Jehovah’s name to humans or to
idolatrous objects, then this would constitute a blasphemous act.—See ENOSH,
ENOS.
Faithful
Job was concerned lest his children had at some time “cursed God in their
heart” by sinful thoughts; and, when made to undergo great adversity, Job
himself “did not sin or ascribe anything improper to God” in spite of the
Adversary’s blasphemous attempts to cause him to ‘curse God to his very face.’
(Job 1:5, 11, 20-22; 2:5-10) Job’s three companions, either wittingly or
unwittingly, misrepresented God and ‘pronounced God wicked,’ while insinuating
that Job had spoken and acted blasphemously.—Job 15:6, 25; 32:3;
42:7, 8.
Blasphemy Under
the Law Covenant. The first three commandments of the “Ten
Words,” or Ten Commandments, set forth Jehovah God’s unique position as
Universal Sovereign and his exclusive right to worship, warning also: “You must
not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will
not leave the one unpunished who takes up his name in a worthless way.” (Ex
34:28; 20:1-7) Calling down evil upon God and cursing a chieftain were
condemned. (Ex
Soon
afterward the great majority of Israelites became guilty of disrespectful
murmuring against Jehovah. As a result, they were sentenced to wander 40 years
in the wilderness, and those from 20 years old upward were sentenced to die
there. (Nu 14:1-4, 11, 23, 29; De 1:27, 28, 34-39) Their blasphemous
attitude brought them to the point of talking of stoning God’s faithful
servants. (Nu 14:10) While the abusive speech of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram was
actually directed against God’s representatives, Moses and Aaron, yet, prior to
God’s execution of these men and those of their households before their tents,
Moses told those observing: “You will then know for certain that these men have
treated Jehovah disrespectfully,” by disdaining his
theocratic appointments.—Nu 16:1-3, 30-35.
Even
where there were no spoken expressions against God, one’s actions against the
laws of God’s covenant evidently could amount to “speaking abusively of
Jehovah” or a blaspheming of him. Thus, while merciful consideration was given
to the unintentional violator of God’s law, the individual committing
deliberate, willful offenses, whether native Israelite or alien resident, was
to be put to death as having spoken abusively of Jehovah and as having despised
his word and commandment.—Nu 15:27-31; compare De 31:20; Ne
9:18, 26.
Other
acts of blasphemy recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures were those of priest Eli’s
sons (1Sa
In
time rabbinic teaching fostered the erroneous view that Leviticus 24:10-23
prohibited as blasphemous the very pronunciation of the name Jehovah. Talmudic
tradition also prescribed that when the religious judges heard testimony
setting forth blasphemous words supposedly used by the accused, they were to
rend their garments, following the example at 2 Kings 18:37; 19:1-4.—The
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1976, Vol. III, p. 237; compare Mt 26:65.
“Blasphemy” in the Greek Scriptures. The apostle Paul showed the basic
meaning of bla·sphe·mi´a by using the related
Greek verb bla·sphe·me´o at Romans
Blasphemy
includes the act of claiming the attributes or prerogatives of God, or
ascribing these to another person or thing. (Compare Ac 12:21, 22.) The
Jewish religious leaders accused Christ Jesus of blasphemy because he said that
the sins of certain persons were forgiven (Mt 9:2, 3; Mr
2:5-7; Lu
Since
Jesus was God’s Son and direct representative, the things spoken against him
may also properly be defined as blasphemy. (Lu 22:65) So, too, since the holy spirit or active force emanates from God and is
intimately connected with God’s person, Jesus could speak of “blasphemy against
the spirit.” This is stated to be the unforgivable sin. (Mt 12:31;
Like Jesus,
Stephen was martyred on a charge of blasphemy. (Ac 6:11-13;
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