Jeremy Thompson?
As I was listening to Dr. Dragos Giulea of Marquette University speaking about something dealing with the fallen angels in Enoch, I noticed that Enoch might have fared well in today’s canonization efforts, if for nothing else, like everything else, he has vampires! Imagine that, vampires… Now, before you start thinking that I am in the twilight of my blogging, there is a new moon on the horizon, and the dawn is breaking.
Besides, I am still at SBL and I have to post something…
1 Enoch 6-7
And it came to pass that when the sons of men multiplied, in those days beautiful and fair daughters were born. And the angels, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them, and said to one another: “Come! Let us choose for ourselves wives from people, and we will beget for ourselves children.”
And Semiaza, who was their ruler, said to them: “I fear that you will not desire to do this deed, and I alone will be a debtor of a great sin.”
Therefore they all answered him: “Let us swear an oath and let us all anathematize one another, not to turn away from this plan, until we should complete it and should this deed.”
Then they all swore together and anathematized one another by it. And these were the two hundred who descend in the days of Jared to the summit of Mount Hermonieim, and they called the mountain Hermon, because they swore and anathematized one another by it. And these are the names of their leaders: Semiaza, he is their leader, Arathak, Kimbra, Sammane, Daneiel, Arearos, Semiel, Iomeiel, Chochariel, Ezekiel, Batriel, Sathiel, Atriel, Tamiel, Barakiel, Ananthna, Thoniel, Ramiel, Aseal, Rakeiel, Touriel. These are their rulers who (are) [over] tens.
And they took wives for themselves, each of them chose for themselves wives, and they began to enter them and to be defiled in them. And they taught them sorceries and enchantments and root-cutting, and explained the plants to them. And the women became pregnant and bore great giants of three thousand cubits, who devoured the labors of people. And when the people were not able to sustain them, the giants dared (to attack) them, and they devoured the people. And they began to sin with birds and wild animals and reptiles and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink blood.
While Genesis gives us only a snippet of a story which could be interpreted as fallen angels, Enoch focuses a great deal of attention on these beings. Further, as Guilea pointed out, early Church leaders used them to explain certain things, such as demons.
Nevertheless, Team Enoch.
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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