Jeffrey J. Bütz

The first comprehensive examination of the Book of Enoch and its prophecies, origins, and history• Examines in depth Enoch’s full story of the Watchers, the fallen angels who came to Earth and shared corrupting forbidden knowledge• Explores how Enoch was a vital component of Second Temple messianic Judaism, speculative Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah, and Gnostic mythology• Investigates the entire history of the Book of Enoch and its important esoteric offshoots, including the later 2 Enoch (the Slavonic “Book of the Secrets of Enoch”) and the so-called Hebrew “Book of Enoch” (3 Enoch)Said to have been written by the prophet Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, the Book of Enoch disappeared for many centuries, except for one place: the Bible of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which held the book as canonical. Revealing the profound influence of the Book of Enoch on world thought over the past two thousand years, Tobias Churton investigates the entire history of the Book of Enoch and its important esoteric offshoots, including the later 2 Enoch (the Slavonic "Book of the Secrets of Enoch") and the so-called Hebrew "Book of Enoch" (3 Enoch). He explains how Enoch was taken to Heaven where he received personal instruction from God and examines in depth Enoch’s full story of the Watchers, the fallen angels who came to Earth and shared corrupting forbidden knowledge. He explains how the Book was a vital component of Second Temple messianic Judaism and speculative Jewish mysticism, playing a key role in the development of both the Kabbalah and Gnostic mythology. Informed by continuing studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Churton provides the first comprehensive examination of the Book of Enoch, clarifying and refuting many errors of understanding about Enoch’s apocalyptic and sometimes sensational prophecies.

Reveals the true role of James, the brother of Jesus, in early Christianity • Uses evidence from the canonical Gospels, apocryphal texts, and the writings of the Church Fathers to reveal the teachings of Jesus as transmitted to his chosen successor: James • Demonstrates how the core message in the teachings of Jesus is an expansion not a repudiation of the Jewish religion • Shows how James can serve as a bridge between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam James has been a subject of controversy since the founding of the Church. Evidence that Jesus had siblings contradicts Church dogma on the virgin birth, and James is also a symbol of Christian teachings that have been obscured. While Peter is traditionally thought of as the leader of the apostles and the “rock” on which Jesus built his church, Jeffrey Bütz shows that it was James who led the disciples after the crucifixion. It was James, not Peter, who guided them through the Church's first major theological crisis--Paul's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. Using the canonical Gospels, writings of the Church Fathers, and apocryphal texts, Bütz argues that James is the most overlooked figure in the history of the Church. He shows how the core teachings of Jesus are firmly rooted in Hebraic tradition; reveals the bitter battles between James and Paul for ideological supremacy in the early Church; and explains how Paul's interpretations, which became the foundation of the Church, are in many ways its betrayal. Bütz reveals a picture of Christianity and the true meaning of Christ's message that are sometimes at odds with established Christian doctrine and concludes that James can serve as a desperately needed missing link between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to heal the wounds of centuries of enmity.