As for the angels theory, many very early scholars held the view that the scriptures were saying that these sons of God were actually angels. Flavius Josephus, Philo, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, Athenagoras , Commodianus, and even the Historian and Bishop Pamphilus Eusibius all held to this traditional view, just to name a few.
Josephus said, “Now this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers… many angels of God accompanied with women and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians called giants. But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and, being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better; but, seeing that they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land. (see pg. 32, Book 1, chapters 3, 72-74, The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whitson, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987)
Both Josephus and Philo were taking from what had always been taught and believed. The first verbalized commentary of this nature appears in apocryphal works, the earliest of which is Enoch 1 which is preserved in the Bibles of the Ethiopian Orthodox church to this day. An Ethiopian Jewish Codice was translated in 1821 by Richard Laurence the Arch Bishop of Cashel in England as well, but the one we are most familiar with is the translation found in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, translated by R.H. Charles, Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1913. This is an invaluable work that I would recommend for all serious students of the Bible. It is also is the source of the quotation we will be viewing that has been taken from The Book of Jubilees. Since that time we have also uncovered a fragmented copy of Enoch 1 (4Q201) among the works of the apocalyptic Qumran society of Dead Sea Scroll fame.
Enoch 6:1-6 says, “And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto to them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.' And Samyaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon . . .
Jubilees 5:1-3 tells us a similar tale. Now this rendition adds an additionally abominable fact. I believe when it says, “all flesh corrupted its way, and their orders,” that this implies that the nature of sexual activity crossed all the lines and limitations designed by God. Not only were men with other men as women, and women were now sodomizing and also being with each other as men, but also that animals were being involved and corrupted as well. Was this not as it was in Sodom and Gomorrah? Oh, how terribly vile! God forbid! And finally it appears that brutal gluttony was afoot, and possibly even cannibalism, but without doubt they had no regard for the commands of God. It also mentions giants as their offspring, but this shall be discussed separately. In chapter 5:6, as in other accounts, we read, “And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave command to root them out of all their dominion, and He made us [one of the good angels is speaking] to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them and are (kept) separate.”
Moving on, as a testimony to the witness of the early Church, I have chosen just a couple of passages that should suffice to let you know that the earliest church also held to this same view.
In volume 1 of The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Justin Martyr, in his Second Apologia, chapter 5 Declares. “The Bible says that God made Adam in his own image and likeness (see Genesis Chapter 1: 26-27) so we can see how some may say Adam could be considered a son of God (Luke 3:38), but following on we read that Adam had a son in his own likeness, in his own image (Genesis Chapter 5:3). So based on the scripture itself, can we really say that Seth is defined therein as a son of God? According to this scripture alone, if it were all we had, Seth would be more clearly defined as a son of Adam or son of man.
As indicated earlier, one can see that some may have been considering the alternate Sethite view because of the language Justin uses. The argument being poised this way indicates this was so. So Justin also wrote “when He had made the whole world, and subjected things earthly to man … committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons.”
Many other cultures allude to this time in their myths. Not only do we find similar themes amidst the mythologies of the Norse, Greeks, and the Romans, but even among many of the nature religions. I am convinced that if this theory is correct, then these abominable offspring are the so-called Titans. In many of the nature religions, like the Yaruba of Nigeria, the Creator God, the highest God, gave governance and guidance of the earth over into the hands of lesser gods (our angels), some of who rebelled and sought control over humans (Ogun, Dagon, Atun, etc.,). Others believed to be good were sent to oppose them.
In the Greek myths, the Titans were giant or mighty half-human half-gods, who were the fruit or offspring of the Olympian gods and earthly peoples. When Chronus led a rebellion against his father they were defeated and imprisoned in a place called tartarosas. This is the exact same word used by Peter for hell in 2 Peter 2:4 which is commonly understood to mean an abyss.
2 Peter 2:4 says, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartarosas) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment…”
Even the ancient Babylonian “Enuma Elish” (which mystics translate as the truth of the god-men) describes a similar battle and defeat involving the highest of their gods, Marduk, the Creator, who defeats the “water gods” in order to form and populate the earth. Could the water gods be these offspring and their fathers who were destroyed in the flood? After all many of the post-Noahic myths seem to be culturally colored elaborations of the stories captured the books of the generations depicted in the Bible. All of this seems to be affirmed in Jude 5-7 where the writer says: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Paul
