Beneath the familiar verses lies a deliberate architecture — repeated words, mirrored lines, and shapes that carry meaning. Scripture Structure makes that hidden design visible.
See it for yourselfThis is the opening of the Sermon on the Mount. Read top to bottom and watch the lines climb inward to a single peak, then step back out. The shape isn't an accident — it's the point.
Each line follows the same refrain — Blessed are ___ , for ___ — so the only things that change are who is blessed and what they're promised.
The first three name inner struggles — being poor in spirit, grieving, staying humble. The last three turn outward toward others — mercy, purity, peacemaking. And right at the peak, one line joins both worlds: an inward hunger for an outward righteousness. Once you see the staircase, you can't unsee it.
Certain words drum through a passage like a heartbeat. In John's opening, "the Word," "light," and "came into being" return again and again. Color them, and the rhythm appears.
Ideas are set against their opposites — old command and new teaching, light and darkness, "you have heard" and "but I say." Place them side by side and the contrast does the teaching.
Like the Beatitudes staircase, whole sections are arranged into pyramids and frames that point to a center. The layout itself tells you where to look.
These are early working drafts of the full method, applied to longer stretches of text. Rough around the edges — but you'll start to see the patterns stack up.
The creation account as two matching triads — God forms the realms, then fills them — marked by repeating refrains.
Open the study →The Beatitudes in full, plus the "you have heard… but I say" antitheses laid out as mirrored pairs.
Open the study →The prologue's recurring themes — Word, light, witness — and the cascade of titles given to Jesus.
Open the study →I'm someone who can't help finding patterns — in puzzles, in board-game strategy, in how things get organized around the house. Writing clean, efficient code that brings order to something complex is genuinely satisfying to me. Scripture Structure is where that instinct meets a text I love: a chance to map the beautiful, intricate design woven through the biblical narrative and make it something anyone can see at a glance. It's a growing project, and I'd welcome collaborators, readers, and anyone who finds it as fascinating as I do.
Curious about the project, want to help, or just want to share a pattern you've noticed? I'd love to hear from you.
leepettijohn@gottamoveforward.com