10 notable Christian ministry leaders, influencers who died in 2023

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Saturday, December 30, 2023

Michael Heiser – Feb. 20, 2023

Biblical scholar Michael Heiser. | Screengrab: YouTube/Dr. Michael S. Heiser

Michael Heiser, a professor of biblical studies and author of the highly acclaimed 2015 book The Unseen Realm, died at age 60 after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Heiser authored multiple nonfiction and fiction books, including The 60 Second Scholar: 100 Insights That Illumine the Bible, I Dare You Not to Bore Me with The Bible, The Façade and The Portent.

Heiser was also a lecturer, scholar in residence at Logos Bible Software, the host of "The Naked Bible" podcast and the founder of a Christian nonprofit called MIQLAT.

Christian apologist and author Jay Atkins wrote a column for The Christian Post in 2020 recommending The Unseen Realm as "a full treatment" of "the breadth of the spiritual universe."

"Heiser lays out in detail the full expanse and implications of the spiritual realm as presented in biblical text. The bottom line is the Bible makes clear there is vast and eternal spiritual world that exists both apart from, and integrated with, our own," wrote Atkins.

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