Inside the Book of Enoch

Of the books left out of the Bible, the First Book of Enoch is among the most fascinating. Purporting to tell the story of Noah’s great-grandfather — the antediluvian patriarch that God took up into heaven — the text includes elaborate visions of the celestial realms and angelic hierarchies. In a past lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looked at 1st Enoch’s context, including its acceptance within the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In this lecture, we dive deep into text, investigating its obscure and esoteric content.

Join the livestream to participate in the discussion and to ask questions to our lecturer during the Q&A:

Other topics covered in this lecture include:
Second Temple Judaism
Canon, Apocrypha, and Pseudepigrapha
Why the Book of Enoch is not Canonical
Antediluvian Myth
Noah's Ark and the Deluge
Angels and angelology
Religious Visions
Esoteric Texts
Apocalyptic Literature

[unrecognizedtalent]

Is it just me, or are these lectures more entertaining than most movies?? I barely even notice the time passing!

[sebolddaniel]

I get so excited knowing I am going to spend another evening listening another one of lectures.

[jamessweeney]

For your Q&A segment. Do you have an opinion on the rise of biblical literalism such as the kind practiced by the Jehovah's Witnesses. It's my understanding that its roots are in the Sola Scriptura tradition of Protestant philosophy, but it seems to have vastly expanded during the third and fourth great awakening (particularly in the US).

Do you think biblical literalism is a natural path that emerges with the diversity of Protestant thought or is there some other socio-economic, philosophical or historical factors at play? (Ie. The rise of modern apocalypticism, William Miller, the great disappointment which the Jehovah's Witnesses trace their roots to)

Thanks so much in advance.

[alangriffin]

I love John so much! He just can’t help but contextualize everything. He starts by saying that we’ve already done a lecture on the context of Enoch, so this will be more of a deep dive, then he gives me way more context for how apocalypticism came about than I ever had before. These lectures are amazing. There are a few I’ve avoided, but dozens I’ve seen more than once. I’ve done the Charlemagne one three times solo and once with my brother.

[johnmarkquinn]

Really amazing presentation. John has such a wide depth of detail and mixes the scriptural with the historical in a way I have not heard in other presentations. Thanks

[randywilson]

When God said, “Fill the earth 🌍, ” Henoched her up 😂

[pbj]

These videos get me through the day while I’m driving my truck 😅

[IZENmeme]

QUESTION: As an atheist who has come to believe that sentience is defined as an awareness of personal existence between the twin abysses of non-existence, before birth and after death, I wonder what importance you place on the belief in an afterlife in heaven or hell?
I much appreciate these lectures as giving an insight into both the community of Christ and the Christian religion in general. Please keep up the good work !

[EdoRiver]

QUESTION: Related to Leo Tolstoy and his influence in Christianity: Are you familiar with the set of beliefs about Christianity held by Leo Tolstoy? What is his status as a religious philosopher in Western Christianity? Does he have influence with any modern western theologian?

[janicewong]

In the beginning it was hard for me to follow. I didn’t think I could finish this video, but I did. Thank you for this video.

[tylertjd]

Bro was cookin when he wrote this one 🙏🏻

[lisamaria]

Thank you, I lov all your videos! Blessings to all!

[tbone]

Topic idea: Zoroastrianism. Thanks for another great video.

[danielpaulson]

Enoch is a fun place to make the monomyth comparisons. Funny how Roman catholics try to hide it while even Paul refers to it in the New Testament. He gave us clues to find the template.

[janlmc]

Wow as an historian your answer regarding pyramid construction and purpose surprise me while archaeologists are still baffled over their construction and purpose.

[moncaman]

Thank you John for you are truly amazing....💪✨😇....✨...

[danielecolla]

agree I enjoy your lectures very very much.

[FireEverLiving]

Question for the free-form lecture: What message do you think we should take from the book of Ecclesiastes?

[longcastle]

The Lecture Series section of this channel (now over 200 episodes) are among the very best videos to be found on YouTube. For those looking for well-presented university level learning and scholarship. Right up there with the Stanford (and other universities) Lecture Series (especially the physic lectures by Leonard Susskind) and the growing list of professionally read (by trained actors, not LibriVox—sorry 🙁) audiobooks of the works of Plato and Nietzsche. All imo, of course. I sure others could list other great channels.

[songsmithy]

Why can't James be Jesus' younger maternal brother, and Jude be James' paternal (full) brother