Born February 14,1963
Died February 20, 2023
Dr. Michael Steven Heiser, PhD, loving husband, amazing dad to 4 children, faithful friend, and devoted follower of Jesus passed to his forever Heavenly home peacefully with his wife, Drenna, by his side after a year and a half long battle with pancreatic cancer on February 20th, 2023, at the young age of 60.
Mike was born in Lancaster, Pa, to Janice Reed Heiser on February 14, 1963. He grew up in the small town of Lebanon, PA, with 1 brother and 3 step siblings. He graduated from Cedar Crest High School in 1981. Mike then headed off to bible college and university where he majored in History with a Political Science minor. He graduated suma cum laude and won the prestigious history award for a historical piece he wrote on the university that he graduated from. The University of Pennsylvania was his next stop where he earned a MA degree in Ancient History. He moved on to the University of Wisconsin in Madison where he earned an MA and PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages with a minor in Classical studies. His expertise and work focused on the nature of the spiritual realm in the bible which he turned into a bestselling book, The Unseen Realm. He has written over a dozen books which include two science fiction novels. He served as Logos Bible Software’s scholar-in-residence from 2004 to 2019 in Bellingham, WA before moving to Jacksonville, FL, in 2020, to serve as Executive Director of the Awakening School of Theology and Ministry at Celebration Church. His podcast, The Naked Bible Podcast, ran weekly for 8 years with over 450 episodes with 5 million downloads a year. Miqlat.org. is the nonprofit he started that focused on ministering to disseminate his scholarship and make it attainable to the average person. He also had a popular YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers.
Outside of his academic work, Michael was a huge sports fan playing football and baseball in high school and college. During the football and baseball seasons, he would spend hours setting his lineups for Fantasy Football and Baseball. His favorite teams were the Boston Red Sox and the Green Bay Packers. He was also an animal lover and had three pugs–Mori, Norman, and Stevie.
Dr. Heiser is survived by his wife of 35 years, Drenna, children Amy, Molly, Calvin, and Simcha, and sons-in-law Riley and Todd. He is also survived by his brothers Brad, Walter, Eddie, and sisters Kori, Kelly, and Mary.
A celebratory memorial service will be held in April in his hometown of Lebanon, PA, officiated by his longtime mentor and friend, Dr. David Burggraff. This is by invite and RSVP only.
In lieu of flowers, we ask that you donate to the Dr. Michael Heiser Scholarship Fund at the AWKNG School of Theology and Ministry. Click on the link https://donorbox.org/school-of-theology-general-web-donations and chose Dr. Michael Heiser Scholarship Fund under the designation drop down menu.
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