An age long question is "What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit"? and "Can we be forgiven of it"?

The source of these questions comes from the story in the New Testament when the Pharisees came to Jesus and claimed that the works he was doing were of "Beelzebub the prince of the devils." This is written about a couple of times in the NT but we will draw from Matthew 12:22 - 32.

First question: What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? My question to you is, What was Jesus doing when the Pharisees came along to provoke this dialogue where He mentions blasphemy?

verse 22: Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

and immediately after that...

verse 24: But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Jesus was casting out devils and healing the blind and dumb then along came the Pharisees and said he cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus' rebuttal was, how can satan cast out satan and by the way...

Verses 31 and 32: Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Its interesting to note that Jesus was the one to mention the word 'blasphemy'. Which means that what the Pharisees just did was considered blasphemy to Jesus, and that was calling His great works the works of the Satan. Which will be forgiven. So we can therefore determine that if we call the Holy Spirits works 'of the Devil' that this would be blasphemy. and that brings us to our second question. Can we be forgiven of it? According to Jesus' words in Matthew it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

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