The Book of the Holy Secrets of Enoch,  a Jewish apocalyptic writing, is one of the most compelling ancient texts to survive to the present day.   Although knowledge of the book was unknown in the West until 1892, Slavonic manuscripts of the book survived in Russia for more than 1200 years.  Although not part of the Biblical canon today, R.H. Charles, editor of the first English translation (1896), noted that it was "much used...by Christian[s]...in the early centuries".   Considering its status as a Jewish book, it's intriguing that early Christians and not Jews were the ones known to have preserved it.  The preservation of the text, coupled  with references to the text in early Christian writings and among early Church theologians and ecclesiastical leaders, suggests the text may have constituted part of the sanctioned canon of the early Church.   The book is included here for its exceptional preservation of many elements of The Ancient Tradition.

In this audio recording of The Book of the Holy Secrets of Enoch, Chapters 21-40, Enoch ascends to the highest heaven where he sees the Lord's glorious face.  The Lord commands Michael to anoint Enoch with oil and robe him in clothes of glory.  The Lord tutors Enoch "like a man talks to his neighbor" in the holy secrets of creation, the fall of the archangel Satanail, the prisoners in Hades anxiously awaiting the judgment, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the history of the world, and "all things that it is fitting to learn".  The Lord commands Enoch to write the holy secrets down in books and share them with his children.

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