The Unfolding Pleroma. An Axiomatic Theology of Dynamic Plenitude
Pablo Adolfo Gustavo Ferro
Knowledge Commons (Lakehead University) November 10, 2026 DOI: 10.17613/9m9fw-brp21 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that God is plenitude in unfolding rather than a motionless substance, and that finite modes grow by surpassing obstacles, with materiality as the densest obstacle and consciousness as a reflexive mirror that cannot fully represent itself. Proposes that category theory and knot theory can formalize this dynamic Spinozist ontology, that classical polarities are knot crossings undone by adding a dimension, and that Madhyamaka Buddhism, Advaita Vedānta, and Christianity are local charts of a single manifold, making religious pluralism a theorem. |
Abstract
This paper proposes an axiomatic theology in which God is neither a motionless substance nor abeing among beings, but plenitude in unfolding: an infinite act of self-surpassing that is expressedin finite modes, each of which encounters an obstacle and, by surpassing it, increases its power. Materialityis neither a fall nor an illusion; it is the densest form of obstacle, and for that very reason thecondition of growth. Consciousness is defined as the mirror in which this dynamic becomes reflexive,and a Lawvere–Cantor diagonal argument is used to prove that no consciousness can representitself completely, so that it always requires a new challenge. Development is therefore necessarilyinfinite.The system is formulated as a dynamic Spinozist ontology: substance is read as process (natura naturans),modes as trajectories (natura naturata), and conatus as a drive towards surpassing rather thanmere self-preservation. It is mathematized with two tools: category theory (endofunctors, coalgebras,fixed points, the Yoneda lemma, sheaves) and knot theory (crossings, Reidemeister moves, theKauffman bracket, links and Borromean rings). These tools yield formal definitions of person, group,consciousness, nature, society, spirit, reason, change, eternity, temporality, the local and the global.The classical polarities (good and evil, truth and falsity, time and eternity, plenitude and limit, ideaand thing) are interpreted as knot crossings seen in projection: oppositions that are real on theplane of finite experience but come undone when a dimension is added. Finally, it is shown thatMadhyamaka Buddhism (dynamic śūnyatā), Advaita Vedānta (Brahman as pūrṇa) and Christianity(kenosis, epektasis, Trinity) can be read as local charts of a single manifold, and it is proved thatno single chart can cover it entirely. Religious pluralism thus appears as a theorem rather than aconcession.