Before the Bible was finalised, some books were left behind.
One of the most mysterious was the Book of Enoch.
Quoted by early Christian writers and preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Enoch tells a story that does not appear in the familiar pages of the Bible. It describes fallen angels who descended to earth, the birth of the giants known as the Nephilim, and a cosmic struggle between divine order and corruption.
For centuries this remarkable text circulated widely in Jewish and early Christian communities. Then it disappeared from most biblical traditions, surviving only in the canon of the Ethiopian Church and in fragments buried for two thousand years in the deserts near the Dead Sea.
In Enoch: Lost Books of the Bible, historian Daniel Armitage explores the origins, contents, and influence of one of the most fascinating texts of the ancient world. Drawing on biblical scholarship, early Jewish literature, and the discoveries of modern archaeology, this book examines:
• the mysterious figure of Enoch in the Book of Genesis
• the story of the Watchers and the fall of the angels
• the giants and the corruption of the ancient world
• heavenly journeys and visions of divine judgement
• the rediscovery of Enoch among the Dead Sea Scrolls
• why this influential book was ultimately excluded from most Bibles
Both a work of historical investigation and a guide to one of antiquity's most intriguing religious texts, this book reveals how the story of Enoch shaped the religious imagination of the ancient world.
Part of the Lost Books of the Bible series from Dove Ridge Press.
