Nearing Completion of the New Testament

I have today completed a first draft of 18,700 (60%) of the 31,100 verses in the Bible using the pattern analysis methodology. It has taken 4.5 years. Click here to read more about pattern analysis.

0% — April 6, 2016
26% — May 6, 2017
30% — August 31, 2017
35% — January 21, 2018
40% — April 20, 2018
45% — October 24, 2018
50% — March 14, 2019
55% — March 29, 2020
60% — September 29, 2020

Possibly more important is that I am 98% complete with a first draft of the New Testament. There are eight chapters in 1 and 2 Corinthians that I have not yet analyzed. That 98% represents just the first draft.

In these 4.5 years, the methodology has become more complete and comprehensive. I have seen where some of my early analyses can and should be revised. The current model is a bit more mature. Maybe I am too much of a perfectionist, but I think that consistency to the model is important and should result in greater acceptance of this work. A second review should also reveal some corrections that were simply missed the first time.

I suggest that the implications associated with completing the New Testament are significant. If I can show one consistent yet complex model for Matthew to Revelation, I have then suggested there appears to be one underlying source behind the entire work, not eight individual New Testament authors. (I also have completed 47% of the Old Testament using this same model.) This is evidence, not proof, for one inspiration. It suggests that we should not be picking and chosing our way through the Bible, but instead we should come to grips with what that original source intended, the God who loves us so very deeply.

Fifty-five Percent (55%) Complete

Pattern analysis is the study of the thought process that the Holy Spirit used when He inspired the Bible. It attempts to answer the question, Can a model be created which provides consistent evidence that all Scripture was inspired by God using thematic organizations of the biblical text?

Through literary devices such as the chiasm, parallel symmetry, concluding summary, and substructures, I am seeing a very complex, unique and consistent method for presenting themes. There are forty literary devices in all. Each of the so-called ‘authors’ of the Bible, Moses, Malachi and Mark to name a few, demonstrate the use of these same literary devices. Strong evidence of one inspiring author.

Of the 31,100 verses in the Bible, I have today analyzed 17,100 which is 55%. It has taken nearly four years:

0% — April 6, 2016
26% — May 6, 2017
30% — August 31, 2017
35% — January 21, 2018
40% — April 20, 2018
45% — October 24, 2018
50% — March 14, 2019
55% — March 29, 2020

At least 25% of every book has been sampled and thirty-four have been completed. Overall that is 45% of the Old Testament and 82% of the New Testament. During the last year, I found it necessary to tweak the methodology in small ways which resulted in the modification of some of the previously completed analyses.

So far in my analysis of the NASB translation of the Bible, two verses appear to be randomly placed — these are not included in most Bible translations because they do not appear in the earliest copies of the Bible. Besides those two verses, all other verses participate in this well-organized thought process.

As mentioned in my last blog posting a year ago, my wife passed away in December 2018. Last year will likely go down as the most difficult year of my life. In the midst of my grief, I sold my house and relocated to a home near my daughter outside Harrisburg, PA. Loneliness was such a heavy burden upon me. That was 2019 and now we have a new year. I took off my wedding ring on January 1 as a statement that 2019 is gone. Praise the Lord! Back again to pattern analysis.

My short-term goal is to complete the gospels. I have completed a first draft of Matthew, Mark and John, as well as the first fourteen chapters of Luke. From there, I intend to update the two manuscripts, Pattern Analysis Handbook which presents the methodology and then the Pattern Analysis Findings which attempts to show how the methodology is applied in various situations.

Questions? Tom@ThomasBClarke.com