Michael S. Heiser on Canon of the Old Testament
No position located in this corpus
Searched in the sources read for this figure and not found. A limit of the reading rather than a claim about the figure — a source not yet read could settle it.
"I don't consider the book of 1 Enoch canonical." and "A thing does not have to be considered inspired for a thing to be considered useful and important."
THE POSITION
Rejects the canonicity of 1 Enoch flatly while insisting the book matters enormously for reading the New Testament, and draws the distinction sharply: usefulness and inspiration are separate questions, and quotation by a biblical author settles nothing. On the deuterocanonical books themselves he narrates the history without issuing a verdict.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones 15 to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”
WHAT OTHERS HOLD HERE
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Old Testament and Semitic languages scholar (PhD, Wisconsin, 2004), Scholar-in-Residence at Faithlife/Logos, and host of the Naked Bible Podcast. Argued that the Hebrew Bible assumes a real divine council of lesser elohim under Yahweh, and held that this reading defends rather than threatens the deity of Christ.
Cite this page
"Michael S. Heiser on Canon of the Old Testament", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/heiser/ot-canon (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/heiser/ot-canon).