the-book-of-enoch-r-h-charles - Fallen Angels

cvi The Booh of Enoch
uprightness. The Sou of Man is himself the ideally righteous
cue 46^ :
—
' This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness
With whom dwelleth righteousness . . .
And whose lot iath the pre-eminence before the Lord of
Spirits in uprightness for ever.'
Man's duty is to 'love righteousness and walk therein' 94^.
Cf. 911'. The freedom of the will is assumed^ and two ways are
set before man for his choice, ' the ways of righteousness and the
ways of violence' 91'* 94^ Though the writer of 91-104
acknowledges the activity of the demonic world 99'' (cf, 100*),
yet he maintains that it is in man's power to attain to righteous-
ness and that a man's sin is of his own devising, and attacks
in unmeasured terms the immoral view that sin is something
original and unavoidable,
98*'=''^ :
' Even so sin has not been sent upon the earth,
—
But man of himself has created it,
And under a great curse shall they fall who commit it.'
On the other hand, the writer of 37-71 is conscious of the need
of a spiritual dynamic. Thus he very frequently calls the
righteous ' the elect '—a phrase found only four times outside
37-71 in this book. Yet there is no determinism. All righteous
living is the outcome of dependence on God. Thus he speaks of
' the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits '
46*'', ' the elect ones who hang upon the Lord of Spirits' 40^,
and of ' the righteous whose elect works hang upon the Lord
of Spirits ' 38^*"- Their works are thus wrought in conscious
fellowship with God. And when by sin they fall from such
fellowship, they are forgiven on repentance 40'. ^ These works,
moreover, shall be tested at the judgement 45^'', they shall be
weighed in the balance 4P 61*°. But this idea is not incom-
patible with divine grace. But progress is not limited to this
world. In the Messianic kingdom they will seek the light and
find righteousness, and they will have peace 58**^, and their life
' The Gentiles also can repent and turn to God 50^' ^.