divisive and dangerous, quite apart from the fact that it made no difference to anybody’s spiritual standing before God. Paul warned Timothy that genealogical research would lead to ekzētēseis, a word that is perhaps best translated here as ‘controversies’.45 This phenomenon is familiar to anyone who has engaged in scientific investigation. Data are discovered that in themselves are objective facts, but they have to be interpreted in relation to other facts and according to criteria that may not
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