For quite a while now I’ve been interested in the books of the Dead Sea Scrolls, particularly the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees. Unfortunately this was not always the case. There was a time, for most of my Christian life actually, that I was taught to flat out reject ANY and ALL books outside of the accepted modern canon. However, all that changed a few years ago when I did a little research on early church history and realized that books like the Book of Jubilees were (and still are in some places) accepted books of scripture. And, while I am no longer Christian OR “Jewish”, this year as I realized that my thoughts once again are turning to the Book of Jubilees.
“Jesus” Likely Considered Jubilees Scripture
Biblical scholars are well aware that the book of Jubilees was widely read and used by the early Christian community. For example, Wikipedia has this to say:
“It was well known to Early Christians, as evidenced by the writings of Epiphanius, Justin Martyr, Origen, Diodorus of Tarsus, Isidore of Alexandria, Isidore of Seville, Eutychius of Alexandria, John Malalas, George Syncellus, and George Kedrenos. The text was also utilized by the community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
Book of Jubilees – Wikipedia
In addition, we also know about when the book started to be rejected by the early Christian church (which wasn’t until around the 4th century AD). That means the book was widely read and accepted for hundreds of years AFTER the death of Jesus and yet no word is made in the Bible about being careful not to read this book. Logic might dictate that if this book was widely being distributed and read and if this was a problem then the writers of the New Testament might be expected to warm people about this popular book containing false doctrine. But there is no mention of it directly in the Bible. The reason I believe is that it WAS considered scripture, on par with the other writings of the time. In fact, every indication was that Jubilees was a part of the normal every day reading of early Christians and considered scripture and kept in their collections. The book was also read and considered authoritative for both Jews and Christians alike.
Then, for whatever reason in the 4th century AD, the “church” decided to label this book as heresy and tried to destroy all memory of it. And, they were almost successful:
“It was so thoroughly suppressed in the 4th century that no complete Hebrew, Greek or Latin version has survived.“
Book of Jubilees – Wikipedia
Now, maybe it’s my rebellious nature but for some reason when I found out the church so violently and absolutely tried to destroy all remnants of a book once considered scripture, I just had to know what that book says! What are they trying to keep hidden? For me, the more the church forbids the book to be read, the more curious I am of what they are so afraid of.
And so, I invite you today to follow my blog category “Book of Jubilees” to see some of what I believe the church is so desperately trying to hide and why it fears the teachings of the book becoming widely read and studied.