To: Alamo-Girl
The other thing of course is that over a hundred phrases in the New Testament find precedence in Enoch and Enoch is quoted directly in Jude. So, to the New Testament - Enoch is authentic.
No, this does not mean that Enoch (the book) is authentic. It does indicate that many first century Jews were familiar with the book. It could also mean that Jude considers the one quote authentic. But, this is not even close to saying that the whole book (even in first century form) should be considered canonical.
I say this, though, because these words concern me:
Why is the authenticity of Enoch relevant to Christians today?
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. - Daniel 12:4
Obviously we are in a time of unprecedented knowledge and travel, thus many have been curious whether the hidden text mentioned in Daniel has already been revealed to any extent.
Some have proposed that the Bible Code (Equidistant Letter Sequence) is the hidden text mentioned in Daniel. So far I believe the search has been limited to a simple matrix but there was some talk of looking for any patterns in a holographic. As I recall, Newton suspected there was a code in the Pentateuch.
Still others have mentioned the book of Enoch which was rediscovered in 1773 in Ethopia and further authenticated by copies found at Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls).
I am concerned that you're chasing after a brand of gnosticism instead of true christianity. The Bible certainly has many details which create curiousity in our minds (e.g., What does Paul mean by "baptism for the dead"? What exactly happened between Michael and the Devil, as touched on in Jude? Who were the "sons of God" in Genesis 6? What was Enoch's life like?), and many of the pseudopigraphal books dwell upon these obscurities.
The point of the Bible, however, is to testify of Jesus Christ and our salvation in him:
John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;"
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Acts 10:43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
So, I suggest that you stop running after secret knowledge and Bible codes, instead sticking with the plain message of the Bible about Jesus and salvation.
27 posted on
08/27/2003 3:17:14 PM PDT by
jam137
(see my FR homepage for CA Recall perspectives)
To: jam137
Thank you so much for sharing your concerns! I've followed some of your posts and suspect we may have a similar view on many things - saved by faith not by works, inerrancy of Scripture, etc.
Certainly, exploring ancient manuscripts is not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy it a great deal.
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