By Ronald Harnage

This subject opens a whole realm of questions that need to be addressed in order to arrive at a biblically sound conclusion.So I did what I always do with a difficult subject,I completely discarded my own ideas and approached it like I had not dealt with this subject before,so I examined it from every angle and balanced it against scripture,and what God has taught me through His word.There are two main camps of doctrinal beliefs surrounding this issue.After closely examining both and spending all morning trying to make their entire teaching of either fit into scripture I came up empty handed on both sides,neither of them will completely line up with God’s word.It goes back to what you often find in the church concerning two sets of doctrines,often times one is counterfeit and the other is religious,both of them having some truth and both of them being unreliable because they focus on some scriptures yet exclude others,the whole counsel of God has to be considered.So what do we have?

Lets start with the occultic infiltrations so that we can whittle down the confusion a bit. A lot of the basis for the Nephilim teachings are extra-biblical and primarily are focused on the book of Enoch.Let us consider first that the book of Enoch has never been a part of cannonical scripture.It wasn’t listed by the Jews in the Old Testament and I believe largely because it did not exist until the rise of Gnosticism that we see at the advent of Christianity,but lets start with the inception of it’s modern influence.

It begins with James Bruce,the discoverer of what is widely accepted as the book of Enoch.Rumors of a surviving copy of the book in 1773 sent the Scottish explorer James Bruce to distant Ethiopia in search of it. There he found the Ethiopic church had saved the book and kept it alongside of the other books of the Bible. Bruce was able to secure not one, but three copies of the Ethiopic book that he brought back to Europe and England. In 1821, Dr. Richard Laurence, an Oxford Hebrew professor, produced the first translation.

Richard Laurance,translator of the Book of Enoch had this to say about the timing of its writing-” Presuming therefore that the book before us,(Enoch) was a composition of some unknown Jew or Jews. I shall therefore consider what criteria afforded us to determine at what period it may have been written…There exists sufficient internal evidence to indicate that it was written long subsequent of the commencement and conclusion of the Babylonian captivity. This book was written a few years AT MOST before the begining of the Christian era.” The earliest Ethiopic text was apparently made from a Greek manuscript of the book, which itself was a copy of an earlier text. The original text appears to have been written in a Semitic language, now thought to be a dialect of Aramaic that is commonly asscoiated with the Essenes,who were a Gnostic sect.

New Agers,Luciferians and other occultists use the book of Enoch to indoctrinate the unsuspecting into occult mysticism.When I was in the occult the book of Enoch was actually the first book in my library. I had it for most of my occult career. Along with other Gnostic books such as the book of Moses(The Assumption of Moses and the Testament of Moses),and the Greater and Lesser keys of Solomon,they are highly regarded in the occult world.

I think one point you may find interesting is what is commonly known about Bruce in the occult world.Bruce was a disciple of Helena Blavatsky,who as you may recall I mentioned in my note “Inside the Occult 2”, that she was the first female member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,and a colleague of Aleistar Crowley,the most famous satanist to date. Blavatsky created the first tenants of theosophy which were accepted as organised doctrines for Luciferianism.Blavatsky gave high praise to the book of Enoch and its author.In her book “The Secret Doctrine” volume 3-and I quote”Thus the book of Enoch is entirely symbolic.It relates to the history of the human race and their relation to theogony,(basically theogony is greek myths),the symbols being interblended with astrological and cosmic mysteries.” Blavatsky goes on to mention Bruce by name and grants him high regard and status in the occult world for his work.James Bruce introduced this book into the new age movement and it has long been known to be a Gnostic text.

Next question,who were the Gnostics? To put it simply the Gnostics were the first Qaballists to incorporate Christian themes, which were in turn perverted to suit their own beliefs.This they then combined with Greek mythology.What they produced was highly heretical literature that would be the first established beliefs in what would later be termed as luciferianism. Many of their writings perverted the diety of Christ and soveriengty of God,in fact making God the villain who was ejected from heaven and lucifer the maligned and misunderstood hero and true reigning god.

Qaballism goes back to ancient times,it is basically Jewish sorcery,where they have learned the paganistic practices of the heathen nations and incorporated it into their own culture,making their own cultural type of sorcery.

The Qabbalah itself consists of a large body of speculation on the nature of divinity, the creation, the origin and fate of the soul and also the role of human beings. It generally is subdivided into four sections: meditative, devotional, mystical and magical. It is for this reason that Qabbalah is regarded as an occultic offshoot of Judaism.

The gnosis of the Qabbalah is well recognized by Jewish scholars. From an article cited in the Jewish Encyclopedia, we see the intimate relationship between Gnosticism and the Caballa:The Jewish Encyclopedia quotes the opinion that “The central doctrine of Gnosticism,a movement closely tied to Jewish mysticism,was nothing else but the attempt to liberate the soul and unite it with God; but apparently this was to be affected through the use of mysteries,incantations and the use of the names of angels,(angel worship),..etc. It will be seen how widely even this phase of Gnosticism differs from Christianity and identifies itself with the magical Qabbalah of the Jews.”

You can see how at the outset Gnosticism completely abandons salvation through Jesus Christ,and places it solely in the hands of the practitioner to somehow obtain salvation through magical means,you could not possibly get any more occultic than this.

M.Matter states in Histor de Gnosticisme, that Jewish scholars fully understand that secret oral traditions of the Cabbalah were previous to any Christian Gnosticism.

In Some notes on various sects of Gnosticism and their possible affects on Freemasonry,D.F. Ranking notes that the secret oral tradition of the Cabbalists confirms them as being Gnostics.” This claim to a secret oral tradition confirms the conception of the Gnostics as Cabbalists and shows how far they had departed from Christian teaching.For if only in this idea of one doctrine for the ignorant and another for the initiated the Gnostics restored the very system that Christianity had come to destroy.”

Author Nesta Webster concurs with M. Matter and other historians that Gnosticism involved an attempt to Cabbalise Christianity….”M. Matter was therefore right in saying that Gnosticism was not a defection from Christianity,but a combination of systems into which a few Christian elements were introduced.The result of Gnosticism was not to Christianise the Cabbalah but to Cabbalise Christianity by mingling its pure and simple teaching with theosophy and even magic.”

I could include a great number of other secular historians and Jewish scholars that say the same thing,as a matter of fact you will not find one that doesnt see that Gnosticism was but a new sect of Qabbalism that arose to directly confront Christianity.

The book of Jude quotes Enoch in verses 6, 14, and 15.Which he just as well may have taken from oral tradition. This does not mean that we should accept the whole book as the authoritative word of God and that it should be included in the bible.Jude’s quotes are not the only quotes in the gospels from an unbiblical source.The Apostle Paul quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12. That does not mean we should build doctrines around Epimenides entire writings.The same can be said about Jude.Jude’s quotes by no means grant carte blanche’ to the entire works of Gnostic literature,which is what I see happening in the church,not only with the book of Enoch, but other Gnostic writings as well.All Jude is saying is this particular passage is true.We do the same thing on facebook everyday when we post clips and sermons from people that we dont entirely agree with but what they are saying on a particular subject happens to be biblically correct.Evidently though,this was something that Enoch prophesied or the bible would not attribute it to him. Apparently, this may have been handed down by oral tradition,as was Genesis and the book of Job were largely taken from oral tradition until they became among the first scriptural traditions.We should treat the book of Enoch and other Gnostic writings as interesting but heretical documents that only entertain an acceptance of occult philosophies.Some of what it says is true but a great deal of it is false and I could easily do a lengthy note on just the heresies found in it.They are not the inspired authoritative word of God.They are however fullfilling the purpose for which they were created and that is to sow doubt and confusion along with occult teachings into the Body of Christ.

Jude quotes from 1 Enoch, a second-Temple Jewish writing, (Jude 14 = 1 Enoch 1:9) and another Gnostic work in Jude 9, possibly what early Christian writers identified as the Assumption of Moses.The honest problem facing the infant Roman Church of 390 A.D., when first assembling today’s Bible, was that the existing copies of 1 Enoch varied. There is no way of knowing which versions are the original and which are the errors,it does make it impossible to anchor beliefs or arguments on any given section.

This alone is a legitimate reason to exclude it from the holy writ. When faced with the task of declaring what is and what is not the “inspired, infallible Word of God,” erring on the side of caution and certainty must be the case every time! (Only those who do not believe in the divine inspiration, and modern integrity, of scripture will be dissatisfied with this reasoning. ) The translation copies available (presumably) in 390 A.D., and especially those we have today, could not with any certainty also be classified as “infallible.”The church did in fact suppress The Book of Enoch.

Realistically however, there was also a “point” to the canon. The goal and even eternal function in assembling the earliest Bibles was NOT merely sorting out what was inspired of God and what was not. They also had the specific intent of promoting and preserving a solid doctrinal foundation for all believers in Christ. Like Paul, they had to passionately argue against Gnosticism – “the doctrine of salvation by knowledge ,” or the idea that gaining “superior” and/or “hidden” knowledge ensures one some higher spiritual position – opposed to a simple obedient faith in Christ.

Gnostics strive for a mystical face to face experience with God that does not include the gospel of repentance or Christ as Saviour. It is one of the most volatile combinations of witchcraft and self-justification ever produced.The Church strongly opposed Gnostics… labeling mystical experiences as from God was taboo… Putting a stamp of approval on such a wild tale (Enoch) would have too many people believing that they could experience God for themselves without any need for a saviour or repentance, … Those who experience visions or personal insights from mystical sources are dangerous to the gospel,because the very purpose is to instill the belief that supernatural experinces alone qualify one for salvation. They lead people astray by supporting beliefs and practices that are clearly not of God and that are centered around pagan philosophies . This has been brought to bear on us in a very real way today as we can see that the Charismatic movement does highly esteem,and promote those who have had mystical experiences while at the same time disregarding any serious promotion of the gospel.

The truth is that Gnostics “strive for” experiencing God without knowing and submitting to Christ or His Body, the church. Even today, the wish to “experience God face-to-face” without Christ’s mediation (1 Timothy 2:5) is not just an honest effort to avoid false religion (of which there is much), but to not submit to any spiritual authority at all – whether it be God’s Church, God’s Word or even God’s Christ! It should always be kept in perspective that “the church” was not Rome’s, or even man’s idea. Jesus said “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Mt 16:18).” The early church rightly opposed Gnosticism, but beginning with Paul’s letters, not with the Roman Church. Many who passionately promote (or just reprint and sell) 1 Enoch today do so not with the intention of promoting a deeper faith in God’s inspired Word, but more with the intent of undermining the Bible’s authority – and especially the church’s. 1 Enoch’s clear historical integrity but “lack of inclusion in the Bible” is often used to “springboard” arguments for other “favorite” heretical books, left out for all the right reasons. Modern Gnostics are often fond of several other “gospels” ,such as Thomas and Mary, both of which have heretical statements and theologies that clearly contradict the message of the gospel, proving they were NOT inspired by God,but definitely inspired..by satan himself.

Now,having established that the book of Enoch was from Gnostic literature we can proceed to look at the doctrines surrounding Genesis 6, having set the Gnostic myths surrounding it aside.This should be a more than reasonable course for anyone that considers God’s word to be the authoritative source of all truth.