In the Authorized Version of the Epistle of Jude,
we read the following words: ” Enoch also, the
seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying,
Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his
saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince
all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly
deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all
their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have
spoken against Him.”
Modern research sees in the Epistle of Jude a
work of the second century : but as orthodox
theologians accept its contents as the inspired
utterance of an Apostle, let us diligently search the
Hebrew Scriptures for this important forecast of the
second Advent of the Messiah. In vain we turn
over the pages of the sacred Canon ; not even in the
Apocrypha can we trace one line from the pen of
the marvellous being to whom uninterrupted immor-
tality is assigned by apostolic interpretation of
Genesis v. 24. Were the prophecies of Enoch,
therefore, accepted as a Divine revelation on that
momentous day when Jesus explained the Scrip-
tures, after his resurrection, to Jude and his apostolic
brethren ; and have we moderns betrayed our trust
by excluding an inspired record from the Bible?
Eeverting to the second century of Christianity,
we find Irenseus and Clement of Alexandria citing
the Book of Enoch without questioning its sacred
character. Thus, Irenseus, assigning to the Book of
Enoch an authenticity analogous to that of Mosaic
literature, affirms that Enoch, although a man,
filled the office of God’s messenger to the angels.’
Tertullian, who flourished at the close of the first
and at the beginning of the second century, whilst
admitting that the ” Scripture of Enoch ” is not
received by some because it is not included in the
Hebrew Canon, speaks of the author as ” the most
ancient prophet, Enoch,” and of the book as the
divinely inspired autograph of that immortal patri-
arch, preserved by Noah in the ark, or miraculously
reproduced by him through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. Tertullian adds, ” But as Enoch has
spoken in the same scripture of the Lord, and
‘ every scripture suitable for edification is divinely
inspired,’ let us reject nothing which belongs to us.
It may now seem to have been disavowed by the
Jews like all other scripture which speaks of Christ”
a fact which should cause us no surprise, as they
were not to receive him, even when personally
addressed by himself.” These views Tertullian con-
firms by appealing to the testimony of the Apostle
Jude. The Book of Enoch was therefore as sacred
as the Psalms or Isaiah in the eyes of the famous
theologian, on whom modern orthodoxy relies as
the chief canonist of New Testament scripture.
Origen (a.d. 254), in quoting Hebrew literature,
assigns to the Book of Enoch the same authority
as to the Psalms. In polemical discussion with
Celsus, he affirms that the work of the antediluvian
patriarch was not accepted in the Churches as
Divine ; and modern theologians have accordingly
assumed that he rejected its inspiration : but the
extent to which he adopts its language and ideas
discloses personal conviction that Enoch was one of
the greatest of the prophets. Thus, in his treatise
on the angels, we read : ” We are not to suppose
that a special office has been assigned by mere
accident to a particular angel : as to Kaphael, the
work of curing and healing ; to Grabriel, the direction
of wars ; to Michael, the duty of hearing the prayers
and supplications of men.” From what source
but assumed revelation could Origen obtain and
publish these circumstantial details of ministerial
administration in heaven?
Turning to the Book of Enoch we read : “After
this I besought the angel of peace, who proceeded
with me, to explain all that was concealed. I said
to him, Who are those whom I have seen on the
four sides, and whose words I have heard and
written down. He replied. The first is the merciful,
the patient, the holy Michael. The second is he who
presides over every suffering and every affliction of
the sons of men, the holy Kaphael. The third, who
presides over all that is powerful, is Gabrieh And
the fourth, who presides over repentance and the hope
of those who will inherit eternal life, is Phanuel.”
We thus discover the source of Origen’s apparently
superhuman knowledge, and detect his implicit
trust in the Book of Enoch as a Divine revelation.
When primitive Christianity had freely appro-
priated the visions of Enoch as the materials of
constructive dogmas, this remarkable book gradually
sank into oblivion, disappeared out of Western
Christendom, and was eventually forgotten by a
Church, which unconsciously perpetuated its teach-
ing as the miraculous revelations of Christianity.
The Book of Enoch, unknown to Europe for
nearly a thousand years, except through the frag-
ments preserved by Georgius Syncellus (circa 792,
A.D.), was at length discovered by Bruce in Abyssinia,
who brought home three copies of the Ethiopic
version in 1773, respecting which he writes:
“Amongst the articles I consigned to the library at
Paris was a very beautiful and magnificent copy of
the Prophecies of Enoch, in large quarto ; another,
is amongst the Books of Scripture which I brought
home, standing immediately Jbefore the Book of
Job, which is its proper place in the Abyssinian
Canon ; and a third copy I have presented to the,
.Bodleian Library at Oxford, by the hands of Dr.
Douglas, the Bishop of Carlisle.”
This priceless manuscript, destined, some day, to
reveal the forgotten source of many Christian dogmas
and mysteries, rested in Bodleian obscurity, until
presented to the world through an English trans-
lation by Dr. Laurence, Archbishop of Cashel,
formerly Professor of Hebrew at Oxford, who issued
his first edition in 1821, in apparent unconsciousness
that he was giving to mankind the theological
fossils through which we, in the clearer light
of our generation, may study the “Evolution of
Christianity.”
The scarcity of A rchbishop Laurence’s translation,
before the publication of the second edition in 1833,
produced an impression in Germany that the work
had been suppressed by its author ; but this report
is contradicted in the preface to the third edition,
issued in 1838, in response to a large order from
America.
The Book of Enoch excited more interest on the
Continent than in England. It was translated into
German by Dr. Hoffman in 1838, into Latin by
Grfrorer in 1840, again into German by Dillmann in
1853, and has been discussed by Weisse, Liicke,
Hilgenfeld, and Kalisch, the latter of whom uttered
the prediction, that the book of Enoch “will one
day be employed as a most important witness in
the history of religious dogmas.” The day and the
hour haye come, the clock has struck, and in thus
publishing an edition of Archbishop Laurence’s
translation of the Book of Enoch, we place within
the reach of all readers of the English language,
the means of studying the pre-Christian origin of
Christian mysteries.
Turning towards the ” Preliminary Dissertation ”
of Archbishop Laurence, in which he discusses, with
impartial criticism and accomplished scholarship,
the origin of the Book of Enoch, we find him
attaining the important conclusions, that it was
written by a Jew of the Dispersion in his own
language, whether Hebrew or the later Aramaean
acquired in exile ; that the version in the hands of
the author of the Epistle of Jude and the Ante-
Nicene Fathers was a Greek translation ; and that
the Ethiopic edition, whether translated from
Aramaean or Greek, is the same work as that cited
by the Apostle.
In attestation of the theory of an Aramaic or
Syro-Chaldsean origin, Archbishop Laurence refers
to the ” most ancient remains of the Cabbala
(Hebrew traditions) contained in the ‘ Zohar,’ a
species of philosophical commentary upon the Law,
combining theological opinions with the allegorical
subtleties of the mystical school. In this cele-
brated compilation of what was long supposed to
constitute the hidden wisdom of the Jewish nation,
occasional references are made to the Book of
Enoch, as a book carefully preserved from generation
to generation.” Archbishop Laurence then gives
extracts from the “Zohar,” referring to important
passages in the Book of Enoch, and infers that
“the authors of the Cabbalistical remains wrote
their recondite doctrines in Chaldee,” and possessed
a copy of the Book of Enoch, written in that
language or in Hebrew, “which they regarded as
the genuine work of him whose name it bore, and
not as the spurious production of a later age.”
Archbishop Laurence then considers the probable
date of the work, and infers, from the quotation of
Jude, that it must have been written antecedent to
the Christian era, but not before the Captivity of
Babylon, because it contains the language and
imagery of Daniel, “in the representation of the
Ancient of Days coming to judgment with the Son
of man.” But since Archbishop Laurence wrote,
modern criticism has disclosed how nebulous is the
date of Daniel, so that it becomes as reasonable to
assume that the author or compiler borrowed from
the Book of Enoch, as to attribute plagiarism to
the pseudo-patriarch. The learned translator, how-
ever, discovered more satisfactory proof, through
internal evidence, that the book ” was written long
subsequent to the commencement, and evea to the
conclusion, of the Babylonian Captivity.”
That section of the Book of Enoch, extending
from chapter Ixxxii. to xc, contains an allegorical
narrative of the royal dynasties of Israel and Judah,
from which Archbishop Laurence constructs a
history extending from Saul to the beginning of
the reign of Herod the Great, and infers that the
Book of Enoch was written ” before the rise of
Christianity ; most probably at an early period of
the reign of Herod.” The Archbishop adds:
” That it could not have been the production of a
writer who lived after the inspired authors of the
New Testament, or who was even coeval with them,
must be manifest from the quotation of St. Jude”
a quotation which proves it to have been in his
time a work ascribed to Enoch himself.”
Archbishop Laurence, furthermore, attains pro-
bability of date through another line of argument.
In chapter liv. 9, of the Book of Enoch we read,
” The chiefs of the East, among the Parthians and
Medes, shall remove kings, in whom a spirit of
perturbation shall enter. They shall hurl them
‘from their thrones, springing as lions from their
dens, and like famished wolves into the midst of
the flock.” Commenting on this passage, Arch-
bishop Laurence says, ” Now the Parthians were
altogether unknown in history, until the 250th year
before Christ, when, under the guidance of Arsaces
(the family name of all their subsequent kings)
they revolted from Antiochus Theus, the then king
of Syria. It was not, however, until the year 230
B.C. that their empire became firmly established,
when Arsaces defeated and took prisoner Seleucus
Callicinus, the Syrian monarch, and first assumed
the title of King of Parthia. By degrees they
expelled the Syrian dominion from every province
over which it extended east of the Euphrates ; so
that from about the year 140 B.C. their vast empire
reached from the Ganges to the Euphrates, and
from the Euphrates to the Caucasus.” These facts
would therefore lead to the conclusion that the
Book of Enoch was written about the middle of the
second century B.C. ; but as the author adds to
the passage already cited, ” They shall go up, and
tread upon the land of their elect, the land of their
elect shall be before them. The threshing-floor,
the path, and the city of my righteous people shall
impede the progress of their horses,” Archbishop
Laurence connects this language with the invasion
of Syria by the Parthians in the year 54 B.C., and
their defeat of Anthony eighteen years later, ” when
the credit of the Parthian arms was at the highest ;
and it is probable that about the same period, or
at least not long after, the Book of Enoch was
written.”
The question now naturally arises. How was this
work of fiction accepted within so short a period, as
the genuine production of the patriarch Enoch?
The Archbishop answers by showing, through
internal evidence, that the book was written by a
Jew residing at a distance from Palestine, and
having been brought into Judsea in the name of the
prophet Enoch, the obscurity of its origin caused
some to accept it as the genuine production of the
patriarch himself. In chapter Ixxi. Pseudo-Enoch
divides the day and night into eighteen parts, and
represents the longest day in the year as consisting
of twelve out of these eighteen parts. ” Now the
proportion of twelve to eighteen is precisely the
same as sixteen to four and twenty, the present
division in hours of the period constituting day and
night. If therefore we consider in what latitude a
country must be situated to have a day of sixteen
hours long, we shall immediately perceive that
Palestine could not be such a country. We may
then safely conclude that the region in which the
author lived must have been situated not lower
than forty-five degrees north latitude, where the
longest day is fifteen hours and a half, nor higher
perhaps than forty-nine degrees, where the longest
day is precisely sixteen hours. This will bring the
country where he wrote, as high up at least as the
northern districts of the Caspian and Euxine seas ;
probably it was situated somewhere between the
upper parts of both these seas; and if the latter
conjecture be well founded, the author of the Book
of Enoch was perhaps a member of one of the tribes
which Shalmaneser carried away, and placed in
Halah and in Habor by the river Goshen, and in the
cities of the Modes,’ and who never returned from
captivity.”
Since Archbishop Laurence wrote his ” Pre-
liminary Dissertation,” fresh light has been thrown
on the origin of the Book of Enoch through the
publication of Mr. Layard’s ” Nineveh and Babylon,”
recording the discovery, in Babylonian ruins, of cups
or bowls of terra cotta, covered on the inner surface
with inscriptions in ink, which have been deciphered
by Mr. Thomas Ellis of the Manuscript Department
in the British Museum, as amulets or charms against
evil spirits, disease, calamity, and sudden death,
composed in tlie Chaldean language mingled with
Hebrew words and written in characters which
combine Syriac and Palmyrene with the ancient
Phoenician. These inscriptions are undated; but
Mr. Ellis attained the conclusion through internal
evidence, that these cups belonged to the descen-
dants of the Jews who were carried captive to
Babylon and the surrounding cities.
But the most important revelation attained
through these discoveries of Mr. Layard lies in the
interesting fact, mentioned in his work, that the
names of the angels inscribed on these cups, and
those recorded in the Book of Enoch, are, in many
instances identical, so that no doubt remains as to
the Hebrew-Chaldee origin of that great Semitic
work, whether assignable to human genius or Divine
revelation ; and the exhumed amulets of Jews of
the Dispersion attest the accuracy of Archbishop
Laurence’s conclusions respecting the nationality of
Pseudo-Enoch.
Ignorance of the contents of the Apocrypha, as
canonized by the Church of Eome, is so general
in England that many otherwise well-informed
people imagine that the Book of Enoch may be
found in its pages, whereas it has been lost to all
English readers, except those who may possess or
have access to copies of the English translation last
issued in 1838. On this aspect of the question
Archbishop Laurence writes :
” The fate of the Apocryphal writings in general
has been singular. On one side, from the influence
of theological opinion or theological caprice, they
have been sometimes injudiciously admitted into
the Canon of Scripture ; while on the other side,
from an over-anxiety to preserve that Canon in-
violate, they have been not simply rejected, but
loaded with every epithet of contempt and obloquy.
The feelings perhaps of both parties have on such
occasions run away with their judgment. Eor
writings of this description, whatever may or may
not be their claim to inspiration, are at least of
considerable utility, where they indicate the theo-
logical opinions of the periods at which they were
composed. This I apprehend to be peculiarly the
the case of the Book of Enoch ; which, as having
been manifestly written before the doctrines of
Christianity were promulgated to the world, must
afford us, when it refers to the nature and character
of the Messiah, as it repeatedly does so refer,
credible proof of what were the Jewish opinions
upon those points before the birth of Christ ; and
consequently before the possible predominance of
the Christian creed.”
Archbishop Laurence thus clearly recognized
that the visions of Enoch preceded the teaching of
Jesus ; but it was not given to him, or to his
generation, to see how deeply his conclusions affected
the supernatural claims of Christianity.
[ Turning to the contents of the Book of Enoch,
the first six chapters announce the conderonation
I of transgressors and the blessings of the righteous,
through the triumphal advent of the Messiah, fore-
J3ast in the famous prediction quoted by the author
of the Epistle attributed to Jude.
Chapters vii. to xvi. record the descent of two
hundred angels on the earth, their selection of
wives, the birth of their gigantic offspring, and
the instruction of mankind in the manufacture
of offensive and defensive weapons, the fabrication
of mirrors, the workmanship of jewellery, and the
use of cosmetics and dyes, combined with lessons
in sorcery, astrology, divination, and astronomy”
all which Tertullian accepts as Divine revelation,
when he denounces woman as the ” devil’s gate-
way,” and assures her, on the authority of the
inspired Enoch, that Tyrian dyes, Phrygian em-
broidery, Babylonian cloth, golden bracelets, gleam-
ing pearls, flashing onyx-stones, and brilliant
emeralds, with all the other adjuncts of an elegant
toilette, are the special gifts of fallen angels to
female frailty. The advent of the angels multiplies
transgressions on earth, they are condemned to
“the lowest depths of the fire in torments,” and
Enoch, as the messenger of God, announces to them
the eternity of their punishment.
Chapters xvii. to xxxvi. give a graphic descrip-
tion of the miraculous journeys of Enoch in. the
company of an angel, from whom he learns the
secrets of creation and the mysteries of Infinity.
From the top of a lofty mountain ” which reached
to heaven,” he beheld the receptacles of light
thunder, and lightning, “the great darkness or
mountains of gloom which constitute winter, the
mouths of rivers and of the deep, the stone which
supports the corners of the earth, and the four winds
which bear up the earth, and constitute the pillars
of heaven.” Is not this obviously the inspired cos-
mology, through which the author of the Book of
Enoch unconsciously condemned mediaeval physicists
to the stake for impiously proclaiming the mobility
of the earth? If an inspired prophet saw the stone
which supports the corners of the earth, how inex-
piable the guilt of men, who fostered scepticism
through the heliocentric theory of a world coursing
swiftly round the sun !
But had not the Book of Enoch disappeared for
centuries out of Europe, before the persecution of
Galileo and the martyrdom of Bruno? We answer
that its teaching had survived, as numerous other
superstitions have passed from generation to genera-
tion long after all knowledge of their origin has
been lost to the theologians who accept them as
Divine.
In the “Evolution of Christianity” we cite the
following passage from Ireneeus : ” It is impossible
that the Gospels can be more or less than they are.
For as there are four zones in the world which we
inhabit, and four principal winds, while the Church
is spread abroad throughout the earth, and the
pillax-and basis of the Church is the gospel and
the spirit of life, it is right that she should hjive
four pillars exhaling immortality on every side, and
bestowing renewed vitality on men. From which
fact it follows that the Word has given us four
versions of the Gospel, united by one spirit.” We
now recognize that this fanciful theory of a limited
number of Evangelists is based on the cosmology
of Enoch ; and if in the second century, Irenaeus
accepted the visions of an antediluvian patriarch
as facts, the traditional survival of the earth’s
” corner stone ” doubtless controlled the orthodox
astronomy of mediaeval theologians.
Proceeding on his journey with the angel Uriel,
Enoch furthermore beheld the prison of the fallen
angels, in which struo-o-ling columns of fire ascended
from the appalling abyss. He saw the
w hich th e spirits of the dead await the day of judg-
ment ; he looked upon the trees of knowledge and
of life, exhaling fragrant odours from leaves which
never withered, and from fruit which ever bloomed ;
and he beheld the ” great and glorious wonder ” of
the celestial stars, coming forth through the ” gates
of heaven.”
Chapters xxxvii. to Ixxi. record the second vision
of wisdom, divided into three parables. The first
depicts the future happiness and glory of the elect,
whom Enoch beheld reclining on ‘couches in the
habitations of angels, or standing in thousands of
thoii sands and myriads of myriads before the throne
of God, blessing and glorifying Him with celestial
song, as the Holy, Holy Lord of spirits, before whom
righteousness eternally dwells.
As Enoch uttered his prophecies respecting the
elect, before the existence of Christianity, it is
important to learn in what sense he understood the
doctrine of election. The language of the first
parable happily leaves no room for doubt” ” The
righteous will be elected for their good works
duly weighed by the Lord of Spirits.” Election,
therefore, traced to its original source, means nothing
more than Divine ” selection of the fittest ” ” a
theory more consistent with the justice of God, than
the capricious choice of the metamorphical potter,
whose arbitrary fashioning of plastic clay symbo-
lized, in Pauline theology, the doctrine of predesti-
nation.
The second parable (xlv.-lv.) demands the ab-
sorbed attention of modern Jews and Gentiles ;
for it is either the inspired forecast of a gr eat
Hebrew prophet, predicting with miraculous accuracy
the future teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, or the
Semitic romance from which the latter borrowed
His conceptions of the triumphant return of the Son
of man, to occupy a judicial throne in the midst
of rejoicing saints and trembling sinners, expect-
ant of everlasting happiness or eternal fire and
whether these celestial visions be accepted as human
or Divine, they have exercised so vast an influence
on the destinies of mankind for nearly two thousand”
years, that candid and impartial seekers after religious
truth can no longer delay inquiry into the
relationship of the Book of Enoch with the revela-
tion, or the evolution, of Christianity.
The third parable (Ivi.-lxx.) recurs, with glowing
eloquence, to the inexhaustible theme of Messianic
glory, and again depicts the happy future of the
righteous in contrast with the appalling misery of
the wicked. It also records the supernatural control
of the elements, through the action of individual
angels presiding over the winds, the sea, hail, frost,
dew, the lightning’s flash, and reverberating thunder.
The names of the principal fallen angels are also
given, among whom we recognize some of the in-
visible powers named in the incantations inscribed
on the terra cotta cups of Hebrew-Chaldee conju-
ration.
Chapters Ixxi. to Ixxxi. contain the ” book of the
revolutions of the luminaries of heaven,” the sun, the
moon, and the stars, controlled in their movements
by the administration of angels. In commenting
on this section of the Book of Enoch, Archbishop
Laurence says, “This system of astronomy is pre-
cisely that of an untutored, but accurate observer of
the heavens. He describes the eastern and western ‘
parts of heaven, where the sun and moon rise and
set, as divided each into six different gates, through
which those orbs of light pass at their respective
periods. In the denomination of these gates he
begins with that through which the sun passes at
the winter solstice ; and this he terms the first gate.
It of course answers to the sign of Capricornus ; and
is the southernmost point to which the sun reaches,
both at rising and setting. The next gate, at which
the sun arrives in its progress towards the east at
rising, and towards the west at setting, and which
answers to the sign of Aquarius, he terms the second
gate. The nexta in continuation of the same course
of the sun, which answers to the sign of Pisces, he
terms the third gate. The fourth gate in his de-
scription is that which is situated due east at sun-
rising, and due west at sun-setting, and which,
answering to the sign of Aries, the sun enters at the
vernal equinox. With this fourth gate he com-
mences his account of the sun’s annual circuit, and
of the consequent change in the length of day and
night at the various seasons of the year. His fifth
gate is now to be found in the sun’s progress north-
wards, and answers to the sign of Taurus. And his
sixth gate is situated still further north ; which,
answering to the sign of Gemini, concludes at the
most northern point of heaven to which the sun
arrives, and from which it turns at the summer
solstice, again to measure back its course south-
wards.
” Hence it happens, that the same gates which
answers to the six signs alluded to in the sun’s
passage from the winter to the summer solstice,
necessarily also answer to the remaining six of
the twelve signs of the Zodiac in its passage back
again.
” The turning of the sun both at the winter and
summer solstices, the first at the most southern, the
last at the most northern point of its progress, must
have always struck the eye of those who contem-
plated the variety as well as the splendour of its
daily appearance. The astronomy of the apocryphal
Enoch was perhaps formed in this respect upon the
same principles as the astronomy of Homer, who
places the situation of the island under the
turning of the sun, (Odyss. lib.
XV. 404).”
Chapters Ixxxiii. to Ixxxix. contain a vision of
Enoch giving an allegorical forecast of the history
of the world up to the kingdom of the Messiah.
Chap ter xcii. records a series of prophecies
extend ing from Enoch’s own time to about one
thousand years beyond the present generation. In
the system of chronology adopted, a day stands for
hundred, and a week for seven hundred years.
Reference is made to the-xleluge, the call of Abra-
ham, the Mosaic dispensation, the building and the
destruction of the Temple of Solomon” events
which preceded the date at which the Book of
Enoch was probably written : but when the author,
in his character of a divinely inspired seer, extends
his vision beyond the horizon of his own age, he
discloses the vanity of his predictive pretensions,
through prophecies which remain unfulfilled. If,
however, the Book of Enoch had reached us through
the Western, as well as the Ethiopic Canon, apolo-
getic theologians would doubtless affirm that cen-
uries are but trifles in prophetic time ; and that
the predictions of the great antediluvian prophet
shall, sooner or later, attain miraculous fulfilment.
Chapters xciii. to civ. contain the eloquent ex-
hortations of Enoch, addressed to his children, in
which he follows Buddha in commending the
“Paths of Kighteousness,” and anticipates Jesus
in pronouncing the doom of sinners and the joys of_
saints, and gives utterance to the most emphatic
assurance of immortality which has ever flowed
from human lips : ” Fear not, ye souls of the
righteous, but wait with patient hope for the day
of your death in righteousness. Grieve not because
I your souls descend in trouble and sorrow to the
receptacle of the dead ; for great joy shall be yours,
like that of the angels in heaven. And when you
die, sinners say concerning you, ‘As we die the
righteous die. What profit have they in their
works? Behold, like us, they expire in sorrow and
in darkness. What advantage have they over us?
Henceforward are we equal; for behold they are
dead, and never will they again perceive the light.’
But now I swear to you, ye righteous … that I
comprehend this mystery; that I have read the
tablet of heaven, have seen the writing of the holy
ones, and have discovered what is written and
impressed on it concerning you. I have seen that
all goodness, joy, and glory have been prepared for
you. . . . The spirits of you who die in righteous-
ness shall exist and rejoice ; and their remembrance
shall be before the face of the Mighty One from
generation to generation. How profound the im-
pression necessarily produced on the Semitic imagi-
nation by this impassioned language, uttered in an
age of faith in inspired dreams and celestial visions
by a supposed visitant of the unseen world, who had
conversed with angels in the presence of the Lord
of spirits!
The final chapter of the Book of Enoch records
the birth of Noah, and the further prophecies of
Enoch, addressed to Methuselah on the subject of
tlTer birth of Noah and the future deluge.
In attestation of the relationship between the
Book of Enoch and Christianity, we now collate its
language and ideas with parallel passages in New
Testament scripture.
En. Ixiv. 4. ” And a voice was heard from heaven.”
En. vi. 9. ” The elect shall possess light, joy,
and peace, and they shall inherit the earth.”
inherit the earth.”
En. 1. 2, 4, 5. ” He shall select the righteous
and holy from among them; for the day of their salvation
has approached . . . and they shall become angels in heaven.
Their countenances shall
Matt. iii. 17. “And lo, a voice from heaven, saying.”
Matt v. 5. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.
Luke xxi. 28. “Your redemption draweth nigh.”
Matt. xxii. 30. “In the resurrection…they
are as the angels of God in heaven.”
Matt. xii. 43. “Then shall the righteous
shine be bright with joy…The earth
shall rejoice; and the elect possess it.”
En. xciii. 7. ” Those, too,
who acquire gold and silver,
shall justly and suddenly
perish. Woe to you who are
rich, for in your riches have
you trusted ; but from your
riches you shall be removed.”
En. xcvi. 6, 7, 25. “Woe
unto you, sinners, who say,
‘ We are rich, possess wealth,
and have acquired everything
which we can desire. Now
then will we do whatsoever
we are disposed to do; for
we have amassed silver ; our
barns are full.’ . . . They shall
surely die suddenly.”
En. cv. 26. ” And I will
place each of them on a
throne of glory, of glory
peculiarly his own.”
En. Ixii. 11. ” In his judg-
ments he pays no respect to
persons.”
En. xxxviii. 2. ” Where
will the habitation of sinners
be . . . who have rejected the
Lord of spirits. It would
have been better for them,
had they never been born.”
forth as the sun in the king-
dom of their Father.”
James v. 1. ” Go to now,
ye rich men, weep and howl
for your miseries that shall
come upon you.”
Luke vi. 24. ” Woe unto
you that are rich! for ye
have received your consola-
tion.”
Luke xii. Compare the
parable of the rich man
whose barns were full, and
who said to himself, ” Soul,
thou hast much goods laid
up for many years, take thine
ease, eat, drink, and be
merry. But God said unto
him Thou fool, this night thy
soul shall be required of
thee.”
Matt. xix. 28. “Ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.”
Kom. ii. 11, “For there is
no respect of persons with
God.”
Matt. xxvi. 24. ” Woe unto
that man through whom the
Son of man is betrayed ! It
would be good for that man
if he had not been born.”
En. xix. 2. ” So that they
sacrifice to devils as to Gods.”
En. xxii. 10, 12. (The angel
Eaphael addressing Enoch in
the region of the dead
” Here their souls are sepa-
rated … by a chasm.”
En. xxxix. 3, 4, 7. “A
cloud then snatched me up__
. . . placing me at the ex-
tremity of the lieavens. There
-I saw another vision. I saw
the habitations and couches
of the saints . . . with the
angels . . . under the wings
of the Lord of spirits. All
the holy and the elect sung
before him, in appearance
like a blaze of fire, their
mouths being full of bless-
ings, and their lips glori-
fying the name of the Lord
of spirits.”
En. xlvi. 2. ” This Xs the
Son of man , . . who-will re-
veal all the treasures of that
which is concealed.”
En. ix. 3, 4. ” Then they
said to their Lord, the King :
Thou art Lord of lords, God
of gods. King of kings. The
1 Cor. X. 20. ” The things
which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to devils, and
not to God.”
Luke xvi. 26 (Abraham
addressing Dives from the
region of the blessed” Be-
tween us and you there is a
great gulf fixed.”
2 Cor. xii. “I will come
to visions and revelations of
the Lord. I knew a man in
Christ . . . caught up to the
third heaven, . . . whether in
the body or out of the body I
cannot tell : God knoweth.
How that he was caught up
into paradise, and heard un-
speakable words, which it is
not lawful for a man to
utter.”
Kev. xix. 1. “I heard a
great voice of much people
in heaven, saying, Alleluia,
salvation, and glory, and
honour, and power, unto the
Lord our God.”
Col. ii. 3. ” In whom are
hid all the treasures of wis-
dom and knowledge.”
Eev. xvii. 14; xix. 16.
” King of kings, and Lord of
lords.”
Eev. iv. IL “Thou art
throne of thy glory is for
ever and ever, and for ever
and ever is thy name sancti-
fied and glorified. Thou art
blessed and glorified. Thou
hast made all things; thou
possessest power over all
things: and all things are
open and manifest before
thee. Thou beholdest all
things, and nothing can be
concealed from thee.”
En. xxiv. 11, 10. “I blessed
the Lord of glory, the ever-
lasting King, because He has
prepared this tree for the
saints, formed it, and de-
clared that he would give it
to them. . . . The sweet
odour shall enter into their
bones ; and they shall live a
long life on the earth, as
thy forefathers have lived;
neither in their days shall
sorrow, distress, and punish-
ment afflict them.”
En. Ixxxv. 2. ” And behold
a single star fell from hea-
ven.”
En. Ix. 13. ” All the angels
of power.”
En. X. 15, 16. ‘ To Michael
worthy Lord, to receive
glory, and honour, and
power ; for thou hast created
all things, and for thy plea-
sure they are, and were
created.”
Heb. iv. 13. “Neither is
there any creature that is
not manifest in his sight ;
but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him
with whom we have to do.”
Eev. xxii. 2. “On either
side of the river was a tree
of life, which bare twelve
manner of fruits, and yielded
its fruit. every month; and
the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the na-
tions.”
Eev. ii. 7. ” To him that
overcometh will I give to eat
of the tree of life, which is in
the midst of the paradise of
God.”
Eev. xxii. 14. ” Blessed are
they that do his command-
ments, that they may have
the right to the tree of life.”
Eev. ix. 1. ” I saw a star
fall from heaven unto the
earth.”
2 Thess. i. ” The angels
of His power.”
Jude 6. ” The angels which
also, the Lord said, Go and
announce his crime to Sam-
yaza and to the others who
are with him who have been
associated with women. . . .
Bind them for seventy gene-
rations underneath the earth,
even to the day of judgment,
and of consummation, until
the judgment, which shall
last for ever, be completed.
Then shall they be taken
away into the lowest depths
of the fire in torments, and
in confinement shall they be
shut up for ever.”
En. xxi. 56. ”I beheld
columns of fire struggling
together to the end of the
abyss, and deep was their
descent. But neither its
measurement nor magnitude
was I able to discover. . . .
Uriel, one of the holy angels
. . . said. This is the prison
of the angels, and here are
they kept for ever.”
En. Ixxix. “In the days
of sinners the years shall be
shortened, . . . and every
thing done on earth shall be
subverted and disappear in its
season. … In those days
kept not their first estate,
but left their own habitation,
he hath reserved in everlast-
ing chains under darkness,
unto the judgment of the
great day.”
2 Pet. ii. 4. ” God spared
not the angels when they
sinned, but cast them down
to hell, and committed them
to pits of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment.”
Eev. XX. 10. “The devil
that deceived them was cast
into the lake of fire and
brimstone, . . . and shall be
tormented day and night for
ever,”
Eev. XX. 1-3. ” And I saw
an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit (abyss)
and a great chain in his
hand. And he laid hold on
the devil and . . . cast him
into the bottomless pit, and
shut it, and sealed it over
him.”
Matt. xxiv. 7, 21, 22, 29, 30.
” There shall be famines and
earthquakes in divers places
. . . great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no.
the fruits of the earth shall
Dot flourish in their season,
. . . heaven shall stand still.
The moon shall change its
laws, and not be seen at its
proper period; . . . and all
the classes of the stars shall
be shut up against sinners.”
En. Ixi. 9. ” And trouble
shall seize them when they
shall behold this Son of wo-
man sitting upon the throne
of his glory.”
En. xlvii. 3. ” He sat upon
the throne of his glory, while
the book of the living was
opened in his presence, and
while all the powers which
were above the heavens stood
around and before him.”
En. 1. ” In those days shall
the earth deliver up from her
womb, and hell deliver up
from hers, that which it has
received, and destruction
shall restore that which it
owes. He shall select the
righteous and holy from
among them.”
En. liv. “In those days
shall the mouth of hell be
opened into which they shall
be immerged; hell shall de-
nor ever shall be. And ex-
cept those days should be
shortened, there should no
flesh be saved. . . . Imme-
diately after the tribulation
of those days, the sun shall
be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from
heaven. . . . Then shall the
tribes of the earth mourn ;
and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of
heaven, with power and great
glory.”
Eev. XX. 11-13, 15. ” I saw
a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, . . . and
I saw the dead, small and
great, standing before the
throne ; and the books were
opened, and another book
was opened, which is the
book of life, and the dead
were judged out of those
things what were written in
the books, according to their
works. And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it,
and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in
them. . . . And whosoever
was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. stroy and swallow
up sinners from the face of the elect.”
En. xl. 1. ” After this I
beheld thousands of thou-
sands, and ten thousand
times ten thousand, and an
infinite number of people,
standing before the Lord of
spirits.”
En. xlv. 3. ” In that day
shall the Elect One sit upon
a throne of glory, and shall
choose their conditions and
countless habitations.”
En. xlv. 4. ” In that day I
will cause my Elect One to
dwell in the midst of them.
I will change the face of the
heaven : I will bless it and
illuminate it for ever. I will
also change the face of the
earth : I will bless it, and
cause those whom I have
chosen to dwell upon it.”
En. xcii. 17. ” The former
heaven shall depart and pass
away, a new heaven shall
appear.”
En. Ixi. 4-9. “The word
of his mouth shall destroy
all sinners, and all the un-
Eev. V. 11. ” I beheld, and
I heard the voice of many
angels round about the
throne, . . . and the number
of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands.”
Matt. XXV. 31, 32. ”Then
shall he sit upon the throne
of his glory ; and before him
shall be gathered all nations ;
and he shall separate them
one from another.”
John xiv. 2. “In my
father’s house are many
habitations.”
Eev. vii. 15. “He that
sitteth on the throne shall
dwell among them.”
2 Peter iii. 13. ” Neverthe-
less, we, according to his
promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness.”
Eev. xxii. 1. ” I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for
the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away.”
2 Thess. i. 9. ” Who shall
be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence
godly who shall perish at his
presence. . . . Trouble shall
come upon them, as upon a
woman in travail. One por-
tion of them shall look upon
another; they shall be as-
tonished, and shall abase
their countenances ; and
trouble shall seize them,
when they shall behold this
Son of woman sitting upon
the throne of His glory.”
En. Ixvi. 5-8. “I beheld
that valley in which . . .
arose a strong smell of sul-
phur which became mixed
with the waters; and the
valley of the angels, who had
been guilty of seduction,
burned underneath its soil.
Through that valley also
rivers of fire were flowing,
to which the angels shall be
condemned, who seduced the
inhabitants of the earth.”
En. civ. ” Now will I point
out a mystery. Many sinners
shall turn and transgress
against the word of upright-
ness. They shall speak evil
things ; they shall utter false-
hood.”
of the Lord, and from the
glory of his power.”
1 Thess. V. 3. “Then
sudden destruction cometh
upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they
shall not escape.”
2 Thess. ii. 8. ” That wicked
whom the Lord shall con-
sume with the Spirit of his
mouth.”
Matt. XXV. 31. “When the
Son of man shall come in his
glory, then shall he sit upon
the throne of his glory.”
Matt. xiii. 42. ” And shall
cast them into a furnace of
fire.”
Matt. XXV. 41. “Depart
from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels.”
Eev. XX. 10. “And the
devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone.”
1 Tim. iv. 12. ” The Spirit
saith expressly, that in later
times some shall fall away
from the faith, . . . through
the hypocrisy of men that
speak lies.”
En. xlviii. 1-7. “In that
place I beheld a fountain of
righteousness which never
failed, encircled by many-
springs of wisdom. Of these
all the thirsty drank, and
were filled with wisdom,
having their habitation with
the righteous, the elect, and
the holy.”
En. xlviii.” ” He has pre-
served the lot of the right-
eous, because they have hated
and rejected this world of
iniquity, and have detested
all its works and ways in the
name of the Lord of spirits.”
En. ii. xxvi. 2. “Behold,
he comes with ten thousands
of his saints, to execute judg-
ment upon them, and destroy
the wicked, and reprove all
the carnal for everything
which the sinful and ungodly
have done and committed
against him. . . . [who utter
with their mouths unbecom-
ing language against God,
and speak harsh things of
his glory].”
John iv. 14. ” But whoso-
ever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall
never thirst : but the water
that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting
life.”
Eev. xxi. 6. ” I will give
unto him that is athirst of
the fountain of the water of
life freely.”
Gal. i. 4. ” Who gave him-
self for our sins, that he
might deliver us from this
present evil world, according
to the will of God and our
Father.”
1 John ii. 15. ” Love not
the world, neither the things
that are in the world,”
Jude 14, 15. ” Enoch also,
the seventh from Adam, pro-
phesied of these, saying, ‘ Be-
hold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints,
to execute judgment upon
all, and to convict all the
ungodly of all their ungodly
deeds which they have un-
godly committed, and of all
the hard things which un-
godly sinners have spoken
against him.’ ”
The bracketed words, in the last quotation from
the Book of Enoch, establish its complete identity
with the parallel passage in the Epistle of Jude”
an identity of marvellous clearness when we
consider that the original version reaches us
through translations and retranslations from Ara-
msean, Greek, and Ethiopic, and now assumes the
modern form of Anglo-Saxon. Archbishop Laurence,
although convinced that the apostle cited the
Greek version of the extant Ethiopic manuscripts,
was not aware that the last sentence of his quo-
tation is present in the text. We have dis-
covered it in chapter xxvi. 2 of the Book of
Enoch; and in thus perfecting the parallelism
between prophet and apostle, have placed beyond
controversy that, in the eyes of the author of an
Epistle accepted as Divine revelation, the Book
of Enoch was the inspired production of an
antediluvian patriarch.
The attention of theologians has been concentrated
on the passage in the Epistle of Jude because the
author specifically names the prophet; but the
cumulative coincidence of language and ideas in
Enoch and the authors of New Testament Scripture,
as disclosed in the parallel passages which we have
collated, clearly indicates that the work of the
Semitic Milton was the inexhaustible source from
which Evangelists and Apostles, or the men who
wrote in their names, borrowed their conceptions of
the resurrection, judgment, immortality, perdition,
and of the universal reign of righteousness under
the eternal dominion of the Son of man. This
evangelical plagiarism culminates in the Kevela-
tion of John, which adapts the visions of Enoch
to Christianity with modifications in which we miss
the sublime simplicity of the great master of apoca-
lyptic prediction, who prophesied in the name of the
antediluvian patriarch.
It is important to observe that it was not the
practice of early Christian writers to name the
authors whose language and ideas they borrowed.
When we therefore detect the teaching and diction
of Enoch in Gospels and Epistles, our conclusions are
analogous to those of the orthodox theologians who
identify passages of Scripture in the pages of the
ante-Nicene Fathers, although frequently cited from
unnamed sources, with an obscurity of expression
more dubious in attestation of their origin, than the
remarkable clearness with which the language of
Enoch may be recognized in the New Testament.
Biblical analysts may question obscure traces of
evangelical diction in apostolic Fathers ; but what
c;indid and impartial inquirer can doubt the
Enochian origin of the “Son of man sitting upon
the throne of his glory ” ” the ” new heaven ”
and the ” new earth ; ” the ” many habitations ” of
the elect, and “the everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels”?
We have merely collated some of the most striking
instances of parallel passages in the Book of Enoch
and in the New Testament. Our readers can sup-
plement our labours through their own research, in
further attestation of the controlling influence
exercised by the uncanonical author on the language
and ideas of canonical works.
Some orthodox theologians, unwilling to admit
that an apostle quoted an apocryphal book, contend
that Jude referred to a traditional utterance of the
ancient patriarch ; but this obviously fanciful theory
inevitably vanishes in the presence of the numerous
passages from the Book of Enoch, which enter into
the composition of New Testament Scripture. Other
pious apologists affirm the post-Christian authorship
of the book, a theory which involves the most
improbable assumption that an author, familiar
with the story of a suffering and crucified Messiah,
uttered fictitious predictions in the name of an
ancient prophet, which depicted the career of the
Son of man on earth as the triumphal march of
a victorious king. Again, theologians who shrink
from the admission that the language and ideas of
evangelists and apostles were anticipated in an
apocryphal book, suggest that the Messianic passages
contain Christian interpolations. But if modern
defenders of the faith thus accuse primitive saints
and martyrs of literary forgery, how can they accept
an infallible Jew Testament at the hands of men
thus guilty of conspiring for the deception of
posterity? Convinced of the honesty of early
Christians, we concur with the opinion of Arch-
bishop Laurence, confirmed by Hoffman, that the
passages in question are so intimately interwoven
with the general context that they cannot be
removed without evidently destroying the texture
of the whole.
The astronomical calculations on which Arch-
bishop Laurence based his theory of the residence of
the author of the Book of Enoch have been ques-
tioned; but, once his Hebrew nationality has been
admitted, it matters not whether he wrote in or out
of Palestine, with this exception, that if the work
was not brought from a distant country into Judsea,
the facility with which a pseudonymous book was
accepted in the locality of its recent composition
as the genuine production of an antediluvian
prophet, necessarily encourages scepticism as to
the dates and authorship of all ancient Hebrew
literature. It cannot be said that internal evidence
attests the superiority of the Old Testament to the
Book of Enoch; for no Hebrew prophet is more
eloquent than its author in denouncing iniquity,
commending righteousness, and inviting all men
to place implicit trust in the final vindication of
Divine justice.
Internal evidence indicates the presence of inde-
pendent Tracts in the Book of Enoch, possibly
composed by diiferent authors. Thus chapters Ixiv.
to Ixvii. 1 record a vision of the Deluge, narrated
as if by Noah instead of Enoch, and inserted in the
middle of another vision with which it has no con-
nection. But if Pseudo-Enoch borrowed from
earlier writers, the presence of the language and
ideas of every section of his work in the pages of
New Testament Scripture inevitably indicates that
the Book or Books of Enoch existed in their present
form before the Christian era.
Christianity obviously borrows the terrors of
eternal fire from the Book of Enoch. Evangelists
and Apostles define the duration of Divine retribution
by aeons of aeons, or millions
of millions of years, expressive of eternity. It is
true that the word aeon can be used in the sense of
finite time, but when the authors of New Testament
Scripture speak of seonian fire (to irvp to alcoviov) they
obviously mean eternal flames. Modern humanity,
shrinking from so merciless a view of Divine retri-
bution, suggests that when sinners have been
In “The Evolution of Christianity,” page 355, we mention
that ” the Greek word alJou (aeon), signifying an age, a genera-
tion, or time everlasting,” was the title adopted by Valeutinus for
Divine emanations.
tortured for seons of aeons they may look forward
hopefully to the future. It is questionable whether
final despair would not be preferable to this form of
” hope deferred ; ” but if modern believers adopt the
terminable theory of seonian fire, this commutation
of sentence becomes equally applicable to the devil
and his angels, whose punishment has been decreed
of same duration as that of human sinners ; and
thus the traditional enemies of God and man may
hope for joyful restoration to fellowship with
Gabriel, Michael, and Kaphael, and communion
with the saints, whom they once sought to betray
by arts infernal. And as the righteous are also
only promised their rewards in heaven for aeons of
aeons, if these words mean not eternity, saints may
fear, whilst sinners hope for, the vicissitudes of
aeonian futurity. Again, as the dominion of the
Messiah, and even the power of God, are depicted
of aeonian duration, any limitation of the infinite in
the sacred terminology” aeons of aeons ” imperils the
eternal in Divinity.
Theologians who seek to vindicate Divine clemency
through the dubious expedient of substituting aeonian
for eternal retribution, overlook the fact that their
theory imputes to Divine wisdom the adoption of
torture as the most effectual means of transforming
sinners into saints, ” a theory which practically
invites us to follow the Divine example by torturing
our criminals into reformation. How much more
consistent for those who cannot reconcile eternal
fire with infinite mercy, to take one step further in
the paths of scepticism, by rejecting everlasting tor-
ture as the nightmare of Enochian visions; instead
of assuming that revelation speaks in language so
ambiguous that primitive saints condemned unbap-
tized babes to eternal fire, whilst modern piety
would even rescue hardened sinners from the flames !
If inspired terminology encouraged spiritual ferocity
in the age of St. Augustine, and fosters theological
humanity in the nineteenth century, what may not
be the future interpretation of words, now supposed
to convey an infallible meaning to students of
Scripture?
The Book of Enoch teaches the pre-existence-of
the Son of Man, the Elect One, the Messiah, who
” from the beginning existed in secret,” and whose
name was invoked in the presence of the Lord of
spirits, before the sun and the signs were created.”
The author also refers to the ” other Power who was
upon earth over the water on that day,” ” an
apparent reference to the language of Gen. i. 2.
We have thus the Lord of spirits, the Elect One,
and a third Power, seemingly foreshadowing the
Trinity of futurity; but although Enoch’s ideal
Messiah doubtless exercised an important influence
on primitive conceptions of the Divinity of the Son
of man, we fail to identify his obscure reference to
another “Power” with the Trinitarianism of the
Alexandrine school ; more especially as ” angels of
power ” abound in the visions of Enoch.
That remarkable passage in the Book of Enoch,
which declares that the heathen ” sacrificed to devils
as to gods,” is the obvious source of that super-
stition through which primitive Christianity saw in
Olympian deities, not the mere phantoms of man’s
imagination, but the fallen angels who, driven forth
from heaven, sought compensation in spiritual
dominion on earth,” a superstition still further con-
firmed by universal belief in miracles, wrought, not
merely by the Supreme, but by subordinate powers,
whether good or evil.
Thus far we learn that the Book of Enoch was
published before the Christian era by some great
Unknown of Semitic race, who, believing himself to
be inspired in a post-prophetic age, borrowed the
name of an antediluvian patriarch to authenticate
his own enthusiastic forecast of the Messianic
kingdom. And as the contents of his marvellous
Book enter freely into the composition of the New
Testament, it follows that if the author was not an
inspired prophet, who predicted the teaching of
Christianity, he was a visionary enthusiast whose
illusions were accepted by Evangelists and Apostles
as revelation” alternative conclusions which involve
the Divine or human origin of Christianity.
It may be said that if the author of the Book of
Enoch was not the patriarch in whose name he
wrote, was he not obviously an impostor? In
treating of Hebrew divination in “The Evolution of
Christianity,” we refer to the oracles of Urim and
the predictions of Prophets. There was, however, a
third form of divination, known as Bath Kol, or the
Daughter of the Voice, through which the Israelites
consulted the Deity by accepting some preconceived
sign in attestation of the Divine approval of con-
templated action. This method of artificial {texvlkt))
divination is said to have succeeded the revelation
of prophets, but was practised by the Israelites at
a much earlier period of their history. Thus the
servant of Abraham predetermined the sign through
which he would recognize the future wife of Isaac
as divinely chosen ; and Jonathan, the son of Saul,
preconcerted the verbal omen through which the
Israelites might know that Jehovah had delivered
the Philistines into their hands.
The practice of Bath Kol was doubtless familiar
to the Semitic author of the Book of Enoch ; let us
not therefore condemn him as an impostor, knowing
that through the accidental synchronism of some
pre-arranged sign, he may have personated Enoch
in the conscientious conviction that he was piously
fulfilling the will of the Deity.
The recent death of Dr. Pusey recalls the fact,
that the learned translator of the Book of Enoch
was his predecessor as Professor of Hebrew in the
University of Oxford. The friends and admirers
of the eminent theologian, who was one of the
authors of the Tractarian movement, propose to
found a memorial Library in his name, with ” two
or more clergymen, who shall act as librarians, and
shall promote in tvhatever way the interests of
theological study and religious life within the
University ” ” a programme which seems to in-
augurate the reign of original research within the
domains of ecclesiastical theology. But if, as we
are informed by the promoters of the proposed
endowment. Dr. Pusey was above all things “a
Christian apologist, the advocate and champion of
the Church of eighteen centuries,” how can the
disciples, who saw in him the ” great pillar which
once sustained the fortunes of the Church of
England,” encourage a freedom of inquiry, in his
name, which may result in conclusions adverse to
the ecclesiastical faith in which their master lived
and died?
Eminent theologians tell us that the future
librarians ” should be students of theology” the
queen of sciences,” among whom Dr. Pusey held
a position in the first rank ; ” and yet that he was
a zealous supporter of ” a movement which embodied
truths included ages ago in the formularies of the
Church.” But how can theology be enrolled among
the sciences if its professors reason in ecclesiastical
fetters? As well might a modern astronomer
demand the assent of his pupils to the mediaeval
theory of the earth’s immobility, before proceeding
to investigate the laws of the solar system : and
thus, doubtless, most theologians seek Divine truth,
weighted with a heritage of foregone conclusions,
adverse to the admission of unorthodox facts.
We all can sympathize with the desire of his
disciples to do honour to the memory of the
Tractarian apostle, of many virtues, in whom they
see a ” great man, raised up by God Almighty to
live and labour for His Church ; ” but men who take
this transcendental view of a movement, in which
others simply see progress on the road to Kome,
can scarcely consider the prescriptive rights of
primitive or mediaeval dogmas, in that impartial
mood to which theologians must attain before
theology becomes the ” Queen of Sciences.”
Archbishop Laurence was an industrious worker
in the scientific laboratory of theology, when he
translated the Bodleian manuscript of the Book
of Enoch, and thus unconsciously placed in our
hands the Ethiopic key to ” the evolution of
Christianity.” It remains for future generations to
determine whether his labours, or those of his
successor in the Semitic chair of Oxford, shall prove
more conducive to the religious enlightenment of
posterity.
Palaeontologists who compare the organic fossils
of distinctive epochs in geologic time, and discover
in the more recent formations, organisms partially
divergent in structure from pre-existent forms,
attribute variation, not to creative miracles, but to
the continuous action of natural causes fashioning
species, throughout the ages, in harmony with the
natural law of ” Survival of the Fittest.” We also,
having identified the kindred fossils of Enochian
and Evangelical epochs, inevitably infer that
modified versions of pre-existent ideas are traceable,
not to miraculous, but to natural sources,” conclu-
sions which inaugurate the science of theologic
palaeontology, and invite all learned travellers to
follow the example of Bruce, by searching the
world for ancient manuscripts which may disclose
the merely human origin of dogmas and mysteries,
now accepted as Divine.
Archbishop Laurence, when Professor of Hebrew
in the University of Oxford, translated the Book
of Enoch within the walls of the Bodleian Library,
and when appealed to by the Rev. I. M. Butt, in
1827, to publish, the Ethiopic original, answered,
” I cannot, the manuscript not being my own, but
belonging to the University of Oxford.” In his
preface to the third edition of his translation, the
Archbishop adds, ”If the University of Oxford
would oblige the literary world by publishing the
original Ethiopic from the manuscript in its pos-
session, I am persuaded that Ethiopic scholars would
not be wanting to accomplish more than has been
hitherto done for this long regretted book, after its
sleep of ages.” Since these words were written,
great progress has been made in the study of
comparative philology ; and there are now doubtless
many eminent linguists in England, on the Conti-
nent, and in tlie United States, who could still
further illumine the pages of the Book of Enoch,
through co-operative criticism of the Ethiopic text.
Is not the time therefore come for the University
of Oxford to publish the original manuscript in
their possession, that learned Jews and Gentiles
mav study the inspired predictions of a great
Hebrew prophet, or admire the sublime imagery of
the Semitic Milton who ascended to the heavens
to dramatize Divinity?
At the era of the Renaissance, when enfranchised
thought turned from Aristotle to Plato, it is said
that Cardinal Beilarmine advised Pope Clement
to discountenance a philosophy which ap-
proached so closely to the truths of the gospel”
obviously meaning that it would be inexpedient for
the Church to favour a merely human system which
anticipated the Trinitarian theosophy of alleged
revelation : is it not possible that further delay in
presenting the world with the Ethiopic text of
Enoch, may suggest to adverse critics, that Oxford
neglects the Hebrew patriarch for the same reason
that Eome slighted the Athenian philosopher?
Archbishop Laurence’s translation, now however,
places the Book of Enoch within the reach of all
English readers. Catholics may disregard its con-
tents, as it is not found in the sacred Canon of
their infallible Church ; but Protestants, who adhere
to the principles of the Keformation, and whose
tenure of Christianity is therefore contingent on
the appeal to reason, must inevitably enroll Enoch
among the prophets, or reconsider the supernatural
in Christianity.
It is important for readers of the Book of Enoch
to recollect that we owe the Keformation to inde-
pendent study of sacred literature, previously with-
drawn from the people through the oblivion of dead
and untranslated languages. The long neglected
Book of Enoch now stands in analogous relationship
with modern seekers after religious truth ; and it
remains for its readers to exercise that right of
private judgment, to which Protestantism owes its
existence, by impartially considering the inevitable
modifications of faith involved in the discovery, that
the language and ideas of alleged revelation are
found in a pre-existent work, accepted by Evange-
lists and Apostles as inspired, but classed by modern
theologians among apocryphal productions.
[In revising the proof-sheets of the Book of
Enoch, we have been still further impressed by its
relationship with ISTew Testament Scripture. Thus,
the parable of the sheep, rescued by the good Shep-
herd from hireling guardians and ferocious wolves,
is obviously borrowed by the fourth Evangelist
from Enoch Ixxxix., in which the author depicts
the shepherds as killing and destroying the sheep
before the advent of their Lord, and thus discloses
the true meaning of that hitherto mysterious passage
in the Johannine parable” A11 that ever came
before me are thieves and robbers” ”language in
which we now detect an obvious reference to the
allegorical shepherds of Enoch.]