The Unforgivable Sin

September 5, 2021

Being in Kansas today, it was not possible for me to be in church to hear the message. No matter, I told myself, it'll be posted by 6pm tonight. And then, shortly after the clock struck 6pm MDT, I read on Facebook, "Unfortunately there will be no live stream tonight..."

Oh my God! There's no way I'll hear today's message!

Were any of you taken back by that outburst? Profanity! Taking God's name in vain like that! Isn't that in the Ten Commandments? "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

Dennis Prager shares in his book on Exodus (or was it in his Exodus lectures, I'm not sure) that when he was a kid in yeshiva (Jewish Day School) he was puzzled that something like a little OMG somehow ranked up there with murder. How could that be? And when I read (heard) that comment I remembered thinking the same thing as a lad: "OMG" made it to the Big Ten?! Even a solid "GD it" didn't seem to stack up to the other Commanments, especially right after smacking your thumb with a hammer. And of all Ten Commandments, this would be the only one for which God would not forgive?!

Prager shares some explanations and understandings that make sense to me...

1. "God" is not God's name. The name being refered to in the Commandment is JHVH, Yahweh, Jehovah, etc. Actually, there are many names for God in the Torah, including and often Elohim (the universal God) and Adonai (Lord, the personal God).

2. The bigger reason this Commandment seems trite is because it generally is not translated correctly. The word is not "take," it's "carry." Do not carry God's name in vain. This commandment is forbidding anyone from carrying God's name or claiming God's name when doing something God would oppose. The act in question is itself evil or sinful, but claiming God's approval in the process is a double-wammy that also denigrates God's reputation. Terrorists and clergy molesting young boys come to mind. Discrediting ethical monotheism, our basis for universal morality, is a far greater evil than any single sin.

Prager further notes that the word translated as "hold guiltless" literally means "cleanse." The phrase could read, therefor, "if you dirty God's name, God will not cleanse yours."

It should also be clear by now that this Commandment has nothing to do with cursing ala using all the various four-letter words. Doing so, of course, is frowned upon elsewhere in the Bible, but not here in the Ten Commandments.

It's also interesting to note that calling upon God to damn something, to adversely judge someone or some action, is not sinful and not unbiblical. As C. Michael Patton suggests (here), saying "GD something" is as Biblical as saying "God bless something."

This understanding is also consistent with the anti-pagan messages of the Torah. In those days, invoking a god's name to make a point was commonplace. The God of the Torah does not want you doing that unless you are making a point God actually wants made. Like anyone, God does not want to be misquoted.

This also forbids giving false prophecy, visions, oaths, etc. in God's name.

The greatest harm done to the process of bringing people to God is done by so-called religious people doing bad things. That is carrying God's name in vain.

Bottomline... Do not damage God's reputation.