Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature 

By Annette Yoshiko Reed

# Hardcover: 336 pages
# Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (Nov 28 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0521853788
# ISBN-13: 978-0521853781

Product Description
In the Book of the Watchers, an Enochic apocalypse from the third century BCE, 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.

Review
"Reed has written a superb piece of scholarship. In my experience it is rare for someone to be able to examine such a diversity of texts with such impressive skill and insight. ... It is really an excellent, impressive contribution." James C. VanderKam, The University of Notre Dame

"Excellent ... the difficult task of tracing the complex interaction between Judaism and Christianity over time is done with sophistication.... Anyone interested in the Book of Watchers, the development of the Enochic literature, or the complex development of Judaism and Christianity needs to interact with this significant study."
The Catholic Historical Review, Kevin Sullivan