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The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 14 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles

Page 3 (part 12)

Another book of great value and interest--also already quoted--is Burkitt's Jewish and Christian Apocalypses . In dealing with the subject of 1 Enoch and the Gospels, this writer points out that the former "contains a serious attempt to account for the presence of Evil in human history, and this attempt claims our attention, because it is in essentials the view presupposed in the Gospels, especially in the Synoptic Gospels. p. xxviii [paragraph continues] It is when you study Matthew, Mark, and Luke against the background of the Books of Enoch that you see them in their true perspective. In saying this I have no intention of detracting from the importance of what the, Gospels report to us. On the contrary, it puts familiar words into their proper setting. Indeed, it seems to me that some of the best-known Sayings of Jesus only appear in their true light if regarded as Midrash upon words and concepts that were familiar to those who heard the Prophet of Galilee, though now they have been forgotten by Jew and Christian alike" (p. 21). He then gives an illustration of this from Matt. xii. 43-45, Luke xi. 24--26. Of still greater interest are his remarks upon the relationship between 1 Enoch lxii. and Matt. xxv, 31-46; he believes that "the Similitudes of Enoch are presupposed in the scene from Matthew." The whole of the discussion which follows should be read. The special points of interest that should be studied in seeking to realize the importance of these books of Enoch for the study of Christian origins are the problems of evil, including, of course, the subjects of dæmonology, and future judgement; the Messiah and the Messianic Kingdom--the title "Son of Man" is of special importance--and the Resurrection. There are, of course, other subjects which will suggest themselves in studying the book. Footnotes viii:1 Jewish and Christian Apocalypses , pp. 15, 16 (1913). xi:1 G. H. Box, The Ezra Apocalypse , pp. 35, 36 (1912). xiii:1 The general Pharisaic point of view regarding this may be gathered from Matt. iii. 7-10. xv:1 Burkitt rightly insists that we should speak of the collection as the books. not the book, of Enoch. xv:2 Burkitt, op. cit., 28-30. xvi:1 i.e. the " Pious ones." or " Saints." xvi:2 Die Saddurder (1912). xvi:3 i.e., according to him, i.-xxxvi., lxxii.-lxxxii., lxxxiii.-xc., xci. 12-17, xciii. xvi:4 See Gen. v. 21-23. xvi:5 Op. cit. , p. 18. xvi:6 Gen. v. 24. xvii:1 i.e. "The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries." as Charles calls it. xvii:2 i.e. "the righteous"; a play on the word Zaddûkîm , the "sons of Zadok," i.e. the Sadducees. xvii:3 Leszynsky, op cit. , pp. 253 ff. xviii:1 Chaps. i.-xxxii. 6. and xix. 3-xxi. 9 in a duplicate form were discovered at Akhmîm in 1886-1887; vi.-x. 14. xv. 8-xvi. x, and viii. 4-ix. 4 in a duplicate form, have been preserved in Syncellus; lxxxix.
Themes
Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology

Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.

The passage explicitly lists 'future judgement' as a key topic of interest and cites Matthew 25:31-46, a primary biblical text describing the final judgment.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

The text argues that Jesus' sayings only appear in their 'true light' when understood as Midrash on forgotten Enochic concepts, implying an outer meaning concealing an inner truth.

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