Visited = inflicted. Apparently it is general in original sin, but also specific to a certain number of generations.one thing that’s always bothered me when reading the Bible is how often people are punished for their ancestors’ sins. but like, we didn’t choose the families we were born into, so how can that make sense? for example, i believe that someone who was born to a prostitute shouldn’t be blamed for or viewed as any less because of his mother’s sins. because after all, her sins had nothing to do with him. is this what the church teaches on the subject?
Exodus 349 Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that hate me,
Catechism of the Catholic Church7 Who keepest mercy unto thousands: who takest away iniquity, and wickedness, and sin, and no man of himself is innocent before thee. Who renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the grandchildren, unto the third and fourth generation.
403 Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam’s sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the “death of the soul”.291 Because of this certainty of faith, the Church baptizes for the remission of sins even tiny infants who have not committed personal sin.292
I am not really certain where you are getting the idea that the Bible states that we are punished for our ancestor’s sins. Could you elaborate by providing a specific reference? The Bible specifically states that we are not to be punished for the sins of our fathers. I think the confusion occurs when we assume that the present generation is not also engaging in the sins of their fathers. So in the case of the Canaanite expulsion God was holding the Canaanites accountable for the sins of the fathers in the sense that they had passed these on to the current generation such that they also participated in them. However, God also cares for the repentant person. Case in point, Rahab abandoned the gods of Jericho and feared and accepted the God of Israel and was spared from the judgment that came to the city of Jericho. Similarly, Christ has compassion for the believing Gentile woman who asked to be healed and had faith that he could do so.one thing that’s always bothered me when reading the Bible is how often people are punished for their ancestors’ sins. but like, we didn’t choose the families we were born into, so how can that make sense? for example, i believe that someone who was born to a prostitute shouldn’t be blamed for or viewed as any less because of his mother’s sins. because after all, her sins had nothing to do with him. is this what the church teaches on the subject?