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106). This is an increasingly popular view among the ancient astronaut theorists, for example, with the reference to "Nephilim" being used by some to mean angels, others to mean demons, and yet others who believe these were extraterrestrial visitors and there is enough tangential evidence to fuel additional interest in this explanation concerning these alternative identities of the sons of God.
A final explanation is provided by Eastman (2002) who maintains that the reference to the sons of God in the Genesis narrative are the basis for the same treatment of human disobedience to God's will that are used in the New Testament in Romans. From Eastman's perspective, God was just setting mankind up in Genesis 6:2 so he could then demonstrate his mercy by forgiving them. According to Eastman, Genesis 6:2 is similar to Romans 8:20:22 in that "With God as the implied subject, [both] suggest that futile thinking and darkened hearts are not chosen conditions but unanticipated consequences. The threefold ... Of 1:24, 26, and 28 reinforces this dialectic between divine sovereignty and human disobedience and provides a context for understanding God" (p. 263). Although this may be the case (after all, who can know the mind of God?), the other two possible solutions represent better choices, with the common feature of the supernatural and divine quality of the sons of God made by Bulgakov and Jakim as well as Robbins. In other words, the best possible solution for understanding the sons of God in the Genesis context is that these were beings who were on a mission from God to procreate with mortals, and they were provided with the ability to do so by God. It remains unclear, and perhaps always will, precisely why God dispatched the sons of God for this purpose, but this explanation means that like other physical manifestations of God's will, God can use whatever resources he wants to achieve his will.
Conclusion
References
Bulgakov, S. & Jakim, S. (2002). The bride of the Lamb. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
Eastman, S. (2002). Whose apocalypse? The identity of the sons of God in Romans 8: 19.
Journal of Biblical Literature, 121(2), 263-264.
Robbins, V.K. (1996). The tapestry of early Christian discourse: Rhetoric, society, and ideology. New York: Routledge.
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