• Matthew 1:16 → “Jacob begat Joseph.”
• Luke 3:23 → “Joseph, the son of Heli.”
• Discrepancy 1: Joseph has two different fathers.
• Discrepancy 2: Matthew’s three sets of 14 generations (Matt. 1:17) actually add up as 14 + 14 + 13.

Scholars (even conservative ones like Craig Blomberg, R.T. France, Craig S. Keener) admit this remains unsolved without creative speculation.

1. Two genealogies theory (Joseph vs Mary)
   • Matthew = Joseph’s lineage; Luke = Mary’s lineage.
   • Problem: Both explicitly say “Joseph.” Church tradition has Mary’s father as Joachim, not Heli. Even Evangelical scholars reject this.
2. Levirate marriage hypothesis
   • Jacob and Heli were brothers; one died childless, the other raised seed for him (Deut. 25:5–6). Joseph counted as “son” of both.
   • Problem: No historical evidence for such an arrangement at this stage in Jewish history.
3. Legal vs biological lineage
   • Matthew = “royal line” (succession of kings).
   • Luke = “biological line.”
   • Problem: Doesn’t remove contradictions, only reclassifies them.
4. Symbolic numerology argument
   • Matthew forced the genealogy into “3 × 14” generations for theological symbolism (14 = David’s name value).
   • Problem: Admits Matthew was shaping history to fit theology — undermining historical reliability.
5. Genealogies as theological devices, not historical records
   • Purpose was not factual but symbolic, like Jewish midrash.
   • Problem: If genealogies are not factual, then using them to prove Jesus’ messianic claim is meaningless.

• Raymond E. Brown (Catholic): “The two genealogies are irreconcilable.”
• John P. Meier: calls them “artificial schematizations.”
• Bart D. Ehrman: sees them as evidence of contradiction and textual shaping.
• Even conservative voices admit Matthew skips names deliberately (a theological move).

• “Inerrancy is about doctrine, not facts.” → Contradictions don’t matter, because faith is in Christ, not in perfect history.
• “Contradictions are features, not bugs.” (cf. Tatian’s Diatessaron condemned for trying to harmonize).
• “Paul told Timothy to avoid genealogies” (1 Tim. 1:3–7).
• “Plutarch and Greco-Roman biographies also contradict.” → Literary expectations were different.
• “Faith is not shaken by minor errors.”

1. Epistemological crisis
   • If the text contradicts itself, on what basis can it claim to be God’s pure revelation?
   • Contrast: Qur’an insists on internal consistency:

     “Had it been from other than Allah, you would have found within it much contradiction.”
     Qur’an 4:82

2. Theological necessity
   • The whole point of the genealogies was to prove Jesus as son of David.
   • If genealogies are symbolic, they cannot be used as proof of lineage.
   • Islam resolves the problem: Jesus is Messiah by divine appointment (Qur’an 3:45), not by textual gymnastics.
3. Historical reliability
   • Admission by Christian scholars that Matthew shaped history (numerology of 14 × 3) proves the Gospels are not neutral accounts but theological constructions.
   • Qur’an, by contrast, emphasizes ḥifẓ (preservation) and ṣidq (truth).
4. Patristic struggle
   • Early Church Fathers debated the genealogies and could not agree. Origen proposed allegory. Augustine conceded difficulties but appealed to mystery.
   • This shows early awareness of contradictions — not a modern Muslim invention.

• Claim: Mary had no brothers; her father Heli “adopted” Joseph upon marriage to preserve family line.
• Matthew = Joseph’s biological ancestry.
• Luke = Joseph’s adopted/legal ancestry via Heli.

• Jeremiah 22:30: Jeconiah’s descendants cursed, none would sit on David’s throne.
• Harmonization:
  • Matthew traces through Solomon → Jeconiah → Joseph (legal line, cursed).
  • Luke traces through Nathan (another son of David) → Mary (biological, uncursed).
  • Jesus thus avoids the curse through virgin birth.

• Claims Jesus fulfills:
  • Genesis 49:10 (“Shiloh” prophecy).
  • Micah 5:2 (Bethlehem birth).
  • Isaiah 7:14 (virgin birth, almah).
  • Isaiah 9:6 (child called Mighty God).
  • Psalm 110 (David calls Messiah “Lord”).
  • Daniel 7:13-14 (Son of Man receiving eternal kingdom).
  • Isaiah 53 (Suffering Servant).

• “Not everything must be reconciled. Contradictions are mysteries.”
• “Faith, not facts, is what matters.”