What is Pattern Analysis?
Since 2016, God has led me on a journey to develop a deeper and more meaningful way to read the Scriptures called Pattern Analysis. This is the study of pericopes (pronounced pur-ic’-o-pee, not to be confused with the word periscope), which are units of literature such as stories, poetic pieces, or prophecies. Pattern Analysis is the study of pericopes—how they are organized and how they persuade—in an innovative approach that builds on and adds to commonly-held practices. The result is a consistent methodology to discern the emphatic voice of the Holy Spirit throughout the entire Bible.
A draft of the manuscript, Pattern Analysis Methodology, has been completed and is awaiting scholarly review (Pattern Analysis Files).
The Methodology
The story of Christ's three temptations from beginning to end is a pericope, also known as a literary unit. This methodology identifies the demarcation, the literary structure, and the rhetorical significance (the way of persuasion) for each pericope.The first part of the methodology, the demarcation, identifies the beginning of each literary unit and key locations within. The structural analysis, the second part, is where related portions of the text are documented. The correct name for these portions is elements. The rhetorical third part presents persuasive and convicting parts of the text.
The result is a fresh and beneficial approach to the Bible. So far, all of the New Testament and the minor prophets have been analyzed, and at least 50% of most of the remaining books. That is, 70% of the Bible or 22,000 of the total 30,000 verses. All analyzed verses conform to this methodology, but nine (9) may be questioned if they were part of the original text. Scholars have debated whether those nine were part of the original manuscript for many years.
The output of each analysis is an HTML web page such as:
1 John 4:7-19 – An imperfect chiasm
Acts 9:32-43 – A parallel symmetry
Psalm 62:1-12 – An imperfect parallel symmetry
Background
This project began in 2016 after reading Jerome Walsh's Style and Structure in Biblical Hebrew Narrative (Liturgical Press, 2001). This project expanded his Genesis to Esther methodology to the entire Bible and made some substantial modifications. Software was developed for the input, analysis, and presentation of each analysis.The result is surprisingly strong evidence that the Holy Spirit used consistent verse-by-verse methods to inspire the Bible. That is, the structural organization and placement of persuasive thoughts is in the same predictable locations. Once the literary structure is determined, the search for persuasion begins based on potential locations within the literary structure.
Directions
There are at least three areas where this work should be helpful. First, that the Bible's relevance would be enhanced. Today it is too common to hear people state that, because men wrote and/or altered the Bible, it is not trustworthy. If we can confidently show there is one consistent but complex thought process from Genesis to Revelation, the question of how it was written should take a sudden turn. Pattern analysis presents compelling evidence that these authors heard the thematic voice of the Holy Spirit, for "all Scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). The result should be that the Bible will be viewed as much more relevant because God somehow spoke to these men.My second hope is that this methodology will receive good acceptance by academia. My manuscript, Pattern Analysis Methodology, awaits scholarly review.
My third hope is that Bible students would use this methodology for their own analyses of the text. The Pattern Analysis Software, currently a laptop version, should be modified for use through the internet. Workbooks are envisioned that should help people would grow in their understanding and inspiration from the text.
You may email me at Tom@ThomasBClarke.com.