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Quote from "Magistrate" »

That was a good read. I was brought up in a Christian home (though I do not label myself as such), and the cannon issues of Biblical texts always confused me (I never really researched in to it on my own.) Very thorough, great job

'Course I'm not a college professor, so, well...

Hah, thanks man

Like, pretty much, if your going to be christian or w/e you have that faith basis that the books were put together by divine inspiration, but it beings into question what if it was flawed from the beginning how it was put together, then it could be an issue for any christian religion. Although i dont think it would effect a lot of the christian values and "code" and such but it would shake a foundation a bit at least.

Appreciate the compliments

Quote from "Murderface" »

A well thought out essay. What is the moral teaching of Enoch? Perhaps it was left out because it lacked a moral story.

I think I'll write my own Bible now

The moral side of it fits in well with the bible. Be good, do good things, all that stuff. I wanted to focus on the things that the book enlightened as far as all that cool epic stuff was concerned

I appreciate your thoughts Murderface, i know it must have been a long read. Im not sure how much of it i am going to change but this is not the final piece.

I just talked to my teacher today, he has referred me to the local college professors. I am going to meet with them soon and ask them about it, Stetson is supposed to have a goood religious studies core so we will see.

Haha, i see nobody has attempted to tackle it yet

I would like to know what you guys think of my essay that is very important for graduating in the IB program. Note, it is VERY VERY long, 3330 words to be precise.This is just the rough draft. So if you have some free time, give it a read I am almost positive you will learn a bit. whether you believe in God or not it should make for an interesting read and hopefully not a boring one. Do not hesitate to be critical.



An examination of the first section of the pseudepigrapha text “The Book of Enoch” and why the piece is not considered scripturally cannon in terms of the modern bible.



Introduction: The Book of Enoch and Pseudopigraphia

Enoch, the seventh generation of mankind is possibly the most intriguing character the bible has to offer. Not so much because of what information we are given, rather it is the information we are not given considering who he is. The bible gives tidbits of his life throughout Genesis, Luke, Hebrew and Jude. Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch kept walking with the true God. Then he was no more, for God took him.” This is the majority of what is know about Enoch in the modern scriptures. He was favored and “God took him”. To understand what is meant by that phrase, the account in Hebrews, written by the apostle Paul in Rome can give some insight. Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was transferred so as not to see death, and he was nowhere to be found because God had transferred him; for before his transference he had the witness that he had pleased God well.” From this it is clear he never died according to the bible. He is the only person ever mentioned in the cannon texts to ever escape the price of mortal sin. By the bible his life is a mystery, but luckily there is an abundant amount of resources that refer directly and specifically to Enoch.
The book of Enoch is an epic story compiling the deeds and visions of Enoch. It makes known that he is used directly by God in efforts to confront renegade angels and is given several revealing visions that give insight into the upper limits of heaven even. Through the book of Enoch, the secrets and mysteries of the man that escaped death become evident and clear. Not only that, it also gives some clarity as to mans history of the time period between the first ten or so generations of Adam and Eve and the deluge of the flood. In Genesis the history of man before the flood and after the first pair is quickly summed up and a real reason as to why the flood happened other than God was not pleased is not given. But in the book of Enoch we get a much more detailed account of life before the flood and also a pre-flood prediction of the eminent destruction to the Earth by water. Overall the book would compliment the bible eloquently.
But why then is the text not considered cannon? Ever since the sixteenth century the book of Enoch has been considered pseudopigraphia. Pseudopigraphia means that a person wrote a text under an apparent alias. It is widely accepted in our modern era that the version of the book of Enoch we have was written by somebody other than the Enoch described within the text. Because of this and various other reasons the book was never added to the holy scriptures that are considered cannon. Although every book we have in the modern bible, no matter how old, are all copies. It is possible that Enoch too is a copied version from the original hand of Enoch himself but it seems that most would be unwilling to accept this as such.

The Book of the Watchers in relation to the bible.

The book of the watchers is the first of 5 major sections within The Book of Enoch. It begins by revealing how blessed the man Enoch was. So much even, that he had his eyes opened by God and he was given a vision. One that would be fitting for the book of Revelations with the conclusion of the bible. It was an apocalyptic vision of things to come for “the far off generation”. In the chaotic vision God came down to earth, mountains melted like wax and those that were unrighteous and who committed treacherous things would be judges in the final day and the righteous people of earth would survive. This is the epic and slightly scary introduction to the rest of the book of Enoch. It is noteworthy that the introductory prophesy of the book is mentioned in the bible in the book of Jude as a legitimate and divinely inspired prophesy.
In the following four chapters of The Book of the Watchers, Enoch’s vision continues to unfold. His vision revealed to him all existence. He “observed” the luminaries, and everything that happened in the heavens. Then he saw everything that happened on the earth and everything upon it. Besides Enoch no other person in the bible ever had such a vision concerning heaven in the scripturally cannon text.
Then in the proceeding chapters the story of “The Watchers” unfolds along with the history of man up to that point. This thought provoking book in particular already begins to shed desired light upon the holy scriptures. Throughout the bible the term “watchers” is mentioned but with an unclear meaning. With the help of this book the meaning becomes obvious. The Watchers are a group of angels with the specific job of looking over mankind. There are various accounts within the modern bible concerning these watchers, it can be assumed that they were angels, but of what purpose is not given in accounts like the one in the book of Isaiah. The watchers did watch over mankind and paid them great attention. So much attention in fact that mankind began to really blossom into something appealing. The “daughters of men” were so appealing in fact that it caught the eye of the watchers. According to the story they all made a pact to ascend the heavens and take up wives with these women. Enoch 6:4 “Then all answered him and said: “We all will swear an oath, and bind ourselves mutually by a curse, that will not give up this plan, but will make this plan a deed.” One thing that makes this book special in terms of biblical texts is that it gives the names of angels involved within the pact, namely the leaders, where as in the bible very seldom are the names of angels mentioned. The only time angels were ever mentioned was when they personally appeared to men or where in a vision. All of which were usually regarding Michael and Gabriel. The angels within the pact are named as Samyaza, Arakiel, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Chazaqiel, Baraqijal, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Yomiel, and Sariel. These angels were the leaders of the 200 fallen watchers that desired the flesh of the daughters of man.
So they left their positions to take up wives with human women and mingle with all humans teaching them things only they knew. This is commonly assumed to be their way of attracting the women. In an effort to strike their interest they abused their knowledge by amazing these mere humans. Enoch 7:1 “And they took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in to them, and mixed with them, and taught them charms and conjurations, and made them acquainted with the cutting of roots and of wood.” Although the previously mentioned angels lead the pact. Others took the task of teaching men secret trades known only in the heavens. One angel of particular interest was Azazel, who took up the task of teaching mankind warfare. He taught man how to make sword and shield, and other tactics and recipe’s of warfare. Then the renegade angels bore children with the women of earth. Children that where described as an abomination of man. These off spring were giants that terrorized the world according to the book. They were called by the name Nephalim. In the bible there is a short description of these ominous giants and their deeds. But nothing to the extent of The Book of Enoch. In a possible attempt at redemption the angels taught mankind methods of defense but still the giants murdered so many in fact that their cries “reached heaven”. This escalated things to epic proportions as it began to be an issue that the high heavens decided to deal with. Those outcries of man caught the attention of the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Surjan and Urjan. They immediately approached God to access how to deal with the situation. In response God said that he was going to flood the earth to rid the world of the corruption and utter chaos let loose by the fallen watchers. Before the flood was to be carried out though, God instructed the archangels to retrieve one of the fallen in particular firstly. Enoch 10:4 “… ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and put him in the darkness…’” Although not a leader of the 200 fallen watchers Azazel was specifically mentioned first for his treacherous deeds of teaching warfare to man. This is a conclusion of speculation as it does not exactly say why he was picked out first but it can be inferred that his deeds caused the most damage. He was to be bound up in “darkness” forever until the final judgment of man. This was to take place even after the flood. But the others seemed to suffer a torment slightly different. Before they were locked away forever they were to witness the death of the women they “bound” themselves to, and also the children they bore. Then they would be buried underneath the earth in darkness to await the coming judgment of man. Then they were all to be locked away in the fiery abyss for all of eternity. Once all traces of the fallen angels and their influence is erased Enoch prophesied that the world would live in peace forever in the book. Once again, the insight provided by this book is phenomenal. The detail is unmatched as the bible never gave such information about “the watchers”.
According to the lore of the book, during the time of the initial judgment of the fallen angels was being decided, Enoch was in complete hiding by instruction of God. In the chapter that follows God’s declaration of the fate of “The Watchers”, chapter 12, Enoch was reached by God to go to those angels and reveal to them their fate. Enoch proclaimed that the angels would never rest, they would never be able to “enjoy” their children and wives and would plead and bargain to no avail for all of eternity, for what they did was too wicked to forgive. So Enoch traveled to the angels’ location in Ublesjael which is next to Lebanon, to relay the news. Even though the angels pleading was announced futile, they asked Enoch to create a “memorial petition” on their behalf. Enoch 13:4 “And they asked me to write a memorial petition for them that they thereby might attain forgiveness, and to carry their memorial petition before God into heaven.” This was to be so because the sins of the angels was so great they could not go forth to God or even look up at him. Of course Enoch could not actually bring the petition to God though, later it explains he accomplished this deed through prayer to God.
This tale of Enoch, a mere mortal man, being used as a messenger between divine beings is very unique and reveals a sense of importance in terms of the roles that humans had the opportunity to play in a time predating the flood. After the flood, the only messages sent by God through man for relaying purposes where to men themselves. Angels were always the ones that would do the sending , never men. It felt as if, in the bible, man was hindered and out of contact with what was really happening and messages had to be given in order for them to comprehend the situations at hand. But in this particular instance there was an intriguing role reversal. Here, man became the messenger. Instead of a righteous angel relaying messages, and visions to scarred fragile men, a man was giving a message to a group of remorseful, terrified angels.
After praying to God concerning the petition Enoch was given a vision in his sleep. He was taken throughout all of existence, this time being shown the places of imprisonment for transgressors against God. In regards to the petition God clearly stated that their petition would not be heard and that their judgment had already been decided and they would most definitely be bound. The place that Enoch came upon was located under the hills of the earth. This place is where the watchers will have been placed. It was described as a “void” with no heavens above it or foundation below. Uriel described to Enoch that both the renegade angels and women that laid with them will have been placed here. It is not known whether or not this is a place where other humans go but it is not likely. If this is so then it is another compelling piece of information not provided within the bible that could prove to extend the depth of the scripturally cannon text with the knowledge of another place in the universe specifically created in order to retain specific angels and women. Further on the vision is riddled with other various places of torment not designated for mankind as brought out by Uriel. The significance of this vision is the extensive exposure to the things of heaven that are not ever described in the bible. As the bible is a guide to human’s origins, morals, and what will be an ending to a certain period of human existence it doesn’t concern the reader with information of the illuminations of above very often. But in this book there are detailed descriptions of not only the heavens but also places that the cannon scriptures fail to mention that even exist.


An analysis of why The Book of Enoch is not considered scripturally cannon.

The Book of Enoch is a very compelling book that provides a lot of information concerning the cannon text but yet it is not considered cannon itself. Why this book is not accepted in our modern era as divinely inspired is a complicated question with a complicated answer. In order for a book to be considered with the others as cannon they had to meet the criteria of a council in 364 A.D. The council of Laodicea had to see that all the books met their requirements. The council of Laodicea created the foundation on which our modern bible stands. The council decided what books where to be read in a church setting and others not in the open and some not at all. Commonly those books that were deemed capable for a church setting where usually the books accepted into the bible we know today. But it was not as cut and dry as “you read it if it is in the bible and do not read it if it is not in the bible.” Because there were several other sets of works including The Book of Enoch that were labeled as apocryphal. A word that has a negative connotation(regarding texts not found in the bible) in our day. It is often assumed that along with this label comes a meaning of rejection, invalidity and uninspired. But really it is the complete opposite. The Greek word that apocrypha originates from has the meaning of “hidden”. So it may not mean that the book was directly defined as uninspired. But rather it may have been considered to be powerful in information and a bit too apocalyptic and awesome for the common man to handle. So in result it got the label of apocrypha. This may have been a label of death for the book as the circulation of the book from this point on ceased. It may not have been considered uninspired but was not revealed to the masses in church settings so in result, slowly the book disappeared for an extensive period of time. But it is noteworthy that it is clear that the early “fathers” considered the text as scriptural cannon. For about 500 years the text was considered cannon by both Christians and Jews but when the council came about that changed.
So in result, after centuries with no original text to speak of and no official note of cannon the book fell out of favor especially because of it’s message. Also the books labeling of pseudopigraphia did not help it’s existence. One of the main reasons the book was also labeled as apocryphal was because it’s author was undistinguishable. It was clearly not a written copy of an original piece from Enoch himself. In the examination of the text it was noted how revolutionary the text is in reference to the text considered cannon. Many ancient theologians felt it too revolutionary. The ideas presented about angel behavior and even the structure of the heavens seemed outrageous and was considered heretical. This paired with the fact that the authorship was in question hindered the book for most of it’s known existence.
Around the time of the Christian Reformation the book became popular yet again. It was examined and scrutinized all the same for a second time after Scottish explorer James Bruce found a copy in the books origins. During this period the book begot it’s label as a work of pseudopigraphia as the copy did not even to be nearly as old as Christ. And considering Enoch would be thousands of years older than Jesus it did not bode well for the book.
However in the early 1940’s a completely preserved copy of the text in it’s original Ethiopic language was discovered in Cave 4 of Qumran along with other apocryphal texts and also the dead sea scrolls. The thought provoking aspect of this discovery is that this particular copy completely predated Christ. It gave much more creditability to the text but still it is considered psuedopigraphia.
In effect the books history is what seems to hinder it from entering the cannon of scripture rather than it’s teachings. Although a bit extreme in content The Book of Enoch has a paralleled style within the bible and may allude to it’s regular study by apostles especially in the new testament. But because it didn’t make it in the original Jewish cannon along with the common attitude that the book contains ideas blasphemous to the word of God it will forever remain a book labeled merely as an interesting read.


Conclusion.

The book may have had questionable authorship during the time of The Council of Laodicea but for our modern era it is hard to pin down an explanation as to the reasoning for the books labeling of apocryphal and uninspired. Through close examination in relation with the bible it’s influence throughout the bible especially in The Book of Revelations is undoubtedly clear in the description of the apocalyptic visions. The only argument for logically considering the book as uninspired remaining is that The Council had divine power to make the decision as to what goes into the bible and the book’s questionable authorship as pseudopigraphia. This is the only thing that could keep the book out of the bible. Many today and in the past consider the text blasphemy. It is this common attitude of past and present that is really keeping the text out of the modern bible, that the behavior of angels described was preposterous and that it could not possibly be inspired. This sad point of view has plagued the book ever since it was lost after it was no longer circulated once the Jewish Cannon was established. Many feel the book is completely without authenticity but after close examination the book not only gives detail of a time before the flood it also fits like a missing puzzle piece. It clears up several mysteries that come with the bible. With no other evidence as to why the book is not in the bible it is apparent that the writing should be reconsidered for evaluation of cannon if it’s only true threat is authorship authenticity.