"Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest." Statement #5, Jesus Christ Gospel of Thomas
Introduction: Christ's Science Covenant as Research Methodology
Christwatch was founded on the belief that Christ came for the people of a future time---a time like today---in which humanity has access to vast on-demand information resources and the basic science literacy to utilize those resources. Moreover, Christwatch affirms that Christ made a covenant of science with mankind in the above statement from the long-suppressed Gospel of Thomas---assuring mankind's "seekers" that scientific observation trumps clergy-baked superstition. Christwatch follows this suggested methodology of Christ---to "recognize what is in your sight"---as the proven path to researching the convergence of religion and science. And this suggested methodology of Christ pays huge dividends for convergence research. In this post I am pleased to report that by relying on the Christwatch 360 degree data framework integrating both scriptural and scientific content, Christwatch has decoded the first four “seals” of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. Christwatch has determined that these four seals describe the destruction of Earth (and much of humanity)---driven by the death of a main sequence star like our sun.
Christwatch analysis reveals that the “white horse”, “red horse”, “black horse”, and “pale green horse” in order of appearance are allegorical descriptions of the phases of a main sequence star that evolves through: 1. a series of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) of its fuel; 2. a red giant phase; 3. a “white dwarf pulsar” phase; and 4. a planetary nebula phase.
In this post, we confine our commentary solely to the first "four seals", and withhold commentary on other portions of the Book of Revelation at this time.
Seal 1: The White Horse as Solar Coronal Mass Ejection
"So I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow and was given a crown. And he went forth from victory to victory." Book of Revelation 6.2 CEB Edition
The words "crown" and "bow" used to describe the "rider" of the "white horse" are indicators that a main sequence star like our sun is undergoing a coronal mass ejection (CME) in which its primary hydrogen fuel exits the star.
Christwatch suggests that the CME described in Revelation 6.2---the "crown"---is an extreme and/or repeating CME event in which the majority of hydrogen fuel is ejected out of the sun, triggering the next phase of the star's lifecycle. The phrase "from victory to victory" suggests multiple repeating CMEs.
Moreover, Christwatch holds that the "bow" described in Revelation 6.2 represents the curved shape of the CME's magnetic flux rope as it emanates from the sun and moves toward Earth.
Seal 2: The Red Horse as Red Giant Star
"Out came another horse, fiery red. Its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth so that people would kill each other. He was given a large sword." Book of Revelation 6.4 CEB Edition
The phrase "fiery red" to describe the horse is an indicator that loss of hydrogen fuel from multiple coronal mass ejections (CME) has triggered the next stage of evolution of Earth's sun, i.e. the red giant phase.
In the red giant phase, a star burns fuel that is not in its core, but in its outer layers. The star also dramatically expands, becoming brighter and reaching into the orbital paths of the planets within a given solar system. This expansion into the orbital paths of planets is what is meant by the phrase "large sword".
Today's astrophysicists expect the "large sword" of the red giant phase of Earth's sun to consume Mercury, Venus, and Earth, and also threaten Mars. This would validate Christ's statement in the Gospel of Thomas: "This heaven will pass away and the one above it (i.e. Mars as the next planet past us) will pass away." Statement 11, GTh
Continuing, the phrasing "take peace from the earth so that people would kill each other" refers to the breakdown of human civilization as humanity competes for increasingly scarce resources (e.g. water, habitable zones) on the surface of a planet whose sun is in the later stage of its lifecycle.
Seal 3: The Black Horse as White Dwarf Pulsar
"So I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a balance for weighing in his hand. I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures. It said, “A quart of wheat for a denarion,and three quarts of barley for a denarion, but don’t damage the olive oil and the wine.” Book of Revelation 6.5-6 CEB Edition
The black horse refers to a red giant that sheds its outer layer after its fuel has been consumed. It initially becomes a white dwarf star that transforms into a black dwarf as it cools further.
However, Revelation also gives us additional information relative to this phase of the Sun's lifecycle. This information suggests that the white dwarf behaves as a white dwarf pulsar, emitting radiation out of both poles, and also generating noise as do pulsars. While rare, humanity has discovered the existence of white dwarf pulsars.
The radiation emitted from both poles of a pulsar takes the shape of, and appears as a "balance for weighing" or scale (in other translations). Additionally, the "voice from somewhere" indicates the many different kinds of strange sounds emitted by a pulsar.
This black dwarf phase leads us to the final stage of the death of the sun, the so-called "planetary nebula".
Seal 4: The Pale Green Horse as Planetary Nebula
"So I looked, and there was a pale green (khloros) horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and the Grave was following right behind. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, famine, disease, and the wild animals of the earth." Book of Revelation 6.8
A "planetary nebula" has nothing to do with planets. A planetary nebula is a stage of a dying star's lifecycle comprised of the now-depleted outer layer of the red giant phase. Think of the white dwarf discussed above as evolving out of the core of a red giant, and the planetary nebula as evolving out of its shell.
The language of Revelation reinforces the Christwatch assessment of the pale green (khloros) horse as the final stage of Earth's dying sun by giving its "rider" the name of Death, and indicating that "the Grave was following". The language describes a total breakdown in the natural order of Earth through famine, disease, and wild animals encroaching human habitats, as well as through human-on-human conflict, i.e. "kill by sword".
Conclusion: What Convergence Looks Like
The above Christwatch analysis of the Book of Revelation is one example of what the data-driven convergence of science and religion looks like. Christwatch contends that the Book of Revelation is not prophecy---it is data.
Consistent with the Christwatch theoplasma universe hypothesis, this data was communicated in allegorical fashion by a material divinity based in what humanity sees as the 4th state of matter, plasma. The role of the allegorical language is to engage an under-educated human audience lacking the background and circumstances to discern the existence of solar lifecycles in the remote past. The particular dataset communicated within the sections describing the first "four horsemen"---i.e. the lifecycle of a dying sun, and its ability to destroy organic life on an orbiting planet---is data that can now be understood by humanity at large.
This example of religion/science convergence is based on the integration of public source data from the science of astrophysics (e.g. the study of solar lifecycles) with scriptural materials both canonical and apocryphal. This integrated 360 degree content unification approach is unique to Christwatch, and enables breakthrough discovery of scriptural "hidden things" while correcting two longstanding research problems.
The first research problem is the systematic failure of our 21st century siloed sciences to incorporate data from "scriptural" documents thousands of years old into their analysis of the material world---even if those scriptural documents contain probable cause evidence demanding further investigation---as is the case with a great deal of apocalyptic literature, including Christian end times texts.
The second research problem is the failure of modern institutional Christianity---from the vatican to the evangelicals---to incorporate science into their analyses of scriptural source materials. This failure sets up self-identified Christians for attacks on their beliefs, families, communities, and economic livelihood---in the name of science---as occurred during the COVID quarantines when churches and businesses were forced to shut down. Many more examples of the weaponization of science against Christianity can be provided.
If Christianity and Christians are to survive, it's time for Christian leadership to put away "childish things" and unite to pursue research into the convergence of science and religion in a serious way.
Christwatch will support, and enthusiastically partner with those who do.
Joseph Bentzel is the founder of Christwatch.Org, a startup Christian thinktank that researches the convergence of science and religion. Prior to Christwatch, Joe worked in the tech industry and authored the 2006 book, Asymmetric Marketing: Tossing the Chasm in the Age of Software Superpowers. Joe is a baptized Roman Catholic who attended Catholic schools for 12 years. Please don't hold that against him.