CHristians..If Enoch is quoted by Jude and Paul in Hebrews, which are cannonized, why wasn't Enoch cannonized?

Question

Why do you think it was left out? Do you consider Enoch a prophet as Jude and Paul did? Why? Why not?

pagans i already know your answers. thanks.

LP...Jude 6 is verbatim from Enoch...and the lord will come with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment etc....hebrews 11:3 say "enoch also gave his testimony of these" etc...

towelieban I don't agree....enoch did give prophecy relating specifically to jesus the "elect one" who shall some etc...among others...towelie you're the worst character ever! i know :-( hey hey that's it! what? the code to the door? no the theme to funky town!!!

Max Marie..yes my favorite book. giants? demons? sirens? earth ages? the future? dimensions? God's throne? the pillars of the earth and heavens etc..??? what's not to like?!! uhhh are you married? if not please move to california as i'd like to court you!!!

Answer 1

Not everyone quoted in the NT is canonized.

Wait. Do you mean canonized as in to be made a saint?
or do you mean why isn't the Book of Enoch part of the bible? i.e. canon.

Yes I consider Enoch (sometimes Henoch) a prophet. As a Catholic I also consider his assistant Baruch biblical. But Protestants wouldn't agree. They pulled Baruch from the bible.

The early church fathers quoted heavily from the book of enoch. However, it was apparently SO beloved the scrolls were lost. Only bits and pieces survived. So by the time the church became legal and the church fathers could decide on the canon of the bible, there was very little of Enoch left.

This too was after the Jewish (albeit Anti-Christian) council of Jamnia (in the first century AD). Since the Christians loved the Book of Enoch SO much, the Hebrews removed it from their canon. Along with Baruch and several other books of scripture that supported the Christian faith.

A complete scroll was found in the 1700s. And a more recent discovery of a coptic translation. Bible scholars claim both are valid translations. OOOPS! I forgot the copy in the Dead Sea Scrolls too.

Hence we can now ALL enjoy the Book of Enoch.

Fantastic read wouldn't you agree??!!???

Answer 2

First of all, it is highly unlikely that Paul wrote Hebrews, even by conservative new testament scholars.

Regarding Enoch, it is very possible that the biblical writers felt Enoch was a reliable source. However, there are many extra-biblical books referenced throughout the bible though they never became canonized.

And both the Hebrew and New Testament rejected the book of Enoch as divinely inspired. And merely because the book claims to be written by Enoch doesn't mean it actually was.

Answer 3

First, there's no proof that Jude's quote was from the book you know as "the book of Enoch". So it's possible that it wasn't canonized because there were no extant copies.

Second, Paul quotes from a variety of extrabiblical materials, but that doesn't make them suitable for canonization.

Finally, we know that God spoke a wide variety of messages through lots of prophets that didn't make it into our current Bible. The Bible doesn't claim to contain every word God ever uttered, nor does it have to in order to carry out its purpose.

So it's easy enough to explain why "the book of Enoch" is not in the canon of scripture, and furthermore the fact that it isn't doesn't impact anything that believers in the Bible believe.

Answer 4

Paul also quotes from secular Greek and Roman poets in various letters here and there in order to connect with his audience or to make a point. Why don't we canonize Ovid or Virgil?

The short answer would be that just because Paul or Jude made passing references to Jewish or Roman pop culture, like quoting from popular secular works, does not mean that either Paul or Jude agreed with every single thing that these writers were saying. They simply liked this particular quote.

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That annoying thumbs down troll will not stop me from answering questions, btw.

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...Historical-critical opinion has 1 Enoch as originally being written by four (or five?) separate authors; as four (or so) separate books. The dating of these authorships varies. The compilation of these books into one is generally thought be (circa) 175 BC and no later than 120 BC or so.

Church Father Tertullian (circa 160-230 AD) believed 1 Enoch to be holy scripture. That it was a written-form of an oral tradition going back to Enoch (himself). He believed Noah carried the tradition "through" the Flood. I'm unsure who Tertullian thought was its actual author(?); possibly Ezra(?).

An Enochian [Jewish] Tradition had 1 Enoch and many other books as being essentially the same; written [compiliations] of oral traditions that had been passed along generation by generation. In this tradition, Ezra (c. 440 BC) is credited for having written twenty-four books (that were not in the Jewish canon) and seventy "secret books" (among which may have been 1 Enoch). Iow, it is believed in this Enochian Tradition that Ezra may have "penned" 1 Enoch.

Among the Church Fathers and other early Christian thinkers who supported and approved 1 Enoch were: Tatian (110-172); Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (115-185); Clement of Alexandria (150-220); Tertullian (160-230); Origen (186-255); Lactantius (260-330); in addition to: Methodius of Philippi, Minucius Felix, Commodianus, and Ambrose of Milanalso.

Why 1 Enoch isn't in the Bible (canonical):

The Council of Carthage (397 AD), though not an 'official' Council of the entire Church, listed as canonical "only those books that were generally regarded by the consensus of use as properly a canon." 1 Enoch wasn't among those books that were universally accepted. As a Jewish-apocalyptic book; it probably wasn't "known" among (the predominantly gentile) Christian population world-wide. The Council of Carthage set the standard; some would say a standard that already existed. (I'm not going into (later) added Apocryphal books here, which is another topic).

The criteria of its being pseudepigrapha -- that Enoch himself didn't write it; oral tradition or not -- was what probably gave the book its final blow (why it wasn't seriously considered or why it was seen as "false").

Judaism had condemned basically "all" Jewish-apocaylptic books by the early second century with the exceptions of Daniel and Ezekiel. It was felt these books contributed to the many would-be-messiahs, as what "inspired" them. Put another way, 'that apocalyptic stuff' caused the War of 70 AD ...

Answer 5

There are only general references to Enoch, the father of Methuselah. Prophets reveal the word of God for the future, Enoch did this ONLY by his deeds and not his words.
Enoch is an example held up as a lesson, not a true prophet.

Answer 6

Dear James,

You must remember that God is the author of the Bible--not man. God used men as secretaries to pen His words (Jeremiah 36:1-4). The Bible also tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

So we see from the Bible that God determined what He would include in the canon of Scripture.

For more info., Google my sources.

Answer 7

It's not clear why Enoch's testimonies and writings are not canonized. There are many inspired people in the Bible who didn't write a single thing.

More can be said.

GOD bless

Answer 8

1Enoch, or somewhere between 55% and 75% of it, was, in fact, canonized...it is smoothly weaved into the book of Revelations! One would have to read both texts carefully to see this. Thanks for a very good question. The author of Revelations would necessarily had to edit the long and hard-to-follow vision of the cows and goats, along with the astrological/astronomical visions...into a more mysterious and poetic version for his contemporaries, who may not have appreciated the older version.

Answer 9

please list the Scriptures in Jude and Hebrews that you are referring to and we will be better equipped to answer.

As of this moment, I am not aware of any quotes in Jude or Hebrews that are found in the book of Enoch

agape!

.

Answer 10

It is more rare to have people before Jesus canonized.