TROUBLING ISSUES IN BIBLE PROJECT VIDEOS WITH MICHAEL HEISER

[Note: This was written prior to the death of the late Dr. Michael Heiser and originally posted on Facebook on Feb. 29, 2020; this article has been edited from the original].

The Bible Project, founded and led by Tim Mackie, teamed up with Dr. Michael Heiser to produce a series of videos based on Heiser’s book, The Unseen Realm. These videos demonstrate that the Bible Project embraced Heiser’s view of the Divine Council and as well as using the ANE (Ancient Near East) filter for interpreting Scripture, and is now propagating those views in these videos.

The First Video, “Who Spiritual Beings Are and What They’re Like”

The ANE View

The Bible Project video (see video here as well) presenting an introduction to Heiser’s Unseen Realm concepts states less than a minute in:

“We have to reorient ourselves as to how the biblical authors saw the world.”

While it is always helpful and standard to get historical and cultural context, the biblical authors were writing God-breathed words. God did refer to events, ideas, and beliefs from cultures at the time, usually as a polemic against false beliefs. But it is not productive to read the Bible through the eyes of ancient peoples in order to get the meaning. This is called the Ancient Near East (ANE) view, which has become more popular lately among some scholars such as John Walton, Peter Enns, Gregory Boyd, and others. Using an extra-biblical filter to interpret God’s word is against sound hermeneutics.

God gave his word so that we can understand his revelation, not what ancient near eastern people thought the truth was or who they thought God was. If that is all we needed, we could just read historical and archeological books on ANE worldviews. The video tells us that the biblical authors were writing from an ANE view, not from God’s point of view. Additionally, Heiser uses extra-biblical material, such as the mythological book of Enoch 1, as a filter for interpreting Scripture. In fact, he goes so far as to base another book, Reversing Hermon, on the idea that corrupt spiritual beings (the Watchers) made a pact on Mt. Hermon to take human women as wives. He got this from Enochian writings.

I have to wonder about being told that now, after 2,000 years of Christian theologians and Bible students and scholars reading, studying, and writing on the Bible, we must “reorient ourselves” to how the authors of the Bible supposedly saw the world. It is actually pretty simple: the authors saw the world the way God revealed it to them. It seems that the idea that the Bible is God’s revelation is increasingly fading from the Christian faith.

I suggest reading scholar John D. Currid’s comments on Genesis and Exodus in the Archeological Study Bible (Currid’s commentary is in the Bible published by Crossway, not the one by Zondervan). I also recommend his succinct but insightful book, Against the Gods.

The Genesis 1 Account

The video asserts that

“God first creates the sun, moon, and stars to rule the day and night.”

However, the Genesis account teaches that God created the sun and moon on the fourth day. Prior to that, God creates vegetation (v. 11). It seems that the video is referring to verse 3 when God said “Let there be light.” But the text is not referring to light from the sun.

By placing the creation of the sun and moon on the fourth day, the Bible shows that:

1) God does not need the sun or stars for light; God created the light in the very beginning without the sun or stars

2) The sun and moon are not to be esteemed above other creations of God

3) Although the word “stars” is thought to refer to angels in some passages and makes sense in those contexts, it is figurative language, not literal. In Genesis 1, they are clearly lights and are not presented as heavenly beings.

Moreover, the video states that

“The biblical authors saw them (the moon and sun and stars) as heavenly creatures.”

Moses, who authored Genesis, did not see the sun and moon as heavenly beings; there is no evidence for that. (It should be noted that Heiser thinks that Genesis chapters 1 to 11 was written during the Babylonian exile).

Interestingly, God does not even use the words for “sun” and “moon,” instead calling the sun the “great light” and the moon the “lesser light” in the creation account (v. 16), thus dismissing and condemning the pagan beliefs in the sun and moon as gods. The view of the sun and moon as divine beings is given a kick in the teeth by God. This is a polemic. Oddly, the video does not point that out. Rather it embraces the pagan view that the heavenly bodies were gods and claims this was the view of the authors of the Bible.

The video depicts the sky with astrological signs based on Greek-Roman astrology, which did not exist at the time of Moses (the image with this article is a screenshot of the video showing the Greek-Roman zodiac). It is true that pagans in the ancient world thought the planets (which they saw as faster moving stars since the concept of planets did yet not exist) were gods or the homes of gods, and this formed the basis for early astrology. However, in Moses’ day, it was not the zodiac now known in the West as Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc. which came via Greek mythology and was adopted by the Romans. There were no zodiac signs then as used now. Nor can the symbols of the zodiac be seen in the sky. The figures, such as the bull for Taurus and the lion for Leo, are arbitrarily “drawn” by connecting only a small portion of the vast numbers of stars in each constellation.

The portion about the creation of man calls man “peri-sapiens” in the video. I could not find a definition for this but it sounds like it is referring to what some would consider to be an early form of man, not man as he is today — maybe a “pre-human” or “semi-human” creature. This is a particular view, assuming I am interpreting it correctly, and it is not in Scripture. So why is the video using such a word without defining or explaining it?

The video refers to God wanting humans to “rise above their dirty origins.” This implies something bad although when God created man from the ground, man had not sinned and the earth was good, not “dirty.”

The serpent in the Garden is simply called a “spiritual being.” This is because Heiser does not think the serpent in the Garden was the figure commonly known as Satan. Nor did Heiser believe the Satan figure in Job to be Satan nor a villain, but rather a spirit God was using as his “eyes and ears” on earth. (See article by Biola professor Kenneth Berding, “Why Michael Heiser is Probably Wrong About Satan in the Book of Job” addressing this issue).

The Second Video, “Angels and Cherubim”

In the “Angels and Cherubim” video, angels are understood to be gods of the Divine Council. See more below on video 4 titled “The Divine Council.”

The Third Video, “Satan and Demons”

Genesis 6 and Nephilim

The “Satan and Demons” video assumes the Nephilim of Genesis 6 are the offspring of spiritual beings (whom Heiser teaches are gods on the Divine Council who rebelled) mating with human women. There are several views of the Genesis 6 passage; the main competing view is the Sethite view (see this article and this article), but the video gives Heiser’s opinion as the only interpretation. In what I have read about this passage, usually at least three views are given.

Not presenting other understandings of this passage is unfair to viewers. One could present all the views and then specify a preferred one, but leaving out the others and presenting just one is somewhat dishonest. Other scholars are humble enough to say that we cannot be dogmatic with the Genesis 6 passage.

Moreover, the Bible Project exists to teach people about the Bible, and presenting just one view is not teaching. But since this is Heiser’s view, that is the one the Bible Project uses. (In fact, since Heiser hinges a large part of his theology on his interpretation of the Genesis 6 passage, then it is no surprise that other views are not given).

Men were already evil before the Nephilim are mentioned. Cain murders Abel; Lamech marries two women, kills a man, and is defiant about it in Genesis chapter 4. The Nephilim are also thought by many to be mighty men who were defiant of God. But the video seems to blame the wickedness that led to the Flood more on Nephilim than on man although only men are mentioned as wicked in verse 5, the wickedness that provoked God to send the Flood.

Old Testament scholar Dr. Peter Gentry affirms the Scriptural view that sin is blamed on man alone. In discussing Genesis 6:1-4, points out in this video (starting at the 14’30” time stamp) that Paul is warning about the Enochian material in Timothy 1:4 and 4:7, because the Enochian writings blame evil on angelic sin, whereas Scipture teaches that wickedness on earth is from an alone.

So one issue is that only view is presented (the issue is not which view is correct); a second issue is that the wickedness of man is undermined; and a third equally serious matter is that Heiser violates a major hermeneutical principle by basing doctrine on an unclear passage with many plausible views not agreed upon by scholars. Heiser does this with other passages as well, not just with the Genesis 6 text.

The video also refers to pagan beliefs about being guarded by warrior-kings who were “part human, part god and filled with wisdom” as related to the Nephilim. There is no biblical text or even a way to get it from the text for the “part god” idea because this was solely a pagan concept. This is here because of Heiser’s view that the spiritual beings who mated with women were gods.

The Divine Council idea is again referred to in the video, as though this is a standard teaching in the church and is in Scripture.

Man’s Sin Minimized

The video seems to emphasize the “evil forces” behind men and never mentions sins. That is how The Unseen Realm reads as well. It is true that Satan tempts man and seeks to lure men away from God but man is always accountable to God for his sin.

I never heard the word “sin” in this video. I get the sense that the Bible Project is touchy about man’s accountability to God, especially in light of their distinct non-references to God’s wrath on sin and leaving out the word “propitiation” in their atonement videos.

The Fourth Video, “Learn About the Hidden Forces Guiding the World” (The Divine Council Video)

The Bible Project asserts that:
1. The host of heaven in Genesis chapter 1 is the Divine Council
2. The “signs” of Gen. 1:14 are also spiritual beings/the Divine Council
3. The sun and moon (as actual spiritual beings) are part of this Council and were given authority
4. God invites the Divine Council to participate in decision making

5. God wants to share his authority with other spiritual beings

6. “The rulers and authorities” are the Divine Council

I address the Divine Council idea in my article on Heiser’s book . The “signs” are not viewed as spiritual beings in Genesis but rather as markers for time and for light. God even states that is what they are (vv. 14-15).

God does not share his authority outside the Trinity. Jesus equipped his apostles with limited power over certain areas, such as being able to heal and cast out demons, but this was not sharing his authority.

Contrary to the idea of a Divine Council, it seems God has no need of counsel:

“Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding?” Isaiah 40:13-14

The passages used by Heiser to support the Divine Council idea can be answered because they do not give credit to a Divine Council as Heiser claims. See resources at the end for responses to and critiques of the Divine Council.

Man Corrupted by Evil Spiritual Beings

Man is influenced and corrupted by the evil spiritual beings, asserts the video. However, the videos (not just this fourth video but all of them) make it sound like it is more the fault of demons (or corrupt spiritual beings or rebellious gods) than man’s. The emphasis in this video, and in Heiser’s teachings, is always heavy on the so-called corrupt “spiritual beings.” This is an unhealthy and unbiblical focus. Scripture tells those in Christ to focus on the Kingdom and on the Lord (Matthew 6:33, Rom. 12:2, 2 Cor. 4:18, Phil. 4: 8; Col. 3:2, Heb. 3:1, 12:2, 1 Peter 1:13).

This does not mean it is wrong to study what the Bible says about Satan and demons. But our mindset should be oriented toward Christ who is, after all, foundational to the faith.

The video claims that pagans believed in spiritual giant beings and so that is what the Nephilim were. When man acts evil it is because of the rogue spiritual beings.

For insight on Nephilim and critique of popular views, read Ken Ammi’s article, “Here be Giants” at and “The Nephilim Files,” as well as other material by Ken Ammi.

An Issue with the Atonement

The video makes this troubling statement:

“Jesus condemned our evil by allowing the rebels to unleash all their hatred and evil on him. But then he overcame it by the power of his love and resurrection life.”

Jesus did not condemn our evil – sin had already been judged and condemned. More importantly, the word “evil” is used instead of sin. It is man’s sins that put Jesus on the cross.

God has wrath on sin and there are many passages in the Bible that clearly state this (John 3:36; Rom. 5:9; Col. 3:6; and a theme in Rev. 14-16). The Bible Project alters the meaning of the atonement as confessed in historic Christianity. See this article which criticizes two Bible Project videos on the atonement that do not acknowledge God’s wrath on sin as well as the blog by Pastor Gabe where he carefully explains the issues with The Bible Project’s handling of the atonement. Pastor Gabe writes:

“When Mackie said penal substitutionary atonement was not in the Bible and that it was a distortion of the gospel, that was a lie, no matter what his intentions were.”

Even in a video, an important doctrine like the Atonement needs to be clearly expressed and based on Scripture. This was wishy-washy, vague, incorrect, and, in my view, unbiblical.

Promoting Heiser’s views in videos or otherwise is not helpful given that Heiser’s views are not mainstream and have been questioned and challenged yet are put forth as fact. This is yet more of what has been seen in the last several years of a downward shift on sound doctrine, and a downgrading of God’s word.

Addendum

Time stamps for the first video “Who Spiritual Beings Are And What They’re Like” for issues addressed in this article:

50 sec., “we have to reorient ourselves to how the ancient biblical authors saw the world”
1:17, “God first creates the sun, moon, and stars”
1:25, “the biblical authors, like all ancient people, saw them (the sun and moon) as heavenly creatures”
1:50, “the sky is populated with creatures that have different kinds of bodies” (this is where they show the constellations as what the Greeks came up with a long time later – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc.)
2:06, “But the biblical authors make it clear that these beings are not gods but rather the images of God; their glory and high status is a reflection of the Creator’s glory and status”
2:14, “so the stars symbolize beings who are like God’s heavenly staff team”