Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Origen Against Celsus/Book VIII/Chapter XL

Chapter XL.

Such is our doctrine of punishment; and the inculcation of this doctrine turns many from their sins.&#160; But let us see, on the other hand, what is the response given on this subject by the priest of Jupiter or Apollo of whom Celsus speaks.&#160; It is this:&#160; &#8220;The mills of the gods grind slowly.&#8221; &#160; Another describes punishment as reaching &#8220;to children&#8217;s children, and to those who came after them.&#8221; &#160; How much better are those words of Scripture:&#160; &#8220;The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers.&#160; Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.&#8221; &#160; And again, &#8220;Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.&#8221; &#160; And, &#8220;The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son:&#160; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.&#8221; &#160; If any shall say that the response, &#8220;To children&#8217;s children, and to those who come after them,&#8221; corresponds with that passage, &#8220;Who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,&#8221; let him learn from Ezekiel that this language is not to be taken literally; for he reproves those who say, &#8220;Our fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children&#8217;s teeth are set on edge,&#8221; and then he adds, &#8220;As I live, saith the Lord, every one shall die for his own sin.&#8221;&#160; As to the proper meaning of the figurative language about sins being visited unto the third and fourth generation, we cannot at present stay to explain.