Bismillah
salam Shamms
I m sorry for being so late to reply, however, I did read the long reply u posted. Thank u for taking the time, specially for clarifying the part of Joseph. Of course i m aware of Joseph the carpenter who is claimed to be father of Jesus (may Allah Forgive me), but I didnt know that he had two fathers Jacob and Helli.
Any way, u seem satisfied with this explanation to yourself, regadless the fact that u said there are contradictions which are difficult to resolve. As long as you are stasified then fine Alhamdulelah.
As for me, well........... :), I thought of stopping here but then said no harm to elaborate.
Logically speaking, without digging deep into both versions which have differences, Jesus is not supposed to have such a geneology to start with. Why would they actually start the bible which is a holy book with the geneology of jesus unless it is supposed to be of a special weight in confirming his special position. Whereas, what makes him really special totally contradicts the fact of having a geneology. I mean u r supposed to trace the seed, Mary was not but a container.
This is how I think.