Does the book of Enoch belong in the Bible?
Is it one of the so-called lost books of the Bible? The answer to both of those questions is
“No. It is not inspired of God. It is not part of the canon of Scripture. And it is NOT one
of the so-called lost books of the Bible.” In response to that, people will often say,
“If it is not a legitimately inspired book from God, then why is it quoted in the book of Jude
in the Bible?” Jude 14-15 reads, “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these
men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on
all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed
in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
First, I want you to notice that the Bible simply states that Enoch said this. Jude does not,
however, mention a “book of Enoch.” The reason this question arises is because there is a book
called the book of Enoch which contains this quote, therefore people claim that Jude took
his statement from this book. There is no evidence, however, that this is the case.
The book of Enoch was an ancient Jewish writing that was known within the Jewish culture.
It is believed the early portions of it existed from about 300 BC, and the later
portions were added by the first century BC. Some people believe that because it is quoted
in Jude that it should be considered a book of the Bible. This, however, is not a valid assumption.
First, simply because a book is quoted in the Bible
does not make it an inspired book. For example, the Apostle Paul quoted Greek poets in Acts 17
and Titus 1, but that didn’t make them inspired. This particular statement was evidently something
that Enoch truly prophesied, or else the Jude would not have attributed it to him.
The statement was apparently handed down by tradition and was eventually recorded in the Book
of Enoch. It’s inclusion in the Jude 14 tells us that it was a genuine statement of Enoch.
Secondly, we reject the Book of Enoch as belonging in the Bible
because, though it was supposedly written by Enoch, as I already mentioned, the evidence
indicates that was written hundreds of years after Enoch’s lifetime. Interestingly also,
is the fact that Enoch supposedly wrote about Noah, though Enoch was taken up to
heaven years before Noah was born…since in reality Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather.
Thirdly, the book of Enoch is full of many theological and even secular errors. Any
truly inspired book does not contain any mistakes. For example, Enoch 10:4-6,12
Implies angels can be bound & hid in holes under rocks. 15:8-10 Very strange doctrine about
"evil spirits" proceeding from unredeemable giants. 32:2-6 Seems to imply the Garden
of Eden was still in existence after the Flood. And on and on we could go.
Fourth, the book of Enoch was never accepted by the ancient Jews as part of the OT Scriptures.
Nor was did Jesus recognize it as a part of the Jewish canon.
The fact is, the book of Enoch, like other apocryphal books, contains some true information,
but also some false and inaccurate information. Though they are interesting pieces of history,
they are not part of the inspired, authoritative Word of God.