The Lost Book of Enoch

by David Humphreys

The book of Enoch was widely known by early Christians until the fourth century AD, when it was banned by the Church authorities and virtually disappeared. It describes how Enoch walked with the Archangels who took him up to Heaven and revealed to him the secrets of the universe and the future of mankind. It forms the background in the marvellous apocalyptic vision which bears Enoch's name. Drawing upon an Ethiopic manuscript discovered in the 19th century, this book is based on a scholarly reconstruction of the greatest of the Apocalypse sagas, now available for the first time to a wide audience.

Genres: Christian, Religion

84 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gotta admit, I got a little too wrapped around the axle with this one last year. It activated my volatile ego-daemon, and once that is out of the box (Pandora's, maybe?) my self-possession flies out the window.

And just as a note to myself: an ego-daemon is a DUMBLY unchristian trait!

Our self-possession, though, is the fruit of maturity. It's the product of seeing the Big picture, Being, in a more widely-encompassing fashion. The wider our circle of that intuitive awareness, the smaller we become. And the more serious we are.

We spiritually arrive thereby, as Spinoza said, at the Vision of God - or the Totality of Nature.

And that intuition, Jacques Maritain used to say, is the foundation of our Faith.

Now, where Enoch gets contentious is in the introduction of the Race of Giants (see the book of Genesis) as a race begotten by the Fallen Angels with human women. And I think the medieval bishops were right in excising this story from scripture.

You see, that myth challenges the peaceful primacy of Being with an introduction of a chthonic monkeywrench into its theological gears.

Why?

Because everyone vehemently loathes the political Giants who call the shots - when they step outta line. Fallen angels.

That's just the primitive Fisher King myth in all of us.

Demagogues get on our nerves.

We all want to knock off the Colonel Kurtzes with Martin Sheen. Yet if we kick at the goads, the goads have a way of kicking us back harder. Distancing ourselves from that fracas is vital. Simplicity is everything.

God is oblivious to all that noise. God just chuckles and says to us, "Life is way BIGGER than all that. Law is Law. Get with the Program, Fergus. Knuckle down to more serious and constructive things…

“Like the simple Gospel.”

God is so much bigger than the visible world, including us puny Giants -

And His Peace is beyond compare.

[M. Kaboomis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book received 5 stars because it delivers what it says it will deliver: a straight-up translation of the Book of Enoch in contemporary English. No added commentary. There’s a short intro covering why the “author” sought out this lost text and why he wanted to provide this translation. That’s it.

Now, I’m ready for some good commentary to go along with what I read.
Any suggestions?

Get ready for a lot of allegory like the Book of Revelations. I found the final ten pages to be the most interesting. When Enoch gathers his family together and what he shares with them.

I was interested in this ‘lost gospel” because Jude does indeed mention Enoch and calls him a prophet. And history shows the Church included this book in the Canon until around the 3rd century.

Apparently, it’s a mystery why this book was dropped from the Canon so long ago and forgotten for centuries.

[Aleksandar Zekić · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nije loša samo previše hajpovana. Knjiga, pogotovo na početku daje objašnjenja na dosta konkretnih pitanja koje vjerujem da su mnogi imali tokom čitanja Prve knjige Mojsijeve, pa mi je malo žao što je izbačena iz većine crkvenih kanona. 2 umjesto 3 zvjezdice jer je realno jedini zanimljiv dio prvih nekoliko poglavlja, a kasnije samo nekoliko božijih otkrovenja, te je ostatak vrlo nezanimljiv.

[cheryl keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative

I liked reading Enoch's description of Heaven, Angels, and even the stars. He reinforces how goes children should act and to always be love every day in righteousness.

[Markus Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read

[Ryan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read this!

[Kimberly Hinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

eye opening

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only translation I have read. Some parts were very interesting. On the whole, a good read!