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Objection 1: It would seem that one may be punished for another's
sin. For it is written (Ex. 20:5): "I am . . . God .
. . jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me"; and
(Mt. 23:35): "That upon you may come all the just blood that
hath been shed upon the earth."
Objection 2: Further, human justice springs from Divine justice.
Now, according to human justice, children are sometimes punished for
their parents, as in the case of high treason. Therefore also
according to Divine justice, one is punished for another's sin.
Objection 3: Further, if it be replied that the son is punished,
not for the father's sin, but for his own, inasmuch as he imitates
his father's wickedness; this would not be said of the children rather
than of outsiders, who are punished in like manner as those whose
crimes they imitate. It seems, therefore, that children are
punished, not for their own sins, but for those of their parents.
On the contrary, It is written (Ezech. 18:20): "The son
shall not bear the iniquity of the father."
I answer that, If we speak of that satisfactory punishment, which
one takes upon oneself voluntarily, one may bear another's
punishment, in so far as they are, in some way, one, as stated above
(Article 7). If, however, we speak of punishment inflicted on
account of sin, inasmuch as it is penal, then each one is punished for
his own sin only, because the sinful act is something personal. But
if we speak of a punishment that is medicinal, in this way it does
happen that one is punished for another's sin. For it has been stated
(Article 7) that ills sustained in bodily goods or even in the body
itself, are medicinal punishments intended for the health of the soul.
Wherefore there is no reason why one should not have such like
punishments inflicted on one for another's sin, either by God or by
man; e.g. on children for their parents, or on servants for their
masters, inasmuch as they are their property so to speak; in such a
way, however, that, if the children or the servants take part in the
sin, this penal ill has the character of punishment in regard to both
the one punished and the one he is punished for. But if they do not
take part in the sin, it has the character of punishment in regard to
the one for whom the punishment is borne, while, in regard to the one
who is punished, it is merely medicinal (except accidentally, if he
consent to the other's sin), since it is intended for the good of his
soul, if he bears it patiently.
With regard to spiritual punishments, these are not merely medicinal,
because the good of the soul is not directed to a yet higher good.
Consequently no one suffers loss in the goods of the soul without some
fault of his own. Wherefore Augustine says (Ep. ad Avit.)
[Ep. ad Auxilium, ccl.], such like punishments are not inflicted
on one for another's sin, because, as regards the soul, the son is
not the father's property. Hence the Lord assigns the reason for
this by saying (Ezech. 18:4): "All souls are Mine."
Reply to Objection 1: Both the passages quoted should, seemingly,
be referred to temporal or bodily punishments, in so far as children
are the property of their parents, and posterity, of their
forefathers. Else, if they be referred to spiritual punishments,
they must be understood in reference to the imitation of sin, wherefore
in Exodus these words are added, "Of them that hate Me," and in
the chapter quoted from Matthew (verse 32) we read: "Fill ye up
then the measure of your fathers." The sins of the fathers are said
to be punished in their children, because the latter are the more prone
to sin through being brought up amid their parents' crimes, both by
becoming accustomed to them, and by imitating their parents' example,
conforming to their authority as it were. Moreover they deserve
heavier punishment if, seeing the punishment of their parents, they
fail to mend their ways. The text adds, "to the third and fourth
generation," because men are wont to live long enough to see the third
and fourth generation, so that both the children can witness their
parents' sins so as to imitate them, and the parents can see their
children's punishments so as to grieve for them.
Reply to Objection 2: The punishments which human justice inflicts
on one for another's sin are bodily and temporal. They are also
remedies or medicines against future sins, in order that either they
who are punished, or others may be restrained from similar faults.
Reply to Objection 3: Those who are near of kin are said to be
punished, rather than outsiders, for the sins of others, both because
the punishment of kindred redounds somewhat upon those who sinned, as
stated above, in so far as the child is the father's property, and
because the examples and the punishments that occur in one's own
household are more moving. Consequently when a man is brought up amid
the sins of his parents, he is more eager to imitate them, and if he
is not deterred by their punishments, he would seem to be the more
obstinate, and, therefore, to deserve more severe punishment.
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