The Case For The Book of Enoch As Scripture, By James Bean

Background on Enoch at the Reluctant Messenger Website

1. Enoch and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The book of First Enoch was part of the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible — the Essene Library of Qumran in Israel. First Enoch was included amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, in fact was one of the most widely read holy books at Qumran (400 BC — 70 AD). This observation is based upon the large number of Aramaic Enoch fragments that have been found there. Many Jews were studying Enoch before and during the time of Jesus. HERE’S a photo of a page of First Enoch from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
2. Jude Quoted Enoch in the New Testament: The author of the Book of Jude quoted First Enoch in his New Testament epistle (letter), a great canonical endorsement for the Book of Enoch by the Original Jesus Movement. The Bibles that bare the most resemblance to the Scriptures of Jude and the Original Aramaic-speaking Christians is the Ethiopian Bible, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls-Essene-Qumran Bible. Jude not only quotes from Enoch, but also from the Assumption of Moses. Both Enoch and Assumption of Moses were recognized as Scripture by the Essenes; see more on the Ethiopian Bible below. In addition to Jude, Biblical scholars also have noticed many parallel verses and shared ideas between the New Testament and Book of Enoch, illustrating how influential the Book of Enoch was on Jesus, the authors of the Gospels and other New Testament books.
3. Tertullian Referred to Enoch as “Scripture”: The Early Church father Tertullian quotes passages from the Book of Enoch, referring to these passages as “Scripture”. The Epistle of Jude (verse 14) is also appealed to by Tertullian as a testimonial to the authority of Enoch. (see, De cultu feminarum. 1.3)
   Tertullian’s canon of the Old Testament included the deuterocanonical books, since he quotes most of them. He also cites the Book of Enoch as inspired, and thinks those who wanted to remove it were wrong. Tertullian.org
   So Did Barnabus, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria: The Book of Enoch was extant centuries before the birth of Christ and yet is considered by many to be more Christian in its theology than Jewish. It was considered Scripture by many early Christians. The earliest literature of the “Church fathers” is filled with references to this mysterious book. Second and Third Century “Church fathers” like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria all make use of the Book of Enoch. Tertullian (160-230 C.E) even called the Book of Enoch “Holy Scripture”. The Ethiopic Church included the Book of Enoch as part of their official canon of the Bible: Wikipedia Entry About the Books of Enoch
4. The Epistle of Barnabas: Like some other major leaders, Barnabas quoted from Enoch, even using the term “Scripture” to describe Enoch passages. See, the Epistle of Barnabas, translated in the book Early Christian Writings — The Apostolic Fathers, Maxwell Staniforth, Penguin Classics.
5. Enoch is in the Bible: The ETHIOPIAN BIBLE INCLUDES THE BOOKS OF FIRST AND SECOND ENOCH: The Ethiopian Bible contains the books of Enoch (and several other surprising books once banned and thought to be forever lost), thus preserving this earlier understanding dating back to the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls and New Testament that viewed Enoch to be an inspired sacred text.

Books of Enoch Online:

*First Enoch, HTML*

*All Three Books of Enoch at Scribd*

*First Enoch, Another Translation*

*Second Enoch — Book of the Secrets of Enoch*

*Third Enoch at Scribd*