Censoring God

Why isn’t the Book of Enoch in the Holy Bible, even though Enoch is referenced multiple times? Why were texts considered sacred by many, excluded by others? Who made the decisions and why?

There are more than 50 books—some of which exist only in fragments while others are complete and whole—that are not included in the biblical canon. Why were they discarded? Most Protestant denominations settled on 66 canonical books of the Bible, while there are 73 for Roman Catholics and 78 for Eastern Orthodox adherents. Why are there these differences of opinion?

We are often taught that the Bible is, in the words of many religious catechisms, “the infallible word of faith and practice.” In reality, the Bible can also be seen as a political document as much as a spiritual one. Ordained minister and theologian Jim Willis examines the historical, political, and social climates that influenced the redactors and editors of the Bible and other sacred texts in Censoring God: The History of the Lost Books (and other Excluded Scriptures). In analyzing why texts were censored, he uncovers sometimes surprising biases. He investigates enigmatic hints of Bible codes and ancient wisdom that implies a greater spiritual force might have been at work. Willis explores the importance of the Book of Enoch, its disappearance, and how it was rediscovered in Ethiopia. He analyzes over two dozen excluded texts, such as Jubilees and the Gospel of Thomas, along with the many references to books that we know about from fragments but remain lost.

Thought-provoking and provocative, Censoring God scrutinizes how sacred texts might have been used to justify the power of the powerful, including the destruction of sacred writings of conquered indigenous cultures because they did not agree with the finished version of the Bible accepted by the Church establishment. This important book looks at the human failings in interpreting God’s words, and through a compassionate examination it brings a deeper understanding of the power and importance of the lost words. With more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography provides sources for further exploration, and an extensive index adds to its usefulness.

Jubilees

When someone familiar with the Bible reads Jubilees for the first time, it almost seems as if they are reading the first-draft manuscript of whoever wrote the book of Genesis. Perhaps that’s why it is sometimes called the “Lesser Genesis” or “Little Genesis.” But there are fascinating details here that Genesis skips over.

One of the most common questions people ask about the Bible, for instance, is, “If Adam and Eve had only two sons, Cain and Abel, and if Cain killed Abel, whom did he marry in order to go out and build a city so soon after he got kicked out of the house?”

Well, Jubilees answers that question. It provides a list of the daughters of Adam and Eve. Apparently, according to an unknown author of long ago, Cain married his sisters. Or at least one of them.

Why wasn’t Jubilees included in the Bible? It’s tempting to say it was because of the possibility of condoning incest. But that’s far too easy an explanation. The truth is that although it may have been written only in the first century or so BCE, the material it contains is far older. But aside from snippets of texts that have turned up here and there in Greek and Latin, it disappeared for a long while until a complete copy finally surfaced in, of all places, Ethiopia. The text is written in Ge’ez, the official liturgical language of Ethiopia.

So, what we read today is translated from Ge’ez, Greek, Latin, and even some portions in Syriac. Nevertheless, most scholars are convinced it was originally written in Hebrew. If that’s the case, there are real historical discrepancies that might indicate why it was thrown out so early in its history.

For one thing, Jews, especially at that time in history, followed a lunar calendar. Jubilees advocates a solar dating system, proposing a 364-day, 12-month year. That was a pretty radical proposal for those times. The unknown author divides history into periods of 49 years each, called “Jubilees.” He claims that this system better explains the biblical passages that deal with prophecy and the time of the coming of the Messiah in history.

The fact that whoever wrote it is Jewish seems clear, though, even though we don’t have any copies written in Hebrew. It tells the story of the creation of the world up until the time of Moses, using an interesting plot device. Moses climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai, and there he encounters an entity called the Angel of Presence. Apparently, the entire history was written long before Moses was born, and the Jewish people were chosen to be set apart by God even before creation. On the mountain, Moses is shown “heavenly tablets” that were previously viewed by Noah, Lamech, and other patriarchs, placing Moses in quite an auspicious line of prophets.

He does learn some disturbing things, however. A demonic entity called Mastema, reminiscent of the Christian concept of Satan, is working behind the scenes. But there are differences. For one thing, Mastema seems to serve God in some pretty offbeat ways. He is the agent through which God tests his followers. The closest Old Testament equivalent is found in the book of Job, wherein Satan is allowed to test the righteous Job to see if he will remain faithful.

In Jubilee’s version of the story of Abraham, when Abraham is told to sacrifice his only son it was Mastema who is in the middle of it all: “Behold, Abraham loveth Isaac his son, and he delighteth in him above all things else; bid him offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and Thou wilt see if he will do this command, and Thou wilt know if he is faithful in everything wherein Thou dost try him.” (Jubilees 16.16)

The god of the book of Jubilees is portrayed almost as if he is a tyrannical dictator who wants both obedience and worship from his subjects. He wants their respect, but he also wants them to fear him.

Mastema wants some of this kind of action himself. He asks God for a company of spirits he can command, and God allows it: “Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.” (Jubilees, 10.8)

Thus, a tenth of the angels in heaven become demons who follow Mastema.

When Moses had his famous confrontation with Pharaoh, culminating in his plea to “Let my people go,” he took on Pharaoh’s own court magicians, who matched him trick for trick before finally realizing they had met their match. This, according to Jubilees, was also the work of Matsema: “And Mastema stood up against thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before thee.” (Jubilees, 48.9)

He even seems to be the one who orchestrated the ten plagues that eventually convinced Pharaoh to free the Israelites.

“For on this night — the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy — ye were eating the Passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastema had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the first-born of the captive maidservant in the mill, and to the cattle.” (Jubilees, 49.2)

All this activity is contrary to the traditional acceptance of a God who is merciful and all-loving. It is certainly an inconvenient truth, to say the least. Here we seem to have yet again come up against a cabal of editors who decided to eliminate from holy writ anything that didn’t seem to agree with their theology. We can only wonder what modern religion would be like if they had allowed a more fertile ground for questions and speculations rather than dogma and doctrine.