the purpose

i am passive-aggressive. 
i have lots of ideas but am afraid of the outcome of most of them.
this is my place to express these things. 

to begin… i’m working back through my semester’s work on 1 Enoch. 
I’ve attached a draft of this final work in a pdf file that you can view. 
I will also be editing and posting a section of it over the next weeks until it is completed.

Feel free to comment, question, and provide editorial techniques on each of these pieces.

Today’s post is a brief introduction… not much… but it’s the beginning….

Introduction

            Enochic literature is a genre unique to its self.  Many of the details behind the foundational books of this genre have been unavailable to scholars until recently.  The text of 1 Enoch survives only because of the Ethiopic translation and large portions of it’s books found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran Cave 4.  1 Enoch is a Jewish pseudonymous text dating from around the third century BCE to the first century BCE.  The text claims to be exegeting Genesis 5:18-24 throughout five separate books (in chronological order below):

                        1.  The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72-82);               3^rd Century BCE

                        2.  The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36);             3^rd Century BCE

                        3.  The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91-108);                  2^nd Century BCE

                        4.  The Book of Dreams (1 Enoch 83-90);                   2^nd Century BCE

                        5.  The Book of Parables (1 Enoch 37-71);                  1^st Century BCE/CE.

            Each of the five books of 1 Enoch were written in a popular literary form that included a combination of scientific and artistic expressions that was later labeled Apocalypse.[1]  It is out of these books that many influential ideas encouraged the further development of an Apocalypse literature.  From this foundational literature, theological perspectives pertaining to Jewish and Christian eschatology developed into statements of faith.

            Although the following chapters will not cover the scholarship devoted to Enochic literature in its entirety, it will attempt to summarize three aspects pertaining to the life of 1 Enoch.  The details of the literary expression within 1 Enoch and the influences of common cultural practices will be covered in the first section, “Cultural Influences”.  Although some clues within the text point to a certain sect of Judaism, or combination thereof, its actual authors are unknown.  Section two, “Themes of Enoch” will discuss the understandings of various scholars as to who wrote the text, perhaps why they wrote it, and how it compares to other texts of the same nature.  As its popularity grew, authors elaborated Enochic themes in later writings that had lasting effects on Judaism and specifically Christianity.  The third section will examine these effects, “From Judaism to Christianity”.

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[1] VanderKam, James C. The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity. 2.