The Boundaries of the Species

The first implied mention of sex in the Bible comes in the first chapter of Genesis. Plants trees, birds, fish animals, and pretty much anything with any amount of life, are created "after their kind" (a phrase describing boundry within each species). In the book of Genesis there are limits to how far a species can change from the reproductive process.

The ancients knew that intercourse between different species did not produce something unusual or different. In fact, such an act produced nothing at all because everything was bound to its own kind. So if an ox mounted a sheep, there was nothing we would call "Shox."

When it comes to humanity, however, Genesis does not mention God creating us after our own kind. This does not mean that we are boundaryless - a man and a goat does not create the mythological creatures called "Centaurs."

From the point of view of the author of Genesis this limit to procreation did not exist between the angels and humanity. In Genesis 6 "the sons of God" lusted after and had sex with the "daughters of men." The result of those unions were giants that roamed the earth. Although I may deal more of this in later blogs, at this point I will mention that ancient literature outside of the Old and New Testaments that comment on Genesis 6 say that these "sons of God" were angelic beings called "Watchers."