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Ryan Barba wrote:

Hi guys,

Among the best evidence for the divinity of Christ is that He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.
It is have been successfully proven that these Old Testament documents predate the birth of Christ.

Many of these prophecies predict the genealogy of Christ. (i.e. being a descendant of Abraham)

  • There are several claims in the Gospels that Christ's family lines are consistent with those predicted by Old Testament prophecies, but is there any outside evidence that this is indeed true?
  • One can certainly claim that the Gospel writers had no motive to lie in their documents, and I do find that a convincing argument, but is there any outside evidence confirming the actual genealogy of Christ?
  • How well documented are Christ's family lines, and if they are documented, how convincing is the documentation and why?

Thanks for your help!

God bless,

Ryan Barba
  { Is there any outside evidence of Christ's family lines consistent with Old Testament prophecies? }

Eric replied:

Hi Ryan,

There is virtually no documentation of Christ outside of the New Testament, other than an oblique reference to a Chrestus by a pagan author and a section by Josephus, which some consider partially suspect (in that it treats Christ with greater deference than you would expect from a Jew).

I have never heard of his genealogy being externally documented but if it was, Josephus would be the place to look.

Hope this helps,

Eric

Mary Ann replied:

Hi, Ryan —

Off the cuff, here:

The Jews kept good records, partly for temple service purposes, but with the second destruction of the Temple and the dispersal, I believe it was lost, except for the rabbinical lines starting around the time of Christ.

I know that in the last few years, they wanted to find out how many Cohens (members of the Jewish priestly class) were really priestly descendants, and they had to do it with DNA analysis, not records.

Mary Ann

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