Michael S. Heiser: Difference between revisions

He served as executive director of the School of Ministry at [[Celebration Church]] in [[Jacksonville, Florida]], and previously as scholar-in-residence at [[Faithlife Corporation]]. He ran ''The Naked Bible'' podcast and Miqlat, a ministry to disseminate his scholarship. He also hosted the ''Peeranormal'' Podcast until 2021 which discussed peer-reviewed research on the paranormal. He had additionally been active in media productions around his area of interest, and in response to popular presentations relating to spiritual matters (such as material in the ''[[Stranger Things]]'' series, and in rebutting [[ancient astronaut]] conjectures).

Heiser died from [[pancreatic cancer]] inon February 20, 2023.<ref name="christianheadlines_com">[https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/milton-quintanilla/bible-scholar-author-michael-heiser-dies-from-stage-4-pancreatic-cancer.html Christian Headlines website, article by Milton Quintanilla dated Wednesday, February 22, 2023]</ref>

Heiser was born on February 14, 1963,<ref>{{cite web | author = Logos Staff|url=https://www.logos.com/grow/michael-heiser-passing/ |title=Michael Heiser (February 14, 1963 - February 20, 2023) |date=February 2023 |access-date=February 21, 2023}}</ref>{{third party inline|date = January 2024}} and raised in Lebanon, [[Pennsylvania]]. He was one of seven children.<ref>[https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/jacksonville-fl/michael-heiser-11168525 Dignity Memorial, obituary for Dr Heiser]</ref>{{third party inline|date = January 2024}}

He received an MA in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MA and PhD in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and [[Semitic Languages]] from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (with a minor in [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] studies).<ref>{{cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. |url=http://drmsh.com/about-michael-s-heiser/ |title=About |date=February 2014 |access-date=June 16, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. |url=http://drmsh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/MHeiserCV.pdf |title=Dr. Michael S. Heiser CV |date=February 2013|access-date=June 16, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701081615/http://drmsh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/MHeiserCV.pdf |archive-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref>{{third party inline|date = January 2024}}

Beginning in 2015, Heiser published at least ten books regarding the meaning of various biblical concepts, and on other topics related to popular understandings of spirituality; in addition, he produced two works of fiction, in the early 2010s.<ref>[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2906361-the-fa-ade GoodReads website, The Facade]</ref><ref>[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23128736-the-portent GoodReads website, The Portent]</ref> Until 2019, Heiser was scholar-in-residence at [[Faithlife Corporation]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. |title=Logos Author Search {{!}} Michael S. Heiser|url=https://www.logos.com/search?query=Michael%20S.%20Heiser|url-status=live|access-date=January 14, 2022|website=Logos}}</ref>

He was Executive Director of the School of Ministry at [[Celebration Church]] in [[Jacksonville, Florida]], and a distance-learning professor at [[Liberty University]]<ref>{{Cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. | url=https://www.logos.com/academic/bio/heiser|title=Bio for Dr. Michael Heiser, Ph.D.|website=Logos|access-date=March 25, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. |url=https://defenderconference.com/speakers/dr-michael-s-heiser/|title=Dr. Michael S. Heiser|date=December 15, 2018|language=en-US|access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref> and [[Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary]].<ref>[https://peacefulscience.org/authors/michael-heiser/ Peaceful Science website]</ref><ref>{{Cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. |url=http://drmsh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MHeiserCV.pdf|title=Dr. Michael S. Heiser}}</ref> He also produced a podcast (''The Naked Bible''), and created a ministry called Miqlat, dedicated to the production and dissemination of his content.<ref>[https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/milton-quintanilla/bible-scholar-author-michael-heiser-dies-from-stage-4-pancreatic-cancer.html Christian Headlines website, article by Milton Quintanilla dated Wednesday, February 22,name="christianheadlines_com" 2023]</ref>

In 20202021, Heiser was diagnosed with [[pancreatic cancer]].<ref>{{Cite web | author = Heiser, Michael S. |date=November 2, 2021 |title=Brief Health Update |url=https://drmsh.com/brief-health-update-2/ |access-date=January 22, 2023 |website=Dr. Michael Heiser |language=en-US}}</ref> On January 4, 2023, his wife Drenna, posting on his Instagram page with an accompanying picture of the hospitalized Heiser, noted that he had been admitted for severe anemia, that physicians had stabilized him and were seeking to determine a source of blood loss.<ref>{{cite web | author = Heiser, Drenna | date = January 3, 2022 | title = drmshphd From Drenna Heiser | work = Instagram.com | url = https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm9_Bb3PyQo/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=ef55b6d8-0b46-448f-8e3d-cbde34c15664 | access-date = February 6, 2023}}</ref> On January 22, he announced on his Facebook page that he was "at the end of the road in the late stage (4) of a very aggressive pancreatic cancer".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lasher |first1=James |title=Bible Scholar Dr. Michael Heiser Shares Bleak Diagnosis |url=https://www.charismanews.com/culture/91271-biblical-scholar-dr-michael-heiser-shares-bleak-cancer-diagnosis |access-date=February 6, 2023 |work=[[Charisma News]] |date=January 23, 2023}}</ref> Heiser succumbed to his illnessdied on February 20, just a week after his 60th birthday.<ref>[https://www.christianpost.com/news/michael-heiser-scholar-and-author-of-the-unseen-realm-dies.html Christian Post website, article dated February 21, 2023]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dr. Michael Heiser has passed into life everlasting after a long battle with cancer. |url=https://www.facebook.com/lexhampress/posts/pfbid02D2dQnZ3b5xDgBbSoDXU9HqzDJog5Zt6JhayXwSiC7GxecbiCTiZxcnGSR8sY8pEml |website=Facebook |publisher=[[Lexham Press]] |access-date=February 21, 2023}}</ref>