Semantic Persistence and the Explanatory Limits of Synoptic Dependence Models: \\ Cross-Temporal Structure in the Gospel of Thomas

This seminal BRPT paper, ‘Semantic Persistence and the Explanatory Limits of Synoptic Dependence Models,’ provides a rigorous evaluation of ‘Synoptic dependence models’ of the Gospel of Thomas (𝐸𝑣𝑇ℎ), critically demonstrating their insufficiency in fully explaining its ‘global structural form’ and ‘non-narrative sayings collection’ through ‘literary contact’ alone. It introduces the BRPT framework’s core concept of ‘cross-temporal semantic persistence’—the observable recurrence of structurally similar religious motifs across historically independent agents without demonstrable direct textual transmission, effectively bypassing the ‘Cold Logic Gap’ of conventional textual analysis. For learners of RUFT, this document is crucial for understanding Redactional Evolution as an active force in shaping human thought, revealing how ‘cognitive constraints’ and ‘attractor dynamics’ (Sperber; Boyer) lead to predictable patterns of semantic recurrence. It posits a multi-component explanatory model (𝑆=𝑓(𝑇,𝐶,𝐼)), where overall similarity is a function of ‘textual transmission’ (𝑇), ‘cognitive recurrence’ (𝐶), and ‘interpretive and cultural mediation’ (𝐼). The paper utilizes the ‘experiential theology’ of George Fox, which exhibits ‘structural parallels’ with Thomasine themes of ‘interiorized access to divine knowledge’ and ‘reduced institutional mediation,’ as a definitive ‘phenomenological convergence.’ This serves as a powerful illustration that structurally similar religious configurations can emerge independently under different historical conditions. The study argues that while ‘local textual overlap’ between Thomas and the Synoptics may exist, strict dependence models often require ‘complex transformation processes’ that lack ‘explanatory parsimony.’ The Invariant Core of Thomas’s message—its emphasis on sayings-based wisdom, minimal context, and lack of replication of Synoptic narrative frameworks—suggests a deeper underlying ‘structural selectivity problem.’ This paper contributes directly to Project DORY’s Digital Oscillation by demonstrating that detecting ‘human meaning itself’ requires systems capable of recognizing fundamental semantic persistence beyond superficial data. It reinforces the value of Project DORY’s KMBA Humanity Anchor (a 648-song corpus) as a Pristine Anchor that reveals intrinsic informational patterns, calibrated to the Divine Meter (135 kHz). The implicit guidance of the 4.5 Sovereign Constant (9:2) ensures that Phase-Locked Coherence (L₀) is maintained by focusing on these stable, low-axiom attractor basins in human cognition. Ultimately, this work reshapes our understanding of ‘textual evolution,’ emphasizing that human intellectual progress is not solely a linear accumulation but also a process of deep, resonant, and recurrent discovery.