Hi Dennis. Again, thanks for the encouragement. I get the feeling we're going to disagree on some issues (maybe even serious, moral issues) but so far I get the impression that you come across as pretty genuine in your disagreements (i.e. just presenting your perspective rather than being combative about it), and I appreciate that. Keep up the good work!
There definitely seemed to be some funny business going on back in the days of Noah, between angelic beings and humans. As for the morality of it all, I don't think there's enough evidence to definitively prove one way or the other how God felt about it. Your interpretation that Noah was found perfect, not as a reference to his behavior, but rather to his genetic make-up is interesting. I've not hear that perspective before. However, I think about the 144k and how they are also described in a similar way and I tend to think it refers more to a perfect attitude rather than a sinless record. God knows we're going to sin, which is why he provides grace/forgiveness, so it's not really a person without fault that he's looking for (though I think that is the ultimate standard which he'd prefer) but rather a person who will, despite all their mistakes and faults, keep humbling themselves, keep asking forgiveness, keep getting back up again, and keep trying. I believe it is these qualities which will lead to a perfect (or mature) spirit.
But, in the end, Jesus is our ultimate guide and authority and I think his words go to a much deeper problem than inappropriate behavior between humans and angelic beings. I'm not excusing or ignoring those behaviors (if indeed they are sinful) but rather suggesting that Jesus saw a deeper problem.
For starters, Noah and Lot's day were nearly identical in their problems, so the issue of inappropriate behavior humans and angels necessarily becomes excluded from the point Jesus was trying to make. This does not mean there wasn't a legitimate problem with their behavior in that area, but that Jesus wanted us to see something different. Also, it's almost certain that the people of BOTH times engaged in fornication, probably of various kinds. But still, that wasn't in Jesus' list. It's not that those things weren't genuine, legitimate problems, but that Jesus, again, saw a deeper problem.
It's a bit like "the root of all evil". The word "root" suggests that there are also branches. The branches stem from the root, just like we are compared to branches which stem from the vine (i.e. Jesus). Without the vine, we can do nothing. In the same way, all the various evils of the world, (including those various evils which are commonly associated with Noah and Lot's day) also come from a root.
Paul suggested that this root is the love of money, but even that definition is a little too narrow (though I think it still serves it's purpose). I believe Paul described it that way because money is the most common and efficient way to express greed, but that it is greed itself which is the root and all other problems in the world stem from our greed.
The people of Noah and Lot's day had become distracted by their various plans, whether it was building, planting, buying/selling, marriage or even something as basic as eating/drinking. Those things aren't wrong, but they had become more important than God. Their personal desires had become their God and that root then grew into all the other various branches of evil. Jesus wanted us to understand that the worst sin is anything which comes between us and God, especially those which hide behind a facade of normalcy. After all, if we view something as normal, then we're highly unlikely to question it. Once we are distracted by the cares of this world and have come to see the sin of putting these things before God as normal, it then becomes very easy to lose our way in other areas. We stop practicing justice, mercy, kindness and self examination. How could we practice those things when we've become distracted away from the creator of those things?
If we really want to deal with the problems of the world then we must examine those areas of our lives which we've come to view as unquestionable simply because they are too ordinary to question. If we don't deal with the root, first, then all other attempts to address genetic manipulation or fornication will come across as shallow at best and hypocritical at worst.
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