ARTICLE II: ON BLASPHEMY

361. Definition. - Blasphemy is speech injurious to God. Speech, however, can be done not only by explicit word, but in some sense also by mind and by deed. Yet if there is question of reservation or of other penalties inflicted on blasphemy, only oral blasphemy is properly understood.

Division. Blasphemy is distinguished first:

1° Direct, or indirect, according as dishonor of God is either directly and formally intended by the blasphemer, or, although not intended, yet in his sayings or gestures some contumely against God is contained. Direct blasphemy, since ordinarily it has hatred of God joined with it, differs in species from indirect blasphemy, which is uttered from anger against men or creatures.¹

2° Immediate, or mediate, according as it affects God Himself immediately, or only mediately, namely by dishonoring the Saints or sacred things in words. They do not differ in species.

3° Heretical, imprecatory, and merely reproachful, according as it contains heresy, or imprecation, or mere contumely; these differ in species, since the heretical is also opposed to faith, and the imprecatory also to charity.

Principles. - I. Any formal and deliberate blasphemy, whether direct or indirect, whether immediate or mediate, is a mortal sin from its whole genus. The reason is that any contumely against God is a grave injury inflicted on the divine Majesty. - Yet it can become venial from imperfection of the act, namely from defect of advertence or of perfect consent.

II. For perfect blasphemy, by reason of the act, an express and explicit intention of dishonoring God is not necessary, but an implicit one suffices, namely when someone with advertence utters those things which contain true contumely against God, even from jest or from anger against creatures. The reason is that from these there follows grave dishonor of God, although indirect; for grave irreverence is committed against God when words contumelious to Him are employed for jest, or for expressing anger. - Reuter.² Except, unless the jest takes away every manner of irreverence toward God.

III. Words are to be held blasphemous of themselves which, from common apprehension, which has already attributed a determined sense to the words,³ or from a derisive or angry manner of speaking, or other circumstances, contain dishonor of God.

362. You will resolve. - 1° It is blasphemy to say: May the death, or blood of God destroy you; may the Sacraments destroy you. Likewise to spit toward heaven, to gnash the teeth against it, to say that one wishes to do something against God's will, and similar things.

2° It is blasphemy to say: God has wholly forgotten me. Why did God create me? - Yet except if these things are uttered in a human manner of speaking, from levity, or to show the gravity of pain or weariness, as is often wont to happen. But they are never to be excused from grave sin who advertently and seriously say: God is unjust. - God unjustly burdens me with tribulations. - He unjustly permits the wicked to be happy in the world. - Voit.

3° Ordinarily they are to be judged to have sinned gravely who, carried away by anger or some passion, uttered words of blasphemy; nor is their excuse to be admitted that they did not attend to the signification of the words, because ordinarily there was not lacking some advertence, at least confused, concerning the malice of blasphemy. The same is to be resolved concerning the habituated, excepting nevertheless those who, from an inveterate custom of blaspheming already retracted, break out indeliberately into words of this sort.²

4° He does not sin gravely who pronounces words indeed blasphemous in themselves, but halved or corrupted, so that he does not attend to the true sense; for these no longer have the nature of blasphemy. - St. Alphonsus,³ Bouvier.⁴

363. Questions. - Quaer. 1° Is it blasphemy to curse creatures?

Resp. Distinguish: it is blasphemy to curse creatures with relation to God, for example rain, winds, as commanded by God, or with the word God added; likewise to curse a creature which of itself has a special relation to God, for example our soul, the Catholic Faith, heaven, and the like. But otherwise, as almost happens, if the indignation is borne against creatures without relation to God. - Thus commonly.⁵ Hence:

Quaer. 2° Are the imprecations in English to be judged blasphemous: 1° "GOD DAMN ME or YOU"; 2° "GOD DAMN MY or YOUR SOUL"; 3° "GOD DAMN MY or YOUR SOUL TO HELL"?

The first formula seems scarcely, or hardly at all, able to be proved blasphemous; for the pronoun me or you, as is plain of itself, denotes the soul neither etymologically nor from common apprehension, at least among our people. Kenrick⁶ excuses it in practice from mortal sin, as for the most part containing nothing other than a merely material imprecation.

The second, considering the principles applied by St. Alphonsus to cursing the dead, seems blasphemous, and therefore of itself mortal, although in the genus of cursing or material imprecation it would be. For the Holy Doctor denies that cursing the dead is blasphemous also for this reason, that it is not referred to the soul; but in the second and third formula the soul is named in express words.

Quaer. 3° Is it blasphemy to curse the whole world?

Resp. Affirmatively, because just as to swear by creatures in which the divine attributes shine forth more is a true oath, so to curse those same things is true blasphemy, because in them God is indirectly contemned.²

364. • Quaer. 4° Is it blasphemy to curse the dead?

Resp. Negatively, unless the mind is specifically borne toward the souls of purgatory, because the dead in general do not have a special relation with God.²