Shortly after receiving a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Michael Heiser, a professor of biblical studies and the author of the widely acclaimed book The Unseen Realm (2015), passed away.
Heiser’s official Twitter account confirmed his passing, noting that the academic passed away at 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday. As of Tuesday morning, the tweet had received over 463,000 views.
Heiser earned master’s degrees from the Universities of Pennsylvania in 1992 with a focus on Ancient Egypt and Syria-Palestine, the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 with a focus on Hebrew and Semitic Studies, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004 with a focus on the same subject and a dissertation titled “The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature.”
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 are just a few of the fiction and nonfiction books written by Heiser.
Heiser published The Unseen Realm in 2015, and as of Tuesday morning, it had a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Amazon.
Author and Christian apologist Jay Atkins suggested The Unseen Realm in a column for The Christian Post 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.
On Jan. 3, Michael’s wife, Drenna, posted on his Facebook page that he experienced a serious medical emergency shortly after Christmas in which he had “approximately 4 pints of blood in his body when he should have 12-14 points for a man his size.”
“To say the least, this was shocking. A blood transfusion was ordered. He received 3 units on Sunday and, almost immediately, he was so much better,” she wrote.
In January, Heiser announced on Facebook he had stage 4 “of a very aggressive pancreatic cancer,” with the tumor having “now invaded the upper GI and stomach areas causing slow, uncontrollable bleeding.”
“In essence, I am bleeding out at a slow rate with no solution. I am presently not in pain, but am very week, a condition that will worsen until I am gone,” stated Heiser.
“Since there are no further treatment options available to us, we have chosen to spend my remaining time at home. We are guessing (we have not been given a number) that this means I’ll live anywhere from a week to several weeks.”
Heiser added that while “this news is depressing,” he “will die happy to have served the Lord and you all in the ways I have.”
“God has been very good to us, gifting me in discernible ways and, I think just as importantly, given me heart for the lay community – all of you,” he continued.
“I desired nothing more than to empower all of you to study Scripture more deeply, to unlock the Bible for you in ways inaccessible to all but scholars. This brought me a special joy.”
