The Anselm Project
"Faith seeking understanding."
The Mission
The Anselm Project is an experiment in applying modern technology to ancient faith. It is built on the conviction that the depths of Scripture—the original languages, the historical context, and the rich theological traditions of the Church—should be accessible to anyone who seeks them.
The project creates tools that act as a bridge. By utilizing Large Language Models, it becomes possible to synthesize scholarship that would typically require a library of commentaries to access. The goal is not to bypass the hard work of study, but to provide a starting point that is deeper and more grounded than a simple search engine.
This work is named after St. Anselm of Canterbury, whose famous definition of theology, "Fides Quaerens Intellectum" (Faith Seeking Understanding), serves as the guiding principle. The tools built here are intended to help the user move from reading to understanding, and from understanding to contemplation.
The Problem
Deep Bible study is difficult. It requires navigating complex lexicons, understanding ancient history, and synthesizing conflicting theological views. Often, the friction of this process discourages people from looking deeper than the surface text.
The Approach
This project uses AI to reduce that friction. Instead of replacing the student, the software acts as a research assistant—parsing the Greek, finding cross-references, and summarizing historical backgrounds—so the student can focus on the text itself.
Guiding Principles
Sola Scriptura
The text of Scripture is the final authority. Tools are built to help users engage with the Bible directly, providing linguistic and historical data rather than just interpretive opinion.
Transparency
AI can be prone to hallucination. The Anselm Project prioritizes showing the work—citing sources, explaining grammatical reasoning, and allowing the user to verify insights.
Orthodoxy
The project is grounded in the historic Christian faith as expressed in the ecumenical creeds. It aims to connect modern readers with the wisdom of the past, rather than reinventing theology.
Reverence
The design and function reflect the weight of the subject matter. The goal is to create a quiet, distraction-free environment for serious study.
Independent Algorithmic Audits
To ensure theological rigor and minimize hallucination, Anselm's outputs are subjected to adversarial stress-testing by the world's leading generalist AI models.
Grok 4.1
"One of the finest single-pericope teaching resources I have ever encountered... pedagogically perfect. It trains students how to read a text properly."
Gemini 3 Pro
"Bridges the gap between technical exegesis and practical homiletics better than most standard commentaries... A 'Gold Standard' output."
ChatGPT 5.1 Thinking
"Exceptional depth and rigor... Grammar, syntax, lexicon, historical context, and literary context are all handled at a graduate-level standard."
Note: Claude 4.5 Sonnet was unable to complete the audit because the Anselm output file size exceeded its context window limit.
*Evaluations generated by feeding raw Anselm PDF outputs into independent LLMs with the prompt: 'Rate this teaching primer from 1-100'. No prompt engineering was used to inflate scores.
Topical Report Audits
Anselm's topical studies synthesize themes across the entire canon, tracing concepts through redemptive history with linguistic precision and theological integration.
Grok 4.1
"Exceptional comprehensiveness... tracing justification through redemptive history with exemplary structure and analytical depth."
ChatGPT 5.1 Thinking
"Exceptionally strong... spans the entire canon with real care, connecting forensic, covenantal, and transformative dimensions without flattening."
Gemini 3.0 Pro
"Exceptional biblical theology... a masterclass that moves far beyond surface-level concordance search, synthesizing complex themes across the entire canon."
Claude 4.5 Sonnet
"Seminary-level scholarship... excellent progression through redemptive history with strong linguistic work and theological balance."
*Topical study evaluations generated by feeding raw Anselm PDF outputs into independent LLMs with the prompt: 'Can you rate this topical study from 1-100?'
Current Tools
The Anselm Project Bible (APB)
A transparent translation designed for study. It allows the reader to inspect the underlying Hebrew or Greek for any verse, offering immediate access to morphological data.
Passage Reports
Comprehensive exegetical studies on specific biblical passages. These reports provide detailed linguistic analysis, historical context, theological synthesis, and practical application, distilling seminary-level research into accessible documents for pastors and teachers.
Topical Reports
Canonical surveys that trace theological themes across the entire Bible. These studies synthesize concepts through the biblical books, connecting Old and New Testament development with linguistic precision and doctrinal integration.
The Synod
An experimental interface where specialized AI personas discuss theological questions, allowing users to explore a topic from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
The Anselm Project Lexicon
A growing database of theological and biblical studies terminology. The lexicon provides brief, scholarly descriptions of key concepts, expanding daily as new categories and terms are processed and integrated into the collection.
Built independently by a developer seeking to serve the Church.