The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim by Scott Alan Roberts

While I was taking a backgrounds to literature class at the University, I did a brief paper on Genesis 6: relating the transition from the creation stories to the flood story. Mr. Roberts takes a much deeper dive with his The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim: The Untold Story of Fallen Angels, Giants on the Earth, and Their Extraterrestrial Origins than I did. The author attended divinity school and has a knowledge of ancient Hebrew which helps in understanding the text. The author has great enthusiasm for the topic but does approach it with some humility recognizing that sorting out the wide array of opinions on the ancient scriptures is daunting.

I would suggest approaching this topic from one of pure curiosity rather than from a position of justifying specific dogma. It is an entertaining and enlightening journey in a quest to explore differing views as to who these people are. Many cultures share a story about a great flood and some of these also have varying versions of stories about the Nephilim.

The apocryphal Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilee also provide source material fill in the gaps of Genesis and to determine more about these people and a possible second group referred to as the Watchers in the Book of Enoch.

The author wisely spends a significant portion of the book providing background information to allow some understanding the world of these Nephilim. Without the background information the terrain would be very unfamiliar similar to a Martian landscape.

While I was reading this book, I also listened to the Great Courses lectures on Myth in Human History by Professor Grant L. Voth. Occasionally the information from the book and the course would cover similar ground and provide a deeper understanding of the topic. As a prelude to this book and the course on Myth, I would recommend reading or listening to a translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Exposed and Classified Scott Alan Roberts - 74 min.

Chapter one  from the Rise and Fall of the Nephilim - 75 min. 

Radio interview with Scott Alan Roberts - 44 min.