Michael S. Heiser's Blog, page 33

Update on Lubbock, TX Event for August 26

I heard today that, due to some scheduling problems, seating at the Lubbock, TX event for August 26 will be limited. If you plan to come, be advised. Click on the link for time and place. I will update the event page with anything else relevant if it comes my way.

Kindle Version of Mike’s Upcoming Book Available October 4

Just a quick note. As I posted a few days ago, the paperback of my new book, The Bible Unfiltered is now available for pre-order and will ship October 4. I head a few days ago that Lexham plans to make the Kindle version of the book available on October 4.

Mike’s New Book, The Bible Unfiltered, Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

I just saw the link on Amazon appear for my next book. It’s entitled, The Bible Unfiltered: Approaching Scripture on Its Own Terms. It’s the second collection of my articles published in Bible Study Magazine, which means it’s a follow-up to the first collection, published as I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.

You can now order The Bible Unfiltered on Amazon, but the book won’t ship until October 4.

The Myth of an Aramaic Original New Testament

I get questions about whether the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic. Some really aren’t questions; they are (I presume) well-meaning people trying to inform me of the “fact” of Aramaic primacy. In light of those sorts of emails, it was nice to come across a well-written summary of why this is a myth (by a professional Aramaic translator no less) It is an even-handed discussion that goes beyond the way I try to disabuse people of the myth in a shorter, less elegant way.

I would only add that this discussion makes zero sense for the two-thirds of the New Testament written to Gentile churches. It’s really about gospel originals (and Luke must then be excluded). And there are no (as in zero) manuscripts of the New Testament that compete with the earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament for chronological primacy, either. Aramaic New Testaments from antiquity are all translations made a couple centuries or so after the New Testament was written in Greek.

I periodically am asked about the Lamsa translation of the Bible, which is an attempt to produce an English translation on the basis of Aramaic (Syriac) manuscripts, there is a review here. It speaks for itself (Lamsa’s translation wasn’t exactly hailed by Aramaic specialists).

 

 

Treasure Trove of Open Access Scholarly Journals for Biblical Studies

If you’ve followed my work for any time (or read books like The Unseen Realm), you know the value of scholarly journals. Most of them are not publicly accessible. Here’s a link to a substantial list that are online.

Update on Jaime Maussan’s Phony Peruvian Alien Mummy

If you’re following this story, this post from Archaeology Review is quite worthwhile: A Review of Jaime Maussan’s Alien Mummy from Peru.

The highlight is an X-Ray of the three-fingered alien hand hoax perpetrated by Maussan. Here’s a portion of the essay on that point:

Finally, there’s an excellent report written by Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi from the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Natural History Museum in Lima, Peru titled, “Esta Es La Falsa Mano “alienígena” Que Los Científicos De Maussan Determinaron Anatómicamente Correcta Y Funcional (This the fake “alien” hand that Maussan’s scientists determined anatomically correct and functional).” The report is in Spanish, but here are some of the highlghts:

X-rays and expert identification says that the bones of the mummy’s “hand” are from two individuals. At least one is a sub-adult, probably a neonate.

The bones of the “hand” are actually arm and leg bones of a neonatal child. the bones of the “fingers” are from the metacarpal and phalanges of an adult. The bones are also arranged poorly with phibulas on either side of metacarpels. This is the sort of mistake you could expect from amateurs creating a plastered, fake alien/mummy. Maussan and company mixed the long bones of a child with the finger bones.

There are some fine X-ray images that show just how Maussan and his minions faked the hand.

And to add insult to injury, the review concludes with a note about the DNA report for the mummy. Yes, that’s a teaser …. (sort of).

The Sad Demise of MUFON

If you have a sustained interest in the subject of UFOs and their investigation, you’ve heard of MUFON (Mutual UFO Network). This at-one-time important grass roots network has been steadily sliding toward irrelevance (see here and here for past issues). Events of more recent days have all but sealed the organization’s fate as something to not be taken seriously.

This isn’t cause for rejoicing. In the early days, MUFON did some valuable research and investigation. It lost its way on the trail of sensationalism (and what others call “retail ufology”), but the current status is a living caricature. I know from my recent trip to Roswell that serious people within the organization have lamented the situation for some time.

Here’s a summary by Robert Sheaffer of recent events that have put MUFON on life support.

One note … Part of Sheaffer’s critique is MUFON’s support of a secret space program. I’ve said in the past that I suspect NASA is (pardon the pun) moonlighting out of the public eye. But I don’t mean what MUFON means by that.

 

DNA, Canaanites, and the Biblically-Illiterate Media

By now I’ve probably received a heads up on the story about Canaanite DNA disproving the biblical conquest narrative a dozen times. Here’s my own heads-up: If you see some “news” about the Bible in mass media, you can presume it’s click-bait archaeoporn that will invariably get something wrong. This latest was no exception.

I won’t bore you with the details (you can read the link above if you want). Basically, no (including some of the scholars quoted in the articles) bothered to look at the totality of the conquest narrative. It’s quite clear that not all the Canaanites were eliminated. And if you’ve read my book, Unseen Realm, there are several verbs used in the conquest instructions that don’t call for death of the Canaanites. The real target for elimination were the Anakim. But I digress. Anyway, several media outlets have now issued apologies and retractions for being biblically illiterate. A nice gesture, but I doubt they’ll learn the lesson.

The Racism Behind Ancient Alien Mummy Hoaxes

Yep. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When ancient alien theorists (or Christian North American nephilim “race” theorists) insist those are the explanations for impressive engineering and architectural work (think Nazca lines, mounds), what they’re saying is that indigenous populations were too stupid to accomplish these things. It’s embarrassing and misguided.

And people notice. But Jaime Maussan will make some money off it.

Here’s a recent piece from the Atlantic that’s worth the read: The Racism Behind Alien Mummy Hoaxes: Pre-Columbian bodies are once again being used as evidence for extraterrestrial life.

 

Unseen Realm Amazon Kindle Problem Fixed

I just got word that a new file has been uploaded and accepted by Amazon. The verse reference problem should now be fixed. If you want Unseen Realm for Kindle, it’s now available again.