Article June 17, 1972 Issue

No Law of Heredity

JEANNE ROE PRICE

For thousands of years, perhaps from the very beginning of human history, heredity has been accepted as a theory of human life. "Like father, like son," the old slogan goes. Although this theory has included the transmission of good qualities, too often its stress has been on the transmission of evil—of limitation, illness, and corruption, both physical and moral.

Yet this cruel theory has at times been denounced. In the Old Testament, a prophecy attributed to Jeremiah foresees the time when children will no longer be seen to suffer for their fathers' sins (see Jer. 31:29, 30). And the prophet Ezekiel earnestly calls upon his people to give up the theory altogether: "The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel." Ezek. 18:1–3; Then the prophet proceeds to preach a magnificent sermon against the tradition of hereditary suffering.

Some six centuries later, Christ Jesus gave the answer to the whole question of heredity. "As he was praying in a certain place," Luke tells us, "when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray." Luke 11:1;

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Revolt Against Custom
June 17, 1972
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