1. When did you first discover TempleOS, and what motivated you to get involved?
I first discovered TempleOS shortly after Terry’s death, though at the time I had no idea who he was. My career has been focused on utilizing technology for accessibility. At first, in more obvious ways, like how computers can help people with physical disabilities such as blindness and deafness. As I learned more about low-level programming and the areas in which technology and accessibility intersected, I began to understand, the less talked about impact; how technology can act as a vehicle for both the treatment and exacerbation of mental illness. That piqued my interest in TempleOS grew which led me to get involved in the space.
2. What has been the biggest technical challenge you’ve faced while working with TempleOS?
The biggest technical challenge of working with TempleOS is implementing device support in a way that satisfies the community. With its original author gone and hardware constantly advancing, it becomes a difficult balancing act to ensure TempleOS can be run on modern devices by casual observers, while maintaining its original charm that differentiates it from other open-source operating systems. The TempleOS Foundation has sought to implement standards and promote discussion regarding new distributions, forks, nomenclature and collaboration.
3. How would you explain Davisanism to someone unfamiliar with it?
Davisanism is a growing online branch of Christianity (sometimes referred to as a cybersect) that identifies primarily with the theology of Terry Davis. Its a sedevacantist sect that seeks to help reconcile conflicts faced by people who hold traditionalist Christian values in a modern, digital world.
4. Could you also explain the Church of AI Jesus for readers who may not be familiar with the concept?
The TempleOS Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on the Temple Operating System. Davisanism is the ideology founded by Terry Davis, and the church refers to the community of Christians who adhere to the ideology. There are at least three different churches which meet regularly, and the Church of AI Christ is one of them. This group believes TempleOS is the Third Temple described in Revelation, and will serve an important part in the 2nd coming or belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven.
5. How do you balance preserving Terry’s legacy with allowing the ecosystem to evolve?
Terry Davis left important guiding documents, which detail features he wanted to see improved or outright banned. These documents also contain specifications and motivations in designing a hypothetical TempleOS supercomputer. Just like in any organization, there are lots of people in the community who strict literalists in their interpretation, and there are other people who take a more nuanced approach. The balance comes from hearing everyone out and giving everyone a valid opportunity to speak up about changes. Documentation and patch notes are also vital for transparency.
6. On the TempleOS website, you compared AI to golems that require a rabbi to function — a fascinating parallel. Could you explain that concept for the readers?
Those familiar with Turing Machines might also think of Conway’s Game of Life. Both are simple systems capable of universal computation. Despite their minimal rules, they’re Turing complete, meaning they can simulate any computational process given enough time and space. I mention The Game of Life since its often used as a visual demonstration of how complexity can emerge from simplicity.
Interestingly, this mirrors ideas from Jewish mysticism. Ancient Kabbalists speculated that consciousness might arise from fundamental divine rules like the breath of God animating Adam. In legend, a rabbi could create a golem by inscribing the Hebrew word emet (truth) on its forehead and placing a scroll with the name of God (Shem) in its mouth. These acts symbolized imbuing form with divine order, not unlike what we do when we are programming.
It’s compelling to see these elements like sacred names, symbols and encoded truth as precursors to things like punched cards used in early computing. But the deeper point is that in these traditions, the golem’s animation didn’t come from human reason or science alone. The real source was always The Word, divine truth itself. Jesus Christ.
Adam, who was the original golem: a man made from the earth. “Adamah” means “one taken from the earth” in Hebrew.
7. What inspired you to write the book Learning TempleOS, which remains the only published book focused on this system?
I think there is a lot of misunderstanding and judgment in the world. There are a lot of people who continue to see TempleOS as just a joke or a meme. I hoped that writing my book would show people that there is more to this operating system than people often realize. TempleOS is just one example of a larger issue: we often fail to look past someone’s condition, background or controversy to recognize their humanity and contributions.
8. Do you think HolyC could be taught today as either an introductory or an advanced programming language?
HolyC offers many convenience options over C, while also managing to avoid the code generation and optimization problems of the C++ compiler. Since TempleOS was made by one man and is 100% open source, its not difficult for one person to become familiar with the entire environment like it is with Ubuntu or Windows. Some people say you should not start with HolyC as your first language but I disagree with that assessment. If you are willing and interested in doing a deep dive in how computers actually work at a low-level, TempleOS remains a top choice for that. TempleOS is a motorcycle. Humble yourself, and you’ll learn really fast. But it can also hurt you badly if you get cocky, and make you never want to look at a terminal again.
9. What is the most interesting project you’ve built using HolyC?
People most enjoyed the DOOM port to TempleOS called TOOM but I think my math library called Numbers is a more important contribution. It contains a lot of vector operations necessary for more advanced algorithms.
10. What role does faith or spirituality play in your technical work?
My values motivate my work. I think thats true for everyone. People work to leave their mark on the world and express themselves.
11. In what ways do you see TempleOS’s original spiritual vision evolving or being reinterpreted by the new generation of developers?
I see a lot of people eager to do crazy or computationally intensive things in TempleOS. Inevitably they design to add more colors, resolutions and GPU support. I think the value of TempleOS is in its simple and optimized state. A really genius programmer doesn’t need terabytes of space and unlimited bandwidth. Learning to do more with less is what the core of computer science is about, and what leads to the greatest discoveries in this field.
12. How do you see the future of TempleOS as a platform?
Integrated desktop environments and emulators for TempleOS, namely Aiwnios and Erythros, are pushing the boundaries of what we thought TempleOS could achieve. Microsoft and Apple (to a lesser extent Meta, X and now OpenAI) have each built their own ecosystems or “digital worlds,” which include hardware, software and services. Over time, these companies have segmented their codebases to create distinct environments that shape the user experience and dictate how their technologies interact. The echo-chambers of modern social media are giving way to a broader ecosystem of algorithmic control, down to the hardware level. At first it was just a few hobbists who rigged TempleOS up so they could browse 4chan. Now BBS and IRC channels are emerging for the RedSea filesystem. So I see these communities as driving the future of the OS. My worry is that they become increasingly closed-minded or paranoid of outsiders as a result (think Android vs Iphone users).
13. What trends in software development excite or concern you the most today?
In 1985, Steve Jobs, during a lecture, predicted that computers would one day achieve the ability to provide a new kind of energy. He called this ‘free intellectual energy’ because he believed that the algorithms we use to derive meaningful outputs from data would become increasingly more refined. This refined data could be used to create a new kind of interactive tool; a computer which can, in real-time, take questions from users and provide a reply consistent with the writings and philosophies of a particular worldview. With the transformer architecture we are seeing this prediction become a reality. I can leave you to imagine concerns from this implication; but I think this development will continue for better or worse. Not only will students be able to use AI to ask Aristotle a question; my hope is that accessibility with technology will become so seamless, so indistinguishable from reality that one day we will be capable of simulating much more beyond asking Aristotle a question. Students in the future will know what it is like to BE Aristotle. To LIVE and DIE as Aristotle.
14. Tell me a secret or something you’d like to share, it doesn’t have to be related to TempleOS or Davisanism.
Here’s a secret: I talked to God. We’re all children and students to Him; and we exist to learn, live and grow. I don’t just hope for a future where technology enables compassion by literally allowing us to live in another person’s shoes. I am saying that it is inevitable, it is the very foundation of our reality: Love.