Justin Martyr believed fallen angels in Genesis 6 inspired pagan myths. Explore how he tied Nephilim, demons, and gods to the Bible’s earliest stories.
Justin Martyr, one of the earliest Christian apologists, believed the story in Genesis 6:1–4 wasn’t just a strange episode from ancient history. To him, it explained something far more current: the origin of pagan mythology.
Writing in the mid-2nd century, Justin proposed that the “sons of God” in Genesis were angelic beings who fell from grace, sired children with human women, and corrupted humanity. These offspring—and their rebellious angelic fathers—became the real source of the so-called “gods” of Greek and Roman myth.
In Justin’s worldview, the Nephilim became demons, and their angelic sires were the distorted memory behind Zeus, Apollo, and the rest.
Who Was Justin Martyr?
Born around AD 100 in Flavia Neapolis (modern-day Nablus), Justin was a Gentile, steeped in Greek philosophy. He searched across schools—Stoicism, Peripateticism, Pythagoreanism—before embracing Platonism.
But a chance conversation with a Christian elder changed his life. Justin discovered in Christianity what he could not find in philosophy: a true and living revelation, grounded in the witness of the Hebrew prophets and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Justin later traveled to Rome, started a Christian school, and wrote two Apologies defending the faith against pagan charges. His efforts cost him his life—he was beheaded during the reign of Marcus Aurelius around AD 165. Ever since, he’s been honored as a saint and martyr by nearly all major Christian traditions.
Justin’s Apologetic Strategy: Pagan Myths as Twisted Truths
In The Second Apology, Justin directly addresses the pagan myths of his day. He argues that the stories of gods mating with mortals—so common in Greco-Roman lore—were not mere fantasy. Instead, they were distorted memories of a true and ancient event recorded in Genesis 6.
Here’s what Justin wrote:
“God… committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begot children who are those that are called demons… and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate deeds, and all wickedness.
(The Second Apology, ch. 5)
Justin continues:
“Whence also the poets and mythologists… ascribed them to god himself, and to those who were accounted to be his very offspring… For whatever name each of the angels had given to himself and his children, by that name they called them.”
This is a sweeping claim:
- The “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were angels
- Their children became demons
- Pagan deities were actually fallen angels and their offspring
- Ancient mythologies preserved corrupted echoes of this rebellion
Genesis 6:1–4 and Its Controversy
The biblical passage reads:
“The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose… The Nephilim were on the earth in those days… when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them.”
(Genesis 6:1–4, ESV)
This cryptic story has invited many interpretations:
- Sethite View: “Sons of God” were descendants of Seth; “daughters of men” were from Cain’s line.
- Royal View: “Sons of God” were powerful kings claiming divinity.
- Angelic View: “Sons of God” were angels who sinned.
Justin, like most early Christian interpreters of his time, embraced the angelic view.
He likely drew on the Book of Enoch, a popular Jewish text from before the time of Christ, which expanded the Genesis 6 story into a full narrative of angelic rebellion and judgment.
Influence of the Book of Enoch
Though never included in the Jewish or most Christian canons, 1 Enoch was highly influential in early Christian thought. Justin doesn’t quote it directly, but his retelling matches it closely:
“And the angels… took unto themselves wives… and they began to go in unto them… and they bare great giants… And the whole earth has been corrupted.”
(1 Enoch 6–10)
Enoch also describes these angels as teaching humans sorcery, warfare, and idolatry—the very things Justin accuses them of.
This connection suggests Justin saw 1 Enoch as a legitimate source of insight into the Genesis 6 story. But unlike Jude, who quotes Enoch explicitly, Justin incorporates it as theological backdrop, not Scripture.
Pagan Deities as Fallen Angels?
In Justin’s view, pagan gods like Zeus, Hermes, and Apollo were not mere inventions—but fallen spiritual beings and their offspring, remembered through myths.
He wasn’t alone. This interpretation reappeared in:
- Athenagoras (2nd century): Demons were offspring of the Watchers
- Irenaeus (late 2nd century): Giants and demons descended from angels
- Tertullian (3rd century): Angels fell through lust, as in Genesis 6
Later church fathers moved away from this interpretation, especially as the Book of Enoch fell out of favor. But in the 2nd century, this angelic rebellion view was the mainstream Christian explanation for Genesis 6.
A Theological Use, Not Speculation
It’s crucial to understand why Justin used this framework. He wasn’t indulging in speculation. He was defending:
- The historicity of the Bible
- The moral superiority of Christian doctrine
- The origin of evil and idolatry
To Justin, pagan stories of divine-human unions didn’t refute the Bible—they proved it. These were not myths mocking Christianity. They were misremembered fragments of the truth, filtered through the darkness of fallen spirits.
Personal Commentary: Why This Still Matters
Justin Martyr’s angel theology may sound wild to modern ears. But at its heart lies a brilliant apologetic instinct: he was trying to show that Christianity told the true, original story. One that made sense of the world’s brokenness, and one that held out redemption in Christ.
He didn’t elevate the Book of Enoch to Scripture. He used it—like Paul used Greek poets—to explain and persuade. Justin wasn’t looking to dazzle with secrets. He was pointing to Jesus through the oldest truths he could find.
And in doing so, he showed a powerful truth: even the strangest stories can be redeemed in the light of the gospel
