https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/08\/BookOfEnoch.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: I John 4:1-3<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. I received a letter that objected to a lesson in one of the workbooks posted on our website.<\/p>\n
A. There was an explanation of Genesis 6:4 that this person found objectionable.<\/p>\n 1. “Sons of God” can refer to angels (Job 1:6) or to the righteous (Hosea\n1:10)\n 2. Some claim angels intermarried with humans to produce giant half-breeds,\nbut Jesus stated that angels do not marry – Mark 12:25\n
a. Makes sense since angels are spiritual, not physical beings.<\/p>\n 3. “Nephilim” does mean “giants” but it can mean giants in stature or giants\nin fame, as in “he was a giant among men.” Genesis 6:4 tells us which at\nthe end of the verse.\n 4. Also notice that the Nephilim came first, then the “sons of God” married\nthe “daughters of men.” Most purposely ignore the time order.\n 5. Thus the conclusion is that righteous people intermarried with worldly\npeople giving the predictable result of less and less godly people in the\nworld, as stated in Genesis 6:5\n
B. What this person couldn’t believe is that the Book of Enoch was not considered.<\/p>\n 1. “Why did the church suppress the Book of Enoch? After all, there are\nvarious references to Enoch throughout the Old and New Testament …\nThere are those who believed all the giant offspring and offspring of the\nfallen angels were destroyed during the flood. Not true. The Philistines\nwere hybrids, giants i.e. Goliath. As were most of the races that Joshua and\nIsrael had to conquer once Israel were freed from Egypt. The giants never\nwent out of existence, they just went “underground” to return later, now,\nduring these last days. …”\n 2. As the letter continued it got worse, showing an inability to separate\nfantasy from reality. For example, at the end he was claiming that\nNephilim were shape-shifters and that the recent X-men movie proves they\nare making a re-appearance.\n C. But I wanted address the question regarding the Book of Enoch. Why was this\nbook rejected as Scripture?\n
II. The History of the Book of Enoch<\/p>\n A. Listed as a pseudoepigraphal work. i.e. a work with a false author (or written\nunder a pen name).\n 1. There are a number of these works dating from the time between the Old\nand New Testament through the first few centuries.\n
2. It appears to have been a writing fad for a while.<\/p>\n 3. People used the names of famous people, such as characters from the\nBible, to lend credibility to the work – to make it appear more authentic.\n
B. Very few people actually believe the book to have been written by Enoch. <\/p>\n 1. For it to have existed all those years, it would have had to survive the\nflood.\n 2. ”I am aware that the Scripture of Enoch, which has assigned this order of\naction to angels, is not received by some. For it is not admitted into the\nJewish canon, either. I suppose they did not think that, having been written\nbefore the deluge, it could have safely survived that worldwide calamity,\nthe destroyer of all things. If that is the reason for rejecting it, let them\nremember that Noah, who survived the deluge, was the great-grandson of\nEnoch himself … There is still this consideration to warrant our assertion\nof the genuineness of this Scripture: [Noah] could equally have rewritten\nit, under the Spirit’s inspiration, if it had been destroyed by the violence of\nthe deluge.” [Tertullian, about 198 A.D.]\n C. Tertullian admits that the Jews never accepted the Book of Enoch as authentic and\nthat Christians of his time also rejected it.\n 1. Some apologists for the Book of Enoch state that the book was well\nknown by early Christian writers.\n 2. True, but they neglect to state that most rejected the book as being from\nGod.\n 3. Athanasius, Origen, and Jerome all argued against the book being\nconsidered Scripture.\n 4. In fact it appears that only Tertullian and Augustine thought the work was\ninspired and Augustine waffled on the point.\n 5. Though the Roman Catholic Church added twelve books to their Old\nTestament, this book wasn’t considered – likely because of the early\nrejection.\n
D. Actually, there are several books that go by the name “The Book of Enoch”<\/p>\n
1. Most refer to copies of a book found in 1773 in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n 2. These copies are a translation of a Greek text that was in turn a translation\nof an Aramaic or Hebrew text.\n
3. Small fragments of this large book were found among the Dead Sea scrolls<\/p>\n
a. Parts of chapter 2, verses 12-14 and chapter 3 verse 13-16<\/p>\n
b. But the book has 108 chapters.<\/p>\n c. There were also other documents which cited portions of the Book\nof Enoch, showing that the book existed.\n d. But with such small amount of text, it must be emphasized that we\ndon’t know how the complete book of Enoch read in Aramaic.\n
4. Most scholars date the book to between 300 B.C. and 100 B.C.<\/p>\n 5. Larger portions of the book survived in Greek, but again, not nearly the\nwhole. They also date from a later period (after the church was founded).\n
6. The only whole version are the Ethiopian translations.<\/p>\n a. A comparison of the Ethiopian translations to the Aramaic and\nGreek fragments show the Ethiopian translation is fairly, but not\nentirely, accurate.\n E. Most scholars note that the Book of Enoch, as it currently exists, is a disjointed\nwork.\n 1. It doesn’t have a unifying flow, such as would be found in the writings of\none author.\n 2. It is generally agreed to be a composition of several works by multiple\nauthors, but exactly who wrote which portions is heavily debated.\n
III. Why are people interested in the Book of Enoch?<\/p>\n
A. Jude 14-15 <\/p>\n
1. Notice that Jude doesn’t state he is quoting from a writing of Enoch<\/p>\n 2. Since multiple Enochs are mentioned in the Bible, he clarifies which one\nhe is quoting.\n
B. How could Jude know what Enoch said 4,000 years later?<\/p>\n 1. Jude is inspired, so therefore the obvious answer is that God told him – I\nCorinthians 2:12-13\n 2. Same reason how Moses, ascribed to be the recorder of Genesis, was able\nto write words of people who lived hundreds of years before him.\n C. Enoch 1:9: “And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to\nexecute judgment upon all, and to destroy all the ungodly: and to convict all flesh\nof all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, and of\nall the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”\n 1. People get all excited by this line. Jude must be quoting from the Book of\nEnoch!\n 2. Note that the quote is not a literal reproduction, even allowing for multiple\ntranslations.\n
3. Jude says God will judge all and convict the ungodly among them.<\/p>\n 4. The Book of Enoch says God is judging all and will convict all of their\nungodliness. Not quite the same.\n
D. Is the Ethiopian copies a bad translation? Then can we trust the rest?<\/p>\n E. Do we say Jude is bad at quoting? Then it wouldn’t be an inspired book and then\nwhat happens to the support for the Book of Enoch?\n F. Did the Book of Enoch record Jewish oral tradition and Jude supplied the correct\nquote? If it was from oral tradition, then it is amazing that the Israelites managed\nto preserve the statement that close to accurate for so long.\n
G. Interestingly, none of the fragments, Aramaic or Greek, contain Enoch 1:9. <\/p>\n
1. The only version to have it are the Ethiopian copies.<\/p>\n 2. There is insufficient evidence whether the phrase is in the original Book of\nEnoch or whether a person knowledgeable of Christianity “enhanced” an\nolder version.\n H. Because the quote in Jude is unstable evidence, people have tried to prop up their\ncause by stating that the New Testament is filled with allusions to the Book of\nEnoch.\n 1. By this, they mean that they compiled a set of catch phrases and conclude\nthat books using similar catch phrases must come from the Book of Enoch.\n
2. For example, several cited the use of the phrase “son of man.”<\/p>\n
a. But this phrase is used heavily in Ezekiel.<\/p>\n
b. It is used in the Psalms a few times in reference to the Messiah<\/p>\n 3. A person trying to forge the biblical style will of course use wording\nsimilar to the Bible. However, it doesn’t serve as proof. You can’t\nconclude who borrowed from whom.\n
IV. Could the Book of Enoch be Scripture?<\/p>\n A. If the date of 300 B.C. to 100 B.C. is correct, then it comes during the years of\nsilence.\n
1. Amos 8:11-12 – God said He would stop talking to the Israelites.<\/p>\n 2. Micah 3:5-7 – It was because of all the false prophets. It would prove who\nwas true and who was false.\n 3. Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet. Until the coming of John and\nJesus, prophecy disappeared.\n
a. The Jews knew this.<\/p>\n b. I Maccabees 9:27: “So there was great distress in Israel, such as\nhad not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among\nthem.”\n c. I Maccabees 14:41: “The Jews and their priests have resolved that\nSimon should be their leader and high priest forever, until a\ntrustworthy prophet should arise.”\n 4. If the Book of Enoch was written in the years of silence, then it follows\nthat it could not have been an inspired book because no prophets existed.\n
B. Could it have been truly written by Enoch?<\/p>\n 1. This would make it the oldest piece of Scripture – long predating the\nwritings of Moses.\n 2. But there is not one mention of the Book in the Old Testament. Nothing\nuntil the years of silence.\n 3. How could ancient writing of God disappear? Would God have allowed\nit?\n
4. Psalm 119:152 – God’s words are forever.<\/p>\n
5. Isaiah 40:8 – God’s words do not fade away.<\/p>\n 6. Matthew 5:17-18 – Jesus stated that not the smallest mark of the Old\nTestament would disappear before it is fulfilled.\n 7. Yet the Book of Enoch apparently was gone for thousands of years,\nshowed up for a few hundred years and then disappeared again for another\n1,500 years or so. This isn’t what God said about His word!\n C. If it was written during the years of silence, then it’s claim to be written by Enoch\nis a falsehood.\n
1. John 17:17 – God’s word is truth<\/p>\n
2. II Timothy 3:16 – Scripture comes from the breath of God<\/p>\n
3. I Corinthians 2:12-13 – God gives the very words<\/p>\n
4. Titus 1:2 – God cannot lie<\/p>\n 5. Thus God would not record a message under a false name, nor would there\never have been a need to do so. God doesn’t need the reputation of Enoch\nto enhance His message!\n
D. Does it match the Bible?<\/p>\n
1. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 – God’s messages are always consistent.<\/p>\n
2. Time line wrong<\/p>\n a. Using Genesis 5, we know that Enoch was born about 622 years\nafter the creation. He lived 365 years before God took him –\nGenesis 5:23-24\n b. Enoch 107:2-3 (Enoch speaking to Methuselah): “’And now, my\nson, go and announce to thy son Lamech, that this son who is born\nis really his, and that this is not a falsehood.’ And when Methuselah\nhad heard the words of his father Enoch — for he had shown him\neverything that was secret — he returned, after his having seen him,\nand called the name of that son Noah, for he will make glad the\nearth for all destruction.”\n c. Noah was born about 1056 years after the creation, 69 years after\nEnoch left the earth!\n
d. According to the Bible, this event could not have happened!<\/p>\n
3. Knowledge about angels wrong<\/p>\n
a. The Book of Enoch has angels marrying earthly women (chapter 6)<\/p>\n
b. Mark 12:25 – Angels don’t marry<\/p>\n
4. Knowledge about the origin of sin is wrong<\/p>\n a. The Book of Enoch states that the intermixing of angel and human\nseed created sin and the angels spread sin by teaching forbidden\ntopics to men. Lamech is told to hide so that his pure seed could be\npreserved. God would then wipe the world with a flood, thus\nremoving sin (chapter 8-10).\n
b. I John 3:4 – Sin comes from breaking the law<\/p>\n c. Romans 5:12 – Sin began when one man broke God’s law and\ncontinued because all sin\n d. By the way, the questioner’s statement that the mixed seed was not\ncompletely wiped out by the flood contradicts both the Bible and\nthe Book of Enoch. Only eight people were saved and the Book of\nEnoch says that none of the mixed race survived. In fact they were\nsupposed to have wiped themselves out before the flood in some\nepic battle.)\n
5. Knowledge of the realm of the dead is wrong<\/p>\n a. The Book of Enoch states that the grave is divided into four\nrealms:\n
(1) Righteous martyrs, such as Abel<\/p>\n
(2) The righteous who were not martyrs<\/p>\n (3) Sinners who died without suffering the consequences of\ntheir sins\n (4) Sinners who died after suffering from the consequences of\ntheir sins.\n b. Of the last group, it says, “but their spirits shall not be slain in the\nday of judgment nor shall they be raised from thence” (Enoch\n22:13)\n
c. Luke 16:19-31 shows hades divided into two states.<\/p>\n
d. John 5:28-29 – All the dead, good and bad will be judged<\/p>\n e. Acts 24:15 – This was Paul’s hope, a resurrection of the just and\nunjust\n
E. It has internal contradictions<\/p>\n
1. Enoch 6:7-8 gives a list of 19 angels who lead the fall of man.<\/p>\n 2. Enoch 69:2-3 gives a list of 21 angels who were supposed to be the same\ngroup. Not only are there more names, the names are almost completely\ndifferent!\n
3. God could not be behind such a book!<\/p>\n
V. The Book of Enoch is the product of man<\/p>\n
A. It was rightly rejected as uninspired writing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Canon of the Bible\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I John 4:1-3 I. I received a letter that objected to a lesson in one of the workbooks posted on our website. A. There was an explanation of Genesis 6:4 that this person found objectionable. 1. “Sons of God” can refer to angels (Job 1:6) or to the righteous (Hosea 1:10) 2. Some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[660,661,130,437],"class_list":["post-7249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-apocrypha","tag-book-of-enoch","tag-canon","tag-enoch"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31625,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-1-enoch-and-2-enoch-did-jesus-quote-from-1-enoch\/","url_meta":{"origin":7249,"position":0},"title":"What is the difference between 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch? Did Jesus quote from 1 Enoch?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You don't know me. I just happened to find your web site. It's so clear and concise! Many could take an example! What is the difference between 1Enoch and 2Enoch? Does the following answer that someone gave me make any sense, namely the underlined?\u00a0 \"...\u00a0I've never considered 2 Enoch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27215,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-the-book-of-enoch-isnt-an-authoritative-book-then-why-is-jude-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":7249,"position":1},"title":"If the Book of Enoch isn’t an authoritative book, then why is Jude in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This is really well put\u00a0together\u00a0as to why\u00a0Enoch was written by man, but I am a bit confused. When I go read a study on Jude, Enoch is mentioned as if it's an\u00a0authoritative\u00a0book. If it\u00a0contradicts\u00a0God's Word and came from man, then how can Jude be right? Forgive my questions. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3673,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-you-use-the-book-of-enoch\/","url_meta":{"origin":7249,"position":2},"title":"Why don’t you use the Book of Enoch?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I really love your site. I thought your understanding of Scripture was awesome and that you guys are doing a great job. However,\u00a0your interpretation of Genesis 6 is completely off, and I pray that because of this the sheep are not lead astray. I say this because if your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-possible-that-early-christians-added-to-the-book-of-enoch\/","url_meta":{"origin":7249,"position":3},"title":"Is it possible that early Christians added to the book of Enoch?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it possible that early Christians added to the book of Enoch? or was it a work relying heavily upon the book of Daniel where the physical description of the throne and the Messiah are strikingly similar. i.e. \"Hair on his head was like pure wool\" (Daniel 7:9). I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30078,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-dare-you-claim-that-the-book-of-enoch-is-uninspired\/","url_meta":{"origin":7249,"position":4},"title":"How dare you claim that the book of Enoch is uninspired!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, How dare you claim my beloved\u00a0book of Enoch an uninspired work of men! People like you are just afraid to accept that angels descended upon earth and fornicated with earthly women and procreated giants. Yes, Jesus said that angels do not marry- they do not marry in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1767,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-special-about-a-man-named-enoch\/","url_meta":{"origin":7249,"position":5},"title":"What was special about a man named Enoch?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What was special about a man named Enoch? Answer: More than one man held the name \"Enoch,\" but the one we recall as being special is mentioned in\u00a0Genesis 5:22-24, \"After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}