Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy (Part 1)

[This article series has been extensively expanded into a new book, The Unbiblical Realm: Refuting the Divine Council and Michael Heiser’s Deuteronomy 32 Worldview, available here.]

While working on a commentary for Psalm 1, I was planning to write an excursus on the how the phrase “counsel” and “sitteth in the seat” carry a conceptual parallel to Psalm 82. Being aware of an “angelic” interpretation of Psalm 82, I planned to study the view to determine whether I could be persuaded that the “human rulers” position was wrong. This turned my attention to the work of Michael Heiser. First, I read his doctoral dissertation on the topic, which presented a polytheistic view of the Bible. I was unsure if what he was stating was his actual opinion or if he was slanting it toward the liberal view since his Ph.D. is from University of Madison, which is a liberal campus, even by secular standards. I perused some of his scholarly articles published in evangelical journals and was shocked to see the same polytheistic opinion published by “conservative” evangelical journals. I finally read his book The Unseen Realm which presents his complete theological system convincing me this man is teaching a neo-Gnostic heresy which is being sold to and accepted by evangelicals.

In my book Crept In Unawares: Mysticism, I wrote in the preface about Peter Jones’ material in distinction to my own position. I stated, “The major difference between our works is that he primarily indicates that liberal theologians are working to revive Gnosticism, while I argue Gnosticism has already infiltrated that which may be considered conservative Christianity. The Bible predicts a growing apostasy in Christianity during the end-time, not unbelieving scholars reviving an ancient heresy.”¹⁾Heath Henning, Crept In Unawares: Mysticism, Truthwatchers Publications (Truthwatchers.com, 2019), p. 4 Dr. Heiser fulfills this prediction in that his education is from the extreme liberal persuasion and his writings are targeting conservative evangelicals. However, after reading his Gnostic theological system as presented in his book The Unseen Realm, I was shocked to realize that the apostasy has grown to the degree that evangelicals would accept blatant Gnostic views. A glance at the footnotes of any of his writings will reveal his dependence on rank liberal scholars coming from publishing companies such as Brill and Tübingen.

Heiser’s Hermeneutic

The root cause of the issue with Heiser’s theology is his interpretation method, which errs on multiple levels. First, he interprets Scripture in light of pagan literature to interject polytheism into the Bible. As Peter Jones suggested of Gnosticism, “Whenever ‘Christian’ theology looks to pagan polytheism for inspiration—as it is doing now and as it did then—it discovers a titillating variety of reading techniques, without which the Scriptures of the one, true God would be strictly unusable.”²⁾Peter Jones, Pagans in the Pews, Regal (Ventura, CA: 2001), pp. 117-118 Indeed, this hermeneutic method reigns supreme in Heiser’s writings.

One critic of Heiser has similarly commented,

Heiser has a bad hermeneutical methodology because he has a bad hermeneutic philosophy. This bad philosophy has led him to bad conclusions. There have always been Christians who have tried to come up with some unique and revolutionary interpretations. Heiser is not the first to come up with this notion of a council of gods. You can see this in Gnosticism, and Marcionism, and in other adaptations of basic Christian doctrines. I’m sure he won’t be the last.³⁾Dr. Thomas Howe, “The Unseen Assumption,” https://ses.edu/the-unseen-assumptions/

Heiser responded to Howe’s criticism, stating, “I assume that the Scripture writers were communicating to people intentionally – people that lived in their day and who shared their same worldview. This assumption is in place because I’m sensitive to imposing a foreign worldview on the writers.”⁴⁾Dr. Michael Heiser, “Response to Dr. Thomas Howe’s Thoughts on the Unseen Realm,” August 6, 2019; https://drmsh.com/response-dr-thomas-howes-thoughts-unseen-realm/  In other words, he admits his hermeneutics is focused on imposing the pagan worldview on the biblical authors, even though the Bible itself commanded the Israelites to not enquire into the theology of their pagan neighbors (Deuteronomy 12:29-32), and to destroy any Israelite guilty of doing so (Deuteronomy 13:6-18).

One simple example of this is Heiser’s discussion of pagan deities were known to inhabit gardens and mountains, which he formulates an entire theology revolving around this concept imported on the Bible.⁵⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 44-48 However, the Bible condemns this pagan practice as idolatry on “high places” (Leviticus 26:30; Numbers 22:41; 33:52; Deuteronomy 12:2; 33:29; 1 Kings 3:2; 12:31-32; 13:32-33; 15:14; 22:43; 2 Kings 12:3; 14:4; 15:4, 33; 16:4; 17:11, 32; 21:3; 23:5; Psalm 78:58; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; 32:25; 48:35) and “groves” (Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3; Judges3:7; 1 Kings 14:15; 18:19; 2 Kings 18:4; 23:14; Isaiah 17:8; 27:9) with idols under “every green tree” (Deuteronomy 12:2; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 16:4; 17:10; Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6, 13; Ezekiel 6:13). God rebukes this idolatry that Heiser thinks is valid biblical theology, “your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills” (Isaiah 65:7). Where is the logic of building a “biblical theology” by imposing pagan practices which are specifically condemned in the Bible?

One of his foolish arguments for allegorizing his mountain opinion is presented in his citing of Psalm 48:1-2, stating, “As anyone who has been to Jerusalem knows, Mount Zion isn’t much of a mountain. It certainly isn’t located in the geographical north—its actually in the southern part of the country.”⁶⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 227 Mount Zion is on the north of the city Zion, also called Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 5:2; Psalm 135:21; 147:12; Isaiah 10:32; 30:19). Heiser contends, “This description would be a familiar one to Israel’s pagan neighbors, particularly at Ugarit. Its actually out of their literature.”⁷⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 227

The problems with Heiser’s hermeneutic is he focuses on ambiguous text, plays fast and loose with the Hebrew language whenever he can, and when he cannot twist an interpretation of the existing grammar to fit his presupposition he becomes the textual critic to find some texts to fit or just changes the text itself to justify his position. Other Christian apologists have complained about Heiser’s handling of the Scripture. “Much of Dr. Heiser’s argument with respect to the text relies on a higher critical framework that is repulsive to the traditional evangelical scholar. This makes interacting with Dr. Heiser difficult from the standpoint of finding any common ground upon which to premise discussions.”⁸⁾TurretinFan, Die Like Men? A Reponses to Dr. Michael Heiser,” October 19, 2009; https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/exegesis/die-like-men-a-response-to-dr-michael-heiser/ Giovanni Filmoramo, an Italian Gnostic scholar indicated the same issue with ancient Gnostics. “Gnostic editors manipulate the sacred text in order to make it suit their purpose… by retouching, adding a phrase or choosing a different translation.”⁹⁾Giovanni Filoramo, A History of Gnosticism, Basil Blackwell (Cambridge, MA: 1990), p. 94 In all this we find that Heiser’s theology does not come from any biblical text, but is read into it from foreign pagan literature and when it does not fit the grammar, he shifts the biblical text to allow the pagan worldview into the sacred Scripture.

One of the major rules of biblical hermeneutics is to interpret the Bible from passages that are clear and easy to understand, and do not emphasize difficult passages; and definitely do not produce an entire theological system based on a difficult passage. Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe have written in their book When Critics Ask, concerning the basic rules of hermeneutic principles, errors are made when “Neglecting to Interpret Difficult Passages in the Light of Clear Ones.”¹⁰⁾Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Victor Books (Wheaton, IL: 1992), p. 17 (italics in original). They also reference the mistake of “Basing a Teaching on an Obscure Passage.”¹¹⁾Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Victor Books (Wheaton, IL: 1992), p. 18 (italics in original). Elaborating on this rule, they write,

First, we should not build a doctrine on an obscure passage. The rule of thumb in Bible interpretation is “the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things.” This is called the perspicuity (clearness) of Scripture. If something is important, it will be clearly taught in Scripture and probably in more than one place. Second, when a given passage is not clear, we should never conclude that it means something that is opposed to another plain teaching of Scripture.¹²⁾Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Victor Books (Wheaton, IL: 1992), p. 19

Heiser’s theology is a perfect example of what happens when these fundamental rules are ignored.

He attempts to persuade his readers that “we have layers of tradition that filter the Bible in our thinking.”¹³⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 61 Actually we have centuries of Bible scholars that have followed formulated interpretive methods, but he filters the Bible and his theology through ancient pagan Ugaritic theology, not the Israelite religion as we all read in the Bible. He is dependent on circular reasoning to find any nuance to confirm his presupposition of this divine council. He states, “As with everything else in biblical theology, what happens in the unseen world frames the discussion [of eschatology].”¹⁴⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 349

Heiser frequently uses allegorical interpretations when the text cannot be interpreted toward his view. Heiser repeatedly uses the terms “symbolic interpretation” or “supernatural interpretation” to express his allegorical hermeneutics, similar to how Origen distinguished between the physical/literal versus the spiritual/allegorical methods. Heiser states, “Literal readings are inadequate to convey the full theological message and the entirety of the worldview context.”¹⁵⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 90 Wrong! The literal interpretation is perfectly adequate unless you are attempting to force a foreign worldview into the text like Heiser is doing. He states,

Biblical writers regularly employ conceptual metaphors in their writings and thinking. Conceptual metaphor refers to the way we use a concrete term or idea to communicate abstract ideas. If we marry ourselves to the concrete (“literal”) meaning of words, we’re going to miss the point the writer was angling for in many cases.”¹⁶⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 387

There is a validity to this point, such as Christ speaking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:53, 54, 56), which He said were spiritual words (John 6:63); but this does not justify the extremes of Dr. Heiser.

Another example is provided about the enemy in the Garden of Eden. “My task in this chapter and the next is to help you think beyond the literalness of the serpent language. If it’s true that the enemy in the garden was a supernatural being, then he wasn’t a snake.”¹⁷⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 74 He then spends two chapter to explain why he needs to allegorize away the literal interpretation. But why could it not be both, a supernatural being possessing a snake. What could Genesis 3:14 possibly mean if not taken literally? Why did all the New Testament authors express it in literal terms (2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; Revelations 12:9)? Why did all the early translations such as the Septuagint¹⁸⁾The Septuagint Version, Greek and English, Samuel Bagster and Sons Limited (London), p. 3 and the Peshitta¹⁹⁾The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated from the Peshitta, The Authorized Bible of the Church of the East (George M. Lamsa), A. J. Holman Company (Philadelphia, PA: 1933, 1957), p. 9 translate the word literally as “serpent?”

If allegorical interpretations are not enough to support his theology, Heiser will revert to meddling with the grammar. He writes, “But n–ch–sh are also the consonants of a verb. If we changed the vowel to a verbal form (recall that Hebrew originally had no vowels), we would have nochesh, which means ‘the diviner.’”²⁰⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 87 He also suggests nachash “copper, bronze (by implication, shiny)”²¹⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 87 but says in a footnote, “I am not arguing that nachash should not be translated ‘serpent.’”²²⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 88, fn. 2 But that is exactly what he is suggesting throughout the whole discussion, that the word should not be understood as a literal serpent.

The common claim of scholars that the Hebrew vowels did not exist in the original is not established as fact, and history is strongly against the speculative claims (which is essentially an argument from silence).²³⁾see Heath Henning, “Evidence the Hebrew Vowel Points were Inspired,” July 15:2016; http://truthwatchers.com/evidence-hebrew-vowel-points-inspired/ The mere similarity of consonants in the Hebrew language is no reason to suggest various interpretations that would contradict the context of Genesis 3 which contrasts the subtilty of the serpent against “any beast of the field” (Genesis 3:1). Robert Alden states, “First, the word nāhāsh is almost identical to the word for ‘bronze’ or ‘copper,’ Hebrew n^ehōshet (q.v.). Some scholars think the words are related because of a common color of snakes (cf. our ‘copperheads’), but others think that they are only coincidentally similar.”²⁴⁾Robert L. Alden, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Bruce K. Waltke) Moody Press (Chicago, IL 1980), Vol. 2, p. 1347 Concerning the similarity of “serpent” and “divination,” Robert Alden states, “some make a connection to snakecharming. More contend that there is a similarity of hissing sounds between enchanters and serpents and hence the similarity of words.”²⁵⁾Robert L. Alden, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Bruce K. Waltke) Moody Press (Chicago, IL 1980), Vol. 2, p. 1348 Of course, this similarity could be just as coincidental, but there are word-plays with these similar words in Scriptures (Ecclesiastes 10:11; Jeremiah 8:17) which would indicate they are different words.

Heiser does not limit his textual criticism to ignoring vowel points, but he goes as far as altering consonants to completely change words in conjunction with his “symbolic” interpretation to fit his agenda. Speaking of Armageddon, he changes M-G-D to M-‘-D making it refer to the “mountain of assembly” [har mo’ed] (Isaiah 14:13) and explains away the final nun of the spelling in Zechariah 12:11.²⁶⁾see Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), pp. 368-373 This is all based on his idea that the battle takes place at Jerusalem not Megiddo, but the text only says the armies are gathered to Megiddo (Revelation 16:16) with no mention of a battle waged in the area. Heiser alters the text which reads מְגִדּוֹן (Megiddon) and Ἁρμαγεδδών (Armageddon) to read הַר-מוֹעֵד (har-mo’ed). He claims the Hebrew consonant ayin (ע) make the sound of the letter g, but ayin is a silent consonant (being transliterated above by the ’ because it is silent). He is well aware of the fact that ayin and gimel are significantly different and the use of these different Hebrew letters reflect a humongous distinction. It would seem he is depending on his readers to be ignorant of Hebrew.

Heiser sees himself as the authority for interpretation, making anyone not him unable to understand God’s word and thus become dependent on his teachings. He writes, “The Hebrew Bible has many examples, but they are obvious only to a reader of Hebrew who is informed by the ancient worldview of the biblical writers.”²⁷⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), pp., p. 373 Apparently that means these “many examples” are only obvious to him since no one other than himself is offering his bazar interpretations. I can read Hebrew and am well acquainted with the ancient worldview of the surrounding pagan nations of Israel, but nothing in Heiser’s theology is apparent to me. To remark on Heiser’s self-boasting, after reading over 1,000 pages of his material, I have not seen him once referenced the most basic scholarly text to be informed by the ancient world, Ancient Near Eastern Text Relating to the Old Testament (ANET).²⁸⁾Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Third Edition (ed. James B. Pritchard) Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ: 1969).

He is also very selective in what he is willing to recognize and completely ignores the context that refute his presupposed theological view. He admits he uses “a few selective points of connection and issues relevant to those connection.”²⁹⁾Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 75, fn. 3 By ignoring the full counsel of God’s Word in order to select only what fits his presupposed pagan worldview that he wants to force into the Scriptures, he has produced a hybrid religious opinion just as the ancient Gnostic heretics. The Apostle Paul taught the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27) without “handling the word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2), but revealed no clear witness in his writings that confirm Heiser’s ideas. To say the very least, Dr. Michael S. Heiser falls into the category of what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).

[1] Heath Henning, Crept In Unawares: Mysticism, Truthwatchers Publications (Truthwatchers.com, 2019), p. 4

[2] Peter Jones, Pagans in the Pews, Regal (Ventura, CA: 2001), pp. 117-118

[3] Dr. Thomas Howe, “The Unseen Assumption,” https://ses.edu/the-unseen-assumptions/

[4] Dr. Michael Heiser, “Response to Dr. Thomas Howe’s Thoughts on the Unseen Realm,” August 6, 2019; https://drmsh.com/response-dr-thomas-howes-thoughts-unseen-realm/

[5] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 44-48

[6] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 227

[7] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 227

[8] TurretinFan, Die Like Men? A Reponses to Dr. Michael Heiser,” October 19, 2009; https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/exegesis/die-like-men-a-response-to-dr-michael-heiser/

[9] Giovanni Filoramo, A History of Gnosticism, Basil Blackwell (Cambridge, MA: 1990), p. 94

[10] Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Victor Books (Wheaton, IL: 1992), p. 17 (italics in original)

[11] Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Victor Books (Wheaton, IL: 1992), p. 18 (italics in original)

[12] Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Victor Books (Wheaton, IL: 1992), p. 19

[13] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 61

[14] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 349

[15] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 90

[16] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 387

[17] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 74

[18] The Septuagint Version, Greek and English, Samuel Bagster and Sons Limited (London), p. 3

[19] The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated from the Peshitta, The Authorized Bible of the Church of the East (George M. Lamsa), A. J. Holman Company (Philadelphia, PA: 1933, 1957), p. 9

[20] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 87

[21] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 87

[22] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), p. 88, fn. 2

[23] see Heath Henning, “Evidence the Hebrew Vowel Points were Inspired,” July 15:2016; http://truthwatchers.com/evidence-hebrew-vowel-points-inspired/

[24] Robert L. Alden, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Bruce K. Waltke) Moody Press (Chicago, IL 1980), Vol. 2, p. 1347

[25] Robert L. Alden, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Bruce K. Waltke) Moody Press (Chicago, IL 1980), Vol. 2, p. 1348

[26] see Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), pp. 368-373

[27] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA: 2015), pp., p. 373

Follow the entire series of assessing Hieser’s theology.

Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy (Part 1) is focused on Heiser’s hermeneutic method as the root of his errors but is not very expressive of his theology.

Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Polytheism (Part 2) is dealing with why he should be considered a polytheist even if he denies the accusation. Simply put, his term “divine plurality” is what he uses as a synonym to refer to his belief in many gods.

Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Redefining אלהים (Part 3) further elaborates his polytheistic views and refutes his arguments against being labeled a polytheist.

Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: gods or Angels (Part 4) discusses how other Bible scholars that have similar research in Second Temple Jewish literature understand this language to refer to angels, not gods.

Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Deification (Part 5) may be the most significant assessment of Heiser’s theology and draws on the many parallels of his theological views and Gnosticism and exposes his heretical doctrine that men become gods.

Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Paradigm passages (Part 6) will discuss Heiser’s paradigmatic passages to explain his errors and provide an accurate exegesis of Psalm 82; Deuteronomy 4:19-20; 32:8-9; and John 10:34.

This article series has been extensively expanded into a new book, The Unbiblical Realm: Refuting the Divine Council and Michael Heiser’s Deuteronomy 32 Worldview, available here.