Richard Amiel McGough
My name is Richard Amiel McGough. I am the sole owner and operator of this site which I first put online on February 11, 2001. I was born in 1959 and have degrees in Mathematics and Physics. I am currently an independent software developer living in Yakima, Washington.
Originally, the primary purpose of this site was to present information relating to the Bible Wheel which I discovered on May 14, 1995 (see What is the Bible Wheel?). In 2005 I completed the 412 page Bible Wheel book which is available in hardback. In addition, I have published hundreds of articles detailing the “endless wonder of the divine unity of Holy Scripture” on my main Bible Wheel site. Or that’s how I said it before leaving the faith (see Why I Quit Christianity). The odd thing is that the evidence for the Bible Wheel remains valid as far as I can tell. The only thing that changed is that I don’t believe any of the ten thousand varieties of Christianity are true.
I am very interested in reader feedback, so please feel free to comment on any posts you see in this blog.
34 Comments
Hi-
Your “What is the Bible Wheel?” link gives a a 404 cannot be found error code….
Hi Alan,
Thanks for the tip – but the link appears to be valid. I tested both the link above (in the “About” article) and the link on the sidebar. If you could give me any more information it would be helpful.
Tanks again,
Richard
UPDATE: I just tried it from my wife’s machine, and she get’s a 404. So something is going on with permissions.
UPDATE 2: I fixed it. It turns out that the article was tagged as a “Draft” – I could see it when I was logged in as admin, but no one else could see it. And of course I tested the link when I was logged in …
Thanks again Alan.
Thanks. I will check it out…
Blessings Richard, I just came across this BIBLE WHEEL today and I’m intrigued but do not have the time right now to read. However, I plan to read open mindedfully soon. I came to read about YOU…to see what your religious background is or beliefs. Not that this should change what you developed but it would help me. Perhaps this is way over my head, but
I hope that you will share your faith… not necessarily your denomination (maybe I’m just missing it and you have it somewhere… I didn’t see a profile). Thank you for sharing this on the Scriptures. With much respect, Peggy
Hi Peggy,
I am in the midst of a transition in regards to my understanding of the Christian Faith. It seems similar to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. When in the cocoon, the body of the caterpillar is completely dissolved and then restructured. I feel like I am in near the end of the “dissolved” stage.
But if you want to know my state of mind and what I believed when I was writing the Bible Wheel book and website, here is how I stated it in the Bible Wheel FAQ for the last decade or so:
I hope this helps. Don’t hesitate to write with any follow ups or other questions.
All the best,
Richard
Yakima was mentioned in our local paper today. There was a picture of the bride and groom going under the raised baseball bats. I’m sure there is a word for it, but I can’t think of it.
Hummm … that’s news to me. Must be real baseball fans! Where are you located?
I’m in Lake Jackson, Texas. The link to the wedding gallery is http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/08/03/a-diamond-exchange-for-yakima-bears-pitcher. The second picture is the one that was in the Brazosport Facts. (Brazosport is the general area name. We are at the mouth of the Brazos River.)
I wrote a paper I wish for you to read and give any insights. And to share this writing with others. Thank you! God Bless!
The 4 Elements
There are 4 elements, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. There are 4 beasts of Ezekiel and Revelation. There are 4 Gospels. There are 4 Fixed Signs of the Zodiac. There are 4 seasons. There are 4 chambers in our heart. The number 4 is everywhere and obvious here because it represents the full cycle of Creation. It takes 4ty weeks for a normal pregnancy, so a child may be born in this world. Noah’s flood was 4ty days and 4ty nights. Israel was in the wilderness for 4ty years. Jesus was lead by the spirit into the desert and drank or ate no thing for 4ty days and 4ty nights. So now back to the elements.
#1: Earth = Adam(male and female) = Man(male and female) = Flesh = Sin(miss the mark) = Waters Below = Bad = Satan = Death = Darkness = The Things Seen(visible) = The Left Hand = Carnal Mind(mans knowledge and doctrine).
#2: Water = Baptism to Repentance(changing the mind) for the forgiveness of sin. Humbling ones self Like A Child to admit to thier self that they do not know. And submitting to that Tiny Seed of truth. Conception by The Spirit Of Truth(Helper or Helpmeet). Water(placenta), where life begins.
#3: Fire = Baptism of Spirit = Recieving Truth becomes like the Fire Of A Furnace to burn Thoroughly The Threshing Floor. To Seperate or Divide The Chaff(#1: Earth = Carnal Mind) From The Wheat(#4: Air = Divine Mind). The Wheat represents bread(Manna, Bread Of Life). To seperate the Light from the Darkness, the Heavens and the Earth, the Waters Above From the Waters Below, to Part The Red Sea(red as in blood, The Reed Sea = to be beaten or scourged, The Sea of Suf(Hebrew) – where we get our word suffer). Only Moses with Aaron’s Rod(the Knowledge of Torah = the Teaching = the Law = Hit the Target) could Part The Red Sea. And only Joshua(Jesus in Hebrew) could succeed Moses and lead Israel to the Promised Land. And only Mary(bitter = afflicted = Miryam or MRYM in Hebrew broken down by letter is M means waters, R means divine, Y means primal, and M means waters = so we have the Divine Waters to the Right and Primal Waters to the Left, Hebrew is written from Right to Left), so only Mary could give birth to Jesus.
#4: Air = Breath of Life = The Holy(Whole) Spirit = Born Again or Rebirth = Created = In the Image and Likeness = Eden = Paradise = Hit the Mark = Good = Light = Waters Above = Divine Mind = Reconciled = Revelation(the things not seen or invisible) = Right Hand = The Law Written in our Heart(Circumcission = 8th day).
So we have finished the cycle of creation. There is a word in the Hebrew Scripture that is never translated into English. It is spelled phonetically as ET or AT. It is comprised of the first letter of the Hebrew Alephbeth(alphabet) and the last letter. The first letter is called ALEPH and the last letter is called TAW, so we have AT. The first and the last, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. All of scripture from Genesis to Revelation(the Body of Christ, the Bread of Life which must be broken). In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD. All the letters of the Hebrew Alephbeth are also there numbers. They have 22 letters, Psalm 119. The numeric value of ALEPH is 1, and the numeric value of TAW is 400. So the numeric value of AT is 401(Life Created). It is written in John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless a man(#1 = Earth) is born(#4 = Air) of water(#2 = Baptism of Repentance) and Spirit(#3 = Fire), he can not enter into the Kingdom of God.” This is for all that have ears that hear and eyes that see. My fellows in ships(arks, tents, temples). May God continue to pour out His Spirit(the Age of Aquarius) over all the Earth. May God Bless the true seed of Abraham. I love each and every one of you. If anyone wills(always a free will offering) to talk about these things then please ask. All I have been given is yours.
Love it, amazed, and I am eager to sit down and study more. Will be in contact with you more regarding it if you do not mind. Praise God for imparting a glorious revelation for you to distribute to the world. Thank you.
Like the concept. Has real potential in many areas. The question I have has to do with doctrine. No where on your sight do you outline where you stand spiritually or doctrinely. This may seem confrontational, it is not. Like any scientest the foundation of there hypotheses or premises dictate their obervable keepers and rejectors of thought. I have seen ecumenical people who have no knowledge of Jesus present some rather interesting material. The Bible Code being just one. So for me it is important to know where you are coming from concerning the foundations of Christ Jesus first. Thanks
Hi Bill,
I designed the Bible Wheel site and wrote the Bible Wheel book at a time when I considered myself a very fundamentalist born-again Bible-believing Trinitarian Christian. Here is how I stated it in the Bible Wheel FAQ for the last decade or so:
My views have since matured and changed greatly. I no longer consider myself a “Christian” and I find it impossible to believe in the “Zeus-style” God presented in traditional Christianity. I will explain more in an upcoming post.
All the best,
Richard
” I no longer consider myself a “Christian” – Really? Why not? Seems to me you’ve unlocked a mystery of the Scripture, so maybe understand more than most, but why wouldn’t you want to be a believer in Christ? My website includes many things not ordinarily shown to the “church”, and I consider myself a Christian before Protestant (I remember the time when I didn’t realize they were protesting the Catholic doctrines..) Cheers, brother!
Hi Bob,
Great question! I’m glad you asked. It’s not that I do or don’t “want to be a believer in Christ.” There are plenty of folks who believe in Christ but don’t call themselves “Christian.” I don’t call myself Christian because I do not believe in any of the various “Christian religions” such as Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical, Mormon, JW, etc., etc., etc.. And after years of study and debate, I have discovered that very very very very very few people who call themselves “Christian” know or admit what the Bible really teaches. The various religions that “Christians” practice are just amalgamations of a wide variety of human traditions (many of which are ignorant, ridiculous, and some grossly immoral) propped up by questionable, forced, and even false interpretations of Scripture. Therefore, I cannot call myself a “Christian.”
Now as for my belief in Christ – that’s “on hold” right now. I don’t know what I believe. But I do know that it is not a “choice” to believe or not believe in Christ, any more than I have a choice to believe or not believe that 2 + 2 = 4. It’s either true or false. It is not a choice. And currently, I can’t state a “belief” about Christ because I don’t have sufficient knowledge about what I’m supposed to believe! The Bible Wheel remains the most amazing proof that “something supernatural” is going on in the Bible, but we also have equally compelling proof that the Bible contains many errors and contradictions. And I’m not willing to prostitute my mind (like nearly all Christian apologists I have read) to explain away the truth of what the Bible really says. So I am in a state of profoundly dynamic “tension” concerning the Bible and Christ right now. I’ll write more when I gain more understanding about how I understand this enigma.
All the very best,
Richard
Brother ‘RAM’-
I have ordered your hardcover book, and have read more than half of it. I also have downloaded the PDF for computer access and study on my laptop. Your website is encyclopedic in additional revelation that will occupy much of my free time (which is quite limited, but mandatory) since what you present is so elegant, so compelling, and so YHWH honoring! I applaud your efforts, and am profoundly troubled by the empty-headed vitriolic treatment that you have received from the ‘heresy hunters’ crowd that so infects Biblical Christianity and the Body of Christ. May the LORD have mercy on their myopic souls…
I must tell you that I have been blessed beyond measure, and brought to tears several times in my careful study of your textbook… the first I hope of many that you will publish, as you expand on the many areas that you alluded to in the text due to space constraints. I took the liberty to showcase your book and website (with another outstanding reference resource) on my most recent Weblog post at zionsgate.wordpress.com. I also sent an email to my favorite Biblical mentor, Dr. Chuck Missler of Koinonia House ministries (www.khouse.org), in the hope that your respective ministries may be of mutual benefit in the will of GOD.
Richard, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your remarkable and anointed efforts over these past 16 years. You have truly brought forth something new, fresh, and vibrant to the children of the Kingdom and the world at large, by the apparent leading of the Holy Spirit. I will pray for you, your family, and ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ may fulfill His Perfect Will in the full blossoming of your purpose and destiny. May His Holy Angels protect you and all that is yours- with a hedge of fire around you… in HIM, Santos
Dear Santos,
Thank you for your heartfelt message. Your post reflects precisely how I felt when I was writing the book – blessed, amazed, humbled, and overjoyed.
As for Chuck Missler, I used to listen to him a lot, and I had hoped that he would understand my work so I sent him a book. Unfortunately, I never heard back from him or his ministry.
All the very best,
Richard
Hey,
love you website,
About 20 years ago, I started noticing the number (121) a lot. I thought, either I’m just noticing that number or God is trying to tell me something. So, I memorized Psalms 121 and moved on. In time however, other number have come up over and over again and my wife and a friend have noticed the same exact numbers as well. (11,11) (111) (11,44) (44) insane amounts of 44′s and 444′s! (333) Plus, inadvertently finding the number 12 over and over again while reading the Bible. However, here lately the number 144 keeps coming up, and sir when I say I see that number “A lot” it’s only because I can’t think of a word in the english language to describe the amount. I AM NOT superstitious, I am not into numerology, I am a born again Bible believing Christian, but THIS is startin’ to freak me out!
Hey there Don,
Welcome to the “Number” club! I’m a former member, but I still remember quite vividly how number patterns would just leap out at me and seem extremely significant and profound … especially back in the days when I was meditating a lot and looking for mystical experiences and recording my dreams. I just knew they meant something, but I usually didn’t know what. My studies of number symbolism led pretty quickly to the Bible and before long I found myself looking at numbers as a kind of “key” to understanding deep aspects of Scripture. The excitement finally wore off after a few years, but not before I produced a lot of webpages ecstatically proclaiming the wonders of what I had seen. I call them Biblical Holographs (click the link if you want to learn more). I also produced a free online database that gives the numerical values of every word of the Bible.
So now that I’ve produced a website with lots of discussion about the symbolic meaning of numbers and the alphanumeric structure of highly significant passages of the Bible, I frequently hear from folks like you who are experiencing the same thing and don’t really know what to make of it. My answer now is pretty much the same as it has always been. Numbers are not just utilitarian counters. They are also Archetypal Categories upon which our minds, and the Greater Mind underlying all Reality is based. It’s not too unlike Plato’s concept of “Forms” or Pythagoras’s insight that “All is Number” or the Christian concept of the Logos (Word) by which all things are made.
This isn’t the right place for a detailed discussion on Number Symbolism since it’s the the comment stream under my “About” page, so if you want to discuss this further you should sign up for my forum (fast and free) or if you have a specific question just ask and I’ll write a blog post on it.
All the best,
Richard
Dear Richard McGough,
be so kind to send me your email address. I wanted to share something with you.
I greatly admired your discoveries years back.
Thank you, yours ulf
Hi Ulf,
You can send email to richard@biblewheel.com
I just found your site. I am intrested:
First: where is your credo, the one you have now after you not calling yourself christian anymore?
Second: in the hebrew bible there is another sycle, I mean the different books follow differently after each other. do you really think that God goes after the greek/christian order of books (as I can see the bible wheel does?)
Hi Rebecca,
I don’t have a “credo” any more because such things are needed only for people who hold beliefs in “creeds” written by other people. I don’t hold such beliefs anymore, and have no interest at this time in writing my own creed.
As for the alternate patterns of the canon found in other traditions: the Bible Wheel is a representation of the traditional Christian canon. When other traditions, such as the Jewish, are used, the pattern does not appear. I discuss the relation between the Christain OT and Jewish Tanakh in this article:
http://www.biblewheel.com/Canon/ChristianOT_vs_Tanakh.php
Furthermore, there are various versions of the Jewish Tanakh so it is not any kind of “standard” as shown here:
http://www.biblewheel.com/canon/22Books.asp
All the best,
Richard
Hello Richard,
This is my first return to the Biblewheel website in years. I wrote an article for your site years ago (Dividing the Waters of the Word) and having read your post on leaving Christianity, I find the pattern of our lives in the intervening years interestingly similar.
Quickly:
1. As a fundamentalist Christian I discovered numerical and other patterns in the word and considered a possible conversion to Judaism as the patterns I found were in the Hebrew scriptures.
2. I spent years pursuing these patterns, filling notebooks and journals, and was mesmerized by their beauty and wisdom.
3. But I kept fighting with the ‘surface text’ of scripture. Why the inconsistencies? Why the obvious errors?
4. I kept fighting with other Christians. If the bible is so deeply patterned with wisdom and beauty why are the people who study it the most, not? Why are they so closed minded and live lives I don’t want to emulate?
I eventually left Christianity for these last two reasons. In the intervening years I took up reading and studying Jung. His ideas on Archetypes, synchronicity and the collective unconscious hooked me. I have years of detailed Dream Journals and active imagination work that I love.
I am now left with the question “why the patterns in scripture?” and the more fundamental question “how do I connect with and express the order and beauty in and around me?” I want the experience of being alive that comes with the connection to divinity (most people have moments of connection to the divine. It’s the ‘great secret’ that CS Lewis talks about in Surprised by Joy).
As I said, I am intrigued by the similarity of our paths. Blessings to you and praise for your integrity, and for finding your own path in your own way. I would love to discuss more of these ideas with you.
Best,
Mark
Oh yes… I was taking a shower after reading your website and had an ‘aha’ moment that resulted in an intriguing possibility. I will think about it more, but want to get your take on it.
Consciousness creates order, and consciousness goes on above and below the threshold of awareness (with the largest part of it going on below). The scriptures have been the recipient of possibly the most focused kind of consciousness (it could even be called meditation or prayer) by scribes, monks, translators, arrangers, redactors and others for thousands of years.
Could it be that any book that received that kind of focused attention would have deep underlying interwoven patterns (created below the threshold of awareness). For example could all of them, if viewed from the right perspective (number patterns in languages with letter/number script other patterns, maybe phonetic, in other scripts) have these patterns ‘leaking through’ from the collective or individual subconscious (the part of us more intimately connected with the divine)?.
We wouldn’t know unless we subjected other texts to the kind of focused (one could call it holy) scrutiny we (you more than I) focused on the bible.
This post is already too long, but the end result would be:
consciousness is mysterious and ‘divine’ (transcendent), the exercise of consciousness (especially over time, and with religious devotion) creates patterns. And here’s the important part: It is *those patterns* that are the leaking through of divinity into the physical world, not the surface text, that is ‘true’ or ‘holy’. The surface text is a much more ego driven kind of text (read: “lets impress others and try holding onto the status quo” ).
All pattern is a type of symmetry and therefor a type of beauty. Beauty and elegance have been equated with truth for ages and for good reason. Beauty seems to have a holy power to it. Symmetry is also mathematically verifiable. It was that beauty and certainty that gave me the impression of truth and divinity, not the surface text.
Blessings,
Mark
Richard, this is for you. being a pattern seeker like yourself (much slower co-processor) I’ve gone into a rabit hole of late. please see my last article which is a synopsis here
http://www.supernaturalresearch.com/2012/03/sri/
At these times, I wonder just as you have. Who is Fx&^g with my mind! Is it God? the Holy Spirit? I actually understand what I am going to find before I do the research? When you’ve hit 20 statistically impossible coincidences in a row you just gotta smile and laugh.
the original article about 3 weeks ago called “the harlot of rev17, she’s a super tramp”
and you could see where it all began.
God Bless you brother, you are often in my prayers….
had trouble registering at your forum due to the image caption! ugh, best/dificult one i have ever seen….
Richard, I have found your website a treasure trove of information. I am a Hebrew Roots teacher recently moved to Salem, OR. I am fasinated by the gematria that I see interwoven into the Hebrew text and the message within the message that it conveys. I appreciate your work. Shalom, David
Hi David,
Thanks for the good words. The Hebrew roots movement is very interesting to me for two reasons. First, I was very much into the Hebrew Tanakh and Jewish tradition because it related to my work on the Bible Wheel. Second, I am very interested in how religious sects develop. The Hebrew Roots movement is quite diverse – spanning everything from traditional Evangelic Christianity dressed up in Hebrew garb all the way to full blown cults that reject the book Hebrews because it contradicts their new religion. And as such, it played an important role in my departure from the faith. After many years on internet forums I learned one thing – there is no such thing as “Christianity” but rather only a vast array of “Christianities” that overlap and contradict each other to various degrees. Hence, it became obvious that I could not be a “Christian” since that term was not well-defined and I could find no reason to align myself with any particular group because the whole concept of God saving or damning based on which set of obscure religious propositions a person chose to believe. This really helped me escape the shackles of religion.
BTW – I visited your site and noticed a prominent misspelling that is sure to bug some folks. Your link to Tenents of the Faith should be Tenets. There is no such word as “tenent” and “tenant” means “someone paying rent.”
Also, you have some special characters that show up as � in that article. Did you copy it from MS Word? That’s the source of a lot of problems like that.
It is interesting to view you particular take on contentious issues. For example, you speak of the cross as the “execution stake.” That is a position common with Mormons and JWs.
You say YHVH is one, but make no mention of the Trinity, so I presume you reject that too (as do the JWs).
You believe the Bible is infallible – I find that quite incredible, though it is the “orthodox” fundamentalist position.
And so you see your religion is just another of the ten thousand variations on Christianity. This is why I can’t believe any of it. It is impossible to believe that the Bible is true because no one can even agree about what it says. Here’s an article where I explain more about Why I Quit Christianity.
Hi,
I just commented on a separate post but am commenting here to ask you to also post a photo of Rose.
Hi Elizabeth,
Here ya go. This was from a hike Rose and I took up to Union Falls in the Cascade mountains in 2011.
Hi Richard,
You have an amazing intellect! What is your take on pre-destination?
This isn’t a trick question, I’m sincere.
Thanks,
Jim
Mister mister!!!!
Have you read the book of Enoch????
I too am questioning my faith after I was involved at a place called international house of prayer. Anyway, its kind of a cult definitley not church the way Jesus envisioned it. Regardless God used it to open my spiritual eyes. There were witches, masons and the sort and basically I ended up getting chased, my chakras, which I never knew existed got blown open and I have all sorts of wires in me.
Anyway, your sight actually God has used MANY MANY times to bring me revelation and peace. It also led,me to the book of enoch.
It has really been clearing up a lot of loose ends in my faith. But its possible that the reason the bible is a mandala bc the fallen ones could have put it together…. Not to say that God still can’t use it.
But lately I’ve been thinking that Jesus read the book of enoch and jasher if He studied as a rabbi.
ANYWAY Mr. Richard. It would be awesome to see what would happen if you actually added all the books mentioned in the bible that’s not in our western bible and see what happens….
But either way. The work you’ve done and the work God has done putting the bible together to make mandala scroll is amazing…..the bible is definitley from God. But I think that the church is going to start going down ancient paths again.
BTW, no. Come to think of it. The bible I don’t think the fallen ones could have put it together. I know God is just telling us all we need to know. Just to love others and follow Jesus…:)
I love you sir. Thank you for all your work. I’m going to buy a copy soon!!!!
Dude mister,
I looked up mandalas on Google. N they’re totally man made. U just cracked the ill:) illuminati code…….tomorrows my birthday!!!!
We know מוחא “brain” equals 55. In my opinion, this can be understood as 54 and 1 i.e. 541 allowing for interesting resonances; הוא ראה ואינ נראה “he sees but is not seen” and שכל הפועל “active intellect” each equal 541 (Abulafia, Sitre Torah 129b), likewise ישראל equals 541 (Abulafia, Sha’arei Sedeq 38). Furthermore:
עֵץ-חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ וְתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר “She is a Tree of Life to those who grasp her, and [541] מְאֻשָּׁר ‘happy’ is everyone who holds her fast” (Proverbs 3:18).
Interestingly, I read that Rashbatz reads מלך “king” as an anagram for מוחא ,לבא ,כבדא “brain, heart, and liver.”
Shalom Jesse
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