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The Faith Received How to use

How to use The Faith Received

Three short guides. Choose the one that fits how you read.

Laity

Read on your own, lead a home group, teach a Bible study or mentor someone.

Reader

Read a classic on your own

Open a work and read it in English. The outline on the left lists its books. Click one to jump to it.

Try it Reader
The reader open to Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. The outline on the left lists Book I to Book IV and the text is on the right.

Creeds and confessions

Lead a home group through a creed, confession, or catechism

The Nicene Creed opens in English with its three parts listed on the left. Click a part to read it.

Try it Creeds and confessions
The Nicene Creed in the reader. The outline lists God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Scripture

Teach a Bible study from a passage

Open a chapter and click a verse. The panel on the right lists the creeds and confessions that cite it and the commentators on it.

Try it Scripture
Romans 8 on the Scripture page. Verse 1 is selected and the panel on the right lists confessions that cite it and commentators on Romans.

Guides

Pick a century for your group to read

Each shelf of the library has a guide. Click a century on the ruler to see what the shelves hold from it. Then open a guide.

Try it Guides
The century ruler on the Guides page with a band for each shelf. The fourth century is chosen and three shelves are shown below it.

Lexicon

Look up a word your study stumbles on

Search a word such as grace. Each meaning lists the authors who define it and the page.

Gathered by machine from the library’s texts.

Try it Lexicon
The Lexicon entry for grace. Its first meaning is defined by three authors with an Open button for each page.

Resources

Hand your group an essay

Type a word such as Nicene to list the Mere Orthodoxy essays that match. The Podcasts tab lists podcast episodes.

Try it Resources
The Resources page with Nicene typed into the article search. Four of the 48 matching essays are shown.

Ask

Ask a question in plain English

Type a question about a doctrine or a passage. The answer cites the pages of the library it drew on.

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AI-assisted: answers cite the library’s pages.

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Bookmarks

Save the works for next week’s session

Keep the works you are reading and the place you stopped in each one.

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Try it Bookmarks

Notebook

Keep passages for a mentee

Save a passage from the reader to your notebook. It keeps the citation. Gather saved passages into collections.

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Try it Notebook

Pastors

Prepare sermons, teach, counsel and lead a church.

Scripture

Prepare a sermon on a passage

Click a verse in the chapter. Commentary on it is listed by author. Click an author to read their note.

Try it Scripture
John 1 on the Scripture page. Verse 1 is selected and the panel lists confessions that cite it and commentators on John.

Verse Desk

Gather the sources for one verse

The Verse Desk shows one verse with a chart of the works that cite it by century. Counts of commentaries and of confessions that cite it sit below.

Try it Verse Desk
The Verse Desk for Romans 3:28 with a chart of the works that cite it by century and counts below.

Lexicon

Check the word behind a doctrine

Look up a term such as fides. The entry gives its Latin and Greek words and the meanings authors gave it.

Gathered by machine from the library’s texts.

Try it Lexicon
The Lexicon entry for fides with its Latin and Greek forms and a first meaning defined by three authors.

Commentary Decks

Read the commentators on a text

Choose a commentator from the list on the right. Their comments appear beside the text.

Try it Commentary Decks
A Commentary Deck open to Lombard’s Sentences Book I. The text is on the left and a list of commentators is on the right.

Topics

Prepare to counsel on repentance

The Topics page for repentance counts the confession articles and authors who wrote on it. A chart places the authors in time.

Try it Topics
The Topics page for Repentance. It shows counts of confession articles, authors and verses cited. A chart of authors through time follows.

Traditions

See what your tradition confesses

Each tradition is listed with a line on who it is and how many documents and authors the library holds.

Try it Traditions
The Traditions page listing each church with its number of documents and authors.

Ask

Ask what a tradition taught

Name a doctrine and a tradition in your question. The answer cites the pages of the library it drew on.

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AI-assisted: answers cite the library’s pages.

Try it Ask

Compare

Set two authors side by side

Choose two to four authors and one topic. Their writing on it appears side by side, grouped by work.

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Try it Compare

Notebook

Collect quotations for a sermon

Save a passage from the reader to your notebook. It keeps the citation and the exact paragraph.

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Try it Notebook

Desk

Write with your sources beside you

The Desk holds the passages you saved while you write. Each stays linked to the text it came from.

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Try it Desk

Academics

Research, teach from primary sources and cite them.

Lexicon

Look up a term across languages

Search a Latin, Greek or English term. Each result shows its Latin and Greek words and the number of works that define it.

Gathered by machine from the library’s texts.

Try it Lexicon
Lexicon results for fides. Each term lists its Latin and Greek words and the number of works that define it.

Power Search

Search by meaning

Describe an idea in plain English. Power Search finds passages that say it even if they never use your word. Narrow by tradition or by author or title.

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Try it Power Search

Disputed Questions

See how authors answered a question

Choose a question in the list on the left. A chart plots how authors answered it by century.

Software reads each answer from the author’s pages.

Try it Disputed Questions
The Disputed Questions page. A list of questions on Scripture is on the left and a chart of answers by century is on the right.

Set Indexes

Search an edition’s index

Choose an edition from the list. Its subjects are listed by letter. Each entry gives the volume and page numbers.

Try it Set Indexes
The index of the Weimar Edition of Luther. Subjects are listed by letter and the entry for Aaron gives its volume and page numbers.

Page Scans

Check the text against the printed page

Choose Scan in the reader. The Source Scan pane shows the printed page beside the text.

Try it Page Scans
Athanasius’s On the Incarnation in the reader with Scan chosen. The English text is on the left and the scanned printed page is on the right.

Compare

Set authors side by side on a topic

Choose two to four authors and one topic. Read their writing on it side by side.

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Try it Compare

Connections

Follow who cited whom

Connections maps the library by citation. Click an author to see the passages behind each link.

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Try it Connections

Notebook

Collect passages with their citations

Save a passage from the reader to your notebook. It keeps the citation. Gather saved passages into collections.

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Try it Notebook

Desk

Write with your saved sources beside you

The Desk holds the passages you saved while you write. Each stays linked to the text it came from.

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Try it Desk

Ask

Find the pages that discuss a claim

Ask in plain English whether the library discusses a claim. The answer cites the pages it drew on.

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AI-assisted: answers cite the library’s pages.

Try it Ask

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