92 SIN 



self through the miracles of Christ, is a sign of 

 malice and obstinacy and therefore unpardonable. 

 2. Definition. — Hence there is a class of 

 transgressions which may be embraced under 

 the collective term, "sin against the Holy Ghost." 

 They all involve a deliberate and obstinate oppo- 

 sition to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as 

 witnessed in the exercise of Christ's power over 

 nature and the demons, and continued in the mira- 

 cles of grace. He still works in the souls of the 

 faithful. Consequently, the sin against the Holy 

 Ghost consists in openly opposing divine Revela- 

 tion and the operation of the Holy Spirit both in 

 and outside of man, more particularly in deliber- 

 ately despising or rejecting supernatural grace. 

 And as the Holy Ghost operates in souls espe- 

 cially through the theological virtues of faith, 

 hope, and charity, the sin against the Holy Ghost 

 is opposed to these three virtues in particular. 

 With this idea in mind, St. Augustine and Peter 

 Lombard enumerated six distinct sins against 

 the Holy Ghost, which may, however, be reduced 

 to one, i. e. } deliberate apostasy or final impeni- 

 tence (impoenitentia finalis) . 3 The other five are 



8 Cfr. Is. XXII, 14. — St. Jerome, mia, quae non remittetur neque in 



In Is., VII, c. 22 (Migne, P. L., hoc saeculo neque in futuro. Contra 



XXIV, 272). — St. Augustine, Serm., Spirilum enim sanctum, quo bap- 



71 (at. 11 De Verbis Domini), c. 12, ticantur, quorum peccata omnia di- 



n. 20: "Contra hoc donum gratui- tnittuntur, et quem accepit Ecclesia, 



turn, contra istam Dei gratiam lo- ut cui dimiscrit peccata, dimittantur 



quitur cor impoenitens. Ipsa ergo ei, verbum valde malum et nimis 



impoenitentia est Spiritus blasphe- impium, sive cogitatione sive etiam 



