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{en} Bruk Ayele Asale. 1 Enoch as Christian Scripture: A Study in the Reception and Appropriation of 1 Enoch in Jude and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahǝdo Canon. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020.

Abstract

"Since its publication in English translation in 1821, the book of Enoch has enjoyed immense popularity in Western culture as a variety of religious groups, interested historians, and academics have sought to illuminate the Jewish context of Christian beginnings two thousand years ago. Taking the quotation of 1 Enoch in Jude 14 as its point of departure, the present study explores the significance of Enochic tradition within the context of Christian tradition in the Horn of Africa, where it continues to play a vital role in shaping the diverse yet interrelated self-understanding of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches. As discussions on the importance of 1 Enoch from antiquity to the present take on new dimensions among increasingly global and diverse voices, 1 Enoch as Christian Scripture offers a rare orientation into a rich culture in which the reception of the book is "at home" as a living tradition more than anywhere else in the world today. The present work argues that serious attention to 1 Enoch holds forth an opportunity for church traditions in Ethiopia--and, indeed, around the world--to embrace some of their indigenous roots and has the capacity to breathe life into time-worn expressions of faith."--Publisher description.

"Western biblical scholarship has typically approached the Ethiopian book of Enoch with a predetermined and narrow set of interests: to understand the New Testament and unlock the origins of Christianity. First Enoch is thus reduced to an object of critical inquiry without any appreciation for the living African subjects that have harbored and practiced its traditions for centuries up until the present. In this regard, Bruk Asale's study is a breath of fresh air that fills a gap still largely missing in Enochic studies even when it is attentive to reception history. Readers will greatly benefit from this book as they learn about the rich tapestry of Ethiopian Christianities and, dare I say, about 1 Enoch itself as they see this literary corpus come alive."--Isaac W. Oliver/de Oliveira, Bradley University

"This study on 1 Enoch by Dr. Bruk Ayele Asale is of particular importance because, as an Ethiopian scholar, he is particularly attentive to the Ethiopian appropriation of this work. The New Testament quotes it as Scripture and several parts of it have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahǝdo Church is the only present-day context in which the book is still 'alive' and part of the canon."--Paul B. Decock, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

"Bruk Ayele has given us a fine study on the 1 Enoch in Jude and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, one of the ancient churches in the world. The book offers a rich treatment of 1 Enoch from a Protestant perspective, a masterful survey of modern scholarship, and a lucid exposition of the text in Ethiopian context. It is a remarkable achievement."--Samuel Yonas Deressa, Concordia University, St. Paul

Contents

Introduction -- 1 Enoch: an overview of the transmission history of the text and contemporary academic dialogue -- Addendum I: Critique of Ephraim Isaac's proposition -- 1 Enoch in Jude and other early Christian rexts -- Addendum II: Scriptural vs. Canonical -- 1 Enoch in other early Jewish and Christian texts -- 1 Enoch in the EOTC : Reception and Transmission of Scriptures -- 1 Enoch in the EOTC : literary and cultural appropriation -- Addendum III: Influence of Enoch among Ethiopian Evangelical Christians -- Concluding remarks.

External links

• [ Google Books]