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Originally Posted by littlemanpoet
However, Tolkien provided the answer by writing that the Valar who chose to enter Arda clothed themselves in forms befitting the Children of Ilúvatar. I think Tolkien got it right. The term "Nephilim" means 'Children of the Giants'. If you look elsewhere in the historic books of the OT, you discover many references to giants, such as the 'sons of Rafa'; Goliath; and many people living in Palestine (sorry for that anachronism but people understand that term better than Canaan) when the people of Israel spent 40 years tramping through the desert. So the angelic crossbreeding with humans is not so farfetched, and may in fact be closer to the truth (... and may explain to a large extent why Yahweh wanted Israel to kill off the people who lived there; that is, they were set in their ways evildoers who had placed themselves beyond redemption. But anyway....).
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I will continue to respectfully disagree.
- At a time when the average height may have been five feet (1.5 meter), seven feet (2.1), which we see even today, may have seemed to be gigantic. When I meet 'Merican football and basketball players, I feel dwarfed though I am over 2 meters in height. Anyway, I would have to see the bones to believe that actual giants existed. My point is that 'giants' can exist without the intervention of angels.
- Exactly how do angels mate with humans? As stated previously, one has physicality whereas the other does not. To tread more lightly, biologically speaking, do angels therefore have DNA? Or is some other mechanism available? Surely God is not limited by anything, by definition, but I would assume that either angels can natively mate with humans or can only do so at the behest of and with the aid of God. Again, if they can whenever they can, what stops the evil set from doing so? Can we detect those people who carry this bloodline? And, hopefully with much respect, why then is the birth of the Christ so special? My assumption is that taking a physical body is a rare event in Christian theology, as is angels mating with humans.
- Do we know if angels can 'cloak themselves in flesh?' I remember that there was an angel that wrestles with a human, and so I guess that it is possible, but yet again, why then is the Christ's physical resurrection so different? He asks his disciples to touch him, and He eats fish, all (I assume) to demonstrate evidence that He is not some wispy spirit but a physical object. There are examples where fallen angels inhabit a human, possessing the person as it where, but one of the same examples show the same demons asking permission to take up residence in a pig, which to me means that even the evil sort were not permitted to whatever they chose.
Again, I am no theologian and I do not intend any disrespect.
Anyway, I see no reason nor mechanism by which angels mate with humans. Tolkien explains how it works in ME, as stated, by having elves be the intermediary and, as you have stated, showing that these nonphysical beings take a physical form of their choosing in order to interact with the physical environment and beings therein. But does Tolkien have the equivalent, as you posit for the Christian world, spawn of the evil ones running around at any time? Melkor perverts the elves to beget orcs, yet I don't remember reading where Melkor or any on his side (like Sauron) mate with elves, men, dwarves etc.
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Well, God. But now you're getting into the nature of divine revelation. Suffice it to say that God revealed to the prophets what He wanted them to write down.
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Understood. My point is that these 'conversations' may not be what they appear, and that God is making some point by showing a 'discussion' is taking place. At times they are utilized as a literary device to have (I assume) a 'question and answer' theme, if that makes sense. And surely an omniscient omnipresent etc God has no 'need' for angels.