What is generational sin?

In Part II of ROCI21, Famine, I’ve written how the traumatization of the feminine that followed from desertification and famine gave rise to shame: “Shame stems from unconsciously judging our emotions, bodies and sexuality as socially unacceptable.” That which was socially unacceptable came to be seen as sinful. This in time led to generational sin.

The story of the Garden of Eden perfectly illustrates the rise of shame. “Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed”. (Gn 2:25) After eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—i.e. they began judging themselves and others—Adam and Eve felt shame at being naked (Gn 3:7). God then expelled them from the garden.

The story, the shame and the sin didn’t end there. Adam and Eve passed it on to their children, who then handed it down to succeeding generations. Shame (and the sinfulness associated with it) is one of the emotional building blocks of patriarchy and a powerful means of social control.

Sour grapes

The Bible refers to generational sin on multiple occasions, most famously in Exodus 20:5-6: “I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.”

In Part III of ROCI21, Taboos, I wrote how the Old Testament is designed to instruct, punish or reward—depending on compliance with the laws that gave the Israelites the greatest chance of survival.

Exodus 20:5-6 demonstrates all three aspects. It instructs people to obey the laws, punishes those who don’t—for multiple generations—and rewards those who do; again, for multiple generations. Jeremiah 31.29 also alludes to this punishment: “Sour grapes eaten by parents leave a sour taste in the mouths of their children.”

Epigenetic inheritance

Generational sin occurs when a person experiences an event that is too traumatic for them to fully process. The unresolved trauma becomes embedded in their DNA which they hand down in diluted form to their children. The children are affected by the same event in a similar way to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This may take a relatively low-grade form or, as in my case, can have a more significant impact.

Generational sin is scientifically known as epigenetic inheritance and has been demonstrated in the laboratory.

Generational sin is ancestral shame that is genetically inherited from a family member. It is scientifically known as epigenetic inheritance and has been proven in the laboratory.

Mice were given ample food and behaved normally. The food was then reduced to a minimum and the mice became aggressive and anxious. The food supply was then reinstated. The mice’s aggressive behaviour did not change. A new generation of mice was bred from these aggressive mice. The offspring were given unlimited food from birth, yet retained their parents’ aggressive conditioning.

Scandals

Generational sin often centres on ‘scandalous’ events such as affairs and marital breakdowns in communities where these are considered deeply taboo. For example, marriage breakdowns due to infidelity may recur over multiple generations. Abuse, abandonment and repressed grief are other sources of generational sin. Because of the invisible and shameful nature of the underlying conditioning it is difficult to identify and resolve.

Dealing with generational sin is a difficult, painful, and—quite frankly—weird business. These distorted energies act as if they have a life of their own and do not want to be disturbed. When disrupted, I have experienced powerful emotional reactions that have a sense of the paranormal about them. However, when understood in the light of generational sin it is clear that these are simply very old energies being released from the unconscious.

Healing generational sin brings a powerful sense of relief. John refers to this: “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’” (Jn 9:1-3 NIV)

Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash