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Originally Posted by Roa_Aoife

Fair enough, and had we no record of Goliath's height, I'd have to conceed. But we do know it. For comparison purposes. For us, a man near 9 ft is an amazing oddity. Goliath was over 9 ft, and he came from a whole tribe of people like that. Something was clearly different.

Understood, but as I question a person's ability to reliably judge height (especially at a distance), the lack of a universal standard of measure (unlike the meter, a 'span' could in theory vary), some skepticism as to when Goliath was measured (before he was killed, he was an enemy; when killed by David, there is the possibility that Goliath's height was inflated), and the lack of any evidence of this large race ever existing (though with the finding of 'hobbit' bones, I'm willing to concede that we just haven't uncovered anything yet), I will have to stand by my original argument. Even if we had a race of humans that averaged over 3 meters, this characteristic does not verify spiritual DNA. Occam's razor would suggest that if we were to encounter such a race that we might posit that they are "sons of angels" without evidence if we believed in such things.

It'd be better than just admitting that they are tall and we short.

The angels deviated from their original plan, ate, washed their feet (a Hebrew tradition), and were capable of being raped by the locals. If they could be raped, it stands to reason they could also have sex willingly, and therefore reproduce.

Disagree. The actions of the mob do not impart sexuality to the angels. For example, I may see a movie with an attractive woman. I may say that I would really like to kiss her. This does not give this electronic image flesh and blood lips.

While I do not deign to argue divine revalation, I will point out the Tolkien, as a Catholic, would have accepted these passages as wholly true and literal.

Many people accept their scriptures as "wholly true and literal," yet vary greatly on exactly what that means. Isn't this the reason that religions have many sub-divisions? And some people, even those skilled, do not always interpret a particular passage correctly.

Fair enough, but He would have no need for humans either. As to why both were created, I have no idea. Why should Eru bother creating anything at all? Why create the Music? Why should God create humans who would only turn away from Him time and again? That's deep theology, and not a question anyone could really answer here with out getting waaaaaay off topic.

Agreed. But my point was that in Arda, Manwe is King. He runs the place, with some help. So if we assume that there's a reason for Arda in the first place (unknown to us), then maybe we can say that Manwe and his tribe were created as caretakers so that Eru could get in some golfing . In the Christian world, to me it seems that angels aren't exactly needed.