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| Chapter XL
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Chapter XL.
Such is our doctrine of punishment; and the
inculcation of this doctrine turns many from their sins. 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. It is
this: “The mills of the gods grind slowly.”4925
| 4925 “The mills of
the gods grind slowly, but they grind to powder”
(Plutarch): [De Sera Numinis Vindicta, sect. iii.
S.] | Another describes punishment as
reaching “to children’s children, and to those who came
after them.”4926
How much
better are those words of Scripture: “The fathers shall not
be put to death for the children, nor the children for the
fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own
sin.”4927
And again,
“Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on
edge.”4928
And,
“The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall
the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be
upon him.”4929
If any shall
say that the response, “To children’s children, and to
those who come after them,” corresponds with that passage,
“Who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,”4930
let him learn from Ezekiel that this
language is not to be taken literally; for he reproves those who say,
“Our fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s
teeth are set on edge,”4931
and then he adds,
“As I live, saith the Lord, every one shall die for his own
sin.” 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.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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