Albert Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is a respected theologian and scholar who has written extensively on a variety of topics. He is known for his conservative views on social issues and his defense of traditional Christian beliefs.
Mohler is among the many Bible commentators and scholars who believe that the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4 were angelic beings who married human women, resulting in the birth of the Nephilim, commonly referred to as the giants in the Bible. Mohler’s view aligns with the traditional interpretation of the passage held by many Jews and early Christian church fathers.
In a review of Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” movie, Mohler criticized the portrayal of the Nephilim as rock giants who tried to help humanity. He argued that the biblical account depicts the Nephilim as a result of the sinful union between angels and women, and that they were “fallen creatures” who were ultimately destroyed in the flood.
The problem is not that the movie has to fill in any number of narrative gaps, or that Aronofsky used his imagination in so doing.
His oddest characterization, by the way, may well be the “fallen angels” called the “watchers,” based rather loosely on the Nephilim found in Genesis 6:4. They appear in the film as giant figures made of something like rock and asphalt.
They first appear as enemies of humankind, but one, speaking with the voice of Nick Nolte, protects Noah and convinces others to do likewise. They appear as mighty cartoon figures in the movie, but they really belong in a science fiction film.
In portraying the Nephilim this way, Aronofsky has not made these figures more strange than how the Bible describes them.
The Bible actually presents them in even more bizarre terms. They are described as beings who were on the earth in those days, “when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and bore children to them.”
This appears to be an indication that rebellious angels had sexual intercourse with human women, who bore sons described as “the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.”
This understanding of the Nephilim seems to be affirmed in the New Testament in Jude, verses 6-7.
Excerpt from – Drowning in Distortion—Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah”
Additionally, Mohler indicates his belief that Jude confirms this interpretation in the New Testament.
