Jesus and the apostles repeatedly refer to the recognized categories of Old Testament Scripture—“the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44, ESV). Enoch was not included among those canonical books.

Fragments of Enoch discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that some ancient Jewish communities read, copied, and valued the book. However, finding copies of a religious work at Qumran does not make that work Scripture. The community possessed many religious writings that were never considered part of the biblical canon.

In other words, a book can be ancient, respected, and spiritually interesting without being inspired Scripture.

#2: THE BOOK WAS NOT WRITTEN BY THE BIBLICAL ENOCH

The biblical Enoch lived before the Flood and is described in Genesis as a man who “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24, ESV). Yet the Book of Enoch as we have it comes from a much later period. Scholars generally date its various sections to the centuries immediately preceding and surrounding the time of Christ.

Therefore, when the book presents revelations associated with Enoch, we should not assume that the historical Enoch personally wrote them.

This gives us an important reason for caution: the name “Enoch” attached to the book does not establish Enochic authorship.

Ancient literature sometimes attributed writings to significant figures from the distant past. That may seem  unusual to modern readers, but it was not uncommon in the ancient world. Whatever historical traditions may lie behind 1 Enoch, we do not have sufficient reason to conclude that the Enoch of Genesis wrote the book bearing his name.

#3: JUDE QUOTING ENOCH DOES NOT MAKE THE WHOLE BOOK SCRIPTURE

This is probably the biggest question Christians have about Enoch because Jude writes:

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied…” (Jude 14, ESV)

Jude 14–15 closely parallels 1 Enoch 1:9. That tells us that Jude knew an Enochic tradition and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, regarded the statement he used as true. But it does not follow that the Holy Spirit was declaring the entire Book of Enoch inspired.

The Apostle Paul does something similar with nonbiblical writers. In Acts 17:28, Paul quotes Greek poets, and in Titus 1:12, he quotes a Cretan writer. Those quotations become part of inspired Scripture because an inspired biblical author uses them. That does not mean that everything those writers ever wrote suddenly becomes Scripture.

Think of it this way:

Jude is Scripture. Therefore, what Jude affirms is authoritative. But that does not automatically transfer inspiration to Jude’s source material as a whole.

The Holy Spirit can inspire a biblical author to use a true statement from outside the Bible without declaring the entire source to be inspired.

#4: ENOCH CONTAINS ELABORATE MATERIAL THAT GOES BEYOND SCRIPTURE

One of the most famous portions of 1 Enoch greatly expands upon the mysterious events described in Genesis 6:

“the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive.” (Genesis 6:2, ESV)

Enoch develops this brief biblical account into an extensive story involving the Watchers, fallen angels, their names and activities, forbidden knowledge, giants, judgment, and heavenly realms.

Some of this material may preserve ancient Jewish interpretations and traditions. It can also be fascinating background for understanding how certain Jewish groups around the time of the New Testament interpreted Genesis.

But Christians need to maintain an important distinction:

Interesting background is not the same thing as inspired revelation.

We should be especially careful about using Enoch to fill in details that God chose not to give us in Genesis. When Scripture is silent, a nonbiblical ancient text should not be used to create biblical certainty.

#5: THE EARLY CHURCH DID NOT ULTIMATELY RECEIVE IT AS CANON

Some early Christians knew and respected Enoch, and writers such as Tertullian treated it quite favorably. However, the broader church did not ultimately receive 1 Enoch among the canonical books of the Old Testament.

It is not part of the Old Testament canon received by Protestants or Roman Catholics, nor is it included in the standard Old Testament collections of most Eastern Orthodox traditions. A significant exception is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, whose broader canon includes 1 Enoch.

This also corrects a common misconception: Martin Luther did not simply remove the Book of Enoch from the Bible during the Protestant Reformation. Enoch was not sitting in the standard Western Christian Old Testament for centuries and then suddenly removed by Protestants.

The question, therefore, is not, “Why did Protestants take Enoch out of the Bible?”

The better question is:

“Do we have sufficient reason to recognize 1 Enoch as a God-breathed book belonging to the canon of Scripture?”

The answer is no.

SO, SHOULD CHRISTIANS READ THE BOOK OF ENOCH?

Christians certainly can read the Book of Enoch. In fact, for those interested in biblical history and the world surrounding the New Testament, it can be quite useful. But we need to read it in the proper Category.

A helpful rule is this:

Read Enoch like you might read Josephus—not like you read Genesis.

Enoch can help us understand Second Temple Judaism, ancient interpretations of Genesis 6, Jewish thinking about angels and demons, divine judgment, messianic expectations, and some of the conceptual world surrounding New Testament books such as Jude and 2 Peter.

But it must always remain subordinate to Scripture.

When Enoch and Scripture are placed side by side, Scripture interprets Enoch. Enoch does not interpret, correct, or add to Scripture.

And when Enoch supplies details that Scripture itself does not give us, we should be careful to say:

“That is an ancient Jewish tradition.”

We should not say:

“The Bible teaches this.”

That distinction allows us to appreciate an important ancient document without giving it an authority that belongs to the inspired Word of God alone.