The Book of Enoch

The Book of Enoch, written during the second century B.C.E., is one of the most important non-canonical apocryphal works written and likely had a huge influence on early Christian, particularly Gnostic, beliefs. Filled with hallucinatory visions of heaven and hell, angels and devils, Enoch introduced concepts such as fallen angels, the appearance of a Messiah, Resurrection, a Final Judgment, and a Heavenly Kingdom on Earth. Interspersed with this material are quasi-scientific digressions on calendrical systems, geography, cosmology, astronomy, and meteorology. The early Christian father Tertullian wrote c. 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies pertaining to Christ. This version was translated from the Ethiopic by Archbishop of Cashel Richard Laurence, London, 1883.