Pursuing Veritas

In 2014, the Darren Aronofsky’s Noah soared at the box office while causing angst among people of faith everywhere. Countless movie goers walked into the theater expecting Russell Crowe to retell the familiar tale of Noah’s ark, only to walk out dazed and confused by what they had just seen. For instead of the Sunday school version of Noah’s story, they had witnessed a retelling filled with strange tales of mythical creatures known as “The Watchers.” Aronofky didn’t invent the Watchers, nor was the first to inject them into the story of Noah. In many ways, Noah simply retells a much older story: one told in the Book of Enoch.

Despite the media firestorm surrounding Noah, most Christians remain unfamiliar with Enoch, its contents, and its influence on Christian theology. To help remedy that situation, Phil Long has penned a remarkable introduction titled, The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World (Rockridge Press, 2022). The result is an incredibly delightful book that sets the standard for accessible introductions to non-canonical biblical literature.

Moving section by section through Enoch, Long introduces readers to the main characters, ideas, themes, and developments of this book of books, as well as offering key verses, insightful commentary, and connections to both New Testament literature and contemporary faith. Designed as a tour guide to accompany a reading of Enoch, this volume does a remarkable job investigating and explaining the contents of what for many readers is a deeply confusing writing.

From the “facts at a glance” sections to engagement with key secondary scholarship, and from tracing biblical connections to the beautiful outlay of the contents, Enoch for Beginners informs and delights. I highly, highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about Enoch, as well as for every pastor or teacher who finds themselves in need a helpful guide to an often-shadowy intertestamental period. I also highly commend this volume for any author or publisher looking for future content ideas: a full series of books like this on intertestamental, apocryphal, and pseudepigraphal writings would be a boon to interest in those books and to this time period. I thank Long for his valuable contribution in this book, and I look forward to reading Enoch anew alongside his insights.

All opinions in this review are my own.