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Kindle book produced from edited transcripts of the Naked Bible Podcast series on the book of Leviticus.
 
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Rawderson_Rangel | Mar 19, 2024 |
I began reading this book with a healthy dose of skepticism. I have read others that sounded more like a bad movie script than a reasoned treatment of Scripture. But I came to strongly appreciate the conclusions drawn.
 
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KeithK999 | Dec 3, 2023 |
Para alguns, esta pergunta pode até parecer esquisita, vinda de um livro que, provavelmente, será lido, na maior parte, por cristãos. Mas eu não a considero tão esquisita assim. A Bíblia contém assuntos bem estranhos—assuntos estes que são difíceis de acreditar, principalmente no mundo moderno.

Não estou me referindo aos grandes tópicos, tais quais a vinda de Jesus à terra como Deus, que depois morreu na cruz e ressuscitou de dentre os mortos. Não estou nem pensando nas histórias miraculosas, como a do êxodo, quando Deus resgatou Israel do Egito, provendo-lhe livramento através do mar Vermelho. A maioria dos cristãos diz que crê nestas coisas. Afinal de contas, se você não crê em Deus nem em Jesus e nem que Eles fizeram coisas milagrosas, então qual é a vantagem de dizer que é cristão?

Refiro-me a coisas não tão conhecidas, coisas sobrenaturais com as quais você se depara, de vez em quando, ao ler a Bíblia mas que raramente escuta a menção delas na igreja.
 
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Rawderson_Rangel | Sep 9, 2023 |
This extensive work is almost unparalleled. His look into the cultural context of the ancient Hebrew text brings new light into today's understanding of the Bible. Eye-opening in expanding my knowledge base.
 
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phlevi | 9 andere besprekingen | Jul 25, 2023 |
The late Dr. Michael Heiser has truly elevated my knowledge of the Near East, specifically, the Jewish people, their faith, and the cultures that surrounded them in that time period. Michael was a scholar of the highest order in my humble opinion, not being afraid to go against the grain of his contemporaries.

There is simply to much to cover in this brief review of the book Demons. I'll only say, my view on the "Serpent" in Genesis 3 has been forever changed because of him. Michael shows us that, in the Faith we proclaim in the 20th/21st century contemporary Christianity, we may have worded or interpret things somewhat differently than that of the ancient Hebrews, or those living in Second Temple Judaism, including the Apostle Paul's views on demons and the spiritual realm. There is a lot to be said regarding our popular knowledge on the Hebrews bible, but perhaps we may consider the idea that we may have erroneously read it with Western eyes.

Truly thought provoking if you are a Christian or bible student. This book is a scholarly work, yet written with the lay-person in mind.
 
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phlevi | Jul 25, 2023 |
LT The Unseen Realm, Michael S. Heiser, Lexham Press, 2015, 7/13-17/23
Given me by Steve Hamblen 5?/23, hard copy is at home by my desk in reference section?

Theme: “recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible”
Type: systematic theology
Value: 1-
Age: college+
Interest: fairly good
Objectionable: much “intertextuality” imaginative tying together (not necessarily objectionable)
Synopsis/Noteworthy:

The divine council

This had been Cindy’s book, a gift from Drew! She had made notes (eg 248 questioning)
Spilled coffee at Hyatt Place 7/19/23 as I was reviewing (caught finger splint)

112-3 “let us”
223-4 location of tabernacle and ark
228 Eden-Sinai-tabernacle-temple
240 summary
241-2 no OT reference to dying and rising Savior
247 Adam needed children to carry on God’s purpose for mankind
268-70 the Name
280 first demon cast out was in NT none in OT
292 led captivity captive Eph 4
300 Table of Nations
334 outposts
385-7 good conclusion

Questions (Drew): 121, 155, 179, 233, 307, 310, 323, 329, 385!
 
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keithhamblen | 9 andere besprekingen | Jul 19, 2023 |
I've read bits and pieces of this previously for some online courses I was taking, and finally went back and reread the whole thing. Its a good book, and much more in depth as a particular study of the heavenly hosts, and those who have remained loyal to the Lord. An interesting deep dive, but in many ways, fairly similar to material that Heiser covered in his other books. IN all honestly, if you've read The Unseen Realm, and perhaps Reversing Hermon, there's not a whole lot that's terribly new here -- most of it is extra detail to support points already made. That said, its still a good book I am glad to have read.

(20023 Review 6)
 
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bohannon | Jul 2, 2023 |
I pretty entertaining story that ties Christianity/UFO's into a story that kept me engaged. The author is a Prof at a seminary, a writer and works for a bible software company. There is a sequel which I will be starting next I think.

I enjoyed this story mostly as a audiobook which the norm for me. The narrator somewhat annoying to me at first, mainly that there was a sound of whining in most of the dialog. But I got used to it was able to ignore it by the middle of the book. Currently the sequel is not out as an audiobook which is a bummer.
 
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sgsmitty | 13 andere besprekingen | Jun 14, 2023 |
Great Read on Angels & the Spiritual Realm to Strentch your mind (I read for free on "Hoopla" App)
 
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JourneyPC | 9 andere besprekingen | Sep 26, 2022 |
The Bible must be interpreted in context to be accurately read and understood. “Context” does not mean any interpretive framework of our time, or any time that came after the era of the biblical writers. Only when we interpret the Bible in light of the context of its original writers and readers can we tap into the originally intended messaging. These three courses situate important themes, concepts, and passages in their original context with the aim of helping students see the importance of original context and how Scripture interprets Scripture.
 
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Rawderson_Rangel | Apr 27, 2022 |
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 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.
 
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chrisvia | 9 andere besprekingen | Apr 29, 2021 |
The book is so good I will not take an star because of incomplete arguments: they are understandable due to it being a collection of articles from a magazine.

Even with some incomplete arguments, this book works effectively of a kinda John H Walton-lite, contextualizing texts in the culture and language of the original writers and readers, and thus renewing out understanding of Scripture. It is even more important in our deracined culture, when almost everyone, from right to left, seems to eixegese instead of exegese.
 
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leandrod | Mar 17, 2021 |
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 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.
 
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mark_read | 9 andere besprekingen | Aug 13, 2020 |
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 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.
 
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PCHcruzr | 9 andere besprekingen | Oct 7, 2019 |
Heiser's Unseen Realm (UR) was a groundbreaker in tearing off the traditional lenses introducing non-academics to the ancient near eastern supernatural worldview that saturates the worldview of the Biblical authors. This followup, Reversing Hermon (RH), focuses specifically on the "sins of the Watchers" in Genesis 6:1-4 and more broadly the influence of 1 Enoch on the Christian Scriptures and broad understanding of Jesus's Messianic mission. Plainly written and well sourced, this is a must-have addition to anyone interested in deciphering the Mediterranean context of the Bible. Two complaints: (1) a lot of overlap with UR, making a few large sections redundant; it's like Heiser was straddling the line between making this a standalone book or a sequel to UR. (2) There were sections where Heiser declined details due to space constraints or technicality; I think Heiser could have punched above weight class in the footnotes and made room by cutting some UR redundancy. He makes up for it in absurdly detailed cross references. In sum: less UR, more technical stuff.

Overall: 4.4/5
 
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ZacharyTLawson | Jul 10, 2019 |
Review forthcoming. In one sentence: this is a really weird, but, highly recommended book for digging into the supernatural mindset of the Biblical authors and that weird Mesopotamian stuff in the Old Testament.
 
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ZacharyTLawson | 9 andere besprekingen | Jul 10, 2019 |
While I found this book interesting, I was left feeling frustrated and disappointed. This is no reflection on the merits of Mr. Heiser's faith or his sincerity. The book was well written and in many cases full of profound connections.

It probably would help to start off by listing some of the author's primary theses that he returns to over and over in this book:

1) The Bible uses the Divine Assembly motif regularly.
2) Human beings were made in God's Image and are thus His "Imagers" (Heiser's word).
3) The Angel of YHWH in the Old Testament is to be equated with Christ.
4) Yahweh disinherited the non-Hebrew nations at the dispersion after the tower of Babel and He concerned Himself with the Hebrew nation exclusively, but with a plan to later bring all other nations into that fold.

While he may explore other topics in here (e.g. Enoch, fallen angels, Hermon, Nephilim, giants, etc), the above four seem to be the ones he returns to more often than not and under which all other topics relate in some way. While I concur with the first two, the last two are either wholly, or in large part, erroneous.

Regarding the first thesis: Psalm 82 has been a verse I've often found interesting as does this author. To cite the verse:

1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

Most Jews and Christians either ignore this verse, or trivialize it and explain it away. The phrase translated as "divine council" is the Hebrew word "Elohim", which is the Hebrew word for God(s). The verse literally reads "Elohim has taken His place among the Elohim, in the midst of the Elohim He holds judgment." The verse is somewhat ambiguous on the surface; and inexplicable when seen from the supposed rigid monotheism of Judaism. The verse gained more illumination following the discovery of the Ugaritic tablets, where very similar language is used regarding the Canaanite/Phoenician gods El and Baal. For a long time now, only secular biblical scholars have been willing to use the Ugaritic tablets as referents for this ambiguous verse in Psalms. I started studying Levantine mythology years ago, so I've been aware of the importance of the Ugaritic tablets and how they indicate that Jews, Phoenicians and other Levantine tribes, shared a common stock of myths. Christians have typically shied away from any implication that the Bible contains any mythology, let alone drew from a mythology shared with the mortal enemies of the Hebrews the Canaanites; thus, the importance of the Ugaritic tablets and Psalm 82 have been largely ignored by theologians--except for idiosyncratic Christians like myself, that is.

I concur with Heiser about the connections between the Divine Assembly motif and various verses of the Bible stretching from Deuteronomy to Revelation. I've seen those connections for some time. He added some verses where I didn't initially see it, e.g. from Revelation; but all the relevant OT verses I was aware of the connection to the Divine Assembly motif. So far I am in agreement with Heiser.

Regarding the second thesis: Heiser also finds the Divine Image motif important as well, but I was left rather perplexed as to what exactly that entails in Heiser's view. He removes it from any practical human attribute, so even his assertion that as Divine "Imagers" we were to be stewards over the earth becomes problematic. I am not sure how our intelligence, freewill, etc, could not be directly relevant to the nature of Divine Image when that status must include practical abilities. I personally believe that being made in God's Image is related to our Spiritual nature and is manifested in our practical abilities. This issue I have with the author is not a major one, so it wouldn't have affected my overall stance regarding the book.

The third thesis above is where we start getting into serious issues. Issues I cannot ignore or glide over lightly. Heiser is intrigued by the language of the OT regarding the Angel of YHWH. In many cases, the OT conflates the Angel with YHWH; sometimes using YHWH as the referent and sometimes the Angel. Once again, I also was aware of these cases and I didn't draw the conclusions that Heiser does. The Angel of YHWH is STILL an angel--that is incredibly important to note. As Heiser mentions in the book a plethora of times, angelos and malach in Greek and Hebrew respectively, simply means "messenger." What I find puzzling is that theologians often fail to make the connection between God The Word and the role of being a Messenger of The Word. The Word (Logos) was essentially also a "message" in the OT. The YHWH Angel, in his office as messenger of the "Word", also carried the Divine authority of the Word he carried. This explains the ambiguity of the language and the subtle conflation that often occurs. It doesn't change the fact that he is still just an angel in himself.

Heiser glosses over all the problematic verses of the OT where the Angel of YHWH doesn't display just Divine characteristics but also positively diabolical ones. For example, the Angel of YHWH is called "the destroyer" in Exodus and related terms are used in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21. He is also called "a satan" (usually translated as "adversary" in English) in Numbers chapter 22. Because Heiser sees the term "satan" as just referring to an office when no article is used (i.e. "the"), he doesn't seem to be all that bothered that in both these cases the names/titles "satan" and "destroyer" are also used as names for fallen angels (might be the same angel, in fact) in the New Testament (see Luke 10:18 and Revelation 9:1, 11). One might be able to explain away one as coincidence, but one can only be called naïve when one tries to do it twice.

Now, someone can think whatever they like about the Angel of YHWH, but Jesus Christ he isn't. Jesus' attributes are largely in conflict with the Angel of YHWH. More often than not the YHWH Angel is associated with death and destruction. Whenever a patriarch or a prophet is in danger of their life, the YHWH Angel isn't far from the scene (Gen. 22:11-12; 32:25; Exodus 4:24). The Angel of YHWH is quite literally the angel of death. While I realize that early church fathers like Justin Martyr equated the angel with Christ, later church fathers, like Augustine, saw the disparity between the two and the teaching was rightly forgotten.

I agree with Heiser that this angel personified (or angelified, really) YHWH in some sense. His was only a preliminary role in the story of salvation though--thankfully. While I have cautious respect for the figure of the Angel of YHWH, he inspires no love in me at all. He's quite an unpleasant fellow. Ultimately, the issues I have with Heiser's interpretation of the angel also relate to my issues with the last thesis. I'll follow this up below.

Now, to the last thesis. The author holds the dispersion at Babel to be a paradigmatic event. Indeed, it was here that YHWH disowned all the non-Hebrew nations, giving them over to lesser elohim (angels), and then called Abraham out of Ur in order to form a people He would care for personally. The issues I have with this premise are manifold. Firstly, the role that death plays in the Bible at the time of the fall cannot be relegated to a bin of insignificant theological anomalies. It is actually here where Satan gains control over all nations--including the Hebrew one. The author's contention that God was personally involved with all events in the life of the Hebrew nation, with no interference from rebellious principalities, is not a premise that can be held consistently when all the Biblical evidence is accounted for.

My biggest frustration came when the author tied the Divine Assembly motif to Galatians chapters 3 and 4 and Hebrews chapters 1 and 2. I agree whole heartedly that the motif is relevant but Heiser misreads all of the above to make them say the opposite of what they actually say.

Lets start with Galatians 3 and 4. In Galatians 3:19, Paul clearly says that the Law (i.e. Torah) was given by angels through the hand of a mediator. Paul sums up the former interaction by saying "but God is One." It's obvious what Paul is saying: Paul is saying that the Hebrews DID NOT have a direct relationship with God. They were twice removed from a direct relationship. Paul's view is that we now have a direct relationship through Christ. If there was no difference between the role of the angels (including the Angel of YHWH), why was Jesus needed? He was needed because there was, and is, a difference between God and the angels who gave the law. Heiser wants to insert the YHWH Angel into the role of mediator in this verse, but even if that were valid, it doesn't change the result; the result is that the angel(s) were not direct intermediaries of God. Just like with the fall in Eden, the role of these angels only comes into play because of human transgression. Counter to what Heiser says, they had authority over the Hebrew nation as well--since the fall, in fact, because that's where transgression entered. Heiser attempts to make these angels innocent bystanders at God's (as the Angel of YHWH, presumably) giving of the law to Moses at Sinai. Chapter 4 of Galatians clearly cannot be divorced from chapter 3. Here Paul goes on to say that the commemoration of special days, months and years, which are all aspects of Torah, are nothing but slavery to the stoicheia angels. Paul is not talking to gentiles at risk of going back into paganism--not at all! He is worried about them, and Christian Jews, becoming Torah slaves. Verses 21-26 drive home the point that non-Christian Hebrews are slaves in bondage. Following Paul's context earlier, non-Christian Hebrews are slaves to the stoicheia powers. This hardly jibes with the premise that the Hebrews had a direct relationship with God.

Heiser only skims over the importance of the term stoicheia and never really explores it sufficiently. He at least concedes the possibility that it refers to spiritual powers in various Pauline epistles. It does indeed. The same term comes up in another relevant passage in Colossians that supports the above reading of Galatians. I am going to quote the passage because Heiser doesn't:

Colossians 2:13-15
13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

So what was the record and legal demands that stood against us? The Torah, of course! What did Christ do with it? Nailed it to the cross. Who were disarmed by this? The rulers and authorities. Who are the rulers and authorities? The angels who gave the law, of course. Far from supporting the supposition that the angels were just innocent bystanders at the giving of the law, Paul makes clear in Colossians that they were the administrators and executioners (double entendre intended) of it. Paul concludes this chapter in Colossians by, once again, mentioning the observing of new moons, festivals, Sabbaths etc--all the ceremonial aspects of Torah that he mentioned in Galatians--and equating the commemorating of such with the worship of angels; and also stating that all the Torah and Rabbinic laws related to handling, tasting and touching, are all aspects of slavery to stoicheia powers.

Heiser wants to use the divine assembly motif in the above verses but he must change the meaning in Psalm 82 where God is judging the angels in the assembly, to God having a peaceful and harmonious assembly with them on Sinai. I am being consistent with Psalm 82 by stating that the same angels God is judging in the Psalm are the angels that were present at Sinai. And, yes, the angels who gave the law included the Angel of YHWH. He is just an angel. I follow this up now.

The very point of Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 is to show that Jesus is superior to angels. The very context of this is that He is a superior intermediary as compared to the intermediaries that gave the law. In no uncertain terms, the author makes it clear that Jesus is not an angel, He is superior to all angels:

Hebrews 1:5-6
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

This makes any direct identification with the Angel of YHWH quite untenable. The Angel of YHWH is just an angel--even if an archangel--and one of the angels that Paul and the author of Hebrews are contrasting with Christ. The similarity begins and ends at them both being intermediaries of God. One was an intermediary of death and law--a preliminary and temporal one. The other is an intermediary of Life and Grace--an eternal one. If one were to appeal to the Edenic symbols that Heiser often explores, Jesus is the Tree of Life and the Angel of YHWH is the sword trying to prevent people from eating of it. They are not the same.

There are other problems I have with the supposition that the Hebrew nation was somehow barred from the rule of rebel angels. Sin was ultimately what gave Satan authority over the world. No human is barred from that reality and thus no nation. When Jesus came on the scene, there were Jews all around Him that were demon possessed. The Jewish nation was under the control of pagans and a murderous Sanhedrin. Satan's temptation that he could give Jesus all the nations, including the Jewish one, was no idle claim. He is called in the New Testament the ruler of this cosmos and the god of this aion. Those are strong terms. No amount of ingenious hermeneutics changes the meaning. Heiser says more than once that "satan" in the OT was the name of an office, and so it is. If it is a title, one would not expect Paul, or other New Testament writers, to feel the need to specify that name and use it amongst titles like those above. They knew who they were talking about and they trusted that you know as well.

Just to be clear: I believe God chose the Hebrew nation for something specific, namely, as the lineage of Christ. They were no less affected by sin and death and the one who held it's power (Hebrews 2:14); and that means their nation was no less prone to demonic influence than any other nation. They proved it when they sentenced Christ to death.

I would like to end on a positive note. I like Heiser's willingness to use extra-Biblical literature to help understand Biblical context. I also was impressed that he gives the Septuagint a lot of credit. It's rare to see theologians do that today.

I know this review is long but I felt compelled to state my issues in this review. If they were minor ones, I wouldn't have felt the need to address them. I am giving the book a 2-and-a-half to 3 star rating. I am taking into account the author's sincerity and his overall desire to get across a Christian message.

I am willing to debate any points I made in this review. One can either comment, if a friend, or message me, if not.
2 stem
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Erick_M | 9 andere besprekingen | Aug 27, 2018 |
This is an amazing book that explores the cosmology of heaven. It is quite eye opening. I highly recommend it!
 
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authorjdking | 9 andere besprekingen | Dec 27, 2017 |
Very thought-provoking but strays theologically a few times. Did not hold my attention very well.
 
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parapreacher | Sep 23, 2016 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
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 "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.
 
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thedenathome | 13 andere besprekingen | Jul 17, 2014 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
I was interested in reading this book because it is an apocalyptic thriller (the same genre that I write currently). The prologue opens with written explanation (which seems like a biblical, nonfiction material or short dissertation on nephilims). I am curious about the "Watchers" and interested in the Nephilims who are half-human and half-demon and filled with a demonic spirit. (In future, I will write on this subject area and curious on the author's interpretation, tone, and direction taken on writing such a novel.)

As I started reading the book, I loved the emotions evoked, suspense of a dark being in the room after discussing about his artifacts and dealing with customs in Iraq, and engaging dialogue. Slightly further in the story, once they are with the Group and in the Facility, there is rumors about extraterrestrial life forms and mad cow disease going on with a debriefing on the subject which started losing me in the storyline. Early on, I thought it was on spiritual dark beings... His writing style is good, but then he encompasses so much 1947/50s insight from alien sightings and other scientific measures while I am waiting for the plot to thicken and reveal some loose ends I read in the earlier chapters. I hope the conclusions will unfold, not leave me hanging in a 524 paged book.

I received an eBook copy from the publisher for a book review on LibraryThing.

Adrienna Turner
Author of "God is in the Equation"
www.dream4more.us (Dream 4 More Reviews)
 
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Adrienna_Turner | 13 andere besprekingen | Feb 17, 2013 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
This could have been a brilliant book - a secret organization masterminding a conspiracy to get the world "used to" the idea that extraterrestrials exist and are here. Unfortunately, it's not brilliant, it's a bit of a mess. The pacing is all wrong; there's way to much exposition and setup to the story. The characters are cardboard and easily slotted into the usual stereotypes for this kind of story. The religious aspects were heavy-handed.

Ultimately, I just didn't buy the premise, though. It would be easy to manipulate the public into accepting UFOs. Just flood the market with books and movies about aliens, and build stories like the Roswell crash into our culture. Uh, kinda like Hollywood's been doing for the last few decades....

Anyway, the book's flaws are many and I just can't recommend it.½
 
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drneutron | 13 andere besprekingen | Feb 14, 2013 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
~~~ Read the full review at http://www.robbflynn.com/?p=2257 ~~~

There’s lots to like about Michael S. Heiser’s The Facade. There’s also a lot to dislike. As a novel, I think it fails. Utterly and miserably. As a scholarly exploration, however, I found it intriguing and compelling.

And that’s where the difficulty comes in offering some insight into The Facade.

Let’s get the story part out of the way first, I suppose, so we can end on a high note.

The premise is a strong one. A secret agency, both within the government and, yet, outside its purview, is gathering some of the greatest scientific and theologic minds in the United States. Gathering them forcefully, I should add. Their task? To ready the world, specifically the world’s religions, for the coming of extra-terrestrials.

The concept is brilliant. The execution… not so much.

~~~ Read the full review at http://www.robbflynn.com/?p=2257 ~~~½
 
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RobbFlynn | 13 andere besprekingen | Feb 5, 2013 |
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