Giants: Sons of the gods, Tenth Anniversary Edition Revised and Expanded

by Douglas Van Dorn

This Ten Year Anniversary Edition is thoroughly revised and expanded, with longer chapters, new chapters, pictures, notes, and appendices. It takes us on a biblical theological journey from Genesis through Revelation with what the giants were and are and how Jesus has defeated them at his cross, through his church, and in his Second Coming.
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Goliath. You know the story. But why is it in the Bible? Is it just to give us a little moral pick-me-up as we seek to emulate a small shepherd boy who defeated a giant? Have you ever wondered where Goliath came from? Did you know he had brothers, one with 24 fingers and toes? Did you know their ancestry is steeped in unimaginable horror?

Genesis 6. The Nephilim. The first few verses of this chapter have long been the speculation of supernatural events that produced demigods and a flood that God used to destroy the whole world. The whole world remembers them. Once upon a time, all Christians knew them. But for many centuries this view was mocked, though it was the only known view at the time of the writing of the New Testament. Today, it is making a resurgence among Bible-believing scholars, and for good reason. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward...

This book delves deep into the dark and ancient recesses of our past to bring you rich treasures long buried. It is a carefully researched, heavily footnoted, and selectively illustrated story of the giants of the Bible. There is more here than meets the eye, much more. Here you will learn the invisible, supernatural storyline of the Bible that is always just beneath the surface, lurking like the spawn of the ancient leviathan. It is a storyline no person can afford to ignore any longer.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook

429 pages, Paperback

Published February 6, 2023

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend recently bumped me off the fence towards Augustine’s reading of Genesis 6, but this just grabbed me by the shirt collar and plopped me right back where I was. Absolute blast to read.

[Jeremy Peyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is worth it’s weight in gold. Not only is this book informative but it is also extremely enjoyable. Doug Van Dorn is a true scholar but his writing is easily accessible. His book focuses on the promise of Genesis 3:15 and the war between the seeds. This he says is the main theme of the whole Bible—the seed of the serpent vs the seed of the woman (and the seed of the woman claiming victory over the seed of the serpent). Many people today see the seed of the woman having a physical form (the line of Christ) but the seed of the serpent being merely spiritual. Doug Van Dorn demonstrates otherwise. He opens your eyes to many things that our materialist, secular culture today is blinded to. After reading this book, reading the Bible is even more fun. Get off of Goodreads and go get this book!

[R.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will say he uses a lot of extra biblical books to fill in a lot of the history he is discussing.

Beyond that I think a lot of people will find his arguments, extremely fascinating and compelling that the Nephilim were a crossbreed of angels and humans.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite mind-blowing!

[Rachel Behrends · Rating 5 out of 5]

We live in a postenlightenment age plagued with materialism and atheism so much that the majority of Christians read the Bible like an unbeliever. The Bible talks of marvelous miracles and witchcraft, angels and those that fell, giants and demons. Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear? Or do you simply gloss over these portions of Scripture completely ignoring them? Do you skip over the genealogies, or have you ever been able to follow the overarching narrative to understand the meaning of these names? Every Christian should read this book to have a deeper understanding of the battle of the seeds between the woman's offspring and that of the serpent. There is much wisdom and biblical knowledge found in this book that is very eye-opening. Many lifelong Christians may never have made these connections or may have been too embarrassed to admit the full spiritual story of the Bible. Douglas Van Dorn artfully presents the historical narrative of the Bible and the prevalent worldview of the original audience that we have lost today. He does so in a very straightforward yet humble way that keeps the focus on Christ and His victory. If you've ever struggled with the "fanciful" stories of the Bible or wondered why God instructed the Israelites to wipe out every man, woman, child, and animal of Canaan or been confused about the different heavenly and fallen created beings or wondered how they fit into the religions and beliefs of the pagan nations of old, then this is the book for you.

[Sal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had time to sit down with this book, a Bible, and the historical extra-biblical literature mentioned in the appendices to really understand this topic.

Alas.

This book serves as an eye-opening primer on giants in the Bible (hint, they’re everywhere).

For those skeptical about the interpretation of nephilim and giants in Genesis, this books presents a convincing argument for that interpretation (and one that’s air-tight if you believe in the infallibility of scripture).

For those curious about speculation on giants in history and mythology then this book will provide interesting tie-ins to biblical and extra-biblical literature.

Remember, this world is not just stuff.

[Carson Woodard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild. Don’t let the kinda goofy cover (or any innate materialistic worldview 👀) fool you, this guy is clearly very smart and well-researched. Even if you can’t get on board, it’s at the very least a very well written and fascinating read and will educate you on (probably) the oldest view of many… strange Old Testament (and New Testament) passages. Does maybe start to lose steam a bit by the end- this would be dope as a series of “sermons” or lectures, maybe.

[Caleb M. Powers]

The book was well-argued in some places, not so much in many others. Not really my cup of tea.

[Christopher Desruisseau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well researched book. Even the apendecies are worth reading.

[Ian Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting. There's a lot to chew through. I appreciate someone has done the research and engaged an area of scripture that tends to be ignored or called "conspiracy theory" by Christians. Highly recommend!

[Matthew Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exhaustive discussion on Giants, honestly more than I wanted to know. It is well put together, with a healthy respect for ancient literature while honouring the bible as the ultimate authority on the subject.

[Logan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. I found (at least the base of) his argument well-written, logical, and generally speaking, biblically and theologically compelling. At the very least, he did a good job arguing how more "supernatural" and ancient interpretations of the Nephilim in Gen. 6 fit in with a grammatical-historical reading of the passage itself, other passages dealing with giants, and the storyline of the Bible from a conservative,orthodox, evangelical, Reformed Baptist perspective. I didn't agree with everything though, and some of his arguments and conclusions are way too much of a stretch (e.g. that demons are the disembodied spirits of dead Nephilim that can go back and forth between earth and Sheol). But I found other parts to be helpful and insightful, and I appreciated how he tied it all together as a biblical-theological thread that upholds and showcases the glorynof God in the gospel of Christ crushing the seed of the serpent.

[Adam Kareus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look into the giants of the Bible. VanDorn takes what can be called the supernatural interpretation of Genesis 6, that angelic beings reproduced with humans to create what was called the Nephilim. These beings are the seed of the serpent which the seed of eve (Christ) will ultimately defeat- just as Jesus did on the cross.
If you want to explore this interpretation and point of view of Scripture, this book is a great way to do so.

[Aaron Hand · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book, though the further I got I realized I disagreed with his eschatology and thoughts at various places. Interesting things to think about but needed an editor (some typos). Not a bad book overall, thoroughly researched. Great book for the curious. Very intriguing.

Also, a first for me - the book fell apart! A page from near the middle just came out! :(

[Seth Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at aspects of the Bible we typically don’t think about.

[Ty Rostvedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t often read self-published books, but this one made the cut. I can understand why it was self-published because I do think some of the ideas in this book are a bit “out there.” However, Van Dorn does his research and includes an impressive amount of footnotes and bibliography in the back.
Van Dorn walks through all of the ways that the Bible talks about giants. Spending a good amount of time discussing Genesis 6, or course. I agree with his assessment of what that enigmatic passage is talking about, but I also know that there are many others who don’t buy the supernatural argument there. There are other possible explanations for Genesis 6, which are legitimate, but man, are they not as much fun! I think his argument about the seed from Genesis 3:15 is most compelling.
Most of the rest of the book is Van Dorn making connections between giants in the Bible and demons and warfare. There are some amazing stories in this book. There were some amazing comments about beasts and mythical creatures that I’d never heard before. While I generally agree with most of what he says, a lot of what he says could be categorized as speculation without much exegetical support. Having said all that, I loved this book and found myself wishing that it were all true, but alas, I’m afraid I cannot say most of what he says as definitively as he does.

[Brad Bevers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book recommended in another book I read recently, Haunted Cosmos. In fact, I think it was the only book really recommended in the footnotes so its one I wanted to pick up and read. This goes into a subject that is by and large not discussed in churches today (except for the Eastern Orthodox church from what I understand).

The author talks about the verses in Genesis 6 and elsewhere in the Bible dealing with the Sons of the gods and the Nephilim. Not something I've ever really been interested in, but this was a fascinating read and one that I'm glad I picked up. If you have any interest in this subject, I can't imagine a better place to start then here. There are so many charlatans who deal with this subject and bad theology, it was interesting to read something that treats it seriously but without the typical nonsense that accompanies this subject.

If your main objection to reading this book is 'I don't want to waste time reading a book that just focuses on 4 verses in the Bible when there is so much more to learn', I get it. But I would encourage you to read it if that is your only objection, because the author does a great job of arguing that this is actually one of the main themes of Scriputre and referenced again and again, even though we miss much of it as moderns.

Highly recommend this one, one that I will keep and reference many times on my shelves.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad that nothing important depends on my grasp of this subject or my having a decided opinion about it. It is somewhat interesting, but I cannot locate in myself any great passion for it. The author does note in the intro that he hopes, among other things, that readers will find it fun, and I did...mildly.

Perhaps is would be easier to take if more seriously if it took itself a little more seriously. The lurid cover seems unnecessary. And the narration would have been more suitable for fiction. (Do NOT do voices when reading nonfiction. Just don't.)

(I had to add the audio edition to Goodreads, and I had to guess on Steven/Stephen. If anyone knows the correct spelling, let me know.)

[Éowyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giants: sons of the Gods - goofy cover though

This book reinchanted me - I already had done some of my own research, but having a conclusively sane person take up the burden of infamy and chronological snobbery and write a book about it… just thank you, Doug. Thank you. I don’t know if I recommend it, though, because if you don’t already have the background for it, it’s like shooting a hunter rifle the first time - once you pull the trigger, you land on your butt and have a big bruise. It’s not easy to recover from this book, and there’s so much to speculate over and think about. Definitely going to continue with my own research.

For the record, I believe fairytales are generally historical now, or at least have a basis in reality. It makes me like the Brother’s Grimm less…

[Stephen Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Although I don’t ascribe to everything in it he does come with a lot of source material and documented stories. To dismiss all giants above tall people of the present age would be to go against a large body of reputable accounts throughout history. While there is little to no proof of giants 50 feet tall (which could very well be exaggerated for the sake of story) Van Dorn does give many records of giants upwards of 12-15 feet tall. This height is much more believable. To relegate even this to fairytales because we have not seen someone that tall in modern history would be to dismiss many historical figures that we value for other knowledge.

[Bobby Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fascinating. I have been contemplating on what score I should give it since, I don’t know Greek or Hebrew, and therefore; have to take his word at face value. I decided to give it a five, because VanDorn’s take on the Nephilim is at least thought out and highly entertaining. He also heavily points to the spiritual at a time where Christianity is lacking a perspective on the spiritual world. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Giants and their role in the Bible.

[Landon Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doug Van Dorn's work on the Sons of God, watchers, giants, and demons is a Reformed Baptist version of Mike Heiser's work on the "unseen realm." Like Heiser's work, this book has a lot of association and correlation that isn't always a clear-cut argument. However, there is so much "smoke" associated with this "fire," that I buy Van Dorn's position here.

[Tasha Brymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that no matter how much you know your Bible or know about fringe topics such as nephilim, I find myself continually coming back and reading it again and again. Each time finding something new, often forgetting that I've already read this book. It's that good. If I had a top 10 books list. This would be in it

[Isabelle Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the coolest books I've ever read and the first book about the Nephilim I've ever found that's neither completely dismissive nor wildly outlandish. The arguments Van Dorn makes are certainly "out there," but it's refreshing to read about this topic from a Reformed theologian.

[Robert Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful

Information that broadens your view of the spiritual world around us and how it connects to the Biblical past. Useful information to contemplate

[Curtis DeLozier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giants

Very thorough and intriguing study on the authentic background of Giants from scripture and tradition. Eye opening for sure. A lot to digest!

[Kait Doud]

Very interesting.

[Sharon Janzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this!

[Jesse Beauford · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Fascinating read!

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUT.FLIPPIN.STANDING!!!