When Giants Were upon the Earth: The Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Cosmic War of the Seed

Stimulating reading for science-minded and biblically minded readers. The author who wrote this book has a lot to say about some of the strange images we read about in the Bible. Giants, flying reptiles, satyrs, fauns, denizens, angels, demons, etc. Once I read this, I began realizing that much of the strange things we see in the world outside the Bible are about as realistic as some of these images mentioned in the Bible. The battle between our minds and our souls carries on.

Often when reading through the Bible, whether one does so for religious reasons or not, we miss details in the background. Or we do not take into consideration cultural context while interpreting passages. Sometimes, due to difficulties in translating ancient languages into modern ones, some things are literally lost in translation. In this volume, where Godawa collects material he has previously published into one volume, he examines many of these issues. In particular, he focuses on topics that have long mystified people and been the subject of much conjecture and fictionalization: Nephilim, Watchers and giants. He also takes a close look at verses that may have had supernatural elements inadvertently scrubbed: The strange ariel creatures in 2 Samuel 23:20 translated instead into men, or the demons and goblins of Isaiah 13:21-22 written off as wild animals, etc. Clues to a different ancient world than usually supposed?The only misstep is his adherence to the John Walton ANE interpretation. This is based on superficial interpretation, and worse history (e.g. the whole ANE "dome" interpretation of creation is largely mythical). Walton's books haves done a huge disservice in undermining biblical inerrancy. See Hugh Ross' Rescuing Inerrancy for more on Walton and others who aren't too good at biblical study.There's a lot of food for thought in these pages. For more, see Navigating Genesis: A Scientist's Journey through Genesis 1-11 and The Bible among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature?.

Review for 'When Giants Were Upon the Earth". As a Christian Bible reader of many years, I was not sure what I was getting myself into by buying and reading this book. ( I do have other books that are not part of the Bible such as Mr. Godawa mentions for reference.)Mr. Godawa has made careful and thorough research on the subject of the Nephilim which is only briefly mentioned in the Bible. He has broadened my understanding of little known facts about the giants and the pagan beliefs of other cultures. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased that a Hollywood screenwriter would do justice to the teachings of God. I do disagree with him about his ideas about satan - I believe he is an individual spirit being and the leader of the other angels that revolted in Heaven. In the New Testament we note that he is ruler of this world John 12:31, he transforms himself into an angel of light II Cor 11:14 and he is also a roaring lion 1 Peter 5:8.I am not totally finished with this book yet but I am hoping that there is information on Nimrod.I would recommend this book for Christian readers who want Bible information 'fleshed out' and explained and about the sons of God, the Nephilim etc.

I'm sort of a fan of Dr. Michael Heiser, who wrote the Foreword in this book, so I was very familiar with the subject matter. This book is written as the appendices of the Chronicles of the Nephilim, but can certainly stand alone as a book to enjoy. Actually, the author does an excellent job of not burdening the reader with too many details from the series of books that this book pertains to. When reading the Bible, there's so many fascinating details that are totally missed. It is a multi-dimensional and supernatural Book that is meant to be studied. The fallen angels and giants are never taught in Sunday School and only briefly mentioned in sermons (if at all). But what happened in the beginning opens our eyes to the whole big picture of the sources of evil AND it paves the way to understanding the Bible as a whole. I highly recommend When Giants Were Upon The Earth by Brian Godawa. It provides over 600 notes in the back of the book for further study and references. Have a highlighter handy (or get ready to highlight a lot on your kindle) because you will want to go back and study some things in greater detail.

What a refreshing cup of water to a thirsty mind! I'm so glad I stumbled across this book and this author, Brian Godawa. I was beginning to think I was the only person on earth who had questions about traditional Christianity versus ancient cultures as well as other mysteries on our earth, and this book has made some links and clarifications on some fascinating subjects that aren't dealt with much in the modern church. It didn't matter that this book is a compilation of appendices based on his research for one of his fiction series. It read, easily, as a non-fiction book and I appreciated how the author used facts based off of biblical and other ancient documents in a rather logical way, with limited conjecture and emotion. I tried absorbing the information in this book as quickly as possible, and already have admired and desired the author's other utterly fascinating book offers. Thank you, Mr. Godawa, for your seeming unrelentless pursuit of truth! I stand with you.

The facts as they relate to the bible and some other scripts are good, but it would have been better if they were backed up with scientific facts and Egyptian findings. This would have given a broader and more open-minded big picture. I was disappointed overall.