Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: Speaking against our common Holy Wind

Many people still wonder about whether they've infringed upon something called "the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit."  A nebulous, but serious sounding act.  Translation is part of the problem. Here's how the new translation of Matthew, Jesus and the Presence of Mystery (JPM) has it:

Therefore I tell you, every failure and harmful word can go away from  us,
      but continual harmful words against our very Wind never really leave us.
Whoever speaks a harmful word against one child of humanity,
      it can go away from them.
but whoever speaks against our common Holy Wind, it never really leaves them,
      not in this stage of our unconditional being, nor in the next.
                                                                                                     Matthew Chapter 12

This translation from the 12th chapter of Matthew is strikingly different than many conventional renderings.  Yet, the language remains literal, though alternative in the way it conveys the original wording.  Rather than simply transliterate the Greek word BLASPHEMEO as blasphemy, JPM actually translates.  That is, we "speak against" or, if present tense, "continual harmful words."  Similarly, PNEUMA can be "spirit", but is more literally "wind."  And the etymology of "age" lies in the sense in which it is "unconditional being."  Though the phrase "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" is not clear or helpful in today's cultural context, it is clear that "speaking against our common Holy Wind" still has important consequences in our lives.

Jesus and the Presence of Mystery

In the next few days  we'll announce the publication of a new translation of the Book of Matthew.  Jesus and the Presence of Mystery is based on the earlier translations of the Etymological New Testament (an ultra-literal, stilted English translation) and on The Immanence Bible.

There is a clear need for essentially literal translation of scripture that is also less anthropomorphic than our traditional renderings.  In Jesus and the Presence of Mystery (JPM), the Greek word THEOS is translated by the English word Mystery rather than by God.  The etymology of our English word God is quite distinct from that of its Greek counterpart, THEOS.  The goal is to set forth Jesus' life and teachings with fresh wording that uses much less of the traditional religious language.  Thus we hear Jesus teach, in the Sermon on the Mount, about "the realm of upward vision" rather than "the kingdom of heaven."  This new version often employs very literal translation, e.g. "upward vision" for OURANOS, to allow the reader to perhaps listen more deeply to the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.

2 Samuel 22:6 The Present Reality of Hell

"The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;"

 

As the psalmist considered a very rough time in his life, he remembered how it felt when attacked by those who hated him.  It felt like "waves of death" were breaking over him (in verse 5) and then, in this verse, he says that the "sorrows of hell" surrounded him completely.  And, the "snares of death" were preceding him.  A very rough time indeed.

 

In fact, almost all of the references in the Authorized KJV to "hell" are describing our current struggles in life.  When some smug types began preaching their hate, it can become hellish rather quickly.  And the experience feels all encompassing: everything about life seems pathetic and miserable when others demean us.  If God is love, then the opposite impulse, destructive hatred, is the embodiment of hell. Thankfully, the psalmist also experiences deliverance from the sorrows of hell as this "psalm" within 2 Samuel continues.   

Deuteronomy 32:22

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Even the most significant and immovable things in my life, the mountains of my existence, seem unstable at their very foundation. The foundational ideas and values that permeate society and drive our culture, these massive mountains are burning.  A culture begins to crumble when that which underlies it begins to disintegrate.  And that is precisely the problem: once unleashed within a society, hell begins to "consume the earth."  As the preaching of hatred of the other increases, the very foundations of our larger life are set on fire by hell.

And if the roots of the mountains can burn, then the earth itself can be consumed by hell.  May we learn both the joy of vigorous, healthy argumentation AND the joy of civilized respect for honest disagreement.  For only through self-respect that grows to deep respect for others, can the fires of hell begin to be assuaged within a society.