Titus 3:9 And Latter Day Saint Family History Work
By Bro. Nathan
" But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless." (Titus 3:9) NASB
Ang Titus 3:9 ay ang proof text used by critics to attack yung work na ginagawa ng Latter Day Saints on Family History. critics often interpret this as na pinagbabawal daw ni Paul kay Titus ang geanological work. but again, if babasahin natin ang context at backround ng verse na ito, malalaman natin what Paul really meant.
In context, ang Titus 3 is where pinaliwanag ni Paul how to live godly. like ng pagsunod natin sa batas (v. 1), na dapat tayong makisama mabuti sa kapwa natin (v. 2), etc. and how a person is converted through God's grace at ng Baptismal regeneration (v. 3-8). Paul then tells them na umiwas sa mga sinfull acts (v. 9-11).
Ano ba ang genealogies na
tinukoy ni Paul?
Ang genealogies na tinukoy ni Paul, which can also be found sa 1 Timothy 1:4 (kasi nga diba mag church leaders sinulatan dito ni Paul) ay ang mga Jewish fables, folklores, legendary stories of the heroes and patriachs of the early Hebrew history, such stories at the time very popular among the Jews , but foreign to the gospel, and likely to call attention away from the essential doctrines of faith. I. Howard Marshall commented :
γενεαλογία (Tit 3:9*** note) refers to the content of the teaching and takes the discussion into the realm of Jewish use of the OT accounts of the biblical characters (as Philo used the term) or speculation based on OT family trees. The futility of this line of exegesis begins to emerge in the description ἀπέραντος***. ‘Endless’ may be meant literally but can have the sense of ‘leading nowhere’, hence ‘unintelligible’ and ‘useless’, or ‘exhausting, wearisome’ (Fee, 42; they could ‘be spun out for ever’, Scott, 8). From Tit 1:14; 3:9 and from vv. 7–10 below it is most likely that use of Jewish genealogies, or OT material that could be so categorised, is in mind here.
Thus ‘myths and genealogies’ describe (a) an untruthful teaching with an ethical dimension; it was probably aimed at authenticating questionable practices by (b) rooting them in the OT history (in much the same way as attempts by certain philosophers to ground their teaching in stories about the gods; see Tit 1:14 note); the latter term probably identifies the kinds of OT material exploited. The close link with the law, noted by Schlarb 1990:83–93, is significant. We are dealing with a form of Jewish teaching which was particularly concerned with the interpretation of the Pentateuch in ways that Pauline Christians found unacceptable.
Hence several interpretations are to be ruled out. There is no evidence to suggest either that the false teachers speculated on their own genealogies which would give them standing in Judaism (Schlatter, 34f.), or that the reference might be to Gnostic systems of aeons standing in genealogical relationship to one another, despite the fact that Irenaeus (AH praef. 1) applied this verse to Gnostics (see Tit 1:14; 3:9 and notes). (I. Howard Marshall, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles [London: T&T Clark International, 1999], 362, 365-68
If we use ang mali-maling exegesis ng mga anti-mormon, Paul would be in coflict to other writers ng Bible na naglalagay ng genealogies. ang genealogies ay ginagamit ng mga Jews at Christians para malaman yung priesthood at authority ng isang person. naglagay si Matthew and Luke ng genealogies sa kanilang writings para mapatunayan ang Messianship ni Jesus Christ (Mt. 1:1-17; Lk. 3:23-38) dahil as prophesied sa Old Testament, mangagaling ang Messiah mula kay David (2 Sam. 7:12-16; Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6; Acts 15:15-16; Heb. 1:5). so may silbi ang genealogies. The American Bible Society (ABS) said :
People in ancient Israel placed great importance on who their family's ancestors were. The Bible includes family lists (genealogies) in order to show where certain families came from and why they were important. Genesis lists the male head of each family from Adam to Noah (Gen 5:1-32), from Noah through the descendants of his three sons, Japheth, Ham and Shem, and from Shem to Abraham (Gen 11:20-26). Isaac was the son God promised to give Abraham and Sarah. Genesis tells the story of Isaac's descendants, but the genealogy in Genesis 25:12-18 is a reminder that Abraham also had a son named Ishmael with Hagar, Sarah's slave. The names listed in this passage are based on village names in areas surrounding Canaan, but are not really part of the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. Many of the names included in the lists from Genesis are of tribes or places rather than individuals (for example, see Gen 10). Even so, they show how God's purpose works through the historical experiences of groups as well as of individuals.
The only proper family line for Israel's priests was from Levi (Exod 6:16-25). The long list of worthy ancestors of Israel's first king, Saul, is given in 1 Chronicles 1:1-9:44. Those who wanted to be priests or kings had to show they were descended from these families. After the Jews returned from exile in Babylonia, beginning in about 538 B.C., family lists were emphasized as a way of prooving ethnic and religious purity. Lists form Ezra show which families could serve as priests and temple workers and which were questionable (Ezra 2). Ezra 10 lists those who wanted to remain priests but first had to agree to divorce their foreign wives (Ezra 10:18-44).
Israel's future kings were to be descendants of King David (2 Sam 7:16; Isa 11:1-5; Ps 89:3,4). Both of the genealogies of Jesus (Matt 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-28) link him with David, although they differ in details in their lists. Matthew emphasizes Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel, so his list begins with Abraham, the father of God's people (Gen 12:1-3). Then his list moves through David, Israel's model king, and through leaders of the Jewish people when they returned from exile (Matt 1:17). The list in Luke goes backwards beginning with Joseph, Jesus' legal father, through David the king, Jacob, Abraham, and all the way back to Adam, the first human. This line shows that Jesus was important, not only for Israel, but for the whole human race.
Clearly this passage has nothing against with the vicarious work ng mga Latter Day Saints para sa kanilang mga ancestors.
