Fallen angels and the history of Judaism and Christianity
Subtitle: the reception of Enochic literature
By: Annette Yoshiko Reed.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 318
ISBN-13: 9780521853781
Subjects: Ethiopic book of Enoch VI-XXXVI -- Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. Genesis -- Criticism, interpretation, etc; Apocalyptic literature -- History and criticism; Angels; Christian literature, Early; Christianity and other religions -- Judaism; Judaism -- Relations -- Christianity; Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
Description: "This book considers the early history of Jewish-Christian relations through a focus on traditions about the fallen angels. In the Book of the Watchers, an Enochic apocalypse from the third century B.C.E., the "sons of God" of Gen 6:1-4 are accused of corrupting humankind through their teachings of metalworking, cosmetology, magic, and divination. By tracing the transformations of this motif in second Temple, Rabbinic, and early medieval Judaism and early, late antique, and Byzantine Christianity, this book sheds light on the history of interpretation of Genesis, the changing status of Enochic literature, and the place of parabiblical texts and traditions in the interchange between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. In the process, it explores issues such as the role of text-selection in the delineation of community boundaries and the development of early Jewish and Christian ideas about the origins of evil on the earth."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.