The Descent of the Gods

Epilogue - the story behind the story

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. 

These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 

Genesis 6:1-2,4 

Wow. What a couple of verses!

Okay, go ahead! Make a story out of that that is thrilling, theologically plausible, relatable, relevant, and lives up to the significance of this event which was passed down from generation to generation for the last few thousand years...

I may not have succeeded in all these respects, but I have tried the best I can. For more than fifteen years, I've wrestled with it. Countless times, I battled my own incapabilities to realize the story that I imagined it could be. 

I didn't want to write a story that demanded to be taken as true - I wanted to write a story that coexisted and was consistent with the Book and the worldview it came from. Hopefully I succeeded in writing something that you can enjoy even if you don't claim to believe in God. 

Many who are Christians will not agree with some of my conclusions. I wanted to write a story that they would also be able to appreciate, even if they don't share every interpretation. I'll explain the reasons I chose these interpretations later. But I hope that even if you don't accept certain ideas, the overarching themes and messages will be ones you can appreciate.

The Worldview - 

I wanted to write a story that embraced the simple reading of scripture - the traditional way of understanding the first chapters of Genesis. John Milton's Paradise Lost would not be the seminal work of art it is if it had attempted to somehow 'modernize' the tale. 

Without defending or attacking any particular view on the origins of life and how God may or may not have created the world, for this story I felt that the traditional view was the correct way to tell it. In many ways, this story exists as a sequel to Paradise Lost. I wanted my story to exist in that same universe. 

I feel like it's a fantastic setting for a story - the world, freshly made and fallen, full of all life that ever lived on the earth. Mankind, created in God's own image, is not the dull brute ancestor, but rather fully human from the beginning. Many readers will not believe this was actual history, but I wanted to write a story that doesn't require the reader to believe it personally, but had it's own internal consistency that could be enjoyed regardless of their personal views.

Where the story comes from - 

Until I was about 15, I had never heard this event discussed. Sunday School classes would discuss the story of Cain and Abel one week, and hopped right over these mysterious verses to the story of Noah's Ark by the next week's lesson.

What actually drew my attention to the events of Genesis 6:1-4 was a report I did about the Antediluvian Age. I thought it would be interesting to compile any and all historical accounts and traditional Jewish legends that talked about the 1,600 year period before the flood.

I had no clue the Pandora's box I was opening!

I quickly discovered that the Bible discussed a mysterious event in those short four verses that divides modern Bible scholars and commentators.

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.