If you care about Genesis 6:1–4, you need to meet Athenagoras. Writing to Roman leaders in the late 100s, he defends Christians and, along the way, explains what went wrong in the world.
He says some angels left their charge, lusted after women, and from those unions came giants. The result was not only big bodies. It was a culture blown apart by sorcery, idolatry, and the misuse of knowledge.
This is the same stream you see in 1 Enoch and in much Second Temple Jewish thought.
It is not new with Athenagoras. He inherits it and uses it to answer a practical question: why is the world like this?
Who was Athenagoras?
Athenagoras was a well-educated Christian writer in Athens. His Plea addresses the Roman emperor and Senate, asking for fair treatment of Christians. He argues that Christians are good citizens and that they worship the one God.
In chapter 24, he pauses to explain angels and giants, because the Roman world already had stories about giants and rebel gods.
He says, in effect, the poets told fragments, but Scripture tells the truth. (New Advent, Logos Library)
Here’s the quote from A Plea for the Christians 24
For this is the office of the angels — to exercise providence for God over the things created and ordered by Him…
Just as with men, who have freedom of choice as to both virtue and vice… so is it among the angels.
Some, free agents, you will observe, such as they were created by God, continued in those things for which God had made and over which He had ordained them;
but some outraged both the constitution of their nature and the government entrusted to them… these fell into impure love of virgins, and were subjugated by the flesh, and he became negligent and wicked in the management of the things entrusted to him.
Of these lovers of virgins, therefore, were begotten those who are called giants.
For readers in Rome, this would ring with echoes of their own myths. Athenagoras even nods to “the poets” who spoke of giants, while insisting that divine truth is different from human stories. (New Advent, Bible Hub)
What Athenagoras teaches in simple terms
1) Angels had real work and real freedom
God set angels over parts of creation. Like humans, they had freedom to choose virtue or vice. Some stayed faithful. Some did not. (New Advent)
2) Some angels crossed a holy boundary
A group “fell into impure love of virgins” and were “subjugated by the flesh.” Their sin was not only lust. It was also dereliction of duty. They “outraged” their nature and their post. (New Advent)
3) The unions produced giants
“Of these lovers of virgins… were begotten those who are called giants.” This matches how many Jews and early Christians read Genesis 6:1–4. (New Advent)
4) The fallout was cultural and spiritual
In the wider tradition behind Athenagoras, the fallen angels also taught forbidden arts that fed idolatry and sorcery. He hints at that same moral logic: bad knowledge plus bad desire destroys a people. (Compare Irenaeus’s list of cosmetics, potions, and spells describing the same tradition.) (New Advent)
How this fits Genesis 6 and the New Testament
Genesis 6:1–4 is brief: “sons of God” took wives from the “daughters of men,” and Nephilim were on the earth. The chapter then shows a world filled with violence, and God announces the Flood. Athenagoras reads the “sons of God” as angels and the Nephilim as giants. That’s the standard angel view.
The New Testament lines up with this stream.
- Jude 6 speaks of angels who did not keep their own position.
- 2 Peter 2:4 says God did not spare angels when they sinned.
Placed alongside the Flood in both letters, these hints show how first-century believers heard Genesis 6. Athenagoras shows the same understanding in the late second century.
Why Athenagoras mentions Greek poets and giants
He knows his audience. Romans and Greeks had myths about giants warring against heaven. Athenagoras says: do not be surprised if the poets told parts of this. But such stories are earthly wisdom, not revealed truth.
He wants them to see that Scripture explains the real cause of moral collapse: angelic rebellion and human sin together. (New Advent, Bible Hub)
How his view relates to 1 Enoch and Second Temple tradition
Athenagoras reflects a Jewish backstory that was already common long before him. The Watcher tradition in 1 Enoch tells how angels descended, took wives, taught forbidden arts, and were judged.
Scholars note that Legatio 25 retells this myth in a Greek key and even interiorizes the battle by using Stoic psychological language for how fallen angels influence human souls. That is a unique and thoughtful twist for a Greek audience. (dragosgiulea.files.wordpress.com, SciSpace)
In short: Athenagoras sits inside the Enochic stream but presents it with philosophical polish for the Roman world.
A fair look at the Sethite view
Later Christian readers, especially after Augustine, often took the “sons of God” as the line of Seth and the “daughters of men” as the line of Cain. On this view the sin was the intermarriage of the faithful and unfaithful, not angels crossing a boundary.
Athenagoras shows us an earlier moment where the angelic reading was normal and uncontroversial. He does not pause to defend it or argue alternatives. He just states it. That silence shows his setting: in many Jewish and early Christian circles, the angel view was simply assumed. For the broader pattern in early fathers, see modern surveys of patristic thought on the fall of angels. (EliScholar)
What this adds to a Bible-first reading
1) It fills in the moral “why”
Genesis highlights violence. Athenagoras helps us see the spiritual engines of that violence: lust, pride, bad teaching, and bad worship.
2) It clarifies the boundary
God made kinds and gave roles. Angels had a real post. They abandoned it. That helps us read Jude and Peter with clarity.
3) It warns about knowledge without holiness
In the old stories, fallen angels share knowledge for power and pleasure. Athenagoras keeps the focus on character. Knowledge without holiness is poison.
Definitions for new readers
- Sons of God: in this article, angels who crossed a boundary
- Daughters of men: human women
- Nephilim: usually understood as the offspring of those unions; often remembered as giants or mighty ones
- Watchers: extra-biblical label for the angels who sinned, common in 1 Enoch
- Second Temple literature: Jewish writings from about 500 BC to AD 70 that retell and interpret Scripture; helpful background, not Scripture
Strengths and limits of using Athenagoras
Strengths
- He is early and clear.
- He connects Genesis 6 to idolatry and sorcery, not just violence.
- He engages the Greek world with a story Jews already knew, and he does it with philosophical care. (dragosgiulea.files.wordpress.com)
Limits
- He assumes the angel view and does not present the Sethite view.
- He reflects Second Temple background (helpful, but not inspired).
His passing allusions to poets and philosophy need context, which modern readers can miss without notes. (New Advent)
My thoughts
I appreciate how calm Athenagoras is. He is not trying to shock anyone. He takes a known Jewish story, trims the excess, and puts it to work for the gospel in a Greek setting. He reminds me to keep the main thing the main thing: God judges evil and keeps a people for himself. The world that mocks that truth still loves the shine of power, image, and secret knowledge. His counsel is simple: hold fast to truth, purity, and worship of the one God. That is as timely now as it was then.
Conclusion: Back to Scripture, with clearer ears
Athenagoras shows that the angel view of Genesis 6 was alive and well among early Christians. Angels misused freedom, crossed a boundary, and giants came. The city filled with idolatry and sorcery. God’s answer was judgment and mercy, just as Genesis says.
Let his short chapter send you back to the text of Scripture, and let it help you read Jude and Peter with fresh clarity. Then walk in the light: love God, reject idols, and keep your hope in Christ.
