Michael S. Heiser

Michael S. Heiser is an American biblical scholar who has criticized ancient alien astronaut theorists.

Scholarship

Heiser was raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He attended Lebanon High School and Cedar Crest High. 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 studies).[1] Heiser received his undergraduate degree from Bob Jones University and also attended Bible college for three years.[2]

Heiser has studied Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Phoenician, the Aramaic, the Syriac, Moabite, the Ugaritic cuneiform, the Ancient Hebrew, Alexandrian Greek, the Aramaic, Akkadian and Sumerian and Second Temple Jewish monotheism.[3]

Heiser has taught college since 1992 and is the Academic Editor for Logos Bible Software.[4]

Heiser's doctoral dissertation, entitled "The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature," examines the "divine council" of the biblical Israelites and compares the "two powers" theology of Second Temple Judaism with the theological relationship of Baal and El in the Ugaritic texts. Heiser objects to modern critical reconstructions of the evolution of Israelite religion which see Israelite history as a progressive evolution from henotheism or polytheism to strict monotheism after the Exilic Period. He maintains that the Bible relates a uniform doctrine of divine plurality and that later texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Deuteronomy, Isaiah and the New Testament authors all believed in a divine council of divine beings created by and are ontologically subordinate to Yahweh.[5][6]

Criticism of ancient astronaut theories

Heiser has also researched UFO conspiracy theories such as the Roswell UFO incident and has spoken out against proponents of ancient astronauts theories, especially Zechariah Sitchin. Heiser was featured in a debunking of Ancient Aliens titled Ancient Aliens Debunked as an expert on the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern texts.[7][8] In this context, Heiser has argued against an interpretation of the Nephilim in the book of Genesis as aliens, arguing that a second yod vocalization in the book of Numbers and the Aramaic grammar shows that the term Nephilim should not be understood as "the fallen ones" but as "giants."[9]

References

  1. ↑ "About". Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  2. ↑ "Bio for Dr. Michael Heiser, Ph.D.". Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  3. ↑ "About". Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  4. ↑ "Dr. Michael S. Heiser CV" (PDF). 2013-02. Retrieved 2014-06-16. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ "The Divine Council". Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  6. ↑ Heiser, Michael S. (2004). The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature (Ph.D.). University of Wisconsin–Madison. OCLC 56590295.
  7. ↑ "NTR – Dr. Michael Heiser Interview". Nowhere to Run with Chris White. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  8. ↑ "Ancient Aliens Debunked". Ancient Aliens Debunked. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  9. ↑ "Nephilim". Ancient Aliens Debunked. Retrieved 2014-06-16.

External links