Before the canon was fixed and the councils had ruled, the early church read and respected the Book of Enoch. The evidence for this is scattered through the writings of the church fathers — and it's more extensive than most Christians realize.
Tertullian, writing around 200 CE, explicitly defended the Book of Enoch as inspired scripture. He argued that its survival proved its authenticity, since God would not have allowed a false text to persist. He quoted it extensively in his theological writing.
Clement of Alexandria, one of the most influential early Christian teachers, cited Enoch freely alongside texts that would later become canonical. For Clement, the wisdom of Enoch was part of the broad tradition of inspired teaching that the church had received.
Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyon and a fierce opponent of Gnosticism, referenced Enoch's account of the fallen Watchers as authoritative history. His theology of spiritual warfare drew on Enoch's cosmology.
Origen, the greatest biblical scholar of the early church, engaged with Enochic texts in his commentaries and theological works. He found in Enoch resources for thinking about angels, demons, and the spiritual realm.
Even after the councils began excluding Enoch from the canon, theologians continued to reference it. Augustine wrestled with it. Jerome was aware of it. The text was too widely known and too deeply embedded in Christian tradition to simply disappear.
What they all recognized — these earliest readers of the church — was that the Book of Enoch illuminates scripture. Read it alongside Genesis, alongside Revelation, alongside the New Testament's demonology, and things you've always found confusing suddenly make sense.