What is the Bible Wheel?

A Simple Beginning

Rolling up the Bible scroll

The Bible Wheel is a circular presentation of the Bible that I discovered by rolling up the traditional list of the sixty-six books like a scroll on a spindle wheel of twenty-two spokes, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The order of the Hebrew alphabet is established in the alphabetically structured passages of the Old Testament, most notably Psalm 119 that praises God's Word from Aleph to Tav, from beginning to end. This exemplifies how everything in the Bible Wheel is derived from Scripture and Scripture alone.

A Unified View from a Higher Dimension

The Bible Wheel

On May 12, 1995, I completed the first draft of the Bible Wheel shown above. I placed the Hebrew Letters on the outer rim so there would be room to write their names and listed the numerical position of each Book below its name for easy reference. The structure consists of a circular matrix of sixty-six Cells on a Wheel of twenty-two Spokes. The sixty-six Cells form three wheels within the Wheel called Cycles. Each Cycle spans a continuous sequence of twenty-two books as follows:

The three cycles of the Bible Wheel

With the completion of the Bible Wheel, we now have a fully unified view of the whole Bible as a symmetrical, mathematically structured two-dimensional object. The increase from the traditional one-dimensional list of books to the two-dimensional Bible Wheel immediately reveals a host of unanticipated correlations between the three books on each spoke with each other and the corresponding Hebrew Letter.

A Large-Scale Pattern Appears

Color Bible Wheel

On May 14, 1999, after four years of fruitful study of the correlations between the books and Hebrew letter on each Spoke, I noticed that the three books on the first Spoke were also the first books of three primary divisions of Scripture:

The first Spoke of the Bible Wheel

This "coincidence" prompted me to examine the traditional groupings of the books. I discovered that Christian scholars have noted from ancient times that the books of the Bible naturally fall into distinctive categories that form a pattern on the Bible Wheel. The pattern begins with the first five books known variously as the Torah, the Law of Moses, or the Pentateuch. These five books are colored dark purple in the diagram above (Genesis to Deuteronomy). They are followed by twelve historical books from Joshua to Esther (dark red). The next five books are known as the Wisdom Books (dark purple). This completes the first Cycle of twenty-two books. The next Cycle begins with Isaiah, the first of the five Major Prophets (light purple). These are followed by the twelve books of the Minor Prophets (light red). This completes the Old Testament. Next comes the five books of New Testament History (Gospels and Acts, light purple) and the whole pattern is completed with twenty-two Epistles that occupy Cycle 3 (blue).

The Three Cycles of the Bible Wheel

The Canon Wheel - Sevenfold Symmetric Perfection

The Canon Wheel

The image above is called the Canon Wheel. It displays the seven canonical divsions to reveal a deep, intrinsic symmetry in the structure of the Bible. The symmetry embodies three symbolic elements - the Circle, the Number Seven, and the Alphabet. Each of these symbols convey different aspects of the ideas of unity, perfection, and completeness. The Number Seven is the premier Biblical symbol of perfection and completeness. The Circle encompassing the entire Bible is a universal archetype of unity and wholeness. The correspondence of each book with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet is complete from Aleph to Tav (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet). This echoes the symbolic meaning of the Alpha Omega that defines the nature of Deity:

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

With the advent of the Canon Wheel, we now have an overwhelming convergence of distinct, independent, universal, and Biblical symbols representing different aspects of the unity, perfection, and completeness of the Holy Bible. They synergistically interact to amplify the symbolic meaning each holds individually so that the significance of the whole is immeasurably greater than the sum of its individual parts. And yet for all this, we have only just begun to discover the wonder revealed by the simple act of "rolling up the Bible like a scroll."

Hidden in Plain View for a Thousand Years

The Florence Baptistry

The image above is a mosaic of Christ Pantocrator (Ruler of All) from the Baptistry of San Giovanni of Florence, ca. AD 1300. It is an archetype of Christian iconography. Of primary significance is the tri-radiant halo behind the head of Christ. This form is echoed in the circle the encompasses Christ with his outstretched arms.

Christ praying in the Garden The tri-radiant halo, also known as the cruciform nimbus, is the primary Sign of Deity used in traditional Christian art. It originated sometime around the sixth century and became a standard of almost all icons that followed. It has deep symbolic significance - the three rays simultaneously represent the two fundamental Christian doctrines of the Trinity and the cross of Christ. These symbolic elements carry over directly onto the Canon Wheel which now appears to be nothing less than a divine icon of the very faith taught in the pages of the book it faithfully represents. We now have a super-convergence of archetypal and Biblical symbols that combine to declare not only the unity, completion, and perfection of the Holy Bible, but also its central Gospel theme of the cross, and all of this conspires to reveal the ancient Sign of Deity - the signature of its Author! The significance of this symbolic confluence is amplified yet again when we recall how effortlessly everything unfolds when we simply "roll up the Bible like a scroll" and label the seven canonical divisions.

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