What is the difference between a story written by a man and a story written by a god?
In the apocalyptic anthology, Music of the Spheres, author Jonny Lekrib explores an ancient writing method that was used to differentiate Hebrew writers from writers of other cultures.
Inspiration
My name is Jonny Lekrib. In 2014, I had a dream where a woman told me that when the Bible was created, the authors used an ancient writing method that has been lost for thousands of years.
When I awakened, I Googled ancient writing methods to learn that many scholars believe the Bible has an underlying story structure. However, no one has been able to explain how this structure works... until now.
The purpose of this page is to introduce (to both the theist and atheist reader) a writing method that was used by many ancient Hebrew authors. This section serves as an introduction and supplement to my book, Music of the Spheres. Inasmuch, on this page I will address the following questions:
For hundreds of years, scholars have debated the existence of a framework used to create the Bible.
What is a Writing Method?
To make a cake, one is not free to add whatever ingredients they wish. Rather, the baker has to follow a set of rules to produce the desired result. These rule sets can be used to differentiate a cake from a pizza, hamburger or taco.
Likewise, when an author uses a writing method, he is not free to write as he chooses. Rather, he has to follow a set of rules to produce a desired result. For example, to create a limerick one must follow a rule set. If the writer does not follow these rules, his story cannot be called a limerick.
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Recipe for a cupcake
Recipe for a limerick
Thus, a writing method is a set of rules (a recipe) that must be followed to create a certain type of story or poem. These rule sets can be used to classify texts in genres.
Why are Writing Methods Important?
When categorizing ancient Hebrew stories into genres, it is important to know whether the writers followed a set of rules. If not, what differentiates biblical stories from non-biblical stories?
What's the difference between The Book of Genesis and The Lord of the Rings or a Harry Potter story? Should the Bible be categorized in the same genre as the Quran or The Book of Mormon?
To put it another way, is there some literary thing that separates a story created by a man from a story created by a god? Is there a difference between texts that are penned by true prophets and fabrications made up by false prophets? If not, what is to stop a man from impersonating God and using religion for his own personal gain?
Many scholars have tried to identify a set of rules that can be used to differentiate biblical stories from non-biblical stories.
The signature of God
The reason impersonating God was forbidden in the ancient Hebrew culture is because they believed God gave mankind laws that would enable the human race to live forever. However, if a foreigner were to impersonate God and change the law, that person might influence the Hebrew community in a way that would lead to their destruction.
To prevent the identity theft of God, ancient Hebrew scribes created a secret set of rules to dictate how official texts were to be written. In this way, if a foreigner were to impersonate God and change Hebrew law, the scribes could refer to the writing method to differentiate which laws were legitimately part of their legal system from laws that were added by impostors.
Inasmuch, the creation of the Hebrew writing method allowed the Hebrews to identify their stories as though they were written with a hidden signature. Although many prophets claimed to be the mouthpiece of God, their legitimacy could be tested, not by the miracles of their hands, but by the rules they followed when telling stories.
The writing method used by the ancient Hebrews acts as a signature created to prevent identity theft.
How Does the Hebrew Method Work?
The ancient Hebrews believed that justice was a key principle needed for the success of a community. Hence, the Hebrew law: An eye for an eye (Ex. 21:24). This attitude toward fair treatment and karma is at the heart of the Hebrew writing method. That said, the best way to introduce this method is by understanding what a chiasm is.
The chiasm
A chiasm (or chiasmus) is a writing method wherein words or phrases are matched with similar words or phrases, and these matches occur at an equidistance across a center line.
By matching the content above with the content below, the Hebrew reader is reminded of the the value of justice and fairness. If a man claimed to speak for God but spoke in some different way, it would raise red flags within the community because that man's speech suggests that God is unjust. Thus, according to the ancient Hebrew perspective, a lack of balance within a text is an indicator that God is not the true author of that story.
An example of a simple chiasm.
For decades, scholars have recognized that chiasms exist in biblical stories. Likewise, chiasms exist in other works that claim divine authorship, such as the Quran and The Book of Mormon, as well as non-scriptural works, such as Alice in Wonderland. Thus, the chiasm, alone, can hardly be considered the signature of the ancient Hebrews.
Furthermore, the chiasms found in the Bible often stray from the rule set used to distinguish a chiasm, to such a degree, that many debate as to whether they qualify as chiasms at all. Rather than following an inverted ABC-CBA pattern, biblical chiasms are, often, infused with seemingly unbalanced insertions (ACBF-CGBA).
The matrix
The Matrix writing method is similar to the chiasm because both methods attempt to balance the top half of text with the bottom half across a center line. However they differ in the way that they achieve this balance.
While the chiasm is arranged to mirror itself line by line or paragraph by paragraph, with clear breaks between matches, the matrix is arranged so matches occur in clusters of overlapping layers. This unique matching technique differentiates the matrix from the chiasm.
Created by the ancient Hebrews, the matrix writing method can be used to distinguish Hebrew texts from works produced by people from other cultures. To illustrate this difference, I have included a comparison below of a chiasm found in The Book of Mormon with a Matrix found in The Book of Revelation.
An example of a simple matrix.
Book of Mormon chiasm: Alma 36
Hebrew matrix: The Book of Revelation
These two images illustrate the difference between Hebrew stories and stories written by authors from other cultures. This suggests that the ancient Hebrews wrote with a unique signature that can be used to identify their stories. This unique signature separates Hebrew literature into its own genre.
Why is the Hebrew Method Still Important?
The ancient Hebrews believed they had created a social system that would allow their community to live forever in peace and happiness. This system was founded on laws that addressed many issues that also face modern societies. These issues include free speech, immigration, gender rights, racial equality, sexual preference, poverty, property rights, access to limited resources, genetic health, and so forth.
But the biggest threat to the survival of the system was outside influence. People added laws that were unnecessary. Some terminated laws that were needed. Some misinterpreted laws, invalidating them. The end result was a system that appeared as the original but could no longer produce peace, happiness, or preservation.
A cake made with ground beef.
Changing the words of a story is like changing ingredients in a recipe. The end result will be different from what the creator intended.
However, a restoration of the original recipe will result in a desired, better tasting cake.
But the discovery of the Hebrew writing method will result in the restoration of the original system. This will lead to a deeper understanding of the core issues that threaten humanity and better solutions to modern problems.
What is Music of the Spheres?
Music of the Spheres, is a 120 page (50,000 word) anthology book. In it, I go into more detail about how the Hebrew writing method works. I also provide nine illustrations of complex matrix spheres found in the Bible.
The bulk of the book consists of twelve modern stories that were created using the matrix writing method. This is the first time this method has been used since the apostle John wrote The Book of Revelation two thousand years ago.
At the present moment, the book is unpublished and unavailable because I am searching for an agent to represent me.
Music of the Spheres by Jonny Lekrib (2020).
BOOK OF REVELATION matrix
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES matrix
This is an illustrated comparison of two matrix stories. The first illustration is from The Book of Revelation, written by the apostle John. The second is from "Music of the Spheres," a short story found in my book of the same title.
