Joseph Smith and the Book of Enoch

The sources of Joseph Smith’s literary works remain the most enigmatic aspect of Mormon history. Smith’s “translation projects,” the Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, the Inspired Bible and Book of Abraham, include prophecies, visions and allusions to the ancient biblical prophet Enoch. Before Joseph Smith began writing his visions of Enoch, Oxford professor Richard Laurence revived interest in the prophet through his 1821 English translation of the ancient text, the Book of Enoch, known as 1 Enoch.
For decades, some historians have denied that Joseph Smith ever had access to the Book of Enoch, but many reserve the possibility that it directly influenced Smith’s works. The author of this book documents the many similarities between the Book of Enoch and Smith’s Mormon texts. Using source analysis and historical context, the author identifies the uniquely Mormon words, storylines, imagery and concepts that appear in Richard Laurence’s translation of the ancient religious text.

Mark Lines is a trial lawyer licensed in Arizona and Utah. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a law degree, both from Arizona State University.

Mark Lines
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 223
Bibliographic Info: 6 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9015-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4780-7
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction: Patterns and Parallels in Scripture Scholarship 7
Stories and Patterns 7
Motifs 10
Borrowed Traditions and Cultural Influence 11
Studying Joseph Smith and Early Mormon Scripture 15
The ­­Patternist-Historian Approach 16
Chapter One. An American Farm Boy 23
Chapter Two. Who Is Enoch? 33
Enoch in the Old Testament 33
Enoch in the New Testament 36
Enoch in the Apocrypha 37
Enoch in the Book of Jasher 37
Enoch in the Book of Jubilees 43
Enoch in Mormon Doctrine 46
Chapter Three. The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 47
Chapter Four. Ground Rules for This Historical Question 54
Chapter Five. Joseph Smith’s Access to the Book of Enoch 59
Chapter Six. Substantial (and Important) Similarities 63
Joseph’s First Visions 63
Another Vision with Another Angel: The Angel Moroni 69
Chapter Seven. The Book of Moses 72
Moses 1: The Prologue to Genesis 74
1. Similar Openings and Settings 75
2. Moses Atop a Mountain, Speaks with God and Sees His Glory 76
3. Moses Is Shown All Things of the Past and Things Yet to Come 76
4. Moses Is Commanded to Write 77
5. Revelations for His Followers 77
Similar Openings and Settings 79
Taken Atop a Mountain to Speak with God and Sees His Glory 79
Moses and Enoch Are Shown All Things Past and Things Yet to Come 80
Moses and Enoch Are Both Commanded to Write Books 80
Both Are to Write Books for Their Followers “Who Believe” 81
6. Transfiguration to Speak with God Face to Face 82
7. Falling to the Ground 82
8. Satan Is Rebuked, He Fears and Departs 83
9. Beholding the Numberless on the Earth, from the Beginning and Without End 86
10. Moses and Enoch Both Ask What Is This World? And Why Creation? 86
11. The Purpose: Eternal Life and Everlasting Glory of Mankind 87
12. A Warning That the Children of Men Will Turn Against God’s Books 88
Moses 2–5 (Genesis 1–4) 88
Secret Combinations and Death Penalty Oaths 92
Chapter Eight. Joseph Smith’s Enoch 93
Mahujah, Mahijah and Mehujael 95
Joseph’s Enoch Found in Translation 98
Joseph’s Enoch as Another Elias 101
Enoch’s Patriarchal Lineage 103
The Wild Man Out of the Wilderness 104
Literary Parallels Between Moses and Enoch 109
Bowing or Falling to the Earth 109
Waters in Their Course and Turning Their Ways 109
A “Spirit Prison” 110
God’s “Earth Is His Footstool” 111
Men Are Carnal and Devilish 111
A Scribe of Righteousness 111
Joseph and Sidney Rigdon’s Enoch Emerges 114
Again, Speaking with God and Seeing All Generations of the World 114
Angels Declaring Wo! Wo! to the Inhabitants of the Earth 115
Heavenly Weeping on Account of the Earth 116
Enoch’s Son Methuselah Prophesies in Moses and the Book of Enoch 117
Enoch Foretells of Noah Building an Ark, and His Family Saved from the Flood 117
Corruption of “Sons of Men,” “Giants” and Choosing Wives Among Daughters of Men 118
Enoch Foresees the Coming of the Son of Man 119
Chapter Nine. Zion—A New Jerusalem 124
Chapter Ten. The Mormon Temple Endowment 132
A ­Temple-Building People with a Promised Endowment 133
Mormon Temple Allusions and Book of Enoch Parallels 140
­Latter-day Saints, Given Secret Names, Clothed in Garments and Anointed as Kings, Queens, Priests and Priestesses 141
Kings, Princes and Priests 142
Queens and Priestesses 142
Clothed in Garments 143
Secret Names 144
­Latter-day Saints 145
The Archangel Michael/Adam Creator Doctrine 145
ACT I: The Cosmos and Creation 149
Earth: A Footstool of God, for the Dominion of the Sons of Man 150
ACT II: The Garden 152
A “New World” and Renewed Awakening 153
“The tree of knowledge also was there” 154
Adam and Enoch Are Ashamed, Naked and Wear Veils 154
Casting Out and Condemning Lucifer 155
Defeated, Satan Departs 157
ACT III: Knock and It Shall Be Opened Unto You 157
Seeking Light and Divine Knowledge 158
Secret Names and Swearing Oaths 159
The Celestial Room; the Throne Room 161
Chapter Eleven. Mormon Cosmology: The Book of Abraham
and 1 Enoch 163
“An existence previous to the formation of the luminaries of heaven” 164
The War in Heaven 164
A Star Fell from Heaven 165
Other Stars Also Cast Out from Heaven with the First 166
He Shall Dwell Among His Elect 166
The Judgment Throne 166
The Judged Are Cast into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone 167
Tens of Thousands of Angels Surrounding God’s Throne 167
A New Heaven and Earth 167
The First Estate 168
The Second Estate 170
The Preexistence 172
A Spirit Prison 173
Multiple Heavens and Celestial and Terrestrial Kingdoms 175
Echoes of Enoch in the Book of Abraham 179
Keeping Records for the Benefit of Future Generations 179
A Vision of the Celestial Stars, and the Names of the Great
Ones 180
Observing the Times and Seasons and Heavenly Operations 181
A Reckoning of a Day on Earth in the Lord’s Time 181
A Book of the Revolutions of the Luminaries 182
Inferior and Superior Luminaries of the Night and Day 182
Chapter Twelve. Gods of Our Own Worlds 184
“The holy, holy, Lord of spirits fills the whole world of spirits” 186
Counsels of Gods in the Heavens 189
Infinite Intelligences 190
Light of the World 191
Chapter Notes 195
Bibliography 205
Index 211