Steven S Veach

Now that I’m settling into my new position at Isaac Hunter Ministries, I thought I would get my feet wet by embarking on a long-term project (approx. 9 months) reading through and familiarizing myself with the research areas that I’ve been tasked to write and publish on. This material will be used as background research for all of Isaac Hunter’s future books, as we collaborate, formulate, and flesh out the research for his novels and characters over the next few years.

Here is the bibliography I will be working from, and keep reading this post for more detailed information on projections and research goals.

Project Start Date:

August 16th, 2025

Project Goals:

My stated research goals were established when I took the position here as Scholar-in-Residence as a working target to better understand and collaborate with Isaac on his own writing and research. As stated elsewhere on this site, my research areas are as follows:

“…examining the interplay between Christian metaphysics (the fundamental nature of existence), biblical anthropology (the elemental components of the tripartite being), personal eschatology (death and the intermediate state), and the evangelistic implications of speculative theology in narrative contexts (quantum physics, relativity, and biblical cosmology)…”

All of these subject areas in one way or another fall under or are applied within the main umbrella of creative fiction, specifically horror or supernatural suspense.

1. Christian Metaphysics deals with the fundamental nature of existence. It explores the ultimate nature of reality from a Christian perspective as it delves into fundamental questions about existence, being, and the cosmos, and how God, as the ultimate and supreme reality, relates to these concepts.
2. Biblical Anthropology deals with the elemental components of the tripartite being. It studies the nature of human beings as it relates to God and based on biblical descriptions. A key concept within biblical anthropology is the tripartite being, or trichotomism, which posits that humans are composed of three distinct parts: body, soul, and spirit. This contrasts with dichotomism, which holds that humans consist of only a body and soul (spirit being considered another term for the soul). 
3. Personal Eschatology deals with death and the intermediate state. It investigates the individual’s destiny after death. Personal eschatology addresses the fear of death, offers hope in the face of the unknown, and provides motivation for believers to live with an eternal perspective.
4. Speculative Theology deals with various interrelated disciplines (quantum physics, relativity, biblical cosmology, etc). It uses rational inquiry and philosophical reasoning to explore and understand divine truths. It ventures beyond traditional doctrinal frameworks to delve into abstract concepts and hypothetical scenarios, seeking to articulate beliefs about God and the nature of reality. 

As is laid out in the bibliography, I will also be pursuing research in Integrative Christian Counseling, Quantum Physics (or better, an overall or general introduction to QP, Physics, and the tension between science and religion). I will also be spending time reviewing the Supernatural Realm, the 2nd Temple Period literature, and addressing the developing Extrapolative-Iterative-Redemptive Hypothesis: Tracing God’s Multi-Genomic Creations through Divine Collector Narratives (more on this later).

Project Format:

Phase 1: The first 10 weeks (courses + reading)

• Goal: Complete all online courses and lay the groundwork for my reading.
  
• Daily Schedule: Monday – Friday

• Hour 1: Online Course Immersion
  • Focus: Dedicate this hour to working through one of the online courses. Work on one course until its completion before moving to the next.
  • Progression: The goal is to complete a course module or a specific set of lectures each day, working systematically through the course until it’s finished.

• Hour 2: Interleaved Reading from Sections
  • Focus: Dedicate this hour to delving into the books and articles from my bibliography, but in an interleaved fashion.
  • Rotation: Each day, choose a different section from the reading list (Christian Metaphysics, Biblical Anthropology, Personal Eschatology, etc.) and read from one of the titles within that section.

Phase 2: After the first 10 weeks (reading only)

• Goal: Systematically work through the remaining books and articles, deepening my understanding of the EIR Hypothesis.
  
• Daily Schedule: Monday – Friday

• Hours 1 & 2: Dedicated Reading from Sections
  • Increased Focus: With the coursework complete, there are now two dedicated hours for reading. I can choose to extend the reading session on a single topic or continue the interleaved approach to maintain variety.
  • Deeper Dives: If a particular book or topic truly resonates with the hypothesis, I can dedicate more consecutive days or longer sessions to it.
  • Continued Interleaving: Rotating through the reading sections (Christian Metaphysics, Biblical Anthropology, etc.).

Review Process

After each book is completed, all highlights and notes will be exported from the Kindle reader and sent to my laptop, and all notes will be tagged with the proper notation from the Turabian citation format. These notes will be saved as notes in my Research Notebook (separate files for each). That information will be reviewed and/or pulled and utilized in future fiction and non-fiction works.

After Action Review:

After the project is completed and all materials have been reviewed and processed as described above, a final annotated bibliography and final project paper will be written on the state of the research, the conclusions drawn, the questions remaining, and how this material correlates with the EIR Hypothesis.

Project Expected Duration:

The projected plan to finish the project has been calculated to be approximately 7-12 months to complete five courses and twenty-six books. I will be focusing during the first ten weeks, one hour, five days a week, on course material, then an additional hour, five days a week, on reading. Courses will be taken consecutively, while books can be read each day from one reading section or multiple. I will generally be reading books in order, predetermined per section.

1. Initial 10 weeks (courses + reading) Coursework: 1 hour/day * 5 days/week = 5 hours/week. I will complete all 5 courses in these 10 weeks (50 hours total).
   Reading: 1 hour/day * 5 days/week = 5 hours/week.
   Reading completed during this phase: 5 hours/week * 10 weeks = 50 hours of reading.
   Remaining reading hours after 10 weeks: 260 total hours – 50 hours completed = 210 hours of reading remaining.
2. After 10 weeks (reading only) Daily Reading: 2 hours/day * 5 days/week = 10 hours/week.
3. Time to complete the remaining reading Remaining Reading Hours: 210 hours
   Weekly Reading Hours: 10 hours/week
   Weeks Required: 210 hours / 10 hours/week = 21 weeks
4. Total estimated time Phase 1 (Courses + Reading): 10 weeks
   Phase 2 (Reading Only): 21 weeks
   Total Time: 10 weeks + 21 weeks = 31 weeks, or
   31 weeks / 4.33 weeks/month ≈ 7.16 months

Conclusion:

This will be an exciting journey through some difficult material that is at times highly controversial. I will enjoy every minute of it. Check back periodically for updates on the project.