Are some sins unforgivable?

[Soph0571]

Within a theological and biblical context, God can and will forgive all sins, other than blasphemy. Within a religious context we are all in the same boat when it comes to sin and all sins can be forgiven, however this is very different when we look at it in human terms. One might ask, does a belief in God’s forgiveness take power and control for forgiveness away from the victim?

Of course, it seems inevitable that any examination of sin and forgiveness gets wrapped up in a religious context. One might suggest that when religion came along man looked left, looked right and decided what seemed right and what seemed wrong and codified these behaviours and labelled them either sins or moral behaviour. If we take sin and remove it from a religious framework, we can all recognise that there can be some transgressions on societies, social groups or individuals that are hugely problematic in terms of forgiveness, as the perpetrator of the transgression does not show any insight or understanding of what happened. If one does now own their transgressions can you forgive them? After all, if they do not wish to accept your forgiveness, as they do not feel they have done anything wrong, what happens to the forgiveness?

If we take God out of the forgiveness equation then the only person necessary to do the forgiving is the victim of the sinful behaviour. Is there any sin that is too big to forgive? Probably not. We cannot tell people NOT to forgive. On the other side of the coin, of course, is that there is no obligation to forgive either, that is the victims decision.

To forgive, or not to forgive, that is the question.