Unforgivable sin?

[Musik des Mondes]

I have heard a lot from people when there is a murder on the news that murder is an 'unforgivable sin'. The same with rape and suicide (come on, suicide, wtf?).

My question is: Do you believe that there is a sin that is unforgivable? Or is any sin (according to certain religions), no matter how terrible, able to be forgiven?

Also, I'd like to ask this of people who think murder can be forgiven, but not suicide. I personally believe that suicide can come from multiple factors including depression, or another mental disorder.

I think that some things are either right or wrong, and some things are circumstancial. Does this apply to sins?  

[King Robert Silvermyst]

Suicide would be my guess. After all, you're murdering yourself, and murder in most all religions is wrong/sinful. Since you're removing yourself from this world, you cannot do penance for your sin because you've already ended your life. Thus there is nothing you can do to be forgiven by the Divine for that said act.  

[Musik des Mondes]

King Robert Silvermyst

Suicide would be my guess. After all, you're murdering yourself, and murder in most all religions is wrong/sinful. Since you're removing yourself from this world, you cannot do penance for your sin because you've already ended your life. Thus there is nothing you can do to be forgiven by the Divine for that said act.

That makes sense. You can't be forgiven because you forcibly killed yourself before asking forgiveness. Okay, I get it. BUT: What about a 'final judgment'. Or purgatory. Or is suicide (or any sin for that matter) so bad that you cannot be cleansed of it after death?  

[magic_doglover]

hm. interesting question. i've actually come to think that the actual sins you commit don't matter. it's who you are that matters. if you are a truly good person at heart, but circumstances have conspired to make you do a lot of horrible things throughout your life, you would still go to heaven (or whatever) as long as you were still good deep down. the opposite would be true, too, of course. if you are a terrible person fundamentally, no matter how many good things you force yourself to do, and no matter how good you try to act, you would go to heck (or whatever). sounds kind of harsh, but at least that way some evil genius couldn't get a nice afterlife by exploiting some sort of spiritual loophole. don't get me wrong, though. if a bad person does a bunch of stuff and somehow manages to change into a good person, then they would have a nice afterlife like all the other good people.

so, to answer the question, yes, i think any sin can be "forgiven", simply because the sins never would have mattered in the first place. actually, yes or no would both work as an answer by my logic. if the sins don't matter, then the issue of whether or not they can be forgiven kind of becomes irrelevant/moot.  

[The All Powerful Being]

Traditionally, blasphemy is the unforgivable sin. But really, the concept of "forgiven sins" overrides the original concept of sin, as things that one should not do because there is no way to make up for them. But who needs rules when you've got religion!  

[Musik des Mondes]

@magic_doglover: I see your point. It matters only if the person as a whole is good or evil. Sounds logical. I like that.  

[Zat In The Hat]

Suicide is unforgivable maybe because when you die you cant be saved for your sin which is suicide because your already dead.

Unforgivable in my book? Raping a child. That is low, if you ever molest a child you are the lowest scum on this earth and deserve to die and burn hell while your getting raped with a pitchfork yourself. In the eyes of most people this is worst than murder even in prisons you are frowned down upon by death row inmates themselves and will kill you if they get their hands on you which is the reason why they separate the sex offenders from the other inmates.  

[MenDia]

i believe that if you are a religious person then you should believe all situations are different, and only one being can decide wether you are to be forgiven and that we mortals should not try to know if another will be forgiven, but instead worry about thy self..........  

[IEditYourWorld]

According to several churches, all sins are equal in the eyes of God because it is a wrong doing against God. Wither it is a murder of a simple white lie, it's a sin that deserves asking God for confession. We as people decipher the degree of severity based on how our society must keep itself afloat. If we treated all sins like how God treats them, we wouldn't have the society we have today.

As for purgatory, the idea came from the Catholic church needing money. The idea of buying one's soul out of limbo was a way for the church to get funding out of desperate sinners longing for spiritual comfort. Purgatory is never even mentioned in the bible. I'm not saying it's not there and I'm not saying it is, but I know that the idea came from a need for money.

Good questions though.
IEditYourWorld  

[Lord Redtail Rathan]

~~Redtail Rathan~~

"Do not fear Death. Death is always at our side. When we show fear, it jumps at us faster than light. But, if we do not show fear, it casts its eye upon us gently and then guides us into infinity..."

If you wish to go by the Christian version, that would be suicide and Blasphemy. Don't ask me exactly why Suicide, but tis one of em.

My opinion has three tied for one.

Rape. No brainer there.
Child Abuse. This is all-encompassing. All forms of child abuse.
Murder. It's one thing to take your own life, but taking another man's life is just wrong. Kind of ironic, seeing as I'm a Soldier, eh?

 

[B1g_crunch]

Murder by itself can be unforgivable depending on the context of the death, but I think pure, unjustified hatred enough to wish harm upon many innocent people is unforgivable.  

[Ellynne The Writer]

Before I give my opinion on this you must already believe several things.

Given: you are a Christian or a denomination thereof. You believe that Jesus died to save you from your sins and you also believe everything in the Bible is true. I do not wish to begin a debate on the merits of Christianity itself. That is for another thread altogether.

That being said. I believe that there is no such thing as an unforgivable sin. The very word unforgivable does not apply in the context of God's grace and forgiveness.

When Jesus died for our sins, he died for ALL of them. He died for past, present, and FUTURE sins. That's important.

As a Christian, I believe that to be saved is to accept the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ. Meaning that His death now covers my past, present, and FUTURE sins.

I highlight FUTURE because of this: One of the most common misconceptions is that suicide is an unforgivable sin because, like many have already stated, you cannot do penance for a sin you've committed after you are dead. This would be logical were it not for the fact that we as Christians are NOT required to 'do penance' for our sins. This is not to say that there are no consequences, only that our suffering only lasts while we are present on earth. Jesus died so that we could be forgiven for every sin we ever have or ever will commit, whether we ask for that forgiveness or not. He has already given it, we only need accept it.

The same goes for all other sins. Many many people have a very hard time wrapping their minds around this fact: that even the most heinous of criminals CAN and WILL be forgiven, if they only accept Jesus Christ just as any other person can. Murderers of children and serial rapists can still be forgiven if they are truly repentant for their sins. It is a hard fact but a true one all the same.  

[wolf_with_a_dragon]

Well, seeing as how this thread still has interest apparently, I'll through in my two cents. Also, I'm going off the idea that you are a Christian of some sort and follow the Christian bible.

I don't believe that there is an unforgivable sin. Romans 6:23 states that the payment for sin is death. This means that once you die, your sins have all been payed for. Since you have payed for your sins at death there is nothing to be forgiven because the payment has been given. Like a loan, there is no need for loan forgiveness once you finish paying it off.

However, I don't believe that this means you are automatically saved after death. Neither does one trying to be a nice person necessarily mean that you are going to gain the benefits of the promised resurrection.

To enjoy the benefits of the resurrection, one needs to follow God's word and commandments, which means more than simply giving money to people in need and volunteering your time to helping someone. If being a nice person was all that was needed, then the idea of going to church would be pointless since all you have to do is be nice in order to get whatever rewards you have been promised. Just look at the ancient israelites. If someone disobeyed one of God's commands, they were punished no matter how nice a person they might have been, for the simple fact that they disobeyed their God. Same goes for today, you can be a nice person all you want, but if you refuse to obey god and do what he tells us to do then you won't get the rewards promised to you, though you're sins will be paid off at the time of your death.

Again, just my two cents.  

[Falcon IV]

Decisions made come from a person's mentality at the time, if someone can prove they've lost that mentality and will not regain it then they should be forgiven.