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As highlighted in Chapter 10, the "Sons of God" of Genesis 6 was understood as referring to (fallen) angels by the ancient rabbinical sources, by the Septuagint transla- tors, and by the early church fathers. However, many students of the Bible have been taught that passage in Genesis 6 refers to a failure to keep the "faithful" lines of Seth separate from the "worldly" line of Cain. The idea has been advanced that after Cain killed Abel, the line of Seth remained separate and faithful, but the line of Cain turned ungodly and rebellious. The "Sons of God" are deemed to refer to leadership in the line of Seth; and the "Daughters of men" is deemed restricted to the line of Cain. The resulting marriages blurred an inferred separation between them. (Why the resulting offspring are called the "Nephilim" remains without any clear explanation.) refer to fallen angels procreating with human women. However, it was in the fifth century A.D. that the "angel" interpretation of Genesis 6 was increasingly viewed as an embarrassment when attacked by critics. (Furthermore, the worship of angels had begun within the church. Also, celibacy had also become an institution of the church. The "angel" view of Genesis 6 was feared as a \ Celsus and Julian the Apostate used the traditional "angel" belief to attack Christianity. Julius Africanus resorted to the Sethite interpretation as a more comfortable ground. Cyril of Alexandria also repudiated the orthodox "angel" position with the "line of Seth" interpretation. Augustine also embraced the Sethite theory and thus it prevailed into the Middle Ages. It is still widely taught today among many churches who find the literal "angel" view a bit disturbing. Beyond obscuring a full understanding of the events in the early chapters of Genesis, this view also clouds any opportunity to apprehend the prophetic implications of the Scriptural allusions to the "Days of Noah." Some of the many problems with the "Sethite View" include the following: Substantial liberties must be taken with the literal text to propose the "Sethite" view (In data analysis, it is often said that, "if you torture the data severely enough it will confess to anything.") Elohim," which is a term consistently used in the Old Testament for angels. It was so understood by the ancient rabbinical sources, by the Septuagint translators in the 3rd century before Christ, and by 191 ORIGIN OF THE SETHITE VIEW Both the ancient Hebrew scholars and the early church fathers understood the text to impacting these views.) PROBLEMS WITH THE SETHITE VIEW 1. THE TEXT ITSELF The term translated "the Sons of God" is, in the Hebrew, B'nai HaElohim, "Sons of