BLASPHEMY (Gk. blasphemia, "a speech or
word of evil omen "): Properly any species of
calumny and detraction, but technically limited
to evil-speaking of God or things held sacred. The
conception that such an act is a crime may be traced
back to Judaism, whose code imposed death by
stoning as a punishment (Lev. xxiv, 15-16; Matt.
xxvi, 65; John x, 33). The later Roman law also
attached the death penalty (Nov. Justin., LXXVII,
i, 1-2). In the earlier church law, blasphemy is not
mentioned as a punishable offense. Pope Gregory
IX (1227-41) prescribed penance for public blasphemy against God, the saints, or the Virgin;
the guilty person must stand for seven Sundays
at the church porch during the mass, on the last
of the seven without cloak or shoes; he must fast
the Fridays preceding on bread and water, and give
alms according to his means. The civil authorities
were also admonished to impose a fine. By the
end of the century the offense came to be more
definitely defined as any depreciatory or opprobrious expression concerning God, Christ, or the
Holy Spirit, such as the denial of a divine attribute,
or the ascription of something unseemly (as falsehood or revenge), or wishing ill to or in any way
dishonoring God, the saints, or the Virgin. Leo
X (1513-21) imposed fines according to the ability
of the offender and bodily punishments which
included flogging, boring the tongue, and condemnation to the galleys in extreme cases. Later a
tendency to substitute admonition and exhortation
for severe penalties becomes apparent. By the
common law of England, and in many of the United
States by statute law, blasphemy is an indictable
offense; prosecutions, however, have become infrequent.
(P. HINSCHIUS†.)
The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which
is pronounced unpardonable (Matt. xii, 31; Mark
iii, 29; Luke xii, 10) is best understood to be wilful
and persistent resistance to the influences and
warnings of God, which renders the subject in
capable of repentance and pardon. See HOLY
SPIRIT, II.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. D. Michaelis, Mosäisches Recht, part v,
§ 251, Frankfort, 1770-75, Eng. transl., London, 1810;
P. Hinschius, Das Kirchenrecht in Deutschland, iv, p. 793,
n. 3, v, 184, 318-319, 325, 699, vi, 188, Berlin, 1869-98;
Blackstone, Commentaries, IV, 4, iv; Sir J. F. Stephen,
History of the Criminal Law of England, ii, 469-476, London, 1883; Bishop, Commentaries, X, x; DB, i, 305-306; EB, i, 589-590.
