Biblical Demonology: Part 2
Biblical demonology requires understanding the mindset of the first century Jew / Christian, which includes 1 Enoch and the Watchers Tradition. For this part of the series, you ideally should have access to a copy of the book of 1 Enoch:
The Watchers Tradition and the Book of 1 Enoch
Beings known as Watchers make a brief appearance in the Hebrew Bible in Daniel 4:13,17,23. However, to discover more about these beings, one must turn to other non-canonical Jewish texts such as the pseudepigraphal book of 1 Enoch. Barker [1] claims that ‘The study of the pseudepigrapha (1 Enoch and similar works) is the fastest-growing area of biblical scholarship, and a knowledge of 1 Enoch is now a necessary preliminary to any responsible study of the New Testament.’ Even Evangelical authors such as Michael S. Heiser [2] are beginning to discover its usefulness for biblical studies once more.
It is interesting to note that the Watchers make an appearance in the recent film, Noah (2014), though the Watchers Tradition is very badly mangled, with them being made of rocks and helping Noah make his ark. Why, when there’s so much information on these beings available these days, did the writers choose to make such a bad job of telling that part of the story?
We shall explore the Watchers further in the next section, but if you’re looking for further information on them, anything written before the 2010 landmark paper by Amar Annus (2010) (see bibliography) is going to be out of date.
Dealing With Non-Canonical 1 Enoch
With its ‘composition around the early third century BCE’ [3], 1 Enoch ch 1-36, also called the Book of the Watchers (BW), formed the basis of what is known as the Watchers Tradition.
Although classed as non-canonical, it was highly regarded by early Church Fathers such as Athenagoras, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and initially by Tertullian, but not by Origen, Athanasius, Augustine and Jerome [4]. As the latter Church Fathers came onto the scene, it was relegated into the background for reasons such as its antiquity and the potential to open the floodgates for other, more spurious, non-canonical works to enter the mainstream Western Canon. This attitude remains in place for the book of 1 Enoch in much of Western Protestant Christianity, but things are changing in the mainstream for the following reasons:
- Its text was rediscovered by the West in 1773, having been kept safe by the Ethiopic Church who have always had it as part of their canon of scripture. Don’t forget that the Ethiopian Church was probably formed as a result of the meeting between Philip with the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-39), a meeting which two millenia later, we are now reaping the benefits of in the West. This book was kept safe by our Ethiopian brothers and sisters in Christ.
- In the 20th Century, we discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. These contain much of 1 Enoch that allowed confirmation of the Ethiopic Text as being non fraudulent. It also showed that 1 Enoch was highly regarded by certain cultures, such as the Essenes, at the time of Jesus.
- Since the 1980s, and increasingly so since the 00’s, more academic material is finding its way into publicly accessible writings, further aiding our understanding of the biblical contexts for faithful exegetical interpretation (see bibliography).
1 Enoch in the New Testament
The book of 1 Enoch is referred to by certain writers of the New Testament, with three notable verses that contain information not within the Hebrew Bible, but directly matching information within the BW:
- ‘in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah’ (1 Peter 3:19-20)
- ‘For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Greek, Tartaros] and committed them to chains [pits] of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment’ (2 Peter 2:4)
- ‘And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.’ (Jude 6)
It should be noted that nowhere in the Hebrew Old Testament is there any mention of angels being kept in chains in prison. It is assumed by most Protestant writers that these refer to Genesis 6:1-4, but those verses do not contain any mention of punishment for any possible transgression in the Genesis verses.
Both Peter and Jude’s comments contain extra information which is sourced in 1 Enoch:
‘And again the Lord spoke to Rufael: “Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and put him in the darkness; make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudâêl, and put him there. And lay upon him rough and pointed rocks, and cover him with darkness that he may remain there forever, and cover his face that he may not see the light! And on the great day of judgment he will be cast into the fire.’
1 Enoch 10:4,5
In his paper, Hultin [5] gives further examples of how ‘the content, language, imagery, and eschatology of the entire epistle of Jude are clearly indebted to 1 Enoch.’ and argues persuasively for the case.
1 Enoch also appears to be referenced by Jesus, e.g. when discussing the idea of marriage in heaven (Mark 12:25 cf 1 Enoch 15:6-7) and the separation of the Rich Man and Lazarus in the afterlife (Luke 16:26 cf 1 Enoch 22:8-12). These suggest its contents were familiar to both him and those engaging in dialogue with him at the time.
Heiser [6] contains a cross-referenced list of sixty New Testament passages he considers influenced by 1 Enoch. He argues that ‘the influence of the Pseudepigrapha extends beyond allusions. New Testament writers can (and did) write with Enochian (pseudepigraphal) content in mind to make a theological point.’ [7]
The Watchers Tradition
The beliefs of those who held to the Watchers tradition can be summed up as follows:
- The Watchers left the heavenly realms and descended upon the earth (1 Enoch 6:6)
- The Watchers, instead of keeping to their remit of teaching humankind good things such as art, music and agriculture, instead began to instruct humankind in magical practices, seduction techniques and warfare (1 Enoch 7:1; 8:1-4; 9:6-8).
- The Watchers had sexual relations with human women (1 Enoch 7:1-2; 9:8), which together with their rebellious teachings, they were judged and thrown into dark pits to await the final judgement (1 Enoch 10:4,5).
- The union of Watcher and human produced angelic-human hybrid beings known as ‘giants’ (1 Enoch 7:2).
- The giants created chaos through their warring behaviour and overconsumption of the earth’s resources (1 Enoch 7:3-6) .
- The bodies of the giants were destroyed in a Flood judgement by God (1 Enoch 10:2).
- But, the spirits of the giants, being born on earth, were earth-bound and are referred to as “evil spirits” (1 Enoch 15:8-9).
- These spirits will, together with the Watcher angels that fell, will be judged at the final judgement (1 Enoch 10:4-6).
This will seem familiar to the modern Christian, for as Wright [8] explains, the origins of the BW are based upon the Genesis 6:1-4 account of the rebellion of the “sons of God” (bene ha’elohim) which describes the wickedness upon the earth at that time and the reason for the Flood judgement of God.
Unpacking Church Tradition
Traditionally, since the time of Tertullian, fallen angels have been classed as evil spirits, and demons as fallen angels (or possibly the spirits of the Nephilim). This has led to a compression together of these categories of beings:
Against this backdrop, it is argued that beings which are termed ‘fallen angels’ are not necessarily the same as ‘evil spirits’ (though they are indeed evil). Similarly, ‘evil spirits’ may not entirely map 1:1 into the same category as ‘demons’. The best working diagram I have to describe the relationship between these particular beings is:
It might surprise some readers to see the ‘Evil Spirits” section doesn’t include all demons / daimones. I can understand concerns that some may have in demons not being wholly evil, but hear me out. I suggest that, more than any other time in history since the early church itself (thanks to previously mentioned archaeological and literary discoveries and more) we are able to read the Scriptures through the eyes and mindset of the early, first century Jew / Christian. This will cause us to run up against ideas that have not come through Scripture, but nearly 2000 years of Church Tradition, which will require us to critically evaluate what we think are scriptural, but are not necessarily so. If you want a sneaky peek at a later diagram which has been developed since this article was originally written, and is based upon later parts of this series, fast forward to Part 7 of this series.
Summary
By taking into account the Watchers tradition which was prevalent in 2TP literature and the New Testament, we are able to unpack the ontological compression of these beings by Church Tradition. Thus we may further aid our understanding of scriptures which discuss these beings and see the nuances in Jesus’ varied approaches to the ministry of deliverance and healing, which may in turn inform our own ministry.
Bibliography
Annus, A. (2010), ‘On the Origin of Watchers: A Comparative Study of the Antediluvian Wisdom in Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions’, Journal for The Study of The Pseudepigrapha, 19.4, pp. 277-320.
Barker, M. (1988), The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and its influence on Christianity. London: SPCK.
Heiser, M. S. (2015) The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Heiser, M. S. (2017) Reversing Hermon: Enoch, the Watchers & the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ, Missouri: Defender Publishing
Heiser, M. S. (2020) A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader’s Commentary, Vol. 1: The Book of The Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36), Defender Publishing
Hultin, J. (2010). ‘Jude’s Citation of 1 Enoch’ in Charlesworth, J. H. & McDonald, L. M. Jewish and Christian Scriptures: The Function of “Canonical” and “Non-Canonical” Religious Texts. London: T & T Clark International, pp. 113-128.
Nickelsberg, G. W. E. and VanderKam, J. C. (2012), 1 Enoch – The Hermenia Translation, Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Reed, A. Y. (2005). Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wright, A. T. (2015). The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6:1-4 in Early Jewish Literature. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Footnotes
[1] Barker, 15.
[2] Heiser, 2015, 2017 and 2020.
[3] Reed, 1.
[4] Hultin, 114-117. Jerome is noted to have offered the Church the choice between having 1 Enoch or Revelation in its canon, but it couldn’t have both books! (I cannot find the reference for this but do remember reading it in my studies. If you can point me to it, I’d be very grateful).
[5] ibid, 113-114.
[6] Heiser, 2017:204-221.
[7] ibid, 204.
[8] Wright, 141-142.
