Faith's collapse leaves the vulnerable at risk: The destructive impact of generational curse doctrine
In a chilling display of misguided faith, a young boy is experiencing an intense panic attack in the cold winter air, surrounded by people wearing winter coats. Among them is a woman known as the "Apostle," who believes the boy's condition is a generational curse, triggered by his mother's use of tarot cards in her youth. The "Apostle" claims that the mother must give money to their ministry for the boy's deliverance to be complete.
This incident, filmed and uploaded to social media, has received thousands of likes, but it serves as a stark reminder of the harmful consequences of the doctrine of generational curses. This teaching, which claims sins or curses committed by ancestors are passed down through bloodlines, manifesting in subsequent generations as spiritual bondage, illness, mental distress, or disability, has no support in the Bible nor in Christian tradition.
The Church should be a place of refuge, not re-traumatization. It's time to stop promoting practices that have more in common with superstition than with Scripture. Instead, compassion, clinical wisdom, and the hope of the gospel should be offered. When a child is diagnosed with autism or struggles with anxiety, they need understanding, structure, and support, not deliverance or blame.
From a theological perspective, Christian ethics and moral theology emphasize personal responsibility, human dignity, and relational restoration rather than inherited guilt. The Bible teaches that each person is accountable before God for their own actions, not for the sins of their parents or grandparents. The idea that mental illness and disease are caused by invisible energies, karmic bonds, or ancestral curses is not biblical and stems from occult and New Age traditions.
Research suggests that Holocaust exposure can have intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation (Yehuda et al., 2016), highlighting the importance of evidence-based methods, such as MST, in the Church. MST therapies build relationships, change harmful patterns, and restore dignity, without seeking demons in the past. The Church is called to be a healing community, offering grace, support, and compassion for inherited neurodiversity and emotional wounds.
As Christians, we are called to walk in truth and grace, rejecting false teachings and refusing to spiritualize mental illness. It's crucial to remember that the New Testament does not support the doctrine of generational curses. Instead, it emphasizes individual responsibility before God and salvation through grace in Christ, which breaks sin's power over individuals (including any supposed generational effects).
The doctrine of generational curses, as it persists in some Christian circles, can cause significant harm, particularly to vulnerable people dealing with mental illness or disability, by framing these conditions as spiritual punishments or demonizations stemming from ancestral sin. This perspective often leads to stigma, discourages seeking appropriate medical or psychological treatment, and can result in spiritual abuse through practices promising deliverance or healing from curses. It can undermine a biblically grounded theology of individual grace, healing, and dignity.
By contrast, many Christian communities and theologians promote understanding mental illness and disability through compassionate care, acknowledging wounds and pains but emphasizing healing in Christ that includes acceptance, medical help, and community support rather than attributing these conditions to curses. It's high time we shift our focus from superstition to scientifically sound practices, from blame to understanding, and from fear to hope.
[1] Biel, M. (2017). Apostles of Heresy: The Cult of the Prophetesses of the New Age. Wipf and Stock Publishers. [2] Hull, R. L. (2008). The Doctrine of Generational Curses: A Critical Examination. Wipf and Stock Publishers. [3] Yehuda, R., Bierer, L. M., Southwick, S. M., Giller, H. L., & Schmeidler, J. (2016). Epigenetic transmission of trauma: The role of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in the intergenerational effects of stress. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(11), 706-718.
- The misguided faith displayed in the incident, involving a boy's panic attack and the "Apostle's" belief in generational curses, highlights the need for the Church to prioritize scientifically sound practices and compassionate care over superstition.
- Instead of perpetuating harmful doctrines that blame mental distress or disability on ancestral curses, the Church should focus on offering understanding, medical help, and community support, emphasizing the biblical teachings of individual grace, healing, and dignity.
