One morning I was roused from sleep around 3 a.m. by the ringing of the telephone. The person on the other end of the line was distraught because, she said, she had committed the unforgivable sin. It is interesting to me that such calls often occur at such an hour, after the bars have closed. The woman went on to say that at some point in her life she had really been angry about something, and had said, "Damn the Holy Spirit." Now she was remorseful, but she knew that Jesus had said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Therefore, she was sure that there was no hope for her, either in this world or in the next.

Her situation is certainly not unique. The eighteenth century poet, William Cowper, suffered recurrent attacks of insanity due to his belief that he had committed…