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A review by skahn
The Book of Enoch by Enoch, Richard Laurence
4.0
Considered canonical by Clement, Tertullian, put on par with Psalms by Origen.
Enoch was reluctantly admitted to be at least partially inspired by Augustine. Quoted directly by Jude. Again directly by Jesus on multiple occasions.
Even Irenaeus, despite his manifest distortions of so-called gnostics (which merely seems to mean "other christians"), accepted the book of Enoch. The cries of gnostic "heresy" puts far too much weight on metaphor while performing gymnastics to keep their own analogies intact. The gnostics didn't exist except as a slanderous classification of deliberately misinterpreted texts. Fortunately, many of these have been recovered which demonstrates how sloppy Irenaeus' influential attacks really were. I guarantee the early gnostics and Arians were far more "Christian" than just about anyone in the 21st century which largely sides with fundamentalist literalism or purely metaphorical liberalism. Memorized words about someone else's authentic experience are mistaken for faith or everything is reduced to psychology and metaphor.
Enoch is a fascinating suppressed text which demonstrates clearly more continuity of early Christian ("gnostic") mysticism and early first temple Judaism.
Enoch was reluctantly admitted to be at least partially inspired by Augustine. Quoted directly by Jude. Again directly by Jesus on multiple occasions.
Even Irenaeus, despite his manifest distortions of so-called gnostics (which merely seems to mean "other christians"), accepted the book of Enoch. The cries of gnostic "heresy" puts far too much weight on metaphor while performing gymnastics to keep their own analogies intact. The gnostics didn't exist except as a slanderous classification of deliberately misinterpreted texts. Fortunately, many of these have been recovered which demonstrates how sloppy Irenaeus' influential attacks really were. I guarantee the early gnostics and Arians were far more "Christian" than just about anyone in the 21st century which largely sides with fundamentalist literalism or purely metaphorical liberalism. Memorized words about someone else's authentic experience are mistaken for faith or everything is reduced to psychology and metaphor.
Enoch is a fascinating suppressed text which demonstrates clearly more continuity of early Christian ("gnostic") mysticism and early first temple Judaism.