Chapter IV.
The giants who lived in the time of Noah, similar to humans, were devoted to the indulgence of their flesh. They were called the sons of God, and it is said that God became angry or moved: hence, even though the irrational creatures were destroyed because of human sin, Noah found favor with God.
But there were giants in the earth in those days (Gen. VI. 4). The author of divine Scripture does not want those giants to be regarded as the children of the earth in the manner of poets, but asserts that they were generated from angels and women, whom he calls with this name, desiring to express their bodily magnitude. And let us consider, lest perhaps the giants are like humans who devote themselves to the worship of their flesh, but have no care for their souls: just like those who, according to poetic fable, are said to have had contempt for the gods because of the size of their bodies. Those who despise being valued differently, since they consist of both soul and body, and reject the strength of the mind which the soul holds as more precious, and present themselves as imitators of this flesh as heirs of maternal stupidity? Therefore, they labour in vain, arrogantly claiming heaven through their proud desires, and devoting themselves to earthly works, who, by choosing the lower and despising the higher communion, are condemned by a more severe punishment, as if they willingly subject themselves to more serious sins.
Usually the Scriptures call the angels the sons of God; because souls are not generated from any man. Therefore, God has not rejected faithful men from calling them his sons. Just as men who lead a good life are called sons of God (Job 1:6), so we call those whose works are of the flesh sons of the flesh by the authority of the Scriptures (Psalm 81:6). For the Evangelist John says: To those who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believe in His name, who were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God (John 1:12-13). Therefore, afterwards you have this because the Lord is angry, for although He thought, that is, knew, that a man placed in the region of the earth, carrying flesh, cannot be without sin (for the earth is like a certain place of temptations, and the lure of the flesh), nevertheless, even though they had a mind capable of reason and the virtue of the soul infused in the body, they fell into a downfall without any consideration, from which they did not want to be recalled. For God does not think like humans, so that any new opinion might occur to Him; nor does He get angry as one who is changeable: but these things are read in order to express the bitterness of our sins, which merited divine offense; as if the guilt has grown to such an extent that even God, who is naturally not moved by anger, hatred, or any passion, seems to be provoked to anger.
Moreover, there was a reason that humanity should be destroyed: 'I will wipe from the face of the Earth,' He said, 'man, beasts, crawling creatures, and birds of the sky' (Gen. VI, 7). What harm had the irrational creatures done? But because these things had been done for the sake of humanity, once humanity was destroyed, the logical consequence was that these things should also be destroyed, since there was no one to make use of them. However, on a deeper level, this is revealed as the mind of man, which is capable of reason; for man is defined as a living, mortal, rational animal. Therefore, with the principal extinguished, all senses are extinguished as well; because nothing remains for salvation when the foundation of virtue has failed. But it is said that Noah found grace with God for the condemnation of others and for the expression of divine piety. At the same time, it is shown that the offense of others does not overshadow the righteous person, when he himself is preserved as the seed of the whole race, who is praised not for the nobility of birth, but for the merit of righteousness and perfection. For indeed the tested man's kind is of virtue's lineage; because just as the kind of men is men, so the kind of souls is virtues. Indeed, families of men are ennobled by the splendor of their lineage; but the grace of virtue is made glorious by the splendor of souls.