I just found out via Liberty University (I'm adjunct for them in their distance program) that I can post links on my blog to free PDF articles that I have written. I presume they have cleared everything with respect rights or they wouldn't be suggesting this to...
Hebrew
Genesis & Creation – Class 4 of 4
Editor's note: Replaced original link; here is the fourth/ final in the series of lectures on creation that Dr. Heiser gave at Grace Church Bellingham from September to October 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=589NDmbH9nk
Genesis & Creation – Class 3 of 4
Editor's note: Original link replaced, and added the previous class of this series where Dr. Heiser spoke at Grace Church Bellingham on the creation of Genesis 1 in light of the ancient Near East. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOWTdhAFEh4...
Genesis 1:2 and the “Gap Theory”
Blogging has been a bit tough lately. This post (like everything else I'm working on presently) is overdue. Some have asked for some comments about the validity of the gap theory - the idea that Genesis 1:1 speaks of the initial creation, while Genesis 1:2 describes...
Crucifixion in Antiquity Update
The ETC blog posted this recent update on the "controversy" surrounding the recent dissertation that archeoporn-peddling journalists touted as saying Jesus didn't die on a cross. I had blogged a bit on that.
Genesis & Creation – Class 1 of 4
Editor's note: Original broken link replaced. Here is the first in a series of four lectures about Genesis and creation that Dr. Heiser gave at Grace Church Bellingham in September to October 2010. In this lecture, Dr. Michael Heiser tackles one of the most debated...
On John Walton’s Understanding of Hebrew Bara’
Some of you have asked for a summary of where I disagree with Walton on bara'. What follows below is an exchange between John Hobbins (another friend of mine and Hebrew scholar) and Walton. My reservations are essentially those that are expressed by Hobbins. Hobbins...
Why Learn Akkadian?
I know. You're thinking I'll say "because it is there." Here is a more practical answer from a review of an important recent lexical resource. Editor's note: above link is annoying and hard to read on a screen with pop-ups, ads, and images, so reproducing the content...
God as Creator of All Things — Including the Material Already Present at Genesis 1:1
For this post (and the next one) to make sense, you need to recall the initial post on Genesis 1. The conclusion of that post (and the powerpoint video) was that, according to the Hebrew syntax of Genesis 1:1-3, Genesis 1:1 ("when God began to create...") was NOT the...
Genesis 1 and Creationism
I'll be presenting this topic in church next month, so this powerpoint video is a warm-up of sorts. It's one the *real* issue in Genesis 1 with respect to the "timing" of creation: the clause structure. You probably just yawned, I know. But a majority of you asked...
Serpent and Eve PaleoBabble FollowUp
Some of you may have noticed that there has been recent discussion on this thread on the PaleoBabble site. Apparently someone who desperately wants to say the serpent and Eve had sex to (not sure) defend Zecharia Sitchin or some sort of sexual activity between...
Learning to Use Hebrew and Greek
I think I blogged about this in the past, but if not, here goes. One of the recent projects I've worked on at Logos has been creating a set of video tools for teaching people who can read only English how to use Greek and Hebrew for Bible study. I did the Hebrew; my...
Walton and Van Wolde: Hebrew Bara’ Does Not Mean “To Create”
John Hobbins has a helpful post offering links to the critiques of the thesis of Ellen Van Wolde that Hebrew bara' does not mean "create". John Walton's recent book The Lost World of Genesis 1, positively reviewed by me here and (soon) in print, has popularized this...
Israel Knohl and April DeConick (and now Heiser) on the Gabriel Stone
April DeConick just posted a letter from Prof. Israel Knohl, the transcriber of the Gabriel Stone. Prof. Knohl comments on her previous post (which I in turn posted for you all). The response notes a suggestion by Dr. DeConick with which Dr. Knohl disagrees. You can...
Biblical Anthropology, Part 4
I've posted prelimianry notes on both ruach and nephesh in the previous two posts. Now it's time to merge those files and observations. It's pretty interesting that the terms are used so often in the same ways and to describe the same things. Here's a list: 1. The...