Oct. 10, 2025

Unseen Realm Expanded with Mike Chu — A Heiser-ish Conversation - Episode 148

Unseen Realm Expanded with Mike Chu — A Heiser-ish Conversation - Episode 148
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Unseen Realm Expanded with Mike Chu — A Heiser-ish Conversation - Episode 148

Carey sits down with Mike Chu to talk through the new Unseen Realm — Expanded Edition, how Heiser clarified his stance on creeds, why frame semantics and ancient contexts matter, and why a Christotelic reading (aimed at the eschaton) can keep Scripture’s big story intact. Along the way: pastoral cautions about celebrity culture, the value of scholarship and seminary, and a practical reframing of Imago Dei as being made as God’s image (not merely “in” it). Highlights include: Heiser’s “non-credal” (not anti-credal) posture, Genesis 6 in an exilic frame, and how holiness as “other” reshapes baptism, worship, and daily vocation.

  • What’s actually new in Unseen Realm (Expanded Edition) and why it matters for teachers and small-group leaders

  • Heiser on creeds: non-credal vs anti-credal, and using creeds as boundaries, not as an interpretive lens

  • Christocentric vs Christotelic: aiming at the end goal of Christ (including the Spirit and the Eschaton)

  • Reading Genesis 6 with an exilic Mesopotamian frame vs a Mosaic/Egyptian frame

  • Imago Dei as vocation: “made as God’s image,” and why that lands pastorally

  • The completion of AWKNG School of Theology's "Seminary on a Thumb Drive" initiative

On This Rock Biblical Theology Community:  https://on-this-rock.com/  

Website: genesismarksthespot.com   

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GenesisMarkstheSpot   

Music credit: "Marble Machine" by Wintergatan

Link to Wintergatan’s website: https://wintergatan.net/  

Link to the original Marble Machine video by Wintergatan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q&ab_channel=Wintergatan 

00:00 - Welcoming Mike; DCW year ahead & community vibe

05:01 - Expanded Edition notes (preface timeline, Awakening)

06:46 - “Vibe shift”: hunger for scholarship & plain speech

08:34 - Pushback & avoiding Heiser-only celebrity culture

10:21 - Listening > labels; scholarly retrieval as discipleship

21:05 - Heiser and the Creeds: Non-credal, Not Anti-credal

25:21 - Christocentric vs Christotelic (aiming at the eschaton)

35:59 - Theological Messaging: God with Us

41:28 - Genesis 6: Exilic Mesopotamian Frame vs Mosaic/Egyptian

48:05 - The value of listening in scholarly study

53:24 - Imago Dei: “as” God’s image, not merely “in” (pastoral payoffs)

58:55 - Why we need teachers who do the dirty work

01:05:12 - Are seminaries cemetaries?

01:09:21 - The value of learning in cohorts

01:12:36 - Diversity, cohesion, and the need to find support

01:17:47 - Remind, Remind, Remind: Don't lose your identity

01:24:07 - Wrapping up thoughts on The Unseen Realm Expanded Edition

01:24:08 - AWKNG School of Theology: Seminary on a Thumb Drive