Researching a preflood novel

Research for The Ninth Generation was a challenging task which proved interesting.

In addition to the Biblical record – without getting into occult literature – there are writings purportedly by Enoch and early Jewish historians. There are also some fascinating documents of ancient Greek investigators which seem to carry some reliability.

Two early sources indicate that Adam had 33 sons and either 23 or 33 daughters. I’ll go with 33 / 23 (Jewish tradition). There’s also good evidence to indicate that Seth may have been the first astronomer and that God had intended for man to receive revelation of truth through signs in the starry heavens. This may well have been later distorted through astrological misuse.

The events of creation and the fall were very likely recorded by Adam and passed along (or transcriptions made) to Seth’s lineage. Some think it was only verbal, but there is no compelling evidence that Adam was unable or disinclined to write. Other revelation, such as what the signs in the stars really mean, the meaning of sacrifice, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and other prophetic writings such as quoted from Enoch (in Jude), may have all played a part in maintaining the faith of a few.

If conservative population statistics can be relied upon, there were at least a billion people on earth in the days of Noah, and if the majority lived in and around cities, figuring ten million per city would be about a hundred. One source said there were 99 cities. It seems likely that the godly lineage would live apart from the city, which would also help with better upbringing than might be possible in the midst of corrupt influence of city life. Would Seth’s line need some physical defense and protection against attacks from the ungodly as conditions worsened? Might they have joined forces and volunteered some of their sons as defenders? Would they have their own walled city(ies), or some other form of separation? Distance helps reduce the need for defense. It seems that the godly would have tried to avoid the use of weapons against those they knew were the offspring of their own living first father. But, if there were other kinds of beings…products of angelic and human (maybe even animal) genetic mixing, God might have revealed to the godly, as He did later to Israel, that this kind should be killed…There was no salvation intended for these. So, weaponry may have been so justified.

Writing down such mental ramblings actually helps to prevent including things in the novel that might be strangely outside of any real historical reference. Before writing, I like to ponder the possible. Just because it is called “historical fiction” doesn’t mean that it has to be the product of only a giant imagination – something I have been reported as having. There is plenty of room for that within the researched framework.

The saying that truth is stranger than fiction may well apply to the preflood years, especially when the ancient legends of Greece and Rome are considered – more to say on that later.