Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
www.suscopts.org
   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Why doesn’t the Coptic Orthodox Church accept the Book of Enoch as Scripture and part of the Old Testament if the Ethiopian Orthodox Church accepts it?

The Ethiopian Church is the only Church that canonized the Book of Enoch as part of its Bible. The Old Testament books accepted by our Coptic Orthodox Church were originally all part of the Septuagint translation. The Book of Enoch is not included in this translation.

It has been largely the opinion of historians that the Book of Enoch does not really contain the authentic words of the ancient biblical patriarch Enoch, since (based on the chronologies in the Holy Book of Genesis), he would have lived several thousand years earlier than the first known appearance of the book attributed to him. Most scholars believe that the Book of Enoch was written in the time between the Old and New Testaments. The probable dates usually mentioned are between 150 and 80 BC.

St. Jude refers to this book in his epistle. The early second century "Epistle of Barnabas" uses the Book of Enoch as well as the second and third Century Church Fathers like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria. However, when the churches convened in 325 A.D. to compile the Holy Bible as we have it today; there was much discussion as to which scriptures and gospels to be included in the Holy Bible and which ones to be excluded. The Book of Enoch was disfavored because of its controversial statements on the nature and deeds of the fallen angels.
Home | Ask A Question | Search Q&A