Michael S. Heiser's Blog, page 49

PEERANORMAL Episode 6: Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis can be defined in several ways. In terms of the experiencer, it can be described as “a visitation by a malevolent creature which attacked its victims as they slept” (Cox). More clinically, sleep paralysis is understood as “a transient,conscious state of involuntary immobility occurring when falling asleep or upon wakening” (Cheyne, 2002). Research into sleep paralysis has produced compelling evidence that the phenomenon can be explained by brain chemistry and physiology in conjunction with REM sleep. But is that all there is to it?

Check out the episode and the sources for this episode at this link.

New Course on Hollywood Worldviews by Brian Godawa

Many readers will be familiar with my friend Brian Godawa and his work since he utilized and re-purposed a lot of divine council research (my own included) in the creating his fantasy series, The Chronicles of the Nephilim. If you listen to my Peeranormal podcast, Brian is one of several occasional co-hosts. Brian was the screenwriter for the award-winning feature film, To End All Wars, starring Kiefer Sutherland. Most recently, he wrote and directed the documentary Wall of Separation for PBS, Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate for CBC Network, and School’s Out: Political Correctness Vs. Academic Freedom for Boulevard Pictures. He also adapted to film the bestselling supernatural novel The Visitation by best-selling author Frank Peretti for Ralph Winter (X-Men, Wolverine). He’s also author of Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom & Discernment.

Brian’s experience in Hollywood is what leads me to recommend his recent venture: on online course on Hollywood Worldviews. If you love movies and are a Christian, you’ll love it — and find it useful. Brian has graciously agreed to offer a 30% discount for the course to my readers — Heiser fans only!

The discount is good for the month of December only (the coupon code expires Dec 31), so this would make a great Christmas gift for yourself or someone else. Just click the link above and enter the coupon Code: HEISER30.

 

What is the Meaning of BAPTIZEIN?

Follow the link below to what, in my experience, is the most lengthy scholarly treatment of the relevant primary sources for the meaning of baptizein (“baptize”) availablable. The article just appeared online for free, though it was published in 2011:

Eckhard Schnabel, “The Meaning of Baptizein in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature,” Filologia Neotestamentaria 24 (2011) 3-40.

No coherent discussion of this term (and baptism) can exclude the data of this article.

 

Mike’s ETS Paper Now on Kindle

I posted my ETS paper (“The Divine Council in the Pentateuch”) in PDF form a few days ago. It’s now available in Kindle format.

Naked Bible Podcast Episode 134: ETS-SBL Interviews with Scholars: Part 6

During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In Part 6 of those interviews, we chat with Stephen Huebscher (PhD candidate at Clarks Summit University), David DeSilva (New Testament professor at Ashland Theological Seminary), and Dr. Craig Keener (New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary).

Naked Bible Podcast Episode 133: ETS-SBL – Live Q & A in San Antonio

This was our first live episode. Trey, myself and David Burnett got together with podcast listeners and a live Q & A broke out!

Thank you to everyone who came and joined us in San Antonio!

Naked Bible Podcast Episode 132: ETS-SBL Interviews with Scholars – Part 5

During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In Part 5 of those interviews, we meet Dr. John Walton (Old Testament professor at Wheaton College), Dr. Ben Witherington (New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary), and Dr. Tremper Longman (Old Testament professor at Westmont College).

Click here for Part 4.

Mike Heiser’s ETS Paper: The Divine Council in the Pentateuch

A week ago I presented this invited paper in the ETS Pentateuch section:

ets-2017-divine-council-in-the-pentateuch

The paper isn’t an academic work per se. It’s more conversational. I took that route because of the time limitation. However, it does have some different material than you’ll find in The Unseen Realm. Some stuff for scholars / Hebrew language geeks!

The paper refers to a handout, so here that is as well:

ets-2017-paper-outline

The paper was received very well. I’ve been presenting divine council research for almost ten years at ETS. This is the first time the room I was in was completely full, with people having to sit on the floor and listen from the hallway. I had several good discussions with OT professors and grad students afterwards.

It ain’t just me, folks!

 

 

Naked Bible Podcast Episode 131: ETS-SBL Interviews with Scholars – Part 4

During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In Part 4 of those interviews, we chat with Dr. N. T. Wright (former Bishop of Durham and Canon of Westminster, now New Testament professor at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland), Dr. Brannon Ellis (Publisher for Lexham Press), and Dr. Carmen Imes, who teaches biblical studies at George Fox University.

Click here for Part 3.

ETS-SBL Interviews with Scholars on the Naked Bible Podcast – Part 4

During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In Part 4 of those interviews, we chat with Dr. N. T. Wright (former Bishop of Durham and Canon of Westminster, now New Testament professor at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland), Dr. Brannon Ellis (Publisher for Lexham Press), and Dr. Carmen Imes, who teaches biblical studies at George Fox University.

Click here for Part 3.