Enoch the Prophet (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley) [Hardcover]

Hugh Nibley (Author), Stephen D. Ricks (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 309 pages
• Publisher: Deseret Book Co (September 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087579047X
• ISBN-13: 978-0875790473
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The loss and rediscovery of Enoch and comparisons to LDS, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Enoch the Prophet (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley) (Hardcover)

This erudite study includes essays discussing various Enoch texts, their suppression and loss, and more recent recovery, and even more recent appreciation in New Testament and Judaic studies. He includes essays on The Book of Enoch as a Theodicy (justification of the ways of God to man), a wide-ranging comparison of the themes of the Enoch literature with some of the oldest Egyptian, Greek, and Babylonian myths. Finally, he extensively compares the contents of the recently recovered Enoch texts from Ethiopia, Qumran, Slavonic, etc. with the Enoch material produced by Joseph Smith in 1830. Altogether mind-expanding and provocative.

5.0 out of 5 stars We Shall See Zion Again, June 29, 2011

By 

H. Dowers (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enoch the Prophet (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley) (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent introduction to Enoch, for it elaborates on why he is an important figure in Christianity. The Books of Enoch have been suppressed for various reason by ancient Christian Fathers, as they were offended by the astronomical visions of Enoch. Also, modern scholars discount these writings as mere fables, but it seems that early Christian writers espoused them as doctrine: Luke, John, Jude, etc. For in the New Testament alone, Christian writers referenced Enoch's prophecies 128 times. Enoch's righteousness afforded him the opportunity to be taken up to heaven, along with the city of Zion that he erected through the implementation of God's Law. Nibley's presentation of this material is eloquent and well elucidated. His documentation of sources is superb.

However, this text suspects that the audience understands the revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, concerning Enoch. These can be found in Moses 6-8 in the Pearl of Great Price. Nibley compares various Enoch texts with what has been revealed to Joseph Smith. It is eye opening and inspirational. This book is edifying and instructive in comparative literature, as Nibley expounds on constant patterns seen throughout the scriptures and their meaning for us. I enjoyed this book and hope to continue my study of Enoch.

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insight into a debate among Mormons, April 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Enoch the Prophet (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley) (Hardcover)

Not being a member of the the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) I find myself a little at sea with this material, but for an outsider the book does present some interest in that Nibley is a respected Mormon scholar who advocates that the Book of Mormon (Hellaman 13:33) quotes Book of Enoch. As such Nibley is one of the main points of reference for the many members of LDS who respect the Book of Enoch. However in reading outside this book one finds that other Mormon scholars (notably Kent Jackson of BYU) reject both the Book of Enoch and Nibley's arguments.

As to the book itself, it is probably of very limited utility to anyone with an interest in pseudepigrapha - anyone wanting to know about Enoch outside the LDS context would go to an academic writer (Nickelsburg, Vanderkam) or editor (Charlesworth) - but it does shed light on why some Mormons consider Book of Enoch semi-inspired. Personally I find Nibley's evidence for traces of Enoch in the book of Mormon extremely weak - nothing more than a very vague similarity. The first translation in English of 1Enoch, by Richard Laurence, was published in 1821 but was not widely available in America - and appears not to have been known to early Mormons.