Generational Curse Theory

Definition

Generational curse theory attributes recurring misfortunes within a family, such as illness, poverty, divorce, and accidents, to a curse descending from the sins of ancestors. It teaches that the curse is lifted only when those ancestral sins are identified and repented of and prayers of declaration are offered to break it.

In Korea, the teaching spread among Protestant churches in the 1990s through translated books and revival meetings.

Scriptures Cited in Support

• "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation" (Exodus 20:5).
• The prayers of Nehemiah and Daniel, who confessed the sins of their forefathers.

Criticism

• The same verse applies to "them that hate me" and goes on to say that God shows mercy "unto thousands of them that love me."
• Ezekiel 18 declares that the proverb "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" shall no longer be used, and that each person is judged for his own sin.
• "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Teaching that a curse still remains on believers makes the atonement of the cross insufficient.
• Jesus said of the man born blind that his condition was not due to the sin of his parents (John 9:3).
• Blaming ancestors for misfortune heightens anxiety, and the idea resembles the ancestor-blaming found in Korean shamanism.

Several Korean denominations, including the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) and the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), are reported to have concluded, through study reports presented to their general assemblies, that generational curse theory is inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture (heresy designations).

Points of Distinction

Critics acknowledge that parents' lives affect their children, so that family wounds and bad habits can be passed from one generation to the next. Addressing these is the work of counseling and pastoral care. What critics reject is explaining such patterns as a "spiritual curse" and teaching that they must be broken through special rituals.