Michael S. Heiser (1963–2023)

Book Review of The Facade; Special Edition (Kindle)

Heiser says that this his first novel was written while he was in the ABD stage of his Ph.D program. Since he had personal interest in many of the subjects that are included in the story: ancient history, Semitic languages, biblical studies, theology, paranormal and parapsychological topics (especially UFOs), a chance encounter where an Air Force officer explained the Roswell event with something that he "knew" to be false. He also places a show more "Note to the Reader" just before the story begins that tells us that all historical figures and quotations attributed to them are real and genuine, that every document whether modern or ancient is authentic and real.
The Prologue which follows establishes a rather idiosyncratic view of the Bible, that is, that there are multiple gods found in it.According to his view, they are referred to in several places and that in Genesis 6, they had sex with human women and produced giants, known in Hebrew as nephilim. The Noahic Flood was meant to kill them but did not, as they were reborn. After the Flood, others in God's ancient council also broke ranks with God and produced other hybrid races on earth. That these giants did exist, according to the Bible, I do not disagree. Their source, however, is a matter of pure conjecture on Heiser's part. Although his knowledge of the original languages vastly exceeds my own (I know of Hebrew and Aramaic as being the two languages that the Old Testament is written in...and no more than that! While his degree and subsequent employment by arguably the largest current Bible software producer will prove his expertise in those issues, I too have studied the Bible both devotionally and as a minister. I can say because of that study that his view is not at all orthodox.)
From that rocky beginning, and with the experience of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code still fresh in my mind, his Note to the Reader raised my skepticism to new heights. Heiser, like Brown before him, seems to want the reader to grant credence to his story greater than what the actual facts ought to warrant.
But, I am also a fan of the science fiction genre and, due to receiving my copy through the Early Reviewer program at librarything.com, am required to write my review for publication, at a bare minimum on the librarything.com website, but also wherever else I see fit. So, I am self-publishing here on my own personal blog, goodreads and, if Amazon.com will accept it, there as well. No inducements are made other than the gift of the book nor are any requirements for the review to be favourable.
So now, let's go on to the story!
The first chapter has a scholar of ancient Middle Eastern languages being killed by a mysterious, seemingly supernatural figure for his failure to deliver certain ancient tablets. And the protagonist surfaces in chapter 2, Dr. Brian Scott, who also happens to be an expert in some of those ancient languages. He is met by two men who threaten him and take him away from his regular and unexciting life in Philadelphia because "his country needs him".
Chapter 3 has another person blackmailed into joining the as yet undefined mission, Dr. Kelley; chapter 4 introduces us to 2 more characters with more incomprehensible background info about "the Group" and some, as yet unknown grave situation that even the President of the US has not yet been informed of. It turns out that Dr. Bandstra of chapter 5 is one of Brian's closest (and only) friends and has requested that he be brought to where they now are to help deal with this situation, one that may test his faith greatly.
Chapter 6 flashes us into another different location in a Catholic monastery in Italy...where once again a mysterious figure, this time one that specifies with a "triangular, asp-like face", uses unimaginable powers to immobilize and kill the priest while speaking inside the priest's mind.
The mystery finally begins to be slowly unraveled as a group of civilians gathers together in the as yet undisclosed place where Brian has been taken. Surprisingly, many of them are people with a strong Christian faith, both Protestant and Catholic.
I found that the story was unnecessarily obtuse, tried too hard to slowly reveal what it was all about; bring in false trails to keep the reader guessing and generally somewhat too predictable. Dr. Kelly takes a rather violent dislike to Brian...and is obviously going to fall for him sooner or later. Secret alliances are brought into the picture to help move the plot, as well as anonymous people who have special access to restricted areas of the facility they are now locked up in. UFOs and possible supernatural beings with super human abilities are gradually revealed while other explanations for their abilities are also teased out. But the story does not move seamlessly, naturally; rather, it moves by starts and stops.
The characters also did not really grab my heart strings. Even when reading, and maybe especially when reading novels, I want to actually care about the actors and I couldn't get to that place here.
When the action finally begins heating up to the place where some resolution would be expected, it fizzles out with a fairy tale ending suggested but not made concrete.
The Facade was much better than I believe I could create myself at this time, but it was not a story that I feel is ready for publication. The denouement needs some serious work as does the pacing and the gradual reveal of the elements of the plot. When you add in the rather strange theology about hybrid human beings and try to make it sound Biblical and add it Roswell with the UFOs, and try to tack on to all of this some kind of apocalyptic end of the world conspiracy, I think there is just too much confusion, too many lines of thought for there to be one unified story here. Heiser may yet grow and write better stories than this one. Good luck. show less

The Unseen Realm
By Michael S. Heiser
Lexham Press, 2015
Hardcover, 413pp

"When you open your Bible, I want you to be able to see it like ancient Israelites or first-century Jews saw it, to perceive and consider it as they would have."

When it comes to Christian apologetics, C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity is a household name. I believe this is because only Alvin Plantinga's Warranted Christian Belief is a worthy successor, but its analytical philosophy and advanced probabilities limit its show more audience. Textual analysis, on the other hand, seems to me to be a more fruitful application of Biblical criticism. In this vein, two books stand out: Chuck Missler's Cosmic Codes and John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally. And now comes Michael C. Heiser's magnificent and deeply scholarly conception of the Bible based on what he calls the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. Beyond simply a conjectural synthesis of intriguing theories, Heiser's book is well-grounded in compelling logic and textual support for every proposition. Heiser's main goal is to remove the lenses through which the modern Westerner reads the Bible, and expose us to the view an ancient Israelite or first-century Jew would have had. For this, he roots the mythico-literary context in ancient texts of the Mesopotamian and reveals a layer of Hebrew polemics that threads the text. I thought I had a good grasp on the Hebrew-Christian Bible until I read this book. show less

9/10 (excellent): The Unseen Realm is a biblical theology of the what most people think of as heavenly or demonic beings. It's readable, scholarly, and theologically stimulating. Best of all, it tackles some of the most perplexing and difficult texts in the Bible (Genesis 6:1-4 and 1 Peter 3:18-22 among many others) and puts forward a single idea that makes good sense of nearly all of those texts.

When I'm reading a book, I highlight in red sections that I disagree with or have serious show more questions about. The Unseen Realm has more red highlighting than any other book I've completed. As with many books that distil a lifetime's work into a single volume, there are many times where I feel Heiser goes further than the evidence can reasonably take you. I lost count of the number of times he claimed that most English Bible translations have got this verse wrong, for example. It's reasonable to argue that a few times, but when it's more than a dozen, it feels like special pleading. It's also worth pointing out that Heiser is a biblical scholar, not a theologian, and there were more than a few times where I felt he'd drawn wrong theological conclusions from solid biblical exegesis (there are traces of open theism in chapters 7 and 8, for example).

There's enough good stuff in here to make the book well-worth reading for the discerning Christian. There's also a simpler version, [b:Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World - And Why It Matters|25597051|Supernatural What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World - And Why It Matters|Michael S. Heiser|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432534762s/25597051.jpg|45404186], which I haven't read, but which covers the same ground in 20% of the space. Just remember that few authors, especially when putting forward fresh-thinking, are rarely right all the time. show less

This one will cause most Christians to open their eyes and question much of what they've been taught, or yell in revolt. I'm in the former camp. Heiser walks a path of Biblical proof to establish the supernatural spiritual realm as fact. His key talking point, that we must view the ancient word in its own context from the perspective of its ancient writers to discern its full truth, and not from our own biases and perspective is right on.

The supernatural is deeply embedded in our culture show more these days, from literature and movies to active involvement. The fact that it has sides is no surprise. Understanding the truth of what has been hiding in plain sight in the Word is a gateway into a different realm, in the here and now.

Heiser presents Ph.D. level insight in readable form. It is a serious read while being entirely readable, and highly recommended. show less