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About The Book Of Enoch
All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Before beginning this study, I suggest you pray and ask God to guide you through this study. I also suggest that you do you own study of this material in order to ensure its accuracy.
The Book of Enoch was once considered to be of Christian origin because of its obvious references to Christ. But, since ten fragments have been found at Qumran in the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is known to have existed in its present form since the Second Century BC.
The Book of Enoch is considered an apocryphal book as well as a part of the Pseudepigraphia. The Pseudepigraphia is a collection of works considered to be written by Christian authors but not considered to be inspired scripture. Some of the writings profess to be pre-Christian era. Some examples of Pseudepigraphia are "The Acts of Barnabas", "The Consummation of Thomas the Apostle", and "The Martyrdom of Matthew." The Book of Enoch was once thought to be a part of the Pseudepigraphia, but with the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it must no be relegated to the Apocrypha.
The Apocrypha is a collection of books considered by Protestants to be non-canonical. The word apocrypha means hidden or secret. At first this was a laudatory name signifying that the book was too noble to be released to the masses. Later it became a derogatory term meaning that the book was ignoble and should not be considered sacred or inspired but heretical in some cases. Today the Apocrypha is not taken seriously because the books are considered fraudulent counterfeits of true scriptural writings. The Roman Catholic Church deems 12 apocryphal works to be Deuterocanonical Books, that is, inspired scripture.
Perhaps that is a mistake to so easily dismiss these books. There are many good books considered to apocryphal that were revered by the early church. The Book of Enoch is one such book.
There is no doubt that the Apostles and the writers of the New Testament were fully aware of the Book of Enoch also called 1 Enoch. In fact, it is directly quoted in the Bible:
Jude 1:14-15 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, {15} To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
This is a direct quote of 1 Enoch 1:9:
And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones
To execute judgement upon all,
And to destroy all the ungodly:
And to convict all flesh
Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed,
And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
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