THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS ON THE CHILDREN
  by HH Pope Shenouda


Question:
Could the iniquity of the fathers visit the children as the Bible says
in (Ex. 20:5) and as we say "The fathers ate sour grapes and the
children's teeth are set on edge"?

Answer:
The fathers can hand down to their children physically
the result of their sins or sicknesses.  The parent could sin and as a
result of his or her sin they may have contract a sickness and then the
son or the daughter could inherit that sickness. The children could be
stricken by mental or neurological diseases, some blood disorders or
congenital defects as a result of what was inherited from their
parents.  Often the sickness of the children and their suffering are a
cause of pain for the parents especially if they knew that the sickness
was a result of their sins.


The children might inherit ill-nature or bad character
from their parents.

But this is not a rule; king Saul was cruel, merciless and of bad
character. His son Jonathan was the opposite. Jonathan was a friend of
David. He loved him and was faithful to him.  Even if the children
inherit ill-nature from their parents, they can with ease get rid of it
if they wish.  

A son can inherit poverty or debts because of his father's mistakes...

He suffers because of it, of course on earth, and that would have
nothing to do with his eternal life. Many are the end results that the
saying of the poet agrees with "This is what my father inflicted upon
me, and I did not inflict on anyone."
As for judging the children for the sins that were committed personally
by their parents, the Bible has refuted completely as written in he
Book of Ezekiel "what do you mean when you use this proverb... the
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on
edge? 'As I live' says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this
proverb the soul who
sins shall die... "
The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the
father bear the guilt of the son:

"The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezek. 18:1-20).
The righteous Jonathan did not bear the evil of his father king Saul
nor Josiah the righteous king the sin of Aaron his father or Manasseh
his grandfather or the rest of his forefathers.

The curses of the law in the Old Testament was abolished in the New
Testament. As we say in the Anaphora of St. Gregory:
"You have lifted the curse of the Law"

As an example of this curse, Canaan, did bear the curse of his father
Ham, (Gen. 9:22-25) and his sons also bore it till the days of the Lord
Christ and not only till the fourth generation.  Now, we are in the era
of "grace and truth" (John 1:17) so do not be afraid of the curse of
the Law which was inherited by the children from their grandfathers.
Often the father could be evil but the son is righteous refusing to
walk in his father's footsteps, and even he might resist him as the
Lord says, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me." (Matt. 10:37).

Naturally it would be unjust for God to visit the sins 
of this evilfather on his righteous son who deserves to be rewarded.