BLASPHEMY

Any expression by word, sign, or gesture that is insulting to the goodness of God. Blasphemy is to be carefully distinguished from profanity, which is without contempt or insulting intent and does irreverence to God simply by a careless, too frequent, or inappropriate use of sacred names or reference to sacred things. Some theologians list blasphemy among the sins opposed to the virtue of religion, for it is the object of that virtue to give to God the reverence that is His due, whereas blasphemy, on the contrary, treats Him with positive irreverence and contempt (see B. Häring, The Law of Christ, 2.205). The 1917 Code of Canon Law also considered blasphemy a sin against religion (1917 Codex iuris canonici [Rome 1918; repr. Graz 1955] c. 2323). St. Thomas Aquinas, however, preferred to consider it as a sin opposed to the virtue of faith inasmuch as the blasphemer asserts some error contrary to a truth of faith that he should confess (Summa theologiae 2a2ae, 13.1). Without doubt blasphemy is an offense against both faith and religion, but to see it primarily in its opposition to faith serves to center attention on what is more radical in the transgression as well as to underline its malice, for, other things being equal, sins against the theological virtues are graver than those against the moral virtues.

Blasphemy is a single species of sin, but it can be committed in many ways. Theologians commonly distinguish between heretical and nonheretical blasphemy. It is heretical if it openly asserts something contrary to faith, as when it denies God's mercy, providence, or justice. It is nonheretical if it openly asserts nothing contrary to faith but consists simply in imprecations or contumelious speech against God. Even the latter type of blasphemy, however, implicitly contains some error with respect to faith, for it assumes that God is worthy of contumelious treatment. Theologians distinguish also between blasphemy that is directed immediately against God in His person or attributes and that which is directed against His saints, angels, men, or creation generally, in their relations to Him.

Blasphemy has always been considered to be among the gravest of sins from the point of view of objective malice. The degree of subjective malice in any particular occurrence depends on the greater or lesser willful involvement of the blasphemer in the sin. Although every form of blasphemy supposes a malicious will, in its gravest and most "perfect" form it is a deliberate and direct attack upon the honor of God with intent to insult Him. But blasphemy is also possible without a direct intent to insult the divine goodness, as when one gives expression to what does in fact derogate from the divine goodness. In this sense, expressions of formal heresy or infidelity are always blasphemous. So also are expressions, commands, or invocations calling upon God to do what is un-worthy of Him, such as to curse another or to remove him from the sphere of divine love and favor. Hence if one attends simply to the literal meaning of the words, expressions calling upon God to damn something are objectively blasphemous. But words have meaning in ordinary usage according to the way in which people generally understand them. In many cases they become denatured through overuse and come to have a sense quite different from their literal meaning. The regrettable English expression "God damn" appears to have undergone such a transformation, and its use in ordinary circumstances, when one does not advert to or intend to apply the literal sense, is to be classified as profanity rather than blasphemy.

The Code of Justinian (6th century) prescribed the death penalty for blasphemy, and the crime was listed as capital throughout much of both pre-and post-Reformation Europe. Since the Enlightenment, however, secular authorities have looked upon it as a crime against the sensibilities of citizens rather than against God, and its punishment has been mitigated. Present canon law says that it is to be punished with "a just penalty" (Codex iuris canonici c. 1369).

Bibliography: cajetan, Commentarii in Summa theologiae 2am2ae 13. Adequate treatments of blasphemy may be found in most handbooks of moral theology, e.g., b. hÄring, The Law of Christ, tr. e. g. kaiser, v. 1 (Westminster, Md. 1961) 205–207. b.h. merkelbach, Summa theologiae moralis, 3 v. (8th ed. Paris 1949) 1:610–616. j. a. mchugh and c. j. callan, Moral Theology, rev. e. p. farrell, 2 v. (New York 1958) 1:347–356. v. oblet, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al., 15 v. (Paris 1903–50; Tables générales 1951–) 2.1:907–910.

[g. a. buckley/eds.]