What is the Book of Enoch?

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him; it is "faith seeking understanding." I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
What is the Book of Enoch?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
There are moments in the Christian life when we come across something unfamiliar - maybe something ancient, mysterious, and a little unsettling. The Book of Enoch is one of those things. You may hear it mentioned in a sermon (though probably not mine), see it referenced online, or notice that the book of Jude seems to echo it. And naturally, the question rises: What exactly is this book - and what do we do with it?

The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish writing, likely composed a few hundred years before the time of Jesus. It is named after Enoch, the man in Genesis who “walked with God” and was taken up without seeing death. But the book itself was not actually written by Enoch. Like many ancient writings, it was attributed to a well-known figure to give weight to its message.

When you read it, you quickly realize it is very different from the Bible. It is filled with vivid visions—angels falling from heaven, strange descriptions of the cosmos, and dramatic pictures of judgment. Much of it tries to explain mysterious passages like Genesis 6, especially the “sons of God” and the Nephilim. It expands the story in ways the scripture itself does not, offering imaginative details about spiritual beings and the unseen world.

And yet, beneath all of that, there are themes that feel familiar: God will judge evil, the righteous will be vindicated, history is moving toward a final reckoning, and more. In that sense, it resembles truths we know from scripture, even if it expresses them in unusual ways.

So why isn’t it in the Bible?

The simplest answer is this: God’s people never recognized it as scripture. It was known, read, and even respected in some circles - but it was never received as the inspired Word of God by the Jewish community or by the early church as a whole. Jesus never treated it as scripture and the apostles didn’t include it among the sacred writings. And, when the early church carefully recognized the books that carried God’s authority, Enoch was not among them.

That doesn’t mean it is worthless, it just means it is not the Word of God.

In fact, Jude briefly refers to a prophecy attributed to Enoch, but that doesn’t mean Jude is endorsing the entire book. It simply shows that God can use a familiar saying or cultural reference to communicate truth - just as a preacher today might quote a line from a song (probably 90s country!) or a book without treating it as scripture.

It’s important to remember that not everything ancient is authoritative, not everything spiritual is trustworthy, and not everything that sounds vaguely “biblical” actually belongs to the Bible.

But at the same time, we don’t have to be afraid of these things either.

The Book of Enoch can remind us of how deeply people have always wrestled with the reality of evil, the mystery of the unseen world, and the certainty that God will judge rightly. It shows us that even before Christ came, there was a longing for justice and a hope that God would set things right.

Still, our anchor is not in these extra writings. Our anchor is in holy scripture.

God has not left us guessing about what we need to know. He has given us his Word - clear, sufficient, and trustworthy. While books like Enoch may stir curiosity, they cannot carry the weight of authority that belongs to the Bible alone.

So when you encounter the Book of Enoch, you don’t have to dismiss it harshly or embrace it uncritically. You can simply place it where it belongs as an interesting piece of history, but not a foundation for your faith.

And then return, again and again, to the scriptures - the place where God has spoken most clearly, and where his voice still leads his people today.

RELATED RESOURCES
The Bible Bistro podcast on The Book of Enoch
Renew.org e-book: The Apocrypha and the Book of Enoch

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.