Note: This review was originally an Instagram story, so the length was limited. This book is almost a must read for me.
Overview
The Unseen Realm is all about "recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible". Namely, how a Jewish resident of the ancient near east saw the biblical events.
Heiser goes through the overarching narrative of the Bible, paying extra attention to the Spiritual realm. Many of Heiser's observations are totally unknown to a 21st-century reader.
Heiser takes into account original language, the Septuagint, cultural context, and the "divine council" worldview. Heiser argues for a whole "Spiritual" side of the biblical story that has been hidden by time and tradition. This whole spiritual side is closely intertwined with the biblical narrative.
This book is a comprehensive guide to the supernatural portions of the Bible. There indeed is a whole other realm of existence beyond our own, and there is a war waging there between Yahweh and His adversaries!
Why read This?
Our English Bibles today are very helpful. However, through years of translation, change of traditions, and change of ideals, we have lost much of the original contexts of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Bible. In The Unseen Realm, Heiser shares with us 15 years of his academic research.
This book is mind-blowing. It shows an entire Spiritual narrative of the Bible that I have never considered before. Does God have a divine council? The nations are under the control of evil foreign deities? Did Jesus declare a Spiritual war? These are only a few of the mind-blowing discoveries in this book.
As Heiser would say, we shouldn't be scared of the strange aspects of the Bible. Parts that seem almost mythological. Modern interpretations have oftentimes sought to bring forth a modern explanation to these "mythical" aspects of the Bible. Heiser disagrees, he wants to show you how the biblical narratives would have been understood by an ancient Jew who holds a supernatural worldview by considering their language and culture at the time.
It was cool to see a piece of writing that tackled these ideas. We've always known that there was a Spiritual realm, and beings like angels and demons do exist, but our understanding is far too shallow. Plus, I had no idea how they fitted into the Biblical narrative and why. Now, I have somewhere to start! And man, there is a really EPIC narrative in there, and we are living in it today!
All of Heiser's arguments in this book are backed up by peer-reviewed scholarly research. For your learning purposes. (I didn't read them all cause I'm not smart)
Potential Pitfalls
First off, you should have a basic understanding of the entire Bible narrative before you jump into this book. At least read through the Bible carefully once. This book is a decently complex material, especially heavy on the Old Testament.
Secondly, I will admit that the things Heiser argues for in this book are pretty "out there". In the sense that you would have never heard it from an average modern church pulpit. I would advise that you examine those claims carefully. As far as I observe, Heiser's view of the Spiritual realm does not change fundamental Christian beliefs, but one should still always strive for truth. Before you go and scream at your friends with all the new mind-blowing details of the Bible, please do your homework first.
Thirdly, this book is fascinating stuff, it's good knowledge and very academic. However, Heiser's telling of the biblical narrative (granted that it's only half the story, the spiritual side) is more like a mythological tale than the Christianity I know and love. Don't get me wrong, I fully believe that there are some extraordinary things in the Bible such as other deities and Spiritual warfare, but we must never forget the close personal relationship we must have with God. So when you read this book, don't get too caught up in the epic Spiritual coolness, remember your first love! The story of the Bible is not just an epic tale, it is also a story of love and redemption, I'm sure Heiser would agree with me on that.
To see more of Dr. Michael Heiser, see here
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