The book of Jude in regards to the Canon

[DarkNebulaWelder]

So, I was reading through the book of Jude, and came across this verse:

Jude 14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophecied about these men also, saying '

"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way......"

According to my commentary, this account is recorded in the Book of Enoch, which is not in the Canon.

So, then, if the Book of Enoch was eliminated from the Canon due to lack of authority, why would Jude have quoted an account which was described in an uncanonical book?

Wouldn't something like this attest to the book's authority?

[Rebmilc]

So, I was reading through the book of Jude, and came across this verse:

Jude 14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophecied about these men also, saying '

"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way......"

According to my commentary, this account is recorded in the Book of Enoch, which is not in the Canon.

So, then, if the Book of Enoch was eliminated from the Canon due to lack of authority, why would Jude have quoted an account which was described in an uncanonical book?

Wouldn't something like this attest to the book's authority?

A good question DarkNebulaWelder, one I had difficulty with myself.

The following link helped me.

Hope it helps you too

link

Regards

Neil.

[WayneB]

Interesting question and one that has been hotly debated for 2000 years!

My first reaction though? One quoted reference does NOT authenticate the entire content of the source, does it?

I can refer to The Federalist Papers as a source but that doesn't make them equivalent to the Constitution of the United States, does it?

Regrdless, in the NASB, this passage cross references Daniel 7:10 and Deuteronomy 33:2 ... both cannonized books.

...and the issue has been hotly debated in the past:

From the time of the Council of Jamnia (c. 90), the [book of Enoch] has not been part of the Jewish Scriptures.

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.

The Greek language text was known to, and quoted by nearly all, Church Fathers. A number of the Church Fathers thought it to be an inspired work, particularly Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian, based on its quotation in Jude.

However, some later Fathers denied the canonicity of the book and some even considered the letter of Jude uncanonical because it refers to an "apocryphal" work (Cf. Gerome, Catal. Script. Eccles. 4.). By the fourth century it was mostly excluded from Christian lists of the Biblical canon, and it was omitted from the canon by most of the Christian church (the Ethiopian Orthodox Church being an exception). Re: From Wikipedia

I believe we have to trust the process of canonization and trust that those Books left out were left out for good reason. As with the Didache and other early Christian writings, they serve a purpose but should never be taken as inerrant. The same applies to ancient writings like the Book of Enoch I would think.

[Marnie]

It was not unusual for the OT authors to quote from secular sources, as well. A lot of the proverbs were not dreamed up by Solomon, for example, he quoted from works of his day.

[EricH]

So, I was reading through the book of Jude, and came across this verse:

Jude 14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophecied about these men also, saying '

"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way......"

According to my commentary, this account is recorded in the Book of Enoch, which is not in the Canon.

So, then, if the Book of Enoch was eliminated from the Canon due to lack of authority, why would Jude have quoted an account which was described in an uncanonical book?

Wouldn't something like this attest to the book's authority?

This is the same Enoch from the Book of Genesis. Just because the Book of Enoch includes an accurate quotation of one of Enoch's prophecies dies not mean the entire book was inspired or inerrant. We do notknow what source Jude used for the quotation. It could have been from Enoch, or another source

[DarkNebulaWelder]

Thanks for your input, guys.....makes sense, and clears up a lot