"Augustine says . . . (Enchiridion lxxxiii) that 'he who dies in a state of obstinacy is guilty of the sin against the Holy Ghost,' ...

what's the unforgivable sin?

Well surely that's because you're dead. very hard to go to confession as a corpse.
but I meant what did OP consider an unforgivable sin, seeing as he's presumably alive

My priest says that when people say that Christ is a sorcerer or that He works miracles through the devil, that is the sin  of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Typically, Jєωs sin in this manner as they are brought up to believe that Christ was a sorcerer.


My priest has had many years experience as a confessor. When people say that Christ is a sorcerer or that He works miracles through the devil, this is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. They cannot repent of this sin, thus they cannot be forgiven in this life or in the next. When a person confesses this sin, often in jest, thinking that it is funny, they do not show any signs of repentance, thus they cannot be granted absolution. My priest has spoken often about this in his sermons warning people to avoid this deadly sin and to avoid those who joke about Christ or take His Holy Name in vain.


When I used to contribute to a Christian forum, which had a Catholic section, a man started a thread saying that he was quite certain that he had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and he admitted to it. He asked for prayers as he was not able to repent, nor was he able to enter a church to go to confession. It was as if a strong invisible man prevented him from entering any church for the purpose of going to confession. Furthermore, he had nightly nightmares in which the devil was laughing at him and telling him that he was going to hell for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

[31] Therefore I say to you: Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. [32] And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. [33] Either make the tree good and its fruit good: or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the tree is known. [34] O generation of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas you are evil? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. [35] A good man out of a good treasure bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of an evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

[31] "The blasphemy of the Spirit": The sin here spoken of is that blasphemy, by which the Pharisees attributed the miracles of Christ, wrought by the Spirit of God, to Beelzebub the prince of devils. Now this kind of sin is usually accompanied with so much obstinacy, and such wilful opposing the Spirit of God, and the known truth, that men who are guilty of it, are seldom or never converted: and therefore are never forgiven, because they will not repent. Otherwise there is no sin, which God cannot or will not forgive to such as sincerely repent, and have recourse to the keys of the church.

[32] "Nor in the world to come": From these words St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, lib. 21, c. 13) and St. Gregory (Dialog., 4, c. 39) gather, that some sins may be remitted in the world to come; and, consequently, that there is a purgatory or a middle place.