The book of Enoch the prophet

1 '^ , 'INTRODUCTIONBYTHEAUTHOROF''THEEVOLUTION OFCHRISTIANITY:ffWX^^^eVW^\W!.^WOWV>y(5 UVA'iVJU1^Apuioll^i-^^VVU^^^T^)/^^^-LOND ONKEGANPAUL,TRENCH&CO.,1,PATERNOSTERSQUA RE1883(TTterightsoftranslationandofrepro ductionarereserved.') ^stle-^-Jttde,wereadthefollowingwords: "Enochalso,theseventhfromAdam,prophesied ofthese,saying,Behold,theLordcomethwitht enthousandsofhissaints,toexecutejudgment uponall,andtoconvinceallthatareungodlyam ongthemofalltheirungodlydeedswhichtheyha veungodlycommitted,andofalltheirhardspee cheswhichungodlysinnershavespokenagainst Him."^ModernresearchseesintheEpistleofJu deaworkofthesecondcentury:butasorthodoxt heologiansacceptitscontentsastheinspired utteranceofanApostle, ;notevenintheApocryphacanwetraceonelinef romthepenofthemarvellousbeingtowhomunint erruptedimmor-^ ^ ,therefore,acceptedasaDivinerevelationon thatmomentousdaywhenJesusexplainedtheScr ip-tures,afterhisresurrection,toJudeandh isapostolicbrethren;andhavewemodernsbetr ayedourtrustbyexcludinganinspiredrecordf romtheBible?

2 EevertingtothesecondcenturyofChristianit y, ,Irenseus,assigningtotheBookofEnochanaut henticityanalogoustothatofMosaicliteratu re,affirmsthatEnoch,althoughaman,filledt heofficeofGod'smessengertotheangels.'-^T ertuUian,whoflourishedatthecloseofthefir standatthebeginningofthesecondcentury,wh ilstadmittingthatthe"ScriptureofEnoch"is notreceivedbysomebecauseitisnotincludedi ntheHebrewCanon,speaksoftheauthoras"them ostancientprophet, Enoch ,"andofthebookast hedivinelyinspiredautographofthatimmorta lpatri-arch,preservedbyNoahintheark, ,"ButasEnochhasspokeninthesamescriptureo ftheLord,and'everyscripturesuitablefored ificationisdivinely^ "AgainstHeresies," ,' afactwhichshouldcauseusnosurprise,asthey werenottoreceivehim,evenwhenpersonallyad dressedbyhimself.

3 "TheseviewsTertulliancon-firmsbyappealin gtothetestimonyoftheApostleJude.^TheBook ofEnochwasthereforeassacredasthePsalmsor Isaiahintheeyesofthefamoustheologian, ( ),inquotingHebrewliterature, ,heaffirmsthattheworkoftheantediluvianpa triarchwasnotacceptedintheChurchesasDivi ne; ,inhistreatise^ontheangels,weread:"Weare nottosupposethataspecialofficehasbeenass ignedbymereaccidenttoaparticularangel:as to|Kaphael,theworkofcuringandhealing;toG rabriel,thedirectionofwars;toMichael,the dutyofhearingtheprayersandsupplicationso fmen."^Fromwhatsource^"OnFemaleDress,"ii .^. j)qPrincipiis," :*'AfterthisIbesoughttheangelofpeace,who proceededwithme, ,WhoarethosewhomIhaveseenonthefoursides, ,thepatient, , ,whopresidesoverallthatispowerful,isGabr ieh^Andthefourth,whopresidesoverrepentan ceandthehopeofthosewhowillinheriteternal life,isPhanuel.

4 "^WethusdiscoverthesourceofOrigen'sappar entlysuperhumanknowledge, ,thisremarkablebookgraduallysankintoobli vion,disappearedoutofWesternChristendom, andwaseventuallyforgottenbyaChurch, ,unknowntoEuropefornearlyathousandyears, , (circa792, ),wasatlengthdiscoveredbyBruceinAbyssini a,whobroughthomethreecopiesoftheEthiopic versionin1773,respectingwhichhewrites: *AmongstthearticlesIconsignedtothelibrar yatPariswasaverybeautifulandmagnificentc opyofthePropheciesofEnoch,inlargequarto; another,isamongsttheBooksofScripturewhic hIbroughthome,standingimmediatelyJbefore theBookofJob,whichisitsproperplaceintheA byseinian^ Cani)n;andathirdcopyIhavepresentedtothe.

5 BodleianLibraryatOxford, ,theBishopofCarlisle."Thispricelessmanus cript,destined,someday,torevealtheforgot tensourceofmanyChristiandogmasandmysteri es,restedinBodleianobscurity, ,ArchbishopofCashel,formerlyProfessorofH ebrewatOxford,whoissuedhisfirsteditionin 1821,inapparentunconsciousnessthathewasg ivingtomankindthetheologicalfossilsthrou ghwhichwe,intheclearer^jightofourgenerat ion,maystudythe"EvolutionofChristianity. "ThescarcityofArchbishopLaurence'stransl ation,beforethepublicationofthesecondedi tionin1833,producedanimpressioninGermany thattheworkhadbeensuppressedbyitsauthor; ,issuedin1838, ,intoLatinbyGrfrorerin1840,againintoGerm anbyDillmannin1853,andhasbeendiscussedby Weisse,Liicke,Hilgenfeld,andKalisch,thel atterofwhomutteredtheprediction,thattheb ookofEnoch"willonedaybeemployedasamostim portantwitnessinthehistoryofreligiousdog mas.

6 "Thedayandthehourhayecome,theclockhasstr uck,andinthuspublishinganeditionofArchbi shopLaurence'stranslationoftheBookofEnoc h,weplacewithinthereachofallreadersofthe Englishlanguage, "PreliminaryDissertation"ofArchbishopLau rence,inwhichhediscusses,withimpartialcr iticismandaccomplishedscholarship,theori ginoftheBookofEnoch,wefindhimattainingth eimportantconclusions,thatitwaswrittenby aJewoftheDispersioninhisownlanguage,whet herHebreworthelaterAramaeanacquiredinexi le;thattheversioninthehandsoftheauthorof theEpistleofJudeandtheAnte-NiceneFathers wasaGreektranslation;andthat^^'^^Mm^^ ,whethertranslatedfromAramaeanorGreek, ,ArchbishopLaurencereferstothe"mostancie ntremainsoftheCabbala(Hebrewtraditions)c ontainedinthe'Zohar,'aspeciesofphilosoph icalcommentaryupontheLaw, ,occasionalreferencesaremadetotheBookofE noch,asabookcarefullypreservedfromgenera tiontogeneration.

7 "ArchbishopLaurencethengivesextractsfrom the"Zohar,"referringtoimportantpassagesi ntheBookofEnoch,andinfersthat"theauthors oftheCabbalisticalremainswrotetheirrecon ditedoctrinesinChaldee,"andpossessedacop yoftheBookofEnoch,writteninthatlanguageo rinHebrew,"whichtheyregardedasthegenuine workofhimwhosenameitbore,andnotasthespur iousproductionofalaterage."ArchbishopLau rencethenconsiderstheprobabledateofthewo rk,andinfers,fromthequotationofJude,that itmusthavebeenwrittenantecedenttotheChri stianera,butnotbeforetheCaptivityofBabyl on, ,"intherepresentationoftheAncientofDaysc omingtojudgmentwiththeSonofman.

8 "ButsinceArchbishopLaurencewrote,modernc riticismhasdisclosedhownebulousisthedate ofDaniel,sothatitbecomesasreasonabletoas sumethattheauthororcompilerborrowedfromt heBookofEnoch, ,how-ever,discoveredmoresatisfactoryproo f,throughinternalevidence,thatthebook"wa swrittenlongsubsequenttothecommencement, andeveatotheconclusion,oftheBabylonianCa ptivity."ThatsectionoftheBookofEnoch, ,containsanallegoricalnarrativeoftheroya ldynastiesofIsraelandJudah,fromwhichArch bishopLaurenceconstructsahistoryextendin gfromSaultothebeginningofthereignofHerod theGreat,andinfersthattheBookofEnochwasw ritten"beforetheriseofChristianity;mostp robablyatanearlyperiodofthereignofHerod.

9 "TheArchbishopadds:"Thatitcouldnothavebe entheproductionofawriterwholivedafterthe inspiredauthorsoftheNewTestament,orwhowa sevencoevalwiththem, aquotationwhichprovesittohavebeeninhisti meaworkascribedtoEnochhimself." ArchbishopLaurence,furthermore,attainspr o-INTBODUCTION, ,oftheBookofEnochweread,"ThechiefsoftheE ast,amongtheParthiansandMedes,shallremov ekings, '\fromtheirthrones,springingaslionsfromt heirdens,andlikefamishedwolvesintothemid stoftheflock."Commentingonthispassage,Ar ch-bishopLaurencesays,"NowtheParthianswe realtogetherunknowninhistory,untilthe250 thyearbeforeChrist,when,undertheguidance ofArsaces(thefamilynameofalltheirsubsequ entkings)theyrevoltedfromAntiochusTheus, ,however, ,whenArsacesdefeatedandtookprisonerSeleu cusCallicinus,theSyrianmonarch, ; ,andfromtheEuphratestotheCaucasus.

10 " ;butastheauthoraddstothepassagealreadyci ted,"Theyshallgoup,andtreaduponthelandof theirelect, ,thepath,andthecityofmyrighteouspeoplesh allimpedetheprogressoftheirhorses," ,andtheirdefeatofAnthonyeighteenyearslat er,"whenthecreditoftheParthianarmswasatt hehighest;anditisprobablethataboutthesam eperiod,oratleastnotlongafter,theBookofE nochw^aswritten." ,asthegenuineproductionofthepatriarchEno ch?TheArchbishopanswersbyshowing,through internalevidence,thatthebookwaswrittenby aJewresidingatadistancefromPalestine,and havingbeenbroughtintoJudseainthenameofth eprophetEnoch, ,andrepresentsthelongestdayintheyearasco nsistingoftwelveoutoftheseeighteenparts.