Saying 'See You Later' to an Influential Scholar
Saying 'See You Later' to an Influential Scholar
Dr. Michael Heiser, 1963-2023
One of the most thought-provoking and interesting scholars of the Bible has gone home to be with Jesus.
Dr. Michael Heiser lost his battle with cancer and but gained his place in eternity on Monday, Feb. 20.
Dr. Heiser wrote the bestselling book The Unseen Realm, which explored the supernatural worldview of the Bible, as well as several other books. He was a scholar-in-residence at Faithlife, the makers of Logos Bible Software. In fact, it’s because of him that Logos is my go-to for Bible reading and study.
His specialty was the Old Testament, and he did an amazing job of showing how the New Testament and Old Testament tied together to create God’s singular, powerful story. He opened my eyes to reading the scripture through the lens of the time in which it was written, and he challenged me in many ways, including seeing how the apocryphal Book of Enoch affected the Biblical writers.
I engaged most with Dr. Heiser through his Naked Bible Podcast, in which, over eight years and 458 episodes, he walked through books of the Bible and other topics, stripped of denominational baggage — hence “naked.” Each episode came out on Sunday, and I would download it before I left church to start listening to the new episodes on the way home.
He was in the midst of a series on 1 Samuel when he passed away, and I’ll miss the podcast deeply. I might have to start it all over from the beginning.
I was — and still am — part of his online community, and I truly believe that this community will help continue his work.
I had long hoped to meet Dr. Heiser personally, but I won’t get to until I reach eternity. I occasionally, though rarely, disagreed with his ideas, and I certainly didn’t always understand them, but he made me think and led me to see the Bible in a new way.
I’m sure he’s already heard, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Because that’s what he was.
Image: Twitter / Michael S. Heiser