Lydard, some members of the LDS seriously think they can trace people back to the Old Testament times - not sure if they think they can trace as far as Adam! 
When I've been in there researching and been told that, I just smile sweetly and say that's pretty impressive! (Not going to bite the hand that feeds me with all these great films of PRs, etc! )
MarieC
The fact that it is possible to plot a tree back to biblical times is not really in dispute, it can be done.
However grave doubts must be reserved about the accuracy of any such tree.
Here in England as we progress through the medieval period written records that specify specific people become scare. It becomes almost impossible to obtain different sources of material to confirm a single mention of a name and accuracy is put in doubt.
As we progress further many/most lines then rely on Scandinavian oral history which may be extremely accurate or it may contain errors.
In a similar way Gypsy history leans heavily on oral history which in some cases is extremely accurate but in others not so.
The further back in history the scarcer the records become, even the bible must be questioned as many of the books that make up the bible were written hundreds of years after the events portrayed. Records do exist but those that do exist require translation and here experts even disagree to the meaning of such translations.
The problem is not tracing a line back to biblical times but in proving the accuracy of such a line without gaps.
Cheers
Guy
