← Explorer

User Guide

A complete reference for every feature in Theology Explorer.

Source Filter Tabs

After running a search, colored pill tabs appear above the results showing how many matches came from each database. The default "All" tab shows every result interleaved. Click any source tab to see only results from that database.

The four databases

  • Scripture Commentary (blue) — articles, tweets, debate points, and comments from mmoutreach.org. This is the main research corpus.
  • Theology (green) — pericope-indexed verse entries with full exegetical notes, Greek and Hebrew term studies, and structured debate claims.
  • Mike Winger (purple) — over 8,200 timestamped ideas extracted from Winger's video transcripts, indexed with topic tags and scripture references.
  • Pulpit (orange) — Ryan's sermon database with sermon outlines, transcripts, key themes, and research notes.

The count on each tab reflects the total matches in that database for your query. If a tab shows 0, it is hidden. The "All" tab always shows the grand total.

Browse

Browse lets you explore each database in a structured, paginated view — without needing a specific search query. The Browse index shows all four databases as cards, each with content counts and a brief description. Click a database to enter it.

Within each database, item-type tabs at the top let you switch between content types. For example, Scripture Commentary has Articles, Tweets, Debate Points, and Comments. Pulpit has Sermons and Research Notes. Mike Winger has Ideas and Videos tabs. Each tab shows the count for that type.

Theology browse features

The Theology database browse view includes several additional features: a term cloud for Greek terms that sizes each term by how frequently it appears across verse entries; a book/chapter navigator for verse entries that lets you jump directly to a Bible book and chapter; and section coverage stats showing how much of each theological section is populated in the database.

Sub-filters

Below the item-type tabs, a filter bar appears (when filters are available) letting you narrow by topic, author, series, date range, or tag. Multiple filters can be combined. The result count updates live as you apply filters.

Tips

  • Browse is better than Search when you want to read through a category rather than find one specific item.
  • The Theology database view has quick links to the Argument Library and Theology Network in the tab bar.
  • Long lists paginate — use the page controls at the bottom to navigate.

Export

At the bottom of any database browse view, two export links appear: CSV and Markdown. Both exports respect every active filter — narrow your view first, then export exactly the subset you need.

  • CSV — comma-separated values, suitable for Excel, Numbers, or any spreadsheet. Fields include title, summary, type, date, and tags.
  • Markdown — formatted markdown list, suitable for pasting into notes, Obsidian, or documents. Each entry includes the title, source, and a summary snippet.

The export downloads immediately as a file. There is no size limit, but very large exports (thousands of items with no filters) may take a few seconds.

Scripture Coverage

The Scripture Coverage Dashboard shows how much content exists for each Bible book across all databases. Each book appears with four coverage counts: article references, theology verse entries, Mike Winger ideas, and total. A color-coded indicator shows relative depth at a glance.

Summary stats at the top show totals across all books. The Gaps section lists books with little or no coverage — useful for knowing where research is thin and where future work is most needed.

Tips

  • Click a book name to open a search filtered to that book's content across all databases.
  • Coverage is calculated from stored scripture references — if an article discusses a passage without an explicit reference, it won't appear here.

Timeline

The Content Timeline plots articles, sermons, and other dated content items in chronological order. Use it to see how research has developed over time, to find content from a specific period, or to identify clusters of activity around particular topics or events.

Filters along the top let you narrow by source database, content type, and date range. The visible item count updates as filters change. Items without dates are excluded from the timeline view.

Tips

  • Combine the type filter (e.g., "sermons only") with a date range to find content from a specific teaching series.
  • The timeline view is linear — if content is very dense in one period, scroll horizontally to see all items.

Authors

The Comment Authors page lists every person who has commented on Scripture Commentary articles, showing their total contribution count. Click any author to see all their comments in one place — useful for following a specific recurring voice through the discussion threads or finding a commenter's perspective on a topic.

A search box in the top-right filters the author list by name in real time.

Resource Library

The Resource Library collects every resource cited across the theology database — Logos books, Kindle highlights, and other references — organized into four categories.

  • Egalitarian — resources supporting the egalitarian position on women in ministry and church leadership.
  • Non-Calvinist — resources on soteriology from a provisionist/Arminian perspective, relevant to the anti-Calvinist research corpus.
  • Complementarian Reference — opposing-position sources. These are kept deliberately for understanding and responding to complementarian arguments — not endorsements.
  • General / Exegesis — exegetical tools, lexicons, commentaries, and general reference works used across all topics.

Each entry shows the resource title, author, and a link to open it directly in Logos Bible Software where available. Resources without a Logos link show a web reference instead.

Tips

  • Use this page before a debate or study session to pull up all relevant sources in one place.
  • The Complementarian Reference category is particularly useful for debate prep — it contains the primary sources for the arguments you'll be responding to.
  • Logos links open the resource at the cited passage, not just the resource's title page.

Topics

The Topic Hub aggregates every topic tag across all databases and displays them grouped by source. Topics are automatically assigned during content ingestion based on subject matter. The hub shows the full list for each database with item counts.

Click any topic to reach the topic detail page, which pulls together all articles, Mike Winger ideas, and theology verse entries sharing that tag. This is the fastest way to gather everything on a specific theme regardless of which database it came from.

Tips

  • Topics represent subject-matter categories, not just keywords — "women in ministry," "1 Timothy 2," "election," etc.
  • If you want to tag a specific item with a personal label, use the Tag Manager on that item's detail page instead. Personal tags and system topics are separate systems.
  • The topic detail page shows content from all databases on one screen — it's a good starting point for cross-database research on a theme.

Theology Network

The Theology Network is an interactive graph visualization that maps relationships between theological concepts in the theology database. It has three distinct views — Term–Verse Web, Cross-References, and Tag Clusters — accessible from the buttons at the top right.

The stats line below the heading shows the total counts for verse entries, Greek/Hebrew terms, term-verse links, and cross-references currently in the network.

Use the Network when you want to discover connections rather than search for something specific. The graph reveals which terms cluster together, which passages are theologically linked, and which topics dominate the database — insights that a list view cannot show.

Term–Verse Web

The default view of the Theology Network. Amber nodes represent Greek or Hebrew terms; colored nodes represent verse entries, with each color corresponding to a Bible book (shown in the legend below the heading). Lines connect terms to the verse entries where they appear.

How to interact

  • Drag a node — repositions it; use this to untangle dense clusters.
  • Scroll / pinch — zooms in and out.
  • Drag the canvas (not a node) — pans around the full graph.
  • Click a node — highlights only that node and its direct connections, dimming everything else. Click the same node again (or anywhere on the canvas) to reset.

Tips

  • Zoom in on a cluster of amber nodes to see which Greek terms share many of the same verses — this reveals terminological families.
  • Clicking a verse node highlights all the terms that appear in that verse; clicking a term node highlights all the verses it appears in.
  • If the graph is too dense to read, use the Cross-References view instead for a verse-only layout.

Cross-References View

The Cross-References view replaces the Term–Verse Web with a verse-to-verse graph. Each node is a verse entry; edges represent cross-reference relationships stored in the theology database. The same drag, scroll, and click interactions apply.

Use this view to discover which passages the theology database considers theologically connected. Highly-connected nodes are passages that appear across many different argument threads — often the key contested texts (e.g., 1 Timothy 2, Genesis 1–3, Ephesians 5).

Tag Clusters View

The Tag Clusters view replaces the graph with a word cloud. Every theological tag applied in the database appears, sized proportionally to how frequently it is used — larger text means more items carry that tag.

Click any tag to run a search for it, returning all content associated with that tag across the app. This is a fast way to find the dominant themes in the theology database at a glance.

Debate Map

The Debate Map browser contains actual debate discussion content — arguments, concessions, clarifications, and responses from recorded exchanges — organized by passage and point type. It draws from three sources: debate points extracted from Scripture Commentary articles, debate points extracted from tweets, and comments that have been tagged with debate-relevant types.

The Debate Map is distinct from the Argument Library. The Debate Map contains recorded discussion — things that were actually said. The Argument Library contains structured claims with researched egalitarian and provisionist responses — it is a debate-prep tool, not a transcript browser.

Debate Map Filters

Two filters appear at the top of the Debate Map:

  • Passage — Type a Bible reference to see only debate points associated with that passage. An autocomplete dropdown suggests passages already in the database. Partial references work: typing 1 Timothy shows all debate points touching any verse in 1 Timothy.
  • Point Type — A dropdown of all categories used to classify debate points. Common types include: argument_for (supporting egalitarianism or provisionism), argument_against (complementarian or Calvinist objections), concession (agreed points), clarification, and rebuttal.

Results below the filters are grouped by type. Each point links to its source article, tweet, or comment so you can read the full context.

Argument Library

The Argument Library is a curated catalog of theological claims, each structured as a stated proposition with the opposing argument alongside the egalitarian or provisionist response. It is organized for debate preparation — every significant complementarian or Calvinist argument that Ryan has addressed appears here with a researched counter.

Each entry shows: the claim (what the opposing position asserts), the position it represents (Complementarian or Calvinist), the egalitarian or provisionist response, the strength of the argument (strong / medium / weak), and the relevant topic tag. Where available, entries link to related articles, verse entries, and Greek term studies.

Tips

  • Before a debate or discussion, filter by the opposing position and the relevant passage to pull up every counter-argument in one view.
  • The "strength" rating reflects how seriously the opposing argument needs to be engaged — strong arguments require more careful responses.
  • Each claim links to its related theology verse entries and articles — click through for the full exegetical support.

Argument Library Filters

The sticky filter bar at the top of the Argument Library offers four ways to narrow the list:

  • Position pills — filter to Complementarian (what the opposing side claims) or Egalitarian / Provisionist (Ryan's responses and counter-claims). "All" shows both.
  • Topic dropdown — filter by theological topic (e.g., "headship," "election," "1 Timothy 2," "Genesis 3"). Topics are drawn from all claims currently in the database.
  • Strength — filter by argument strength rating: strong, medium, or weak. Useful for prioritizing which counter-arguments to prepare most thoroughly.
  • Keyword search — full-text search within the claims list, matching against both the claim text and the response text.

All four filters combine — for example: Position = Complementarian + Topic = "1 Timothy 2" + Strength = Strong shows only the strongest complementarian arguments on 1 Timothy 2.

Favorites

Any item in the app can be starred from its detail page using the star (☆) button in the top-right of the content header. Click the star to toggle it on or off. All starred items are collected on the Favorites page, with their source database, type, title, and summary.

Favorites are stored in the Explorer database and persist across sessions. They are grouped and filterable by source database using the pill tabs at the top. A client-side search box in the top-right lets you filter your saved items by title or summary text — useful when your favorites list grows large.

Tips

  • Use favorites to build a reading list for an upcoming debate or study session — star the key articles and verse entries, then use the Favorites page as your agenda.
  • Combine with the source filter to see only your starred theology entries or only your starred articles.
  • The copy-to-markdown button on each detail page lets you copy a formatted version of the item for use in notes.

Tags

The Tag Manager appears on every item's detail page under "Your Tags." Tags are personal labels you apply to any item in any database — they are completely separate from the system topic categories. Each tag has a stored color for quick visual identification.

Adding tags

Type in the tag input field to add a tag. As you type, an autocomplete dropdown suggests your existing tags — select one to reuse it (preserving its color and consistency) or finish typing a new name and press Enter to create it. Tags are created globally and can be applied to any item across any database.

Removing tags

Click the × button next to any tag in the tag manager to remove it from that item. This does not delete the tag globally — it only removes it from the current item.

Browsing tags

Visit /tags to see all your tags with usage counts. Click any tag to see every item across the entire app that carries that tag. This turns the tag system into a powerful personal index — for example, tag items "1 Tim 2 debate" across articles, verse entries, and ideas, then use that tag as a one-click research hub.

Ask Claude

Ask Claude lets you pose any theological question and receive an answer grounded in the content of your own databases. Claude searches your articles, theology entries, and ideas, then synthesizes a response with citations — so every answer is traceable back to the source material.

Example questions

  • "What does authentein mean in 1 Timothy 2:12 and how does it affect the complementarian argument?"
  • "What is Ryan's argument against unconditional election?"
  • "Which articles discuss Ephesians 5:22–33?"
  • "Summarize the egalitarian interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35."

Setup requirement

Ask Claude requires an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable set before starting the Explorer server. If the key is missing, the page shows an amber warning banner. You can get an API key from console.anthropic.com. An active Anthropic subscription is required.

Tips

  • Specific questions get better answers than broad ones — ask about a specific passage or argument rather than "explain egalitarianism."
  • Ask Claude can be invoked from any detail page — a contextual Ask link on article, verse, Greek term, sermon, and research note detail pages pre-loads that item as context, so Claude focuses its answer on what you're currently reading.
  • Responses include inline citations linking back to the source items so you can verify and read further.

Bible Link Settings

Every scripture reference displayed anywhere in Explorer is a clickable link. The gear icon (⚙) in the top-right corner of the navigation bar opens the Bible Link Settings modal, which controls where those links go.

Link target options

  • Logos Bible Software — opens the passage in your Logos desktop app. Requires Logos to be running on your Mac. This is the recommended setting if you use Logos, as it gives you instant access to commentaries, lexicons, and your personal notes for the passage.
  • BibleGateway — opens in a new browser tab at biblegateway.com. Use the Translation dropdown to choose your preferred version (NASB, ESV, NIV, KJV, NKJV, CSB, NLT, NRSV).
  • Biblia.com (NASB) — opens in a new browser tab at biblia.com, always in NASB.
  • NetBible.org (NET) — opens in a new browser tab at netbible.org with the NET translation and translator notes.
  • ESV.org — opens in a new browser tab at esv.org.
  • No links — disables scripture linking entirely. References display as plain text.

Your chosen setting is saved in your browser's localStorage and persists across sessions and page reloads. The Translation dropdown only affects BibleGateway links.

Verse Enhancement

Scripture references that appear inside theology content — including Greek term analyses, verse entries, and debate claims — are enhanced with two action icons alongside each reference.

  • A 📖 Bible icon opens the verse in your configured Bible source (set in Bible Settings). This appears on every scripture reference, whether or not the verse has a theology entry.
  • An (Explore) link navigates to the verse's detail page in the theology database. This link only appears when a theology entry exists for that verse.

References without a theology entry still show the 📖 icon so you can always open the passage in your Bible app. Both features use the same Bible source setting.

Copy to Markdown

A clipboard icon button appears in the top-right of most detail pages. Click it to copy a formatted Markdown version of the item to your clipboard — ready to paste into notes, Obsidian, a document, or a message.

The copy button is available on the following content types: articles, Greek terms, verse entries, comments, debate claims, sermons, research notes, and tweets. The Markdown output includes the title, metadata (source, date, type), and the full content body.

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