(urth) Original Sin and pagan gods.

[b sharp]

James B. Jordan writes regarding the fallen angel origin of the Nephilim:

>Nephilim simply means  "powerful men" "great rulers,"

but isn't the word also derived from the Hebrew for "fallen"?

also he writes:

>True, "son of God" means "ruler" in the Hebrew, and is used for angels once 
>or twice, but it also >means "believer" and that is what it means here.

The beginning of Genesis 6 says:
6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the 
earth, and daughters were born unto them,
6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and 
they took them wives of all which they chose.

This indicates to me that the "sons of God" were not men and their 
intercourse with human women was something different from the human 
reproduction which had already covered the face of the earth. Why would God 
need to cleanse the earth of "believers" with a flood, which is described 
immediately after?

and James says:

>The sons of God who married the daughters of men because they were "good" 
>(same word used >of the fruit Eve plucked) were the Sethites who married 
>with the daughters of the Cainites. This >is clear from the context. In 
>Genesis 4-5, men of the Sethite line worshipped Yahweh

So, the forbidden fruit Eve plucked was good?  And "The serpent's job was to 
train them in wisdom". And what were these Sethite line guys doing when the 
rest of humanity was mulitplying.  Why did they only discover the daughters 
of men later? I have trouble understanding all this, especially with a more 
clear, alternate explanation available.

and lastly James B. Jordan writes:

>Without interviewing him, there is really no way to know what Wolfe might 
>be thinking about >such things, hence no way to know what his allusions 
>might be. Moreover, Wolfe may be alluding >to fantastical readings of 
>Genesis (e.g., Lilith) that he himself does not believe. So, be careful, 
>and don't over-read.

Yes, but aren't you the James Jordan who did interview Wolfe and to whom he 
explicitly stated his belief in the reality of pagan gods?  Regarding 
Lilith, yes, James Jordan and Roy Lackey had a discussion of Wolfe's use of 
this myth in regard to Copperhead about five years ago. Why would his use of 
Lilith in BotNS be surprising? And at the risk of sounding disrespectful and 
irreverent I must ask if the admonition to be careful and not over-read also 
applies to Bible reading ;-)?

-bsharp