Article

An Article is a long-form essay or explainer organized around an idea. Unlike a wiki entry (terse, reference-style) or a Newsroom Dispatch (short, event-anchored, decays), an Article argues something at length and is evergreen.

Articles live at data-content/articles/{slug}.md and serve at https://www.wheelofheaven.world/articles/{slug}/.

When to write an Article instead of…#

If the piece will be exactly as relevant in five years as it is today, it’s an Article. Otherwise, consider a Dispatch.

Anatomy#

+++
title = "Why the Elohim hypothesis is more parsimonious than mainstream readings of Genesis"
description = "A side-by-side comparison of how the ancient-astronaut reading and the mythological-allegory reading account for the textual oddities in Genesis 1–11."
template = "articles-page.html"
date = 2026-05-15

[extra]
claim_type = "inferred"
editorial_pass = "2026-05"
summary = "Genesis contains specific, peculiar details — sequence of creation, anatomical language, multiple-creator grammar — that are easier to explain as an engineering log than as either myth or literal history. This Article walks through five such details and shows what each reading must assume to fit."
category = "Hermeneutics"
keywords = ["Genesis", "Elohim hypothesis", "parsimony", "hermeneutics"]
references = [
    { id = "the-book-which-tells-the-truth", locator = "Chapter 1" },
    { title = "Genesis 1–11: From Creation to Babel", author = "Gordon Wenham", date = "1987" },
    { title = "The Anchor Bible: Genesis", author = "Speiser", date = "1964" },
    { title = "The Combat Myth in the Hebrew Bible", author = "Day", date = "1985" },
    { title = "The 12th Planet", author = "Zecharia Sitchin", date = "1976" },
    { title = "Inspiration and Incarnation", author = "Peter Enns", date = "2005" }
]
+++

The opening paragraphs draw the reader in with a hook and state the
claim clearly...

## What I'm comparing

Two readings:

1. The Elohim hypothesis...
2. The mythological-allegory reading...

## Detail 1: Sequence of creation

Genesis 1 orders creation in a specific way — light, then sky, then
land...

## Detail 2: Plural grammar

The verb in Genesis 1:26 is plural...

[...etc...]

## What each reading must assume

| Detail | Elohim reading assumes | Allegory reading assumes |
|---|---|---|
| Plural grammar | Multiple agents | A literary convention |
| Sequence | Engineering order | A literary order |
| ... | ... | ... |

## Conclusion

The Elohim reading explains the textual peculiarities without invoking
unmotivated literary devices...

## References

(Rendered automatically from frontmatter.)

Frontmatter — required fields#

Frontmatter — [extra] fields#

Byline#

The article header renders a byline under the headline: by <author> · <date> · <reading time>, with the author name linked to their /author/<slug>/ profile. It reads author / author_slug from [extra] and falls back to the corpus author (Zara Zinsfuss), so a new Article is auto-bylined — set the fields only to credit someone else. The classification chips (type, claim badge, category) stay in the eyebrow row above the title; author/date/reading-time are the provenance line below it.

Structure#

A typical Article runs 1,500–4,000 words and roughly follows:

1. Hook + claim — what this Article argues, stated clearly in the opening paragraphs.
2. Background / setup — what the reader needs to know to follow. Use this to acknowledge competing readings.
3. The argument — the body, organized into ## sections. Each section should advance the claim.
4. Counterarguments — present the strongest objections; respond. Always include this section — strawmanned alternatives are a tell.
5. Conclusion — restate the argument briefly; note what it would take to falsify or revise.
6. References — automatic from frontmatter.

Voice#

More narrative than a wiki entry. Author perspective is okay and expected — but mark interpretation as interpretation.

Acceptable#

The most striking thing about Genesis 1:26 is the plural verb. We can read it as a literary convention, or we can read it as evidence that multiple agents are involved. The latter reading…

Not acceptable#

Science has been wrong about Genesis for centuries.

The first acknowledges the alternative reading exists and engages with it. The second strawmans and dismisses.

Citations vs. body claims#

Articles can make stronger claims than wiki entries because they earn those claims with argument. But:

• Direct claims about the canon: state directly
• Claims about other traditions: hedged, sourced
• Scientific claims: measured, sourced

The full register guide is in .claude/rules/content-editing.md.

Inline citation#

Use the cite shortcode:

The plural in Genesis 1:26 has been noted since at least
Rashi{{ cite(id="1", text="[1]", title="Rashi commentary on Genesis 1:26") }}.

The reference list at the bottom of the page is rendered automatically from the references array in frontmatter. If a source already exists in data/sources.json, use its stable id and add page-specific note or locator fields as needed.

Footnotes (explanatory notes)#

Separate from numbered citations: explanatory footnotes render as lettered endnotes (a, b, c, …) at the foot of the Article. Use them to gloss a technical term or add an aside without breaking the prose. Define them in [extra].footnotes and reference them inline with the footnote shortcode:

The text survives only in lacunae{{ footnote(id="2") }}, ...

[[extra.footnotes]]
content = "Gaps in a damaged text where the tablet is broken or illegible."

id is the 1-based index into extra.footnotes, so place the markers in the same order the notes are listed. Citations (cite, numbered [1]) and footnotes (footnote, lettered [a]) are two independent systems — each round-trips to its own list at the foot of the page.

For original-language quotations, the library shortcode’s interlinear mode renders the source script and transliteration beneath each translated line.

Linking out#

Articles should link extensively to wiki entries:

The [Elohim](@/wiki/elohim.md) account in Genesis differs from the
[Anunnaki](@/wiki/anunnaki.md) account in Sumerian sources...

This creates the canonical reading paths through the site. Don’t duplicate definitions — link to them.

Workflow#

cd data-content
git checkout -b feature/article-{slug}
$EDITOR articles/{slug}.md
python scripts/validate.py
git add articles/{slug}.md
git commit -m "Add Article: {short title}"
git push -u origin feature/article-{slug}

After merge, bump the content/ submodule pointer in www (and api).

Quality checklist#

• Title under 60 characters
• Description 150–160 characters
• summary field set (2–4 sentences) — used by AI extraction
• claim_type set
• editorial_pass set if writing fresh under current framing
• Counterarguments section present and not strawmanned
• Six-source minimum in references
• Wiki entries linked on first mention
• No broken @/path.md links
• Conclusion notes what would falsify or revise the claim

Compared with Newsroom Dispatches#