Friday, November 18, 2011

The Paranormal Christian - Deceptive Doctrines of the Occult

By Dr. Michael Frisbee, DD/DM

Over the last 30 years, the Occult has been injecting itself and its deceptive doctrines into the paranormal field, spiritual warfare and demonology.  This presents a dangerous situation for people seeking information and education as a demonologist or paranormal investigator.  Considering it is the spiritual that is being sought and hunted, one would think that people would give higher credence to the one true source of the spiritual, our Heavenly Father.

Unfortunately, they do not.  The Bible is given almost no consideration, the only true source of knowledge that directly relates to the spiritual.    It teaches us of the spiritual war all around us (Ephesians 6:10-20), it teaches us of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be used in this battle (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).  It speaks in volumes of Jesus Christ’s ministry in the Gospels and Epistles of the Bible, outlining the spiritual ministry He presented.

The occult HATES anything to do with Jesus Christ, the Bible, and God.  They often mimick and twist, defile and mock, that which they hate so much, all to try to bring Man into bondage to Satan, instead of being free in Christ.  One of these mimicries of God’s creations, the inerrant Word of God, is the Book of Enoch.

The Book of Enoch is considered by those ignorant of the scriptures and invested in the occult, as being a lost book of the Bible.  This is of course a lie.  It outlines what is claimed to be the words of Enoch, descendant of Adam, talking about many mysteries, of the fallen angels that had become demons, the names of demons and of angels, etc.  However, there are many, many problems with the Book of Enoch, in fact, only one church considers it to be a God inspired work, and that is the Ethiopic Church.

Jewish religious books that were written during the Old Testament period can be divided into three basic categories. First, there are the books accepted by all – the Hebrew Scriptures. Second, there are the books that are accepted by some – the Old Testament Apocrypha. Finally, there are a number of books that are rejected by all – the Pseudepigrapha or forgeries.

The Book of Enoch falls in the final category – the Pseudepigrapha – thus a FORGERY!

Enoch, descendant of Adam, allegedly penned the Book of Enoch. It consists of five sections containing 108 chapters. Within the Book of Enoch it is claimed that Enoch was given a revelations from the Lord. While a number of manuscripts were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is no evidence whatsoever that these were authored by Enoch.

The Book of Enoch discusses human history from the start to the finish. In each of the five sections the theme of angels coming down from heaven and marrying earthly women runs through. This union produced giants 450 ft tall who became evil and violent. Because of the sin of these giants God destroyed the earth with a flood in the days of Noah. This first judgment was given as a warning of judgment that is to come at the end of human history. Thus the Book of Enoch understands the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:1-4 to refer to fallen angels.

What of the actual Biblical Enoch?  Enoch is one of the two people in the Bible taken up to heaven without dying (the other being Elijah), as the Bible says "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him." (Genesis 5:24; see also Hebrews 11:5). Most commonly, the phrase "Book of Enoch" refers to 1 Enoch, which is wholly extant only in the Ethiopic language.

The biblical book of Jude seemingly quotes from the Book of Enoch in verses 14-15, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” But this does not mean the Book of Enoch is inspired by God and should be in the Bible.

Jude’s quote is not the only alleged quote in the Bible from a non-biblical source. The Apostle Paul quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12 but that does not mean we should give any additional authority to Epimenides’ writings. The same is true with Jude, verse 14. Jude quoting from the book of Enoch in Jude verse 9 does not indicate the entire book is inspired, or even true. All it means is that particular verse is true. It is interesting to note that no scholars believe the Book of Enoch to have truly been written by the Enoch in the Bible. Enoch was seven generations from Adam, prior to the Flood (Genesis 5:1-24). Evidently, though, this was genuinely something that Enoch prophesied – or the Bible would not attribute it to him, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men…” (Jude 14). This saying of Enoch was evidently handed down by tradition, and eventually recorded in the Book of Enoch.

The Bible is readable and tells a story from cover to cover.  Conversely, the Book of Enoch mocks the very Word of God, quoting phrases haphazardly without any meaningful logic or order.  Add to this a bunch of uninspired, unholy doctrine, makes the Book of Enoch a ridiculous piece of literature to even consider inspired by God.  The Book of Enoch is an occult deception that will lead you into the senseless mysticism of pagan religion.  The credibility of the Word of God is under malicious attack.

The Book of Enoch also uses unfamiliar terms such as the "Lord of Spirits" and the "Head of Days."  These terms are foreign to the Word of God.  The messiah is NOT directly mentioned.  The ambiguous mention of what may or may not be Jesus Christ in the Book of Enoch, is eerily reminiscent of Freemasonry.  It is worthy to note that Christ's deity is not evidenced in the Book of Enoch.

It appears that many statements in the Book of Enoch were taken from the Bible, and then built around occult doctrine.  Many terms from the Biblical Book of Revelation are quoted in the Book of Enoch; but without any sense or reason.  All 66 Books of the Word of God perfectly intertwine with each other, presenting a clear prophetic picture.  The Book of Enoch doesn't offer anything of doctrinal value, because its bizarre teachings stand alone, unable to be supported with Scriptures.  Some defenders of the Book of Enoch contend that Jesus often quoted from the Book of Enoch.  Prove it!  Every Scripture Jesus ever quoted is found in the Old Testament, without any reference to a Book of Enoch.