What Were the "Geneologies" Of Which Paul Was Warning In 1 Tim. 1:17?

by Justitia Themis 27 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Justitia Themis

  Interesting...from the Jaimeson, Fausset and Brown Bible Commentary:
  
  genealogies--not merely such civil genealogies as were common among the Jews, whereby they traced their descent from the patriarchs, to which Paul would not object, and which he would not as here class with "fables," but Gnostic genealogies of spirits and aeons, as they called them, "Lists of Gnostic emanations" [ALFORD]. So TERTULLIAN [Against Valentinian, c. 3], and IRENAEUS [Preface]. The Judaizers here alluded to, while maintaining the perpetual obligation of the Mosaic law, joined with it a theosophic ascetic tendency, pretending to see in it mysteries deeper than others could see. The seeds, not the full-grown Gnosticism of the post-apostolic age, then existed. This formed the transition stage between Judaism and Gnosticism. "Endless" refers to the tedious unprofitableness of their lengthy genealogies (compare Tts 3:9 ). Paul opposes to their "aeons," the "King of the aeons (so the Greek, 1Ti 1:17 ), whom be glory throughout the aeons of aeons." The word "aeons" was probably not used in the technical sense of the latter Gnostics as yet; but "the only wise God" ( 1Ti 1:17 ), by anticipation, confutes the subsequently adopted notions in the Gnostics' own phraseology .
  Quote from a book I am reading, "Gods and the One God," by Robert M. Grant: "Marcion as an opponent of Judaism maintained the distinciton but increased the confusion by transposing Philo's (with rabbis!) and making a philosphical or Gnostic distinction between the Highest God and the inferior creator. This distinction is not based on the Old Testament but is essentially Middle Platonic, as we have seen.
  
  The Valentinian teacher Ptolemaeus, introducing a certain "Flora" (whether a Christian woman or the church at Rome) to his doctrine, also differentiates "God the Father" or "the perfect God" from the Adversary, the devil, ascribing the basic moral law to an intermediary, "The Demiurge and Maker of this universe." The perfect God is the Father of All; that is, of the Gnostic aeons...These examples suffice to show how Gnostic teacher appropriated the basic Middle Platonic doctrine in the second century."
  The Gnostic's had complex 'geneologies' outlining the various different Gods and angels in the Bible much the same as the Pagans had complex geneologies of their gods and goddesses. Apparently, this was the beginning of the Gnostic influence in Ephesus, and these were the geneologies being debated by the Ephesians.
  
  Justitia
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  AK - Jeff

  I would only say this; You have clearly done far more research into the meaning of this scripture than the WTS.

  Jeff
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  VM44

  Interesting that the Watchtower lumps ALL research into the category of "researching genealogies"....and then doesn't even bother to explain exactly what Paul was talking about!

  It is to the Watchtower benefit to leave things fuzzy and vague, being the mental manipulators they are.

  --VM44
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  still_in74

  It is to the Watchtower benefit to leave things fuzzy and vague, being the mental manipulators they are.

  ARE YOU KIDDING????

  Actually VM44 I know you are kidding. This tactic is the ultimate tool! Think about how a WT article is written. Its FULL of scriptural references. But have you ever looked them up? They are the same couple dozen citations over and over. For example:
  
  "the Faithful & Discreet Slave this, that and the other thing. (Matt 24:45-47)
  "as lovers of accurate knowledge......yada yada yada.......(John 17:3)
  "we need to preach more and more and pioneer and spend every spare moment preaching...... yada yada yada.........(Matt. 28:19-20)

  Its always the same thing over and over. The more "generic" the interpretation the more broad is the field of application.

  To think of how many times I have told people that we have scriptures to support everything written, and would taut this as evidence of truth!
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  AWAKE&WATCHING

  I read something a while back, somewhere on the evil internet, about how only a few scriptures were used in the publications,repeatedly of course.

  It was really interesting and was broken down into percentages, for example 1% used 98% of the time and 99% used 2% of the time. I don't remember the real numbers and I can't find it.

  Anyone remember that info ?
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  Narkissos

  It is a popular and interesting explanation but by no means certain. It is doubtful whether the early Gnostic myths had already taken, by the time of the Pastorals, the developed "genealogical" aspect they have in later Valentinian or Nag Hammadi Gnosticism. Another problem is that the genealogies in 1 Timothy 1:4 and Titus 3:9 are consistently linked to the Jewish Torah (cf. 1 Timothy 1:7ff). Of course that may be part of the pseudegraphical fiction (the author picturing the long-past Paul struggling with Jewish adversaries who look just like his own adversaries), but it poses a rhetorical problem inasmuch as an apparent anti-Torah stance would actually agree with most Gnostics and weaken his point.

  Another possibility is that the reference is to the Jewish literary development of the Genesis stories (which belong to the "genealogical" category in Philo's terminology) as reflected in much of contemporary Jewish literature (e.g. Enoch, Jubilees). This kind of "genealogies," too, may have been used by the early "Gnostics" in the Jewish-Christian nebula.

  Interestingly, the WT never directly alludes to the "lists of aeons" as a plausible interpretation of the "genealogies" in 1 Timothy and Titus, but fail to mention that Irenaeus did seem to make that connection when they quote him (Watchtower 1990, 7/15 p. 21):

  Irenaeus boldly spoke out against erroneous doctrine. For instance, consider what he said in the introduction to his extensive literary work entitled "The Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called." He wrote: "Certain men, rejecting the truth, are introducing among us false stories and vain genealogies, which serve rather to controversies, as the apostle said [1 Timothy 1:3, 4], than to God’s work of building up in the faith. By their craftily constructed rhetoric they lead astray the minds of the inexperienced, and take them captive, corrupting the oracles of the Lord, and being evil expounders of what was well spoken."
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  JosephMalik

  I have to agree with Narkissos on this one. Paul was in a constant battle with Jews that ascribed their importance to their heritage and tended to dominated the non Jewish Christians in keeping the Law in their respective territories. Therefore Paul educated Timothy on how to identify them so as to remove such influence in their territory by appointing overseers in their place. While 1Ti 1:4 teaches: Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. The letter nevertheless identifies such men by their activities and teachings so they can be dethroned, while: Tit 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain: specifically ties such genealogies to the law and their continued observation of it for salvation. There were also problems on the Gentile side with astrology and other false doctrine which Paul also addressed as in his letter in 1 Cor. But the Christian Jews were the ones that thought they were in charge of the Faith and nearly killed Paul because of this constant opposition to their theology. In doing so Paul removed any dependence that they had on their history and placed it back where it properly belonged, on their belief in Christ Jesus.

  Joseph
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  SusanHere

  Perhaps by continuing to harp on the "vain geneologies" theme, the WTS is trying to keep JWs away from the modern day geneological societies and geneological libraries that are found almost everywhere and which are often sponsored by the LDS Church or other religious entities.

  It could also be that they don't want JWs contacting long-lost relatives who might lure them away, or to "waste" time researching geneology instead of merely reading WT approved literature.

  Other than those imagined, WTS-perceived threats to the wellbeing of the average JW, how can doing geneology possibly harm anyone? It is a growing interest of benefit to all, usually free of charge, as more and more people desire a connection to their heritage.

  Susan
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  Philippus79

  Paul was the first "gnostic". Why and how? Well, certainly not in the sense that is today known as gnosticism, the gnosticism of the 3rd and 4th century.
  
  But surely he was the first to coin gnostic concepts and after all, he was after "gnosis", he wanted to "know"!. He spoke and wrote about his own visions of Christ and sometimes secret revelations. He claimed to have received direct revelations and teachings by Jesus, an elemnt which is essential in gnosticism.
  
  As an besides, Valentinus claimed he had been taught by Theudas who was a student of Paul and part of his inner circle.
  
  Phil
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  JCanon

  Interesting topic! But I'd go into another direction here and consider all these related:

  1 Tim 4:7 But turn down the false stories which violate what is holy and which old women tell. On the other hand, be training yourself with godly devotion as your aim.

  1 Tim. 1:

  4 nor to pay attention to false stories and to genealogies, which end up in nothing, but which furnish questions for research rather than a dispensing of anything by God in connection with faith.

  Titus 1:13

  14 paying no attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn themselves away from the truth.

  These "fables" and "false stories" that old women tell are references to some of the popular Jewish stories and folklore (fables) that were around. Some of these were pseudohistorical works, however, that did not accurately represent the truth involved and thus were considered to contradict the Bible's own history. If the "genealogies" in reference was also about historical issues, which is very much in the context of "questions for research" then this is talking about the confusing historical timelines and genealogies of kings from the time of the Exodus through to the Persian Periods, genealogies that didn't always match perfectly with what the Bible says.

  These old wives tales that women loved to tell included fables like the Book of Esther, for example. The version of Esther around at that time was that of the LXX version, for instance, presented in a historical context, it showed Esther married to Artaxerxes, who in turn was considered the son of Xerxes. However, this would directly contradict the Bible's history regarding Artaxerxes since there is no mention of either Mordecai nor Esther in any other book of the Bible. But it was considered true history, as does Josephus, and it clearly reads like a fable. Here is the opening words by Josephus for the story of Esther, which he wrote about at the end of the 1st century, for instance:

  CONCERNING ESTHER AND MORDECAI AND HAMAN; AND HOW IN THE REIGN OF ARTAXERXES THE WHOLE NATION OF THE JEWS WAS IN DANGER OF PERISHING.

  1. AFTER the death of Xerxes, the kingdom came to be transferred to his son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes.... Antiquities 11.6.1

  In contrast, the Biblical story of Ezra and Nehemiah's interaction with Artaxerxes is ascribed to "Xerxes" and thus Ezra and Nehemiah are chronologically placed in history prior to Esther. This, of course, clearly "violates what is holy" since it presents a slightly different historical reference than the Bible does. Since mentioned together and particularly since it says this leads to "questions for research", we certainly can include "genealogies" in the context of what might be researched, which would be the historical genealogies of kings of the ancient past, which in turn were also linked with some of the Jewish fables now in place that were reflecting some of the revised histories of the pagans that seemed to contradict the Bible. Thus,for instance, the current genealogies of the Neo-Babylonian kings at this time limited the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II to just 43 years rather than 45 years, and dismissed the entire 6-year rule of "Darius the Mede" who only cryptically survives in the pagan historical records with no confirmed rulership apart from Cyrus. So Timothy and Titus are here talking about ignoring historical genealogies of all these kings of ancient history as well as the Jewish pseudo-historical fables, like the Book of Esther, that would contradict the Bible. I like this explanation because "genealogies" and "false stories" would be speaking of the same general thing, which address history and timelines. Of quick note on the Book of Esther, for one, it is one of three books not mentioned by the Christian Bible writers, the other two books being Ecclesiastes and the abdominably pagan Song of Solomon. Since the original version of Esther certainly directly contradicts the Bible's history, it is quickly dismissed as non-inspired. Later, likely when more copies of the Bible were around, the Book of Esther was revised so that she was retained as the wife of Xerxes (Ahasuerus) and thus no longer directly conflicted with the history of Ezra and Nehemiah during the time of Artaxerxes. The Hebrew version of Esther as a Bible book was not accepted into the canon until the 3rd century CE, with most presuming Ahasuerus to be Xerxes, some translators actually substituting "Xerxes" for Ahasuerus. However, Xerxes was not mentioned in the Bible because by the time he was king he had adopted the new throne name of "Artaxerxes" a custom that was followed by all the other kings, all of whom adopted a new name when they became king; i.e. Darius II was Nothus, Artaxerxes II was Pnemon, Artaxerxes III was also Nothus, and Darius III was Cadomannus. Xerxes was Artaxerxes and there are extant astronomical texts of a king Artaxerxes from his 27th year that note that he was "also known as Arses (Xerxes)." So we even know enough about Xerxes adopting the name of Artaxerxes becaue locally he apparently went by both names. There is only one candidate for a Xerxes who was also Artaxerxes who ruled into his 27th year who didn't have some other name, and that was Xerxes and Artaxerxes. Furthermore, the Bible at Ezra 6:14,15 more than establish not only did Darius I die in his sixth year, but that was also the Accession Year of "Artaxerxes". Therefore, the Bible would seemingly skip the entire rule of Xerxes, and an additional 30 years rule for Darius I here, rather than simply reflecting the name change of Xerxes to Artaxerxes per the custom; thus, per the Bible, Xerxes and Artaxerxes were the same king.

  Ezra 6: 14 And the older men of the Jews were building and making progress under the prophesying of Hag´gai the prophet and Zech·a·ri´ah the grandson of Id´do, and they built and finished [it] due to the order of the God of Israel and due to the order of Cyrus and Da·ri´us and Ar·ta·xerx´es the king of Persia. 15 And they completed this house by the third day of the lunar month A´dar, that is, in the sixth year of the reign of Da·ri´us the king.

  Now read without current historical consideration, this would be interpreted as Artaxerxes completing the work on the temple late during the sixth year of Darius as "king of Persia" which means Darius I must have died in his sixth year and this is the accession year of Artaxerxes. Since historically we know that Xerxes followed Darius, and even the Bible confirms that the 4th king after Cyrus who was the king after Darius would fight against Greece, this would seem a contradiction unless we're talking about the same king, which we are. Ezra here is simply using the newly adopted throne name Xerxes took up when he became king in the sixth year of Darius. But all the historical "genealogies" by now, even from the time of Manetho who appears during the Seleucid Period would reflect a different chronology than this, including a 36-year rule of Darius. Other Greek historians likewise ascribed a 36-year rule to Darius. So if you were looking closely at the Bible's history and timeline, there were definite contradictions here, contradictions probably those back then could never be able to sort through and so Timothy is encouraging them not to pay attention to either these false historical "genealogies" or the "false stories" and "fables" that violate God's word and history. Things are a bit different now, however, in the modern age. That's because of newly excavated ancient sites by archaeologists and even astronomical texts that can be double-checked against actual scientific reference that allow us to effectively reconstruct the original chronology and timeline, which of course, completely agrees with the Bible's timeline in the most dramatic way. Even so, Timothy's advice is appropro for Christians now regarding paying attention to false historical stories and false historical genealogies, but rather trusting the Bible. Even the WTS halfway understand this as they see clearly, for instance, that there has to be a 70-year period of desolation of the land to pay back its sabbaths sometime after the fall of Jerusalem up to the 1st of Cyrus. This completely contradicts all the surviving Babylonian records which is 26 years shorter than the Bible's timeline for this period. The Christians back there were facing the same kind of confusion. All the formal secular history giving one set of dates and genealogies and the Bible giving something slightly different. This caused anxiety, of course, but also more questions for "research", that is to determine where the errors were, than anything related to faith and other issues which were more important for Christian sprituality at the time. In conclusion, I'd say this references to "genealogies" especially in the context of false stories and things that would evoke "questions for research" is a reference to historical genealogies that were finding some contradiction with the Bible's history and timeline; thus these were to be ignored. JCanon