A Monmouthshire [U.K.] lady reader takes exception to the statement of our colleague in the March, 1947, Testimony, page 92, that “Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus by the line of his mother,” and asks, “Where is Mary’s name mentioned?”
She states: “Genealogies always run in the male line, never in the female line. We read in Hebrews 7:14 that ‘our Lord sprang from Judah.’ According to Luke 1:36, Mary was a cousin of Elisabeth, who is stated in Luke 1:5 to have been ‘of the daughters of Aaron,’ so Mary herself must have belonged to the tribe of Levi. But in Matthew 1:1 Jesus is described as the son of David, the son of Abraham.’ For Jesus to be of the seed of David, he must have been the son of Joseph, whereas if Joseph was not his father, Jesus would have been of the tribe of Levi, through Mary. . . . It is affirmed by scholars that Matthew 1 (from verse 18) and Luke 2 are dimply extracts from apocryphal narratives, and were added to the Gospels at a later date. There is no doubt that the MSS. were tampered with before we received the Authorised Version of the Bible.”
We wish our correspondent had given us the names of the “scholars” who affirm that Matthew 1 (from v. 18) and Luke 2 are apocryphal additions to the Gospels. We agree, however, that “the MSS. were tampered with before we received the Authorised Version,” but the Revised Version—which retains those chapters in their entirety—is based on MSS. dating back to the 4th and 5th centuries. These chapters are also in the three most ancient New Testament manuscripts extant, and there appears to be no ground whatever for the opinion that they are apocryphal. Theologians who deny the doctrine of the Virgin Birth are compelled to get rid of these testimonies, but their efforts are apparently dictated by doctrinal prejudice, rather than by an impartial zeal for truth.
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Author: P. H. Adams
Keywords: Virgin birth, virgin Mary, genealogy, genealogy of Jesus, Jesus genealogy, Christ's genealogy, Mary's genealogy, Matthew's genealogy, Luke's genealogy
Bible reference(s): Matthew 1, Luk 1:5, Luke 1:36, Luke 3:23-38
Source: “Was the Mother of Jesus of the Tribe of Levi?,” The Testimony, Vol. 17, No. 201, September 1947, pp. 319-20.
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