Biblical Genealogies

At this time of year, many Christians read our Bibles for the Christmas story. And I reckon many of us read the genealogies in Matthew and Luke (and other ones) very quickly, if at all. I don't know many people who actually like them because we want to get to the "good parts". But they're important nonetheless.

Biblical creationists maintain that the Ussher chronologies are reliable, and an indicator that the earth is young (our foundation is God's Word, you know). There are several detailed lists in Scripture. But there are some marked differences between the listings in Matthew and Luke, and mockers who don't bother to research claim that they're contradictory.  Not hardly. The genealogies are there for a purpose, and are reliable.

Many Bible readers are tempted to just skip over the long lists of names that sometimes seem to interrupt the narrative of Scripture. These genealogies appear often in Genesis, Chronicles, and other places in the Old Testament. Matthew and Luke both have a genealogy of Jesus, tracing His ancestry back to Abraham and Adam. While modern people may tend to be bored by these lists, the people to whom Scripture was originally written would have viewed these genealogies as vital parts of Scripture, grounding the narrative in actual history and people who really lived.

To finish reading, click on "Are there gaps in the biblical genealogies?"