GENEALOGIES IN THE BIBLE BANNED (I TIMOTHY 1:4; TITUS 3:9)

 

The skeptic Rayan Zehn points out what appears on the surface to be a serious contradiction in the Bible:

“The Bible is filled with genealogies, even though the Bible explicitly forbids reading genealogies...I Timothy 1:4 and Titus 3:9 both warn against reading such things. In fact, Titus is very damning about genealogies. 'But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.' In other words, parts of the Bible are 'unprofitable and vain.'”

In rebuttal, we should first point out that Zehn portrays his grave ignorance of the Bible when he apparently believes that Titus wrote the Letter to Titus rather than Paul. That alone should give us pause as to whether anything he says should be taken seriously.

Secondly, one merely has to quote from II Timothy 3:16 to demonstrate that whatever Paul is writing in these two passages above, he obviously does not believe that “parts of the Bible are unprofitable and vain.”

    “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for         training in righteousness.”

Thirdly, does he really think that such a bonehead statement would have been made by Paul considering the large number of genealogies in the Bible? Just a few seconds of thought would convince any reasonable person that it is far more likely that the “genealogies” being condemned are not at all the same as the genealogical lists in the Bible.

The place to start is to consider the context of Paul's words in I Timothy 1:4, not quoted by Zehn, in order to properly define what “genealogies” really means.

    “I urge you...to...instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine and not to occupy                     themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine plan     that is comprehended by faith.”

Thus, we can deduce the following regarding the nature of these genealogies in question:

    They are not to be a major preoccupation for believers.

    They are the purview of “certain people” who are also known for their false doctrines.

    They are closely associated with mythology.

    They are “endless,” unlike the limited genealogies of the Bible.

    They promote speculation rather than sticking to the plan God has already clearly revealed.

So what specific kind of genealogies would fit that description? Here scholars do not agree, but they all agree that it cannot refer to merely reading the genealogies in the Bible. Mitchell starts out by admitting that the meaning of the word here is “uncertain, but probably [consists of] speculations on biblical texts.” Similarly, Towner says, “This phrase ['myths and endless genealogies'] is problematic and resists precise interpretation.” And Litfin states, “Exactly what these fables and genealogies involved is not known. They may have had a Gnostic flavor, but were more likely of Jewish origin. Whatever their nature, they were empty of any spiritual value and led only to further speculation, questions, and arguments.”

Earlier explanations coming from liberal scholars who felt that the Pastoral Epistles were not written by Paul but date to well after his death generally ascribed the dissidents in the church as the Gnostics. Gnostic teachings took on a variety of guises, but generally they pitted the evil physical universe against the purely spiritual. That meant that they needed to come up with an entirely different view of how the world was created. So they formulated complicated schemes in which, for example, according to one popular view the “good” diety Ogdoad created through a long series of emanations one generation after another of “aeons,” resulting eventually in the “demiurge,” an evil entity who created the physical universe. Thus, these were the “endless genealogies” alluded to in the Pastoral Epistles.

Agreeing with this explanation is Hanson who feels it refers to “a form of Jewish Gnosticism, and the myths and endless genealogies will refer to the accounts of the movements and couplings of the various aeons as described in this or that Gnostic system.” That explanation is generally rejected by a growing number of Bible scholars since such Gnostic theologies were only formulated centuries after the biblical writings of Paul. However, it is stil possible that a “proto-Gnostic” heresy may be in mind here.

Colin Brown proposes two interpretations in his statement that 'genealogia occurs in the New Testament only in I Tim. 1:4 and Titus 3:9, and alludes specifically to the practice of searching back through ones' family tree in order to establish ancestry [as with the Mormons]. On any straightforward exegesis, those doing this can only have been Jews who, starting out from OT and other genealogies, were propagating all kinds of 'Jewish myths', quite probably pre-Christian gnostic speculations. But it is also possible that the Ebionites [early Christian heretical group] were using similar arguments to attack the doctrine of the miraculous birth of Jesus...”

Quinn agrees with one of Brown's possible interpretations above. Commenting on Titus 3:9, he states, “Thus at this point in Titus one encounters an attempt to obviate a waste of time and energy on the construction and perhaps the harmonization of the various genealogies of Jesus circulating in Jewish-Christian circles in the latter part of the first Christian century.” Here is how other other commentators deal with the ambiguity of these verses:

    “Many scholars see in genealogies a clear reference to the second-century gnostic emanations. But it seems a stronger reason to suppose that the anonymous false teachers were members of a sect attracted by the more speculative aspects of Judaism.” (Guthrie)

    Lea: “Interpreters see these stories as either fictitious Jewish distortions of the Old Testament or Gnostic myths about creation.”

    Towner: “Within Judaism, genealogies played the key role of establishing a person's bloodline and link to a particular family and tribe; rights by birth determined in this way allowed, for example, entrance into the priesthood. As its use in Philo demonstrates, the term could refer to the accounts of people in the early parts of Genesis. This usage especially opens up the possibility that Paul is identifying the practice among the false teachers of speculating on stories about the early biblical characters as well as actual genealogical lists such as occur there or in other more speculative noncanonical Jewish writings (e.g., Jubilees).”

    “Modern interpreters have often used these characterizations to identify these adversaries as Gnostics. But such accusations were commonly employed as a polemical device designed to disparage one's adversaries, no matter what their teaching was. That seems to be their function here. Even if these statements have specific teachings in view, there is no clear information about their content.” (Sumney)

    Nute explains that “genealogies is used in a wider sense than that customarily accorded it, and describes fatuous and extravagant interpretations of OT history, possibly mingled with certain Gnostic philosophical notions. These are said to be endless, for those who wander along these strange bypaths find themselves in an interminable labyrinth, leading nowhere.”

    Hendricksen brings up another important point: “The expression 'myths and genealogies' is one. It must not be divided, as if Paul were thinking, on the one hand, of myths, and on the other, of genealogies. The apostle refers undoubtedly to man-made supplements to the law of God...” He cites several known examples of such Jewish lore such as The Book of Jubilees as “a striking example of what Paul had in mind. It is a kind of haggatic commentary on the canonical Genesis; that is, it is an exposition interspersed with an abundant supply of illustrative examples.” He compares this type of error with today's fascination with various schemes regarding the details of the Last Days.