The Unbiblical Realm: Refuting Michael Heiser (Book Release)

My former article series “Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresies”¹⁾Heath Henning, “Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy (Part 1);” November 12, 2020

“Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Polytheism (Part 2);” December 7, 2020

“Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Redefining אלהים (Part 3);” December 19, 2020

“Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: gods or Angels (Part 4);” December 27, 2020

“Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Deification (Part 5);” December 28, 2020

“Michael Heiser’s Gnostic Heresy: Paradigm passages (Part 6);” January 6, 2021 stimulated many conversations and questions from readers that corresponded with me over the topic. Obviously, my intentions with the articles were to keep them brief (which is not an accurate description of the articles), but many people had more questions which I realized were necessary to answer. I further desired to develop some of the topics with a more technical and thorough analysis. So for the last year and a half I have been working on my new book which is now available here.

The Unbiblical Realm: Refuting the Divine Council of Michael Heiser’s Deuteronomy 32 Worldview

“The Unbiblical Realm is a deep dive into Heiser’s false theology by a scholar who has studied not only Scripture but the pagan and ancient teachings that Heiser uses to support this unseen realm. For those interested in this subject, it is an invaluable work.” Gary Gilley from Think On These Things Ministries²⁾ the full review can be viewed at https://tottministries.org/the-unbiblical-realm-refuting-the-divine-council-of-michael-heisers-deuteronomy-32-worldview/

Exceeding over 2,000 footnotes, this book is an extensive revision and expansion of the original article series, documenting the false theology of Michael Heiser, his twisting of Scripture, mishandling and misquoting of ancient texts which he claimed were his sources that provided him with his Deuteronomy 32 worldview. This book is important to read because of the wide spread impact of Michael Heiser’s teaching within conservative Christianity. The facts presented in this book are not limited to refuting Heiser, but also the idea of a Divine Council which continues to be taught by his followers and has always been prevalent in liberal circles claiming Judaism evolved from polytheism.

Beyond merely expanding each article as chapters in the book, new topics are elaborated as chapters discussing:

• Exactly what Heiser taught and its parallels to Mormonism (which he denied but it cannot be denied any longer).
• Who are the “Sons of God” and nephilim in Genesis 6. A rebuttal of the alleged Mesopotamian backdrop from the Apkallu myths, and documentation of every mention from Jewish and Christian literature from 300 B.C. to A.D. 300.
• A detailed analysis of some of the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts is made to dispute Heiser’s claim that the Qumran community was obsessed with the Divine Council.
• My first article dealing with Heiser’s faulty hermeneutic method is increased from 29 footnotes to 159 footnotes to incorporate multitudes of examples of his false interpretations. Since he boasted of his ability to explain the “weird” and difficult passages, it is important to use proper exegesis which reveals the accurate understanding of such passages.
• A thorough expansion of the topic from his teaching about man’s deification. I examine how such terminology was used by Second Temple Judaism, how the Fatherhood of God was understood as well as sonship terminology in the Hebrew Scripture and ancient Jewish literature.
• An entire chapter is focused on Heiser’s false gospel as pertaining to his doctrine of sin, the Savior, and salvation.
• An extensive consideration of the “Two Powers in Heaven” opinion is provided to argue the weakness of the premise which Heiser majored on and dedicated an entire website to.³⁾https://twopowersinheaven.com/
• An important exegesis of Isaiah 40-49 is produced to expose the flaws of Heiser’s claim that the obvious monotheistic language used in this passage is not denying the existence of other deities but only expressing the incomparability of God to his lesser gods.
• Of course, Heiser’s theology of God, gods, angels and demons, is presented and refuted from Scripture and the ancient Jewish literature he referenced deceptively.
• A detailed development of my argument emphasizing the fact that Heiser did indeed teach polytheism and synchronized ancient paganism with his understanding of the Bible producing a Neo-Gnostic theology.
• And much more.

The Unbiblical Realm (332 pages) by Heath Henning. Available here.