I have two questions. My first question is if I spoke against the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin.
I started another thread about this before and I am asking again for some reassurance. I am diagnosed with schizophrenia. While psychotic I said something offensive about the Holy Spirit. When I said it I wasn't intentionally trying to do this. It wasn't out of maliciousness. I just honestly thought something and said it and immediately afterwards regretted saying it out loud and if I shared what I said you would find it highly offensive. I wasn't a Christian at the time and was in an episode where I believed things that were totally unrelated with what is in the Bible. In my delusion there was something I identified as the Holy Spirit and when I had the sensation of it approaching me I said what I said. I wasn't experiencing my episode as a Christian or someone who had knowledge of the Holy Spirit. It's hard to explain but I was under the impression that the Holy Spirit was something other than what it was.
It's my understanding that this wouldn't be considered speaking against the Holy Spirit as I wasn't trying to oppose Him with an understanding of what I was doing. I was just sick and thought things that weren't true and said something I was wrong to say while under an extremely wrong impression due to what I was thinking and my illness. What the Pharisees did was pretty much with full knowledge and intent and a refusal to change which is why it was unpardonable right? Would what I did be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I don't fully understand.
Also in my teens before I was a Christian or was even aware of what it meant to be Christian I'm pretty sure I told my sister that the Holy Spirit didn't exist. I honestly just thought of Him similar to how I would feel if someone talked about a ghost. I just didn't understand Christianity or know anything about the Holy Spirit. I was pretty much an atheist. I was very prideful, and I just thought I was right about what I believed and that He didn't exist. I'm extremely sorry for this. Did I speak against the Holy Spirit or blaspheme Him? Is what I did different than what the Pharisees did? I think it's accurate to say I didn't have knowledge about what I was saying.
My other question is whether it's a sin to play poker for money and try to earn a living at it. It's a game I've learned very well and I'm very good at it. I've probably been playing it for 8 years. I have the potential to make a very good living at it. It's obviously not ethical to play against people who are jeopardising money they shouldn't be and people who are addicted and losing money they can't afford. I would never knowingly play against a person like this and encourage their problem. If the opportunity was in front of me it wouldn't matter how much money I could make and I would try my best to talk to the person and explain to them why they should stop playing. Also there are some things I've read that said it's a sin because you are "trying to get rich quick". This isn't really true. It would be a job for me like anything else and I have put a lot of work into it and still do. You put hours in just like a regular job and there is stress involved. Effort is definitely required. The thing I'm struggling with is that it's entirely possible to play someone who shouldn't be playing without knowing it.
Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it very much.
I started another thread about this before and I am asking again for some reassurance. I am diagnosed with schizophrenia. While psychotic I said something offensive about the Holy Spirit. When I said it I wasn't intentionally trying to do this. It wasn't out of maliciousness. I just honestly thought something and said it and immediately afterwards regretted saying it out loud and if I shared what I said you would find it highly offensive. I wasn't a Christian at the time and was in an episode where I believed things that were totally unrelated with what is in the Bible. In my delusion there was something I identified as the Holy Spirit and when I had the sensation of it approaching me I said what I said. I wasn't experiencing my episode as a Christian or someone who had knowledge of the Holy Spirit. It's hard to explain but I was under the impression that the Holy Spirit was something other than what it was.
It's my understanding that this wouldn't be considered speaking against the Holy Spirit as I wasn't trying to oppose Him with an understanding of what I was doing. I was just sick and thought things that weren't true and said something I was wrong to say while under an extremely wrong impression due to what I was thinking and my illness. What the Pharisees did was pretty much with full knowledge and intent and a refusal to change which is why it was unpardonable right? Would what I did be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I don't fully understand.
Also in my teens before I was a Christian or was even aware of what it meant to be Christian I'm pretty sure I told my sister that the Holy Spirit didn't exist. I honestly just thought of Him similar to how I would feel if someone talked about a ghost. I just didn't understand Christianity or know anything about the Holy Spirit. I was pretty much an atheist. I was very prideful, and I just thought I was right about what I believed and that He didn't exist. I'm extremely sorry for this. Did I speak against the Holy Spirit or blaspheme Him? Is what I did different than what the Pharisees did? I think it's accurate to say I didn't have knowledge about what I was saying.
My other question is whether it's a sin to play poker for money and try to earn a living at it. It's a game I've learned very well and I'm very good at it. I've probably been playing it for 8 years. I have the potential to make a very good living at it. It's obviously not ethical to play against people who are jeopardising money they shouldn't be and people who are addicted and losing money they can't afford. I would never knowingly play against a person like this and encourage their problem. If the opportunity was in front of me it wouldn't matter how much money I could make and I would try my best to talk to the person and explain to them why they should stop playing. Also there are some things I've read that said it's a sin because you are "trying to get rich quick". This isn't really true. It would be a job for me like anything else and I have put a lot of work into it and still do. You put hours in just like a regular job and there is stress involved. Effort is definitely required. The thing I'm struggling with is that it's entirely possible to play someone who shouldn't be playing without knowing it.
Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it very much.