In development

Ask a biblical question. Trace every answer back to the text.

ScriptureLayer is a deep Bible research platform in development for readers, pastors, ministries, educators, and publishers. It is being built so you can ask a question, explore the passages and resources that bear on it, inspect every quotation at its source, and organize what you find for careful study and teaching.

A research question linked to John 1:1 and two connected passages The question “How does John introduce the Word?” sits above a page showing John 1:1 to 3. Two lettered markers on the page link to cards for Genesis 1:1 and John 1:14, each showing the exact verse. How does John introduce the Word? Prepared example a Genesis 1:1 In the beginning Godcreated the heavenand the earth. b John 1:14 And the Word was madeflesh, and dwelt amongus, (and we beheld hisglory, the glory as ofthe only begotten ofthe Father,) full ofgrace and truth. John 1 1 In the beginningwas the Word, and theWord was with God, andthe Word was God. a b 2 The same was in thebeginning with God.3 All things were madeby him; and without himwas not any thing madethat was made.
Illustration drawn from the first prepared example below.

How research will flow

  1. Ask

    Put a question in plain words, the way you would ask a trusted teacher.

  2. Explore

    Gather the passages and permitted resources that bear on it, across both Testaments.

  3. Inspect

    Read each quotation exactly as written, with its reference and a link to its source.

  4. Organize

    Keep what matters in collections for study, sermons, and lessons.

Try the research preview

Three worked examples show how a question, a short research note, and the passages behind it stay connected. Select a lettered marker to jump to its passage, open any source, and gather passages into study notes.

Research Prepared demonstration Three examples

This is a prepared demonstration, not live AI. Each example was written and checked in advance. The Scripture quotations and source links are real, but nothing on this page is generated as you click. AI-backed research is the next milestone.

Question How does John introduce the Word?

  • John 1
  • Creation
  • Incarnation

Research note

The Word, creation, and incarnation.

John begins with the Word already present “in the beginning.”, see John 1:1 Genesis opens with God creating the heaven and the earth., see Genesis 1:1 John later states that the Word was made flesh., see John 1:14

For study Read the passages together, while preserving the distinct claim each one makes.

Passages cited

  1. John 1:1 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    Read John 1 in full (opens in a new tab)
  2. Genesis 1:1 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

    Read Genesis 1 in full (opens in a new tab)
  3. John 1:14 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

    Read John 1 in full (opens in a new tab)

Question What does careful study look like?

  • Acts 17
  • Discernment
  • Diligence

Research note

Receive the word. Search the Scriptures.

Acts describes the Bereans receiving the word with readiness and examining the Scriptures daily., see Acts 17:11 Paul’s instruction to Timothy emphasizes diligence and rightly dividing the word of truth., see 2 Timothy 2:15

For study Together these passages give a useful starting point for studying with both openness and care.

Passages cited

  1. Acts 17:11 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

    Read Acts 17 in full (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2 Timothy 2:15 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

    Read 2 Timothy 2 in full (opens in a new tab)

Question How does Scripture point to Christ?

  • Luke 24
  • Witness
  • Fulfillment

Research note

Read the witness of the Scriptures.

Luke records Jesus explaining the things concerning himself in the Scriptures., see Luke 24:27 In John, Jesus speaks of the Scriptures as testifying of him., see John 5:39

For study These passages establish the direction of the study; identifying a particular connection still requires reading its context carefully.

Passages cited

  1. Luke 24:27 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

    Read Luke 24 in full (opens in a new tab)
  2. John 5:39 (opens Bible Gateway in a new tab)

    Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

    Read John 5 in full (opens in a new tab)

How to read a note

Each letter marks the passage a statement rests on. Select it to jump to the exact quotation, then open the source or read the whole chapter.

Passages are quoted word for word, each with a link to its source. The note above them is prepared commentary on those passages.

An answer should be the beginning of careful study. Every supporting source should remain within reach.

Built for people who study and teach the Bible

One research layer, used at very different scales: a reader with a single question, a pastor with a sermon to prepare, a publisher with a whole library.

  • Readers

    What they will do: Ask the question they have carried for years, then read the passages for themselves before reading anyone’s summary.

    What they keep: Passages to read in context

  • Pastors

    What they will do: Trace a theme across both Testaments while preparing to preach, with every quotation checked against its source.

    What they keep: Checked quotations for sermon notes

  • Ministries

    What they will do: Make years of teaching, transcripts, and study material searchable for their team, under permissions they control.

    What they keep: A shared, searchable library

  • Educators

    What they will do: Build lessons and courses in which every point links to a passage students can open and read.

    What they keep: Lesson outlines reviewed before class

  • Publishers

    What they will do: Bring study resources into a permissioned research layer, with attribution and links back to their editions.

    What they keep: Control over use and credit

An answer is only useful if you can check it

AI can summarize quickly and still be wrong. ScriptureLayer is designed so the evidence stays in front of you and people remain responsible for what gets taught.

  • The exact words come first

    Scripture and resource quotations appear word for word with their references, never blended into a paraphrase.

  • Every statement points to its evidence

    Each line of a research note links to the passage or resource it rests on. A statement without support is flagged, not smoothed over.

  • Resources are used with permission

    Only public-domain, owned, or licensed material enters a library, and owners decide how their work is credited.

  • People review what gets taught

    Lesson and sermon material stays a draft until a person has checked it against the sources.

Anatomy of a traceable finding
  1. Statement in the research note

    John later states that the Word was made flesh.

  2. Exact quotation

    John 1:14

    And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

  3. Source

  4. Review

    Reviewed Checked by a person before it is taught.

Drawn from the first prepared research note.

How ScriptureLayer will work

Planned architecture

Behind every research note sits a pipeline that begins with resources you are permitted to use and ends with a person’s review. This is the design the next milestone starts to build.

  1. Library

    Public-domain texts, books, transcripts, and archives that a ministry or publisher owns or licenses.

  2. Processing

    Background jobs extract text, keep page and section locations, and tag every Scripture reference.

  3. Knowledge graph

    Passages, topics, resource excerpts, and reviewed cross-references, connected so research can follow links, not just keywords.

  4. Retrieval

    For each question, find the passages and excerpts that bear on it, within the collections you can access.

  5. Synthesis

    AI drafts a research note in which every statement links to what it rests on, and says so when the sources do not answer.

  6. Review

    Quotations are checked against their sources, and teaching material waits for a person’s approval.

First

Research workspace

Where readers and teams ask, explore, save collections, and prepare reviewed teaching material.

Later

Developer API

The same research, returned as structured data so other software can present it.

Engineering commitments

  • Grounded answers

    Synthesis will work only from retrieved passages and excerpts, and will abstain when the supplied material cannot answer the question.

  • Measured quality

    A standing evaluation set will test quotation fidelity, source relevance, unsupported claims, and abstention before each release.

  • Predictable costs

    Large archives will run as queued background jobs, repeated context will be cached, and usage will be metered.

Proposed design

A second layer for developers

An API is the connection that lets other software ask ScriptureLayer for research and receive structured results: passages, exact quotations, source links, and review status, in a predictable format.

A Bible app, a church website, or a publisher’s platform could use it to bring source-linked research to its own readers. Developer and institutional access is planned after the research workspace.

No endpoints are deployed, and no API keys exist yet. The examples below show the proposed design.

Download the proposed API contract

OpenAPI 3.1, JSON

GET /v1/passages

Retrieve a passage by reference, with its exact text, a stable identifier, and a link to the source edition.

Request
GET /v1/passages?reference=John%201%3A1&related=true
Illustrative response
{
  "passage_id": "JHN.1.1",
  "reference": "John 1:1",
  "text": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.",
  "source": {
    "edition": "KJV",
    "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201%3A1&version=KJV"
  },
  "related_passages": [
    "GEN.1.1",
    "JHN.1.14"
  ]
}

POST /v1/research

Ask a question and receive a draft in which every finding cites its evidence. Each draft states how it was produced and whether it still needs review.

Request
POST /v1/research
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "question": "How does John introduce the Word?",
  "library_ids": [
    "lib_example_study"
  ],
  "max_citations": 8
}
Illustrative response
{
  "research_id": "res_example_word",
  "origin": "prepared_demonstration",
  "question": "How does John introduce the Word?",
  "topics": [
    "John 1",
    "Creation",
    "Incarnation"
  ],
  "note": {
    "title": "The Word, creation, and incarnation.",
    "findings": [
      {
        "text": "John begins with the Word already present “in the beginning.”",
        "citations": [
          "a"
        ]
      },
      {
        "text": "Genesis opens with God creating the heaven and the earth.",
        "citations": [
          "b"
        ]
      },
      {
        "text": "John later states that the Word was made flesh.",
        "citations": [
          "c"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "guidance": "Read the passages together, while preserving the distinct claim each one makes."
  },
  "citations": [
    {
      "marker": "a",
      "reference": "John 1:1",
      "quotation": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.",
      "source_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201%3A1&version=KJV",
      "context_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=KJV"
    },
    {
      "marker": "b",
      "reference": "Genesis 1:1",
      "quotation": "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.",
      "source_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201%3A1&version=KJV",
      "context_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=KJV"
    },
    {
      "marker": "c",
      "reference": "John 1:14",
      "quotation": "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.",
      "source_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201%3A14&version=KJV",
      "context_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=KJV"
    }
  ],
  "checks": {
    "quotations_verified": true,
    "unsupported_statements": 0
  },
  "review": {
    "state": "requires_human_review"
  }
}

GET /v1/cross-references

List passages connected to a reference, with the relation and the plainly stated basis for each connection.

Request
GET /v1/cross-references?reference=John%201%3A1
Illustrative response
{
  "reference": "John 1:1",
  "items": [
    {
      "to_reference": "Genesis 1:1",
      "relation": "verbal_parallel",
      "basis": "Both passages open with the words “In the beginning.”",
      "review_state": "reviewed"
    },
    {
      "to_reference": "John 1:14",
      "relation": "same_passage",
      "basis": "Later in the same chapter, John states that the Word was made flesh.",
      "review_state": "reviewed"
    }
  ]
}

POST /v1/collections/{collection_id}/items

Save a passage, finding, or resource excerpt to a research collection. Passage items keep the exact quotation and its source link.

Request
POST /v1/collections/col_example_study/items
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "type": "passage",
  "reference": "Acts 17:11",
  "note": "Opening text for the lesson on careful study."
}
Illustrative response
{
  "item_id": "itm_example_1",
  "collection_id": "col_example_study",
  "type": "passage",
  "reference": "Acts 17:11",
  "quotation": "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.",
  "source_url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2017%3A11&version=KJV",
  "note": "Opening text for the lesson on careful study."
}

POST /v1/outputs

Draft a lesson outline, sermon notes, or study guide from a collection. It stays a draft until a person approves it.

Request
POST /v1/outputs
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "collection_id": "col_example_study",
  "format": "lesson_outline",
  "title": "What careful study looks like"
}
Illustrative response
{
  "output_id": "out_example_1",
  "collection_id": "col_example_study",
  "format": "lesson_outline",
  "title": "What careful study looks like",
  "state": "draft",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Receive and search",
      "points": [
        {
          "text": "Acts describes the Bereans receiving the word with readiness and examining the Scriptures daily.",
          "citations": [
            "Acts 17:11"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Study with diligence",
      "points": [
        {
          "text": "Paul’s instruction to Timothy emphasizes diligence and rightly dividing the word of truth.",
          "citations": [
            "2 Timothy 2:15"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "review": {
    "state": "requires_human_review",
    "reviewer": null
  }
}

POST /v1/jobs

Queue bounded background work on a permissioned library, such as extracting every Scripture reference from an archive.

Request
POST /v1/jobs
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "library_id": "lib_example_ministry",
  "type": "extract_references",
  "limits": {
    "max_documents": 100
  }
}
Illustrative response
{
  "job_id": "job_example_1",
  "library_id": "lib_example_ministry",
  "type": "extract_references",
  "state": "queued",
  "limits": {
    "max_documents": 100
  },
  "progress": {
    "documents_processed": 0,
    "documents_total": 100
  },
  "notify": {
    "event": "job.completed"
  }
}

Where things stand

What exists today is small and real. Each later stage depends on testing, access to content, and feedback from the people who use it.

  1. Available now

    Concept and prepared demonstration

    This website, three prepared research examples with exact quotations and source links, and a proposed API contract you can download.

  2. Next milestone

    AI research prototype

    Connect a small, permissioned library to passage and topic retrieval and source-linked synthesis, then test quotation accuracy and unsupported claims before anyone relies on the results.

  3. Planned

    Research workspace and pilots

    Saved research collections, cross-reference exploration, and teaching outputs that pass through human review, tested on real research tasks with ministries and editors who agree to pilot them.

  4. Planned

    Libraries at scale

    Permissioned ingestion for ministry and publisher archives, with background processing for large collections and clear controls over use and attribution.

  5. Later

    Developer and institutional APIs

    Authenticated, metered access so other software can request research and receive structured results.

Why ScriptureLayer

Technology should make careful study more accessible, while keeping Scripture, source context, and human judgment central.

Ministries and publishers hold valuable biblical material, but readers often struggle to find the right passage, recover its context, or trace an explanation back to its source. ScriptureLayer is an early-stage venture built around that practical problem.

Development starts with a small, permissioned library and one research task done carefully. It widens to ministry archives, institutional collections, and publisher integrations only as each stage proves itself.

How it will be sustained

Research workspaces
Subscriptions for individuals and teams who study, preach, teach, or publish.
Metered API access
Usage-based pricing for developers and institutions building on the research layer.

Pricing has not been set.

Practical questions

Where things stand, in plain terms.

Can I use ScriptureLayer today?

You can try the research preview on this page and download the proposed API contract. The research workspace, live AI research, and developer access are planned milestones, and pilot enrollment is not open yet.

Is the research preview generated by AI?

No. The three examples were written and checked in advance. Selecting one shows its prepared note and passages, and the page sends nothing to an AI service. When live research arrives, every result will state how it was produced.

Who is ScriptureLayer for?

Readers, pastors, ministries, educators, and publishers who want deeper Bible research with the sources in view. Developers and institutions are a second audience, served later through the API.

How will AI be used?

In the planned platform, AI will work only with the passages and resources retrieved for your question. It will draft research notes that cite that material, help process large archives in the background, and abstain when the sources do not answer. Permissions, quotation checks, and human review surround every step.

Does a source link guarantee a correct answer?

No. A source link helps a reader check the evidence. It does not prove that a conclusion follows from that evidence, which is why review by people is part of the design.

Will ministry or publisher material be used without permission?

No. Libraries are planned to hold only public-domain, owned, or licensed material, and access rules apply during retrieval itself, not afterward.

What does this page collect?

This page has no signup, upload form, analytics, or saved history. The examples and study notes run in your browser and are cleared when you leave. The hosting provider may process ordinary connection data, and source links follow the policies of the sites they open.