Should Christians Pay Attention to Genealogies?

Should Christians Pay Attention to Genealogies?

New Testament Canon
What does the Bible tell us about genealogies?

The genealogies leading to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, are vitally important as supportive proofs of his being qualified as God’s Messiah (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38). So we definitely do need them, and should pay attention to them. Other Biblical genealogies are important for Biblical historical purposes, and we should be aware of them, but, these are not of great importance for Christians.
Beyond what is mentioned above, Christians are warned:

“Stop teaching false doctrine and occupying themselves with myths and endless genealogies. These myths and genealogies raise a lot of questions rather than focusing on God’s plan, which centers in faith” (1 Timothy 1:3-4 GWT).

“Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9 NIV).

Apparently some first century Christians were indulging in unscriptural “controversial speculations” (NIV) that included “endless genealogies” (NIV), and “arguments and quarrels”. So Christians today can take this as a warning against doing the similar things. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t study, discuss, and examine, different interpretations of the scriptures. The warning is actually against “genealogies”, petty quarrels and “speculations,” that “go beyond what is written in Scripture” (1 Corinthians 4:6 GWT). We should engage in fruitful, productive, discussions of the Bible that lead to wisdom (Acts 17:11; Proverbs 17:17).

“Leaving  the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press on to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1 LSB), because “solid food is for the mature (Hebrews 5:12  LSB), does not mean delving deeply into all kinds of genealogies. It is not necessary, therefore, for Christians to research and discover their own genealogies, as some, such as the Mormons, assert and promote.

Please see the other two articles on this site about genealogies.

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