R.C. Sproul

And if you read the line from Seth, it brings us down to Noah and those who are mentioned in that catalog of people, for the most part, are godly, righteous, heroic people.

But the line who descend from Cain reads like a rogue's gallery, one vicious sinner after another.

And it's very possible, as many commentators suggest, that the designation sons of God refer to the descendants of Seth and that the daughters of men refer to the descendants of Cain.

So that the godly line and the ungodly line intermarried.

and thereby the whole world fell into corruption, which was manifested at the time of Noah.

Now, I particularly prefer that interpretation, but I have to grant that it's not one that we must handle.

But the point is, be careful of speculation, because the other school of thought says, ha, this must refer to intermarriage between angels and human ladies.

And Paul says over here, women ought to keep their heads covered because of the angels.

And then from there comes the further inference that the thing that Paul's worried about is a repeat of this rape of the human women by the angelic hosts that is recorded for us in the early chapters of Genesis.

Ladies and gentlemen, that thesis is made at least 98% out of whole cloth.

and is implication built upon implication, inference built upon inference, with precious little foundation.

But it is passed off to us at times as if it were the clear, unambiguous teaching of sacred Scripture.

But as I said earlier, it's not just the problem of fancy four irresponsible implications drawn from the text that we ought not to draw, but it's a particularly problematic area when we draw implications that are directly in conflict with something the scriptures specifically teach elsewhere.

For example, one of the most controversial issues

in the history of the Christian church has to do with this question.

Does man in his fallenness, in his sinful condition after the fall, does he have within himself the moral capacity without any help from God the Holy Spirit or from God the Father or from God the Son?

Can natural man in his fallen state

Does he have the moral ability on his own to choose Jesus Christ?

Does he have the moral disposition, the necessary faculty to choose Jesus Christ?

As I say, that is one of the oldest and most bitter points of controversy in the history of the church.