A tool for studying scripture, written in Javascript (React and Redux)
Javascripture is agnostic; it's purpose is to make it easier to access bible data. Doctrine is not a consideration in the interface or the data. If there are mistakes in a translation, these are preserved. This is important because:
- it means the tool can be useful to all bible students, not just those of a particular denomination
- it helps to remove our own bias from our bible study
However Javascripture is heavily geared towards a "bible only" approach to study. This means that, as much as is practical, extra-biblical data is removed to reveal the inspired word as close to how it was revealed. This means that:
- accents and pointing are removed from the original text (as these are later additions)
- human "definitions" (like Strong's) are removed, as these are merely interpretations
Instead the emphasis is on making it as easy as possible to access the raw data. This is a fine line to tread. The intention is to encourage students to think critically, and make their own interpretation. This means also being critical of the data that is presented (e.g. not all cross references are helpful, not all "related words" are related). By removing things like Strong's definitions we hope to make students work harder to come to their own conclusions.
The primary data points are:
- The original text, keyed with Strongs numbers, making it easy to follow the translation.
- The usage of a word; by surfacing where a word is used elsewhere we can find "single word quotations".
- Related words; this is based on Strong's concordance and is not always accurate.
- Cross references; this is data that has been collected through recieved wisdom and should be subject to scrutiny.
To find out how to get involved with the project read the CONTRIBUTING document.