I found some time to finish part 4 of Augustine's 'City of God.' Though the version is somewhat abridged, I've been reading the more interesting of the skipped chapters online. We are using each part as a discussion starter in our men's group. Here's some stuff that struck me from part 4:
~ Cain, obviously, married his sister
~ There populace, all from Adam, are unmentioned
~ Humans really did live longer, it's no mistake
~ Translators are 'inspired' just as original authors
~ 'Sons of God' meant Seth's line, not 'angels'
~ 'Nephilim' were just large men, not uncommon in history
~ The apocryphal books, like Enoch, are very suspect
~ The 120 years was not lifespans, but time until flood
~ Noah's flood is both reliable history and has symbolic value
~ Numerous possibilities exist as to how animals got to islands
~ There have been many 'freaks of nature' in human history
~ The idea of inhabitants to a supposed 'souther' hemisphere is crazy
~ Hebrew is thought to be the original language of mankind
~ Samuel to Malachi is the age of the prophets
~ The 'land' promises were temporal and conditional
~ Prophecies can be fulfilled in earth, spiritual, or both terms
~ We should not be overly literal or overly allegorical
~ David is probably the author of all the Psalms, despite titles
~ There was relative silence after the post-exilic prophets
~ Many prophecies split the 'coming' into 2 (incarnation and 2nd)
~ Humanity was less than 6,000 years old (Adam to Augustine)
~ Some gentiles were 'true Israelites' even in the OT (like Job)
~ Christianity truly began on the day of Pentecost
~ We have no idea when the 2nd Coming will occur
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