Michael S. Heiser: Saying Good Bye to a Brave, Realistic, and Enlightened Scholar of the Bible

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - I was sad to hear of the death of a beloved scholar Dr. Michael S. Heiser who died on February 20, 2023. To me, he was an intellectual mentor even though I never met him face to face and only caught on to his ideas last year. 

He quickly became a hero of mine because of his total commitment to telling the truth. For example, he had a fresh take on how to interpret the Bible that explained the meaning of various passages that were so confusing to me in the past that I would just skip over them. (As would just about everyone else.)

For example, there are passages in the Bible where God refers to the others in his midst, the Elohim which is a grammatically plural noun for "gods" or "deities" or various other words in Biblical Hebrew.

Heiser pointed out that the God of the Old Testament had an assembly of divine beings that he presided over to help do his work, just as the Pharaoh in Egypt had a household of officials.

The idea that God has a team of other Gods hanging out with him is controversial because it seems to undermine the monotheism of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

Heiser was a practicing, believing Christian who thought that it was best for the faith that followers understand this supernatural feature of the Bible. In his view, Christianity would be improved and the Bible would be easier to understand if theologians and other faith leaders accepted his view of the unseen realm of the Bible.

He explained questions like

How did descendants of the Nephilim survive the flood?

Who are the assembly of divine beings that God presides over?

In what way do those beings participate in God's decisions?

Why do Peter and Jude promote belief in imprisoned spirits?

Why does Paul describe evil spirits in terms of geographical rulership?

For me, his views also explained odd features in the Bible including the role of giants, the famous Nephilim who are mysterious beings, or people who are large and strong. Personally, I don't see how you really understand the Bible if you forget about, or ignore the way, it sets up a role for giants, particularly the giants who are believed to have died in the Great Flood. 

How else do you make sense of the idea that it was okay for the followers of Joshua to slaughter the giants they encountered when they first found land for themselves in Israel? 

How do you make sense of the David and Goliath story without understanding the back story about the role of the Nephilim?

Ultimately, I admired Heiser because he was honest, brave, and fearless about being absolutely real about the Bible.

You might enjoy his book. After you read it, you will know more about the meaning of the Bible than most of the people who rely on it. See, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. 

John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist who has taught at many of our nation's formerly prestigious schools including Williams College in MA.