Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter — the blasphemy saying begins with the positive pole: the scope of God's forgiveness is comprehensive. All sins, every slander — the forgiveness available through the Son of Man and the kingdom is unlimited in scope. The truly I tell you (amēn legō hymin) is Jesus' distinctive formula for solemn pronouncement — not citing authority but speaking with it. The positive declaration of comprehensive forgiveness sets up the negative exception that follows as genuinely exceptional: if everything can be forgiven, the one thing that cannot be is a genuine anomaly requiring a specific definition.

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