The Influence of a Life
Jukes & Edwards
Perhaps the deepest imprints of human faults are made by parents upon
their children. Moses told the Israelites that in some cases God visits
the iniquity of ?the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth
generations? (Exodus 20:5). And he doesn?t have to work to do it.
When our sins and failures run their normal course, they harm future
generations. Our hangups are passed to our children, who in turn pass
them to their own. The New Testament says that parents? sins may
cause specific problems like angry, resentful behavior or depression
(Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21).
A comparison of the offspring of two marriages clearly illustrates this.
Over four hundred descendants of Jonathan Edwards, America?s first
great theologian, have been traced. Similarly, over twelve hundred
offspring of a criminal named Jukes have been studied. Of the
descendants of Jonathan Edwards: one hundred became ministers,
missionaries, or theology teachers; one hundred became professors;
over one hundred were lawyers and judges; sixty became doctors; and
fourteen were college presidents. Among the descendants of Jukes; one
hundred and thirty were convicted criminals; three hundred and ten
were professional paupers; four hundred were seriously injured or
physically degenerated due to their lifestyles; sixty were habitual
thieves and pickpockets; seventeen were murderers; only twenty ever
learned a trade, and half of these learned their trades in jail.