[17][9] John Wesley, the father of the Methodist tradition, discussed the unforgivable sin in a sermon titled A Call to Backsliders, in which he wrote that "this blasphemy is absolutely unpardonable; and that, consequently, for those who have been guilty of this, God 'will be no more entreated'.
The United Methodist Church, a Methodist connexion, thus teaches: that the penalty of eternal separation from God with no hope of return applies in scripture only in two cases—either, as in Hebrews 6 and 10, to persons who willfully, publicly and explicitly reject Jesus as Savior after having confessed him, or, as in the gospels, to those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit by declaring that the works of Jesus were the works of the Evil one.
[19]Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also nicknamed Mormons, have a similar understanding of eternal sin.
[22]The Church Fathers considered additional interpretations other than it being to attribute the Holy Spirit's works to Satan with Augustine of Hippo calling it one of the more difficult passages of Scripture.
[23] Thomas Aquinas summarized the Church Fathers' treatments and proposed three possible explanations: In the context of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, blasphemy against the Spirit is the sin of attributing to Satan what is the work of the Spirit of God, such as when the Pharisees earlier accused Jesus of driving out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.
"[24] According to the Catechism of the Council of Trent, referencing Ambrose's Concerning Repentance, the Church believes there is no offence, however serious, that cannot be taken away by Baptism, or absolved from in the Confessional—that no one, however wicked and guilty, may not confidently hope for forgiveness.
[32] In other words, one damns oneself by final impenitence (refusal to repent), as taught by John Paul II:[33] The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted... hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God... "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice.
Damnation consists precisely in definitive separation from God, freely chosen by the human person and confirmed with death that seals his choice for ever.
God's judgement ratifies this state.The Catechism says that Christ desires "the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin.
[48] A very similar, although not identical, parallel to Matthew 12:31–32 can be found in the Avot of Rabbi Natan: But someone who profanes the heavenly Name has no possibility of repenting and waiting for forgiveness.