CHAPTER XIII. THE DELUGE. "THE CAUSE OF THE SINFULNESS OF MANKIND.-WHO WERE THE 'HE development of sin, after the fall of our first parents, was such that God determined to sweep the offending race from the face of the earth by a mighty deluge. This was consummated sixteen hundred and fifty-six years after the creation of Adam, or two thousand two hundred and sixty-two years by the chronology of the Septuagint. The Bible contains the only historical record of this great event; but traditions, said to be found in almost all parts of the world, confirm the fact that a destructive deluge once occurred. It is hard to account for the universality and similarity of these traditions, supposing them to exist, without granting them an historical basis. Recently-discovered cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets in Assyria and at Babylon corroborate the Mosaic account. The object of the flood was to destroy the race of Adam. It was the wickedness of " the Adamite" that "God saw was great in the earth," and "it repented God that he had made the Adamite on the earth.” "And the Lord said, I will destroy the Adamite whom I have created from the face of the earth." I give here the translation "the Adamite," instead of "man," for, whether "ha-Adam" can generally be translated "the Adamite" or not, it is plain that in these two texts it refers to the descendants of Adam. To perpetuate the race, God resolved to save Noah and his family. This pious patriarch is described as a just man and perfect in his generations," that is, in his genealogy: his family history proved him to be of unmixed blood running back to Adam. In the sixth chapter of Genesis the inspired writer assigns the cause of the universal depravity that prevailed. In this connection he relates that "there were giants in the earth in those days." This does. not necessarily mean giants in physical stature and strength, but may mean "violent men," "monsters,' "prodigies," or "giants" in crime. The only reason assigned for the great ungodliness of the world is recorded in these words: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." Who were "the sons of God" and "the daughters of men" from whom sprung this degenerate progeny? Difficult as it may be to interpret the peculiar language employed, it seems clear that the marriages referred to were the union of different races. The expressions, "sons of God" and "daughters of men are placed in antithesis. The orthodox interpretation is that "the sons of God" were the descendants of Seth, who still worshiped the true God, and that "the daughters of men" were the ungodly race of Cain. But it is not easy to understand how the descendants of Seth, if pious enough to be called the sons of God, which this interpretation would seem to require, could have been so universally disobedient, depraved and regardless of God's will as to enter into these unlawful marriages; and it is clear they did not adhere to God, for Noah was the only righteous man. Certainly "the sons of God" were not so called because they were righteous, for their sins were so great as to call for the vengeance of God. The supposition I adopt is that our translation is incorrect, and that instead of "the sons of God" the expression should be rendered "sons of the gods," meaning worshipers of false gods, the idolatrous and inferior black and yellow races with whom the descendants of Adam were in contact, and who were on the earth when Adam was created, and who, therefore, were not made in the image of God, and were without the spiritual nature of our first parents. The Chaldean version gives "sons of the eminent ones," and may refer to superior men of the inferior races. may be the true meaning, even if "the sons of God" be the true translation; for, according to the Hebrew idiom, the name of God is often used to express This something great, beautiful or good, and so the expression may refer to men of great stature, strength or renown amongst the inferior races. Or, if "the sons of God" is the correct rendering, it may be that the writer designates them as "the sons of God" because created by God. The expression "sons of God" has different meanings. In Job xxxviii. 7, it is used to designate unfallen angels; but in Genesis vi. 2, it cannot have that meaning. It is true, some have supposed that angels did really come down from heaven, assume the form of men, and take to themselves wives of the daughters of men; but this is simply preposterous. Such a thought or unholy desire entering the minds of unfallen angels would have consigned them to Tophet, ordained of old for the devil and his angels. If angels, they were spiritual beings, and it is difficult to conceive how they could have perished in the flood; but the supposition is too absurd to merit consideration. Some think "the sons of God" were Adamites, and that "the daughters of men" belonged to the lower races, the practical conclusions from which are the same as herein maintained. It seems clear that "the daughters of men" were women of the Adamic race. The expression, "children of men," in Genesis xi. 5, plainly refers to the Adamic race. In Genesis vi. 1, we may translate, "When the Adam [some render it "the Adamite"] began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them," etc. If this be admitted, as it must be, "the daughters of men" were Adamites, literally "the daughters of Adam." The earth was corrupt, says the record, and all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth, and the earth was filled with violence. The corruption was not only the ordinary fruit of sin, but it was corruption of blood: it was the degradation of Adam's race by intermixture with the lower races. The "violence" that filled the earth was more than lawlessness and oppression: it was that unholy miscegenation that did violence to God's order of things and the implied command to keep separate races that He had made diverse. It was a mongrel race that God destroyed. The union was unnatural and forbidden, and the fruit monstrosities in nature and in sin. The offspring of such unions as the mixed white and black races are notoriously more vicious and immoral than either parent stock, inheriting the vices without the virtues of their progenitors. The marriage of white men to women of the inferior races was sufficiently offensive to merit the destruction of such a people; but when the men of these races "took to them wives" of Adam's posterity, when white women descended to such shocking and beastly degradation as to submit to the embrace of Africans or Mongolians, chieftains and men of renown though they may have been, no wonder God said: "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; |