UPTM #4 | A Deep Coherence: Organic Process and the Biblical Meta-Narrative
UPTM #4 | A Deep Coherence: Organic Process and the Biblical Meta-Narrative
Can we find unifying resonance in the themes we've found in nature & man in civilizational founding stories from thousands of years ago?
|| UPTM Table of Contents || Prelude | Part 1: 21st Century Paradigm | Part 2: Nature | Part 3: Man | Part 4: Bible | Part 5: Organic-Computational Theology | Part 6: Transcendental Ideals | Part 7: Re-Imagining Modernity | Full Research PDF
1. On the Power and Purpose of Stories
Having explored the evolutionary process in nature and the brain, the question naturally arises: Can we discern similar themes in the myths and stories that have shaped human civilizations throughout history? Can we find in works from thousands of years ago the same processes of evolutionary unfolding that occur in both nature and the recent self-organizing complexity occurring in our minds? What makes a good story resonate - is it perhaps when it’s aligned with these hidden forces of nature?
Stories serve a profound purpose in human cultures. They act as a binding glue, enabling societies to cohere around shared generative models of the world. The great mythic traditions of civilizations worldwide, despite their diverse imagery and plotlines, seem to point to perennial truths about the deep structures of nature.
While a rich deep dive of other cultural myths is very much warranted, we will focus our efforts on the foundational narrative of the Western tradition, the Bible, of which key stories have been beautifully brought to life by the greats such as Milton in Paradise Lost and Dante in Divine Comedy.1
Our focus will be more analytical in nature - beneath the literal content of these ancient scriptures, we will look to uncover a quiet meta-narrative aligned with process philosophy core insights of organic growth, transformation, symmetry, self-similarity and complexification.
When I was first exposed to the Bible through mandatory classes in high school and college, I like many folks of my millennial generation I would imagine, dismissed it as scraps of cultural narrative tales and moral musings, debunked by the latest discoveries in science such as the Big Bang. In terms of my background and exposure to the Bible, I grew-up in an agnostic household, not going to Church or Synagogue. Save for a few mandatory classes and the best period of a teenager’s life, of course - the period when all your friends are getting Bat Mitzvah’d.
So it’s interesting to revisit the Biblical narrative today with naive eyes. What if there is an underlying internal logic and beauty to this ancient story? And in an Einstein imagination thought experiment in the context of thinking about the Bayesian Brain, if each character represented a neuron, what would that “mind” look like?
By carefully parsing the Bible’s chiasmatic internal logic, we remarkably find a seven-fold structure permeating in a fractal-like manner through the entirety of the text, in both language, plot structure, and even the literary architecture of the entire canon itself. Across nested hierarchies, the works emulate the chiasmatic process themes of existential involution, turn, and conscious evolution.
We will be cautious about over fitting the data here. But let us be clear - if this has merit, which seems promising, this discovery would be absolutely fascinating. The biblical works from thousands years ago, far from being scraps of cultural and moral tales, are logically and purposefully designed and embed in a meta-narrative patterns similar to both the the self-organizing complexity of nature & our minds.
The full body of evidence suggests an intimate continuity of profound metaphysical insight flowing unbroken from primordial civilizations into our present-day philosophical vanguard all the way up to our own embodied existence as explored via the Bayesian brain, connecting all of us in a cosmic symphony. It is an invitation to read the Bible with fresh eyes.
Could religion and science be harmoniously wed together - the ultimate union of centuries of scientific progress and millennium of narrative insight into the human condition? The implications are profound. It could open up an entirely new way of seeing the world in an enchanted way. The Bible could be, not just metaphorically but very literally, the story of us. What if you are in fact, Adam, the Garden of Eve is your mother’s womb, the Cherubim guarding the gates are her uterus walls, and the Biblical narrative is the unfolding story of your very life?
Impossibly hard to fathom even as a simple counterfactual in our secular world. Perhaps, then, the Bible is indeed the ultimate Generative Model. AGI that has solved the hallucination and alignment problem; looking at you - ardent techno-optimists.
Our plan here will be to initially provide a case for Genesis-inspired process themes across the various levels of the story, drawing predominately on Michael Bull’s The Bible Matrix series.2 This type of work extends the branch of “systematic typology” - “big picture” thinking with a more explicit interpretation of symbols - via the work of theologians like James Jordan (Through New Eyes and Biblical Horizons) and Peter Leithart.
Subsequently, once we’ve established the connectivity between process philosophy and the deep underlying structure of the Bible, we will then have some fun: we will use this mapping to provide a predictive processing account of the Biblical narrative including the Christological story arc. The cosmic mind, if you will.
2. Ripples from Genesis: Fractal-Like Chiasms Across Symbolism and Narrative
Our initial inspiration here comes from Michael Bull’s book The Bible Matrix, with online introductory text found at Reading the Bible in 3D. He posits that the Bible contains an internal logic that is often overlooked given our linear rationalist thinking and lack of discernment for literary musicality & symbolism. To unlock the understanding of the Bible, all we need is to understand a skeleton key hiding in the first chapters of Genesis.
This skeleton key is a “shape” - a sevenfold chiasm with an emphasis on a pivotal “turn” at the center, similar to the “V” formation of Geese. There and back again. And of course, similar to our process arc: Stage I to Stage IV to Stage VII. The Bible is one note, one motif - the chiasm - all played at different spatial scales. This “skeleton key” - the seven-fold chiasm - unlocks the new interpretation of reading of the Bible.
He finds this same chiasmatic pattern appearing in a self-similar, fractal-like manner across the work - from Genesis most obviously, to literary structure, Tabernacle construction, Festivals, sacrifice, worship, subplots & overarching plots. This theme occurs in the very language, narrative arcs, and the literary architecture of the Bible as a whole. In a Goethean fashion - seed, tree and branch are imprinted with the same pattern.3
As a secondary but still key point, this also has notable implications on the way we understand parts vs. whole. Far from the dominant reductionist paradigm which dissects parts into oblivion, what the self-similar literary structure reflects is that the part is itself a whole and reflects the entirety of the whole. As William Blake beautifully states in one of my favorite poems, Auguries of Innocence: “To see a World in a Grain of Sand. And a Heaven in a Wild Flower. Hold Eternity in the palm of your hand. And Eternity in an hour.”
As a caveat before we dive in, I will be the first to admit that I am not a Biblical expert and the world of Biblical interpretation is very much new to me. My initial reaction is that Bull can find himself extending his pattern recognition in stretch ways at times, but there is indeed a very deep - and what I can only imagine often overlooked or at the least requires years of diligent Biblical study - insight that he’s touched on this singular refracted chiasmic motif. It’s very much a fascinating thread to pull further.4
Mapping the Biblical Chiasmus Onto the Seven-Stage Arc
While we shouldn’t be surprised with the Genesis seven days of creation, the interesting question is: how deep does this structure permeate the entirety of the narrative?
As we mentioned, this structure is not simply in the Genesis creation story but as mentioned but finds its way throughout the entirety of the symbolism and narrative arcs. Note here we will use slightly different language to capture the involution vs. evolution arc: our nomenclature becomes “forming/priestly” vs. “filling/kingly” with the turn as the center of the chiasmus.
1. Existential Involution <> Forming/Priestly [Lowering Meaning / Sensory States]
Existential involution finds its parallel in the “Forming/Priestly” dynamics of the Biblical narrative. This refers to Creation, Division, and Ascension and Days 1 to 3 of Genesis. In the creation story, God’s “top-down” agency establishes the fundamental structures of the cosmos, mirroring the arc of involution where infinite potential becomes increasingly constrained as it manifests in specific forms. The forming/priestly dynamic is also reflected in the symbolism and imagery throughout the Biblical narrative, such as the Tabernacle and Temple and the Mosaic law.
This could potentially map to “Sensory States” of Markov Blankets.
2. The Turn <> Center of Chiasmus [Internal State]
The critical turning point at the center of the seven-stage arc, where involution shifts to evolution. It is mirrored by Day 4 in the Genesis creation story and “Testing” in Bull’s terminology. This represents a shift from the forming/priestly work of the first three days to the filling/kingly work of the last three days. This typically in the narrative is in the form of confronting sin.
This could potentially map to Internal State of Markov Blanket.
3. Conscious Evolution <> Filling/Kingly [Raising Matter / Active States]
Conscious evolution finds its expression in the “Filling/Kingly” dynamics of the Biblical narrative. This maps to Maturity, Conquest, and Glorification in Bull’s language. In Genesis, God fills the structures of creation with animals and humans who are blessed to “be fruitful and multiply” in Days 5 and 6. This kingly work of proliferation and diversification mirrors the arc of evolution and is also evident in the symbolism and narrative arcs through symbolism of multiplicity and higher-levels of integrated wholeness.
This could potentially map to “Active States” of Markov Blanket.
By mapping these three phases of the seven-stage arc onto the chiasmus structure and recognizing their symbolic expressions throughout the Biblical narrative, we can discern a coherence between the patterns of involution-evolution, the unfolding narrative, and arguably history. The forming/priestly and filling/kingly dynamics are recapitulated in the lives of individuals, communities, and the overarching story of redemption, suggesting that the Biblical narrative is a revelation of the universal principles governing the dynamics of growth and transformation.
“The Action of the Fourth Phase [Level IV - The Turn] is the love of God for the world. It is the particular providence for particular occasions. What is done in the world is transformed into a reality in heaven [Evolution / Filling / Raising Matter / Recognition Model], and the reality in heaven passes pack into the world [Involution / Forming / Lowering Meaning / Generative Model]. By reason of this reciprocal relation, the love in the world passes into the love in heaven, and floods back into the world. In this sense, God is the Great Companion - the fellow sufferer who understands.” - Alfred Whitehead, Process & Reality
4. Our Modern Rosetta Stone: Mapping Science to Biblical Symbolism
4.1 Our Science & Religion Bridge: A Symbolic Philosophy of Organism
Let’s first explore how the arc manifests in symbolism. We will then proceed to the literary structure in the next section.
While the below will be dense with Bull’s summary of Biblical symbolism language throughout the entirety of the narrative, the idea will be to get a high-level sense of the rhythm for each section5. Here I’ll bring the life cycle of our little hydroid from our Part 1: Nature section, restated and mapped again to provide our scientific Rosetta stone: (1) starts as one cell; (2) becomes multicellular, (3) acquires a shape (identity) (4) fastens to the ocean floor (5) grows in plant-like fashion (6) flowers break into mobile jellyfish and (7) fertilization. To quote directly below:
1) Creation [Starts as One Cell]: This step concerns the initiating “Word” from God to man. It is the light on Day 1 of Creation, the Tablets hidden in the Ark, or a stagnated Sabbath rest (slavery in Egypt) that the Lord comes to disturb with a new cycle so a better rest may be given. Cycles begin with someone speaking.
2) Division [Becomes Multicellular]: Find a firmament, a robe, something torn in two - splitting the waters on Day 2 of Genesis. Concerns the Covenant “Head”. It is a sackcloth as a symbol of mourning for sin or the tearing of a robe as a symbol of grief. It is death in the darkness of the Passover. It is a people torn in two or a call for a journey, an exodus of those called to divide those who are not called. Themes of multiplicity.
3) Ascension [Acquires a Shape]: Concerns the Covenant “Head”. Fundamentally singular. First fruits of Harvest, Moses ascending Sinai to receive the Law, the Bronze Altar is the mountain rising out of the sea, Moses is the new Adam submitting to God as grain and fruit plants, a promise of future bread and wine. Motifs are related to housebuilding, gold and silver temples, and a promise to be fulfilled at “Glorification”. Part of this “near bringing” was the institution of a centralized priesthood and construction of the Tabernacle according to the pattern given on the mountain. Motifs relate to housebuilding, gold and silver temple vessels, and enthronement - establishment of order & identity.
4) Testing [Fastens to Ocean Floor]: Find references to sun, moon, stars as heavenly or earthly rulers. In the garden, Satan as a corrupted ruler tested Adam and usurped the authority Adam would have received had he been faithful. The seven lights of the Lampstand are also the “governing” eyes of the Lord, so there is often a reference to eyes, to sight, or ironically to blindness. The main theme of this is the testing in the wilderness and head-on confrontation of sin. Recall from our Hydroid example that this is a period of self-limitation that sets the stage for true expansion.
5) Maturity [Grows in Plant-Like Fashion]: Concerns the Covenant “body” and fundamentally plural. It concerns armies or hosts and pictures multitudes and unlikely companions that are tied together, birds and fish, incense clouds, brothers and soldiers, cold hard cash. This step fills the firmament formed on Day 2. It is also the forming of the “Eve” body for the Adam “head”. Adam is singular, but Eve, mother of all, is plural. It is a cloud ascending to God, a shining entity that acts as one, a “collective noun” unified by the Spirit under the Covenant head. Here there are also references to Moses repeating the Law to the next generation, which matches Ascension in the chiasm.
6) Conquest [Flowers Break Off Into Mobile Jellyfish]: Besides the obvious symbols of conquest, references to Adam’s high priesthood: he carries the Covenant people from Maturity into glorification as precious gems on his bosom, via the opened veil through which the High Priest would pass once a year. The “Laver” is the most important symbol in Conquest, mirroring the Red Sea at Division, water is a recurring motif here, everything from the Jordan River to New Covenant baptism. It is the ascension of the saints to stand on the crystal sea before God’s throne and govern as a corporate mediator.
7) Glorification [Fertilization]: This final step not only brings the cycle to an end but sets up the next one. It enthrones the completed church, head and body (captain and army) as a corporate mediator for the nations. At Tabernacles, here you will find vines and fig trees, wine and oil. It is an “ingathering” and a greater feast. This new marriage of heaven and earth produces godly offspring. They are commissioned and sent out to dominate the world as new Creation-words. They are pictured as children, letters, rivers, or even swift horses. Glorification is both a rest for the faithful parents/conquerors/overcomers of the old cycle and a new Light that initiates a Greater Creation week. Biologically: sperm & egg.
Utterly amazing! Really take the time to review the resonance between science and symbol. With the two side by side, I hope you can see the similarity and underlying organic undertones flowing consistently through the symbolism. Simply put, the Bible - is, arguably, an internally-consistent living & growing organism of humanity. A microcosmic human story that fractally refracts the cosmic story, perhaps? Note that the entire structure of the Biblical narrative is based on this Chiastic structure from micro symbolism to macro literary structure - meaning that this process of transformation occurs across all scales!
I’d wager this is one of the most remarkable and profound insights I’ve come across - high-fidelity proof of a philosophy of organism flowing through the Biblical narrative via symbolism. This was intuited by Plato in Timaeus, modernized in a coherent metaphysical philosophy by Alfred Whitehead albeit without the explicit Biblical interpretation, and has been brought to mathematical rigor via the self-organization language of complexity science.
If there’s one insight that’s worth taking away from the entire research, it’s this one: our Science & Religion Rosetta Stone.
Not to sound too dramatic - and reader, please feel free to push back on this claim, but I would like a moment to acknowledge the potential magnitude of this discovery. If true, this to me represents a generation defining philosophical insight and complete paradigm shift. It, almost incontrovertibly, demonstrates that nature’s life cycle is reflected in Biblical symbolism, merging science + religion.
As this establishes a high-conviction connection to our philosophy of organism, we will take this all the way and leverage the full power of our insight to fold in the entire process framework and active inference to help us interpret the Biblical narrative.
4.2 Additional Consilience: Whitehead’s Overview of the Four Creative Phases
We’ll also quote from Whitehead’s Process & Reality to further make the case for the consilience between symbolism & process metaphysics, where he intuits and abstracts the symbolic flow:
There are thus four creative phases in which the universe accomplishes its actuality.
First Level: (I) Creation & (VII) Glorification [Point - No Time / No Space] There is first the phase of conceptual origination, deficient in actuality, but infinite in its adjustment of valuation.
Second Level: (II) Division & (VI) Conquest [Line - Time-Like] Secondly, there is the temporal phase of physical origination, with its multiplicity of actualities. In this phase, full actuality is attained; but there is deficiency in the solidarity of individuals with each other. This phase derives its determinate conditions from the first phase.
Third Level: (III) Ascension and (V) Maturity [Plane - Space-Like] Thirdly, there is the phase of perfected actuality, in which the many are one everlastingly, without the qualification of any loss either of individual identity or of completeness of unity. In everlastingness, immediacy is reconciled with objective immortality. This phase derives the conditions of its being from the two antecedent phases.
Fourth Level: (IV) Testing [Solid - Time & Space] In the fourth phase, the creative action completes itself. For the perfected actuality passes back into the temporal world, and qualifies this world so that each temporal actuality includes it as an immediate fact of relevant experience. For the kingdom of heaven is with us today.”
- Alfred North Whitehead, Process & Reality
4.3 A Specific Example: The Thematic & Symmetrical Elements of Isaiah
To provide another specific example in the Biblical Narrative, let’s take the Prophecy of Isaiah6. Per Michael Bull, we have the below which describes the thematic links of each of the matching pairs of symmetry:
To quote the right side:
Volumes 1 and 7: Relate to worship in the Garden — the first Volume in the old Garden (like Eden before the Flood) and the last in the new Garden City are as an image of the final state of humanity. [First Level: Deficient in Actuality, Infinite in Adjustment of Valuation]
Volumes 2 and 6: Are linked in that Exodus and Joshua are linked. Volume 2 arranges its oracles as two “bloodied doorposts” upon the house of the old world, taking vengeance upon Israel and the nations. But it does promise that Israel would rise again. Volume 6 not only delivers Israel from the nations, but then also invites those nations to celebrate with Israel as voluntary worshipers in anticipation of Volume 7. [Second Level: Full Actuality Attained, Deficiency In Solidarity of Individuals with Each Other]
Volume 3 and 5: Are linked in the same way that the Bronze Alter and the Golden Altar are linked. The first is flesh (death) and the last is fragrant smoke (resurrection). This is expressed in the imagery of two kinds of Tabernacle - Israel as the old, silent Tabernacle of Moses, then Israel as the new, rejoicing Tabernacle of David. [Third Level: Perfected actuality, in which the many are one everlastingly, without the qualification of any loss either of individual identity or of completeness of unity]
Volume 4: Is the liturgical pivot, the entire process of the book condensed into a Mystery Play face-off between a new Adam (Hezekiah) and the old serpent (Sennacherib). [Fourth Level: Creative action completes itself; the turn towards glorification]
Note the similarities between these themes and Whitehead’s description of the creative phases. And while we can’t do it justice here - though Bull has dedicated part of his life’s work to doing so - this structure seeps it’s way into the thematic and symbolic elements across the micro and macro scales.7
To say the least, this alignment between biology, philosophy, and Biblical themes clearly strikes at the core of a deep and reverberant pattern of nature.
5. From Micro to Macro: Breaking Down The Overarching Literary Architecture
Let’s now change and go from symbolism - which has presented a very compelling case already - to the literary architecture & narrative arcs which continue to suggest an overarching meta-narrative that buttresses our theory of organic process and reflects a fractal-like “part reflects the entirety of the whole”.
4.5.1 The Seven Hebrew Words of Genesis 1:1
The opening verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” contains exactly seven words in the original Hebrew. The central word, the untranslatable particle “’et” - the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet (Alpha and Omega perhaps?) - serves to join the two sets of three words on either side into a unified statement, just as the Menorah’s - a seven-branch candelabra - central shaft joins its outer branches - and arguably how Man serves as mediator between Heaven & Earth.8
4.5.2 The Seven Days of Creation
This is the one we are all familiar with. The creation account unfolds through a series of seven days, with the first three involving a “forming” of environments (light, firmament, dry land and vegetation), the last three “filling” those environments with inhabitants (birds and fish, land animals, and humans), and the central fourth day marking a turning point with the creation of the sun, moon, and stars to govern the cycles of time. This 3-1-3 pattern reflects the process of emanation, turn, and emergence. Notice the symmetry - the heavens of Day 1 were filled on Day 4, the sky and sea of Day 2 were filled on Day 5, the Land of Day 3 was filled on Day 6.
With the key:
Creation [Starts as One Cell] - Day 1: God speaks light into existence (Genesis 1:3-5), initiating the creation process. This light represents the divine spark, the initial emanation from which all else will unfold.
Division [Becomes Multicellular] - Day 2: God creates the firmament, separating the waters above from the waters below (Genesis 1:6-8). This division sets the stage for the further differentiation and development of creation.
Ascension [Acquires a Shape] - Day 3: God gathers the waters together and causes dry land to appear (Genesis 1:9-10). He then commands the earth to bring forth vegetation (Genesis 1:11-13). This step represents the emergence of distinct forms and the establishment of order within creation.
Testing [Fastens to Ocean Floor] - Day 4: God creates the sun, moon, and stars to govern the day and night and to mark the seasons (Genesis 1:14-19). These heavenly bodies represent the establishment of cyclical patterns and the testing of creation’s stability and resilience.
Maturity [Grows in Plant-Like Fashion] - Day 5: God creates the birds of the air and the fish of the sea (Genesis 1:20-23). This step represents the filling of the environments created on Day 2 and the increasing complexity and diversity of life.
Conquest [Flowers Break Off Into Mobile Jellyfish] - Day 6: God creates land animals and humans (Genesis 1:24-31). The creation of humans in God’s image represents the pinnacle of creation and the establishment of a divine-human relationship. Humans are given dominion over the earth, reflecting their role as co-creators and stewards.
Glorification [Fertilization] - Day 7: God rests from His work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3). This Sabbath rest represents the completion and glorification of creation. It sets the stage for the ongoing relationship between God and His creation, and the potential for future growth and development.
4.5.3 Full Narrative Cycle: The First Seven Books of Old Testament
The Bible’s first seven opening books exhibits a similar narrative chiastic structure where “identity” now is at a larger scale at the level of a nation, Israel. Snippet above from Bull. In Genesis, God creates a people through the patriarchs. Under Moses in Exodus, He separates the people to Himself. Leviticus describes the institution of the priesthood and the Law to draw near to God. Numbers represent a turning point, where the Israelites are tested in the wilderness. Deuteronomy sees Moses repeating the Law to the next generation. In Joshua, the people enter into God’s promises under Joshua’s leadership. And in Judges, Israel rules over the new Land that God had promised, even though they fail miserably and a new beginning is required.9
With the skeleton key:
Creation [Starts as One Cell] - Genesis: Israel called from the nations. The book of Genesis begins with the creation of the world and humanity (Genesis 1-2). God speaks the universe into existence, initiating the cycle of creation. The stories of the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - represent the formation of God’s chosen people, Israel, as they are called out from the nations to be a blessing to all peoples (Genesis 12:1-3).
Division [Becomes Multicellular] - Exodus: Israel cut from the nations. In Exodus, God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3-4). The ten plagues and the Passover (Exodus 7-12) divide the Israelites from the Egyptians, and the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14) separates them from their past, setting them apart as a distinct nation cut from the surrounding peoples.
Ascension [Acquires a Shape] - Leviticus: Israel presented to God (Man). Leviticus focuses on the institution of the priesthood and the giving of the Law (Leviticus 1-7, 11-27). These instructions shape the identity and worship practices of the Israelites, establishing a new order for the covenant community. Through the sacrificial system and ritual purity laws, Israel is presented to God as a holy nation, set apart for His purposes.
Testing [Fastens to Ocean Floor] - Numbers: Israel is threshed (People). The book of Numbers chronicles the Israelites’ wilderness journey, where they face numerous tests and challenges (Numbers 11-14, 16-17, 20- 21, 25). These trials expose their weaknesses and lack of faith, highlighting the need for trust in God’s providence. The threshing process refines and purifies the people, preparing them for their future inheritance.
Maturity [Grows in Plant-Like Fashion] - Deuteronomy: Israel reassembled (Army). In Deuteronomy, Moses repeats the Law to the new generation of Israelites (Deuteronomy 1-30). This repetition emphasizes the importance of obedience and the transmission of God’s commands from one generation to the next, fostering spiritual maturity and unity among the people. Israel is reassembled as a uni ed army, ready to conquer the Promised Land.
Conquest [Flowers Break Off Into Mobile Jellyfish] - Joshua: The nations cut from the Land. The book of Joshua depicts the Israelites’ conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership (Joshua 1-12). The crossing of the Jordan River (Joshua 3-4) and the battles against Jericho and other Canaanite cities (Joshua 6-11) represent the Israelites’ victory over their enemies. The nations are cut off from the land as Israel takes possession of their God-given inheritance.
Glorification [Fertilization] - Judges: Israel among the nations. The book of Judges shows the Israelites settling in the Promised Land and the challenges they face in remaining faithful to God (Judges 2-16). The cycles of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance in Judges demonstrate Israel’s struggle to maintain their distinct identity among the surrounding nations. Despite their failings, God continues to raise up deliverers and preserve His people, foreshadowing the ultimate glorification and reign of Israel among the nations.
Moses with the Tables of the Law by Guido Reni
4.5.4 Narrative Deep Dive: The Story of Exodus
As an example deep dive, let’s go through the story of Exodus applying this framework and see if it holds. Bull goes through this holistically in Moses & The Revelation. This arguably is more tenuous as narrative flows are subject to a wider interpretation but let’s see if we can parse out some resonance:
1. Creation [Starts as One Cell]: In Exodus, this stage is represented by the Israelites in slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1:8-14). The call of Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-10) is the initiating Word from God, disturbing the stagnated state of the Israelites and beginning a new cycle of redemption.
2. Division [Becomes Multicellular]: The ten plagues (Exodus 7-12) and the Passover event (Exodus 12:1-30) represent the division stage. The plagues tear apart the Egyptian society, and the Passover divides the Israelites from the Egyptians. The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21- 31) further emphasizes this division, separating the Israelites from their past and setting them on a journey towards the Promised Land.
3. Ascension [Acquires a Shape]: Moses ascending Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and the Law (Exodus 19-20) represents this stage. The giving of the Law establishes a new order for the Israelite community, shaping their identity as a covenant people. The instructions for building the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31) also relate to the theme of housebuilding and the promise of God’s presence among His people.
4. Testing [Fastens to Ocean Floor]: The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness is marked by various tests and challenges, such as the lack of food and water (Exodus 16-17), the battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16), and the golden calf incident (Exodus 32). These tests prove the Israelites’ faith and obedience to God, as well as expose their weaknesses and need for divine guidance.
5. Maturity [Grows in Plant-Like Fashion]: The construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 35-40) represents the growth and maturity of the Israelite community. The Tabernacle serves as a visual representation of the Israelites’ unity under God’s covenant, with the various elements of the Tabernacle symbolizing different aspects of their relationship with God. The cloud of God’s presence covering the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38) signifies the higher level of integrated wholeness achieved by the community.
6. Conquest [Flowers Break Off Into Mobile Jellyfish]: Although the conquest of the Promised Land is not directly depicted in Exodus, the book sets the stage for this future event. The Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea foreshadow the Israelites’ eventual victory over their enemies and their entrance into the Promised Land. The Levitical priesthood, established in Exodus, also serves as a mediator between God and the people, pointing towards the future role of the Church as a corporate mediator.
7. Glorification [Fertilization]: The final stage of glorification is hinted at in Exodus through the promises of God to bring the Israelites into a land owing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8, 17). This promise points to the ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant with His people, where they will dwell in His presence and experience the fullness of His blessings. The Exodus story sets the foundation for the future cycles of redemption and glorification in the biblical narrative.
4.5.5 The Big Picture: The Menorah And The Seven Parts of The Biblical Canon10
Remarkably, the literary structure of the entire Bible - Law, Prophets, Writings in Old Testament and Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation in New Testament - mirrors our seven-fold structure. Note this also maps to the design of the Menorah, which the Israelites were instructed to construct as a seven-branched lampstand.11 This of course echoes our sevenfold process, where Law becomes Level I, Gospels Level IV, and Revelation Level VII.
At the center of the canon, the four Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus - the fourth book in the canon - forms the pivotal turning point and interpretive key for the whole Biblical narrative. The incarnation of Christ represents the critical “turn” - with the resurrection being the “turn within the turn” - initiates a return arc to a reintegration into larger wholes and recapturing of the initial freedom lost, namely through the creation of the Church.
This is congruent to Level IV in our process framework. We can think of the entire Gospel’s account as Christ - “Fastening to the Ocean Floor” of the constrained deterministic multiplicity of humanity to then spark the negentropic process of higher integrated wholeness. We will explore the Gospel accounts in the following section.
More specifically (and fascinating for a Biblical neophyte like myself to uncover the underlying rhyme and reason of the Gospel structure), per James Jordan we can also see The Gospel Account recapitulate the narrative arcs from the Old Testament - with Matthew a story of Christ the Greater Priestly Moses, Mark a story of Christ as the Greater Kingly David, Luke a story of Christ as the Greater Prophet Elijah, and John a story of Christ as The Human Tabernacle, the Son of God. In John, we see Christ as the “Great High Priest” in the Human-Enacted Cosmic Liturgy, with Peter as his assistant.12 Admittedly I still need to go through the Gospel’s in more detail but having this context presents a compelling framework to think about the structure of the work.
To go back to the overarching literary structure, let’s apply our process framework to the entire Canon:
Creation [Starts as One Cell] - Law (Torah): The first books of the Bible represent the creation and establishment of God’s covenant people. God initiates the cycle by calling Abraham and forming the nation of Israel, separating them from the surrounding nations to be a holy people.
Division [Becomes Multicellular] - Prophets (Nevi’im): The Prophetic books, including the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve Minor Prophets), chronicle Israel’s history, struggles, and call to repentance. They depict Israel’s division and exile, as well as the promise of future restoration, ultimately pointing to the coming of the Messiah.
Ascension [Acquires a Shape] - Writings (Ketuvim): The Writings, including books like Psalms, Proverbs, and the Megillot, represent the Israelites’ reflections on their history and relationship with God. They express the struggles, victories, and wisdom gained throughout Israel’s journey, serving as a testimony to God’s faithfulness. These books shape Israel’s identity and worship, presenting them as a people devoted to God.
Testing [Fastens to Ocean Floor] - Gospels: The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) form the central turning point of the biblical narrative. Jesus, as the embodiment of Israel and the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, faces testing and temptation, ultimately leading to His crucification and resurrection. This represents the pivotal moment of confronting sin and death, as Jesus takes on the role of the suffering servant and the true representative of Israel.
Maturity [Grows in Plant-Like Fashion] - Acts: The book of Acts depicts the growth and spread of the early Church, as the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, establish communities of believers throughout the world. The Church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, emerges as a new spiritual Israel, united in faith and mission.
Conquest [Flowers Break Off Into Mobile Jellyfish] - Epistles: The nations instructed in the ways of God. The Epistles provide guidance and instruction for spiritual growth, unity, and Christian living. They equip the Church to navigate the challenges of a fallen world and to live out its calling as a light to the nations, proclaiming Christ’s victory over sin and death.
Glorification [Fertilization] - Revelation: The book of Revelation portrays the ultimate glorification of God’s people and the establishment of His eternal kingdom. It depicts the final victory over sin and death, the marriage of Christ and His Church, and the creation of a new heaven and earth. This represents the culmination of the biblical story and the initiation of a new, eternal cycle, with Israel (the Church) dwelling among the nations in perfect unity and worship.
In this light, the entire Old Testament represents a large-scale “forming“ or involution, a progressive descent from primal unity to the multiplicity and apparent chaos of a fallen world. This represents the left side of our Arc - and potentially the Tree of Good & Evil. The entire New Testament then represents a large-scale “filling” or evolution, an ascent from multiplicity to unity and ultimately integrated wholeness. This represents the right side of our Arc, and potentially the Tree of Life. The Gospel Account and the story of “Christ” represents the “Turn” or “Bridge” using the Norse Mythology tree.
4.5.6 The Book of Revelation
While the book of Revelation is admittedly a bit above my pay grade and out of scope at my current understanding of the biblical narrative for now, it’s fascinating to me and worth calling out that the Revelation is structured as a fractal per above. Could each node be mapped to each of the seven books of the Biblical story with Revelation providing a hyper-condensed symbolic account of the entire narrative?13
4.5.7 A Clear Example of Chiastic Literary Structure: The Vine and Branches of John 15
I’m sure there are plenty of examples in chiastic structures, but one relatively clear example is in the parable of the Vine and the Branches in John 15. To quote - and note these are the first seven lines so even the literary structure reflects the cycle:
Creation [Starts as One Cell]: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” This verse establishes God as the original source and creator, the initiator of the organic process of spiritual growth and fruitfulness.
Division [Becomes Multicellular]: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit”. The pruning and removal of unfruitful branches represents the differentiation and specialization that occurs as an organism develops from a single cell into a multicellular entity.
Ascension [Acquires a Shape]: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” The cleansing word of Christ shapes the identity and form of the branches, just as an organism acquires its distinctive morphology through the expression of its genetic code.
Testing [Fastens to Ocean Floor]: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” The branches must remain connected to their life-giving source in order to survive and bear fruit, just as an organism must establish itself in its environment to grow and thrive.
Maturity [Grows in Plant-Like Fashion]: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” The intimate union and mutual indwelling of Christ and his disciples enables them to reach spiritual maturity and productivity, like a healthy plant growing to its full potential. Note this also parallels the literary form of “Creation” but now the relationship goes from Christ <> Father to Christ <> Humanity, potentially reflecting some pivot and potential self-instantiation.
Conquest [Flowers Break Off Into Mobile Jellyfish]: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” Branches that fail to remain vitally connected to Christ are cut off and destroyed, illustrating the reality that parts of an organism that do not contribute to the whole will eventually be eliminated.
Glorification [Fertilization]: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” The ultimate purpose and destiny of the branches is to bear lasting fruit that brings glory to God, the divine gardener. This mirrors the trajectory of an organism reaching its telos of maturity and reproduction.
For completeness, this section ends with the following 8th line: “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Through these organic metaphors, Jesus outlines the process by which his disciples grow into a spiritual organism vitally connected to him and bearing fruit for God's glory, recapitulating the arc of Creation to Glorification in the Biblical narrative.
And no, I did not think that I would ever be that guy that quotes Scripture.
4.5.8 The Seasons & Festivals
We also find this process reflected in the Seasons as demonstrated by the Festival Calendar to provide another naturalist and embodied parallel of transformational arc. The classic example at the risk of stating the obvious between seasons and story is of course the connection between Spring / Easter / Christ, where the resurrection parallels the emergence of new flowers & life. Again please note my naïveté about religious holidays:
Creation - Sabbath [Every 7th Day]: A weekly day of rest and worship, commemorating God's rest after the six days of creation.
Division - Passover [Nisan 14 (March/April)]: Spring. Celebrates the Israelites' deliverance from Egyptian slavery, marked by a special meal and the sacrifice of a lamb.
Ascension - First-fruits [Nisan 16-17 (March/April)]: Spring. An offering of the first agricultural produce of the season, acknowledging God's provision.
Testing - Pentecost [Sivan 6-7 (May/June)]: Spring. Celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the early Christian church.
Maturity - Trumpets [Tishri 1 (September/October)]: Fall. Marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year and a call to repentance, featured by the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn).
Conquest - Atonement [Tishri 10 (September/October)]: Fall. The holiest day of the Jewish year, focusing on repentance, prayer, and fasting for the atonement of sins.
Glorification - Booths [Tishri 15-21 (September/October)]: Fall. Commemorates the Israelites' 40-year journey through the wilderness, during which they lived in temporary shelters (booths).
This concludes our few conceptual sketches to paint the picture of the recurring thematic elements of this seven-fold arc.
For a full demonstration of Bull’s methodology and it’s power in action, I would also recommend the following which applies the framework to unlock the Book of Isaiah: The Shape of Isaiah.
6. Concluding Thoughts on The Naturalist & Organic Interpretation of the Biblical Narrative
As we’ve seen, the biblical story exhibits a remarkable coherence with the natural patterns and processes described derived via our natural philosophy and the latest understanding of the Bayesian brain. Far from a fragmentary cultural artifact, the Bible texts from thousands of years ago evinces an underlying unified fractal-like rhythm & literary reason across symbolism, narrative levels, and nested literary hierarchies precisely recapitulating the organic and process-based dynamics and patterns we explored through our integrated reasoning.
At the overarching plot level, the initial unity and wholeness of Eden parallels the pure, undifferentiated potential of light at the beginning of the arc. The fall into sin and the resulting fragmentation of human experience reflects the progressive constraints and limitations that characterize the stages of involution, as the unbounded freedom of Eden gives way to the deterministic causality of a world under the sway of death.
Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection mark the pivotal “turn” from involution to evolution, reversing the momentum of the fall and inaugurating a new creation. Just as the emergence of life at the fourth stage of the arc introduces a new form of freedom and agency, breaking the bonds of determinism, so too does Christ’s work break the power of sin and death, setting in motion the redemptive process.
The church age and the eschaton that follow mirror the progressive freedom and reintegration of the evolutionary stages, as redeemed humanity is drawn into ever greater participation in the divine life. The increasing levels of agency and self-determination that unfold in the biological and cultural realms find their ultimate expression in the radical freedom of life in the Spirit as humans cooperate with God’s purposes.
This mapping of the biblical narrative onto the 7-stage arc makes explicit the deep congruence between the dynamics of nature and the structure of scripture. The interplay of unity and multiplicity, involution and evolution, freedom and constraint that we observe in the physical world is recapitulated in the spiritual drama of creation, fall and redemption.
By embodying these archetypal patterns in its symbolism, literary architecture and theological concepts, the Bible is able to resonate profoundly with the fundamental structure of nature and the existential dynamics of the human experience within it. The forming and filling that shape the biblical story are expressions of the same underlying processes that govern the natural order.
It is this coherence between the biblical narrative and the hidden telos of the cosmos that allows scripture to serve as such a powerful vehicle for meaning. By grounding its message in the ontological fabric of nature, the Bible is able to speak to the universal human condition and provide an enduring framework for understanding our place in the grand story of creation.
In this sense, the unified theory of meaning we have sketched provides a new lens for appreciating the richness and relevance of biblical narrative. By discerning the common patterns that link nature, narrative, mind, and human experience, we can begin to see how the Bible functions as a micrcosmic reflection of the underlying beauty and order that permeates the whole of existence, ultimately allowing us to cultivate invaluable wisdom.
Next Section: UPTM #5 | 22nd Century Theology: Organic-Computational Christianity
This research is preliminary and we're publishing this in the spirit of building in public. Feedback, open dialogue, and collaboration is very much encouraged! I will most certainly be wrong in places as I have developed these ideas rather independently. If you are exploring similar ideas, please reach out or expect at a DM as I plan to connect with scholars and folks more knowledgeable & experienced then myself to continue to refine & better articulate the thesis. Please also feel free to follow along or get in touch at @tomer_solomon or by subscribing to my Substack!
Note: I acknowledge that I have more likely than not gone overboard with our skeleton key and also haven’t appropriately addressed it as the granular level. I will revisit this upon further review!
Follow-up Questions: Can we con confirm legitimacy of these literary tunes with an expert? Where are the connection stretch cases vs. legitimate similarities? Is there a simple framework to understand the fractal structure of the Biblical narrative? Can we do a more direct mapping with Young’s work across the stories? Can we break out and map the symbolism to a greater level of detail?
Jordan Peterson does a thorough job in doing a deep analysis of myths in his 1999 book Maps of Meaning.
Bull also have a sequel called Bible Matrix II: The Covenant Key that bridges the Genesis-inspired structure with Covenantal structure, seemingly building off the work of Mark Sutton in That You May Prosper: Dominion By Covenant.
From the Metamorphosis of Plants by Goethe.
I discovered this work after but Cormac Jones also unearthed this pattern to in his piece Cosmic Chiasms. Very much worth checking out and it’s correspondence with Bull’s work!
Also, in terms of addressing any potential concerns of circularity in argumentation - while Young may have been inspired by Genesis 1:1 in laying out his theory of process, he admits he was no “Biblical Scholar,” there was no mention of the depth of this chiasmatic structure at both micro-granularity and macro-structure, no mapping to symbolism, and no discussion of the nature of Christ as a potential “Turn” in the 4th Chapter of the Gospel. This makes us believe that the true depth and significance of this seven-fold structure was overlooked - or at the very least not touched on at the depth it deserves.
Bible Matrix Pages 52 to 55.
Fun fact: The 66 books of Isaiah - split into 39 and 27 chapters - parallel the 39 chapter of the Old Testament and 27 of the New Testament. Talk about scale invariance!
Said poetically, what potentially what we see in the Biblical Story is the evolution from Light to Logos through Man as the Pivot Point - where Level I to IV represents “Infra-Personal” and Level IV to VII represents “Supra-Personal”.
For more information on this breakdown see this article by Behold The Stone.
Directly from Bull.
See here for another more granular breakdown of the Biblical books from Menorah Bible where we get this seven-fold split at the level of literary architecture:
For further consilience between the Menorah and literary architecture, The 22 books of the Old Testament correspond to the 22 almond ornaments on the Menorah’s outer branches - and 22 Hebrew letters, while the 27 books of the New Testament match the Menorah’s 27 internal junctions - and 27 Greek letters. Note The Menorah foreshadows the New Testament book structure through the 27 “shaft” connections but was provided to Moses in Exodus 25:31-40 way ahead of the completion of the New Testament. Note also that the Biblical story was originally written on 49 scrolls, echoing the 7 self-similar chiasms. Also from The Structure of the Menorah from The Menorah Bible.
Source: Peter as High Priest per Biblical Horizons. Yes I dug through a website to recover a 1994 Blog Post that has nuggets of wisdom.
Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation is detailed reference source to better understand the section in a liturgical context (i.e. structured as a Liturgy and parallel format to Ezekiel’s prophecy) and historical interpretation of Revelation (rather than some future eschatological moment it reflects the dynamics between Rome <> Jerusalem and beginning of the Church. Still working through it.