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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents." This He saith not as acquitting them of sins, for He saith not simply, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents," but addeth, "that he should have been born blind" - "but that the Son of God should be glorified in him." "For both this man hath sinned and his parents, but his blindness proceedeth not from that." And this He said, not signifying that though this man indeed was not in such case, yet that others had been made blind from such a cause, the sins of their parents, since …
Cyril of Alexandria
That which lies before us is hard to explain and capable of causing much perplexity, so that it would be perhaps not unlearned to pass it over in silence, and because of its excessive difficulty to leave it. But when the Jewish doctrines have been refuted, lest another thing akin to them, like any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, as Paul says; (for perhaps some will hence suspect that the bodies of men are affected with sufferings, in order that the works of Grod may be made manifest in them;) I, for my part, think it …
Theophylact of Ohrid
The Lord, in resolution of their perplexity, says: "Neither did he sin (for how could he have sinned before birth), nor his parents." However, He says this not to absolve them of sins. For He did not simply say that his parents did not sin, but added that "he was born blind." Although his parents did sin, it was not for that reason that this affliction befell him. To lay the sins of fathers upon children who are in no way guilty is unjust. …
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
Was he then born without original sin, or had he never added to it by actual sin? Both this man and his parents had sinned, but that sin was not the reason why he was born blind. Our Lord gives the reason; viz. That the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Gregory the Dialogist
For of scourges there are sundry kinds; for there is the scourge whereby the sinner is stricken that he may suffer punishment without withdrawal, another whereby he is smitten, that he may be corrected; another wherewith sometimes a man is smitten, not for the correction of past misdeeds, but for the prevention of future; another which is very often inflicted, whereby neither a past transgression is corrected, nor a future one prevented, but which has this end, that when unexpected deliverance follows the stroke, the power of the …
Thomas Aquinas
1298 Then when he says, Jesus answered, our Lord reveals the reason for the man's infirmity: first, he excludes the reason they assumed; secondly, he mentions the real reason; and thirdly, he explains it. 1299 He excludes the reason they assumed when he says, it was not that this man sinned, or his parents: for the disciples had assumed that this was the reason for his infirmity, as was said. …
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