What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

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“Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to attribute His operations to the opposite spirit, as says Basil the Great. How does one do this? Whenever one sees miracles brought about by the Holy Spirit or any of the other divine gifts in any of his brethren – that is compunction or tears, or humility, or divine knowledge, or a word of wisdom from on high, or anything else that is bestowed by the Holy Spirit on those who love God – and says that this comes from the deceit of the devil. But he also blasphemes against the Holy Spirit who works in them, who says that those who as sons of God are led by the divine Spirit, and perform the commandments of their God and Father, are being deceived by demons. This is what the Jews of old said against the Son of God.

“Like unbelievers and those completely uninitiated into the divine mysteries when they hear anything about divine illumination, or of the enlightenment of soul and mind, or of contemplation and freedom from passion, or of humility and tears that are poured out by the working and grace of the Holy Spirit, the eyes of their hearts are darkened rather than enlightened . . . They audaciously aver that these things come from the deceit of demons . . . To deny that at this present time there are some who love God and that they have been granted the Holy Spirit . . . that they have become gods by knowledge . . . and contemplation, that wholly subverts the Incarnation of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ! It denies the renewal of the image that had been corrupted and put to death, and its return to incorruption and immortality” (Saint Symeon the New Theologian, The Discourses).

What is a Christian’s divine inheritance? Response to a question

Photo: Alexei Boitsov

The question has been asked, “What is a Christian’s divine inheritance?” The answer in a nutshell is, “To live forever in the bosom of the Most Holy Trinity.” That is what Christ gave us with His Passion, death, and Resurrection. Happiness, peace, joy, and love unparalleled for eternity. Something utterly inconceivable to many human persons and that was intended for us from the beginning.

Did Christ inherit divinity? Response to a question

Christ3The question has been asked, “Did Christ inherit the divinity of God?” The answer is a definitive “no.” Christ did not inherit divinity. He is, was, and will always be divine by origin, by nature, like God the Father Himself and this from before creation and the beginning of time (viz. Jn 1:1).

Christ is both God and Man. He did not become God by inheritance, by progressive deification, by grace as was intended by the Heavenly Father for humankind  – created beings. He is God because He has always been God, begotten not created: in the beginning there was the Holy Trinity – God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – and silence. No one else; nothing else. To claim, therefore, that Jesus Christ somehow ‘inherited’ His divinity is to proclaim an outright heresy.

NEW RELEASE – A Voice Calling God’s People

AVoiceBookCoverThe Apostolate of the Divine Heart announces the publication of its latest book titled A Voice Calling God’s PeopleThe book is available globally in Kindle electronic edition from Amazon.

A Voice Calling God’s People is a call from the barren wilderness, a cry from the heart, to God’s own people, to return to Him who loved them, who was their first love and who is infinite love. This book was written during the vigil of Pentecost.

Purification – The ascent

Purification in the desert is an ascent, for all our untoward attachments are removed so the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – can come and live in us. If we are not thoroughly purified this way, how can we open ourselves up sufficiently for Them to come and live in us with power and might? Perfect light and life cannot dwell where darkness resides. This is why we are presently being Continue reading “Purification – The ascent”

To God our Father – 6 – Thought for the day

“Since it is from You, God our Father, that redemption comes to us, Your adopted children, look with favor on the family You love, give true freedom to us and to all who believe in Christ, and bring us all alike to our eternal heritage” (Prayer from the Office of Readings, 10th Sept.).

Living in God

“The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have receive the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that He has given us. Therefore we Continue reading “Living in God”

The distribution of graces by the Divine Family

When graces are distributed to a soul, it is God the Father who grants such graces and the rest of the Divine Family agree or intercede. Thus, graces reach us in this manner: our Father gives the grace required or requested to Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, since Christ is the administrator. Then because both Christ and the rest of the Trinity have Continue reading “The distribution of graces by the Divine Family”