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+ ---
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+ license:
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+ - cc0-1.0
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+ - mit
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+ language:
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+ - en
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+ task_categories:
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+ - text-retrieval
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+ - question-answering
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+ - feature-extraction
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+ size_categories:
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+ - 100K<n<1M
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+ configs:
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+ - config_name: bible_text
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/bible_text.jsonl
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+ - config_name: catechism_qa
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/catechism_qa.jsonl
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+ - config_name: church_fathers
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/church_fathers.jsonl
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+ - config_name: commentary
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/commentary.jsonl
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+ - config_name: devotional
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/devotional.jsonl
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+ - config_name: doctrinal_document
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/doctrinal_document.jsonl
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+ - config_name: prayer
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/prayer.jsonl
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+ - config_name: reference_entry
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/reference_entry.jsonl
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+ - config_name: sermon
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/sermon.jsonl
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+ - config_name: structured_text
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/structured_text.jsonl
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+ - config_name: topical_reference
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+ data_files:
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+ - split: train
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+ path: data/topical_reference.jsonl
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+ ---
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+
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+ # Open Christian Data
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+
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+ Public domain Christian literature as structured, machine-readable data — for developers and AI training.
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+
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+ Commentary data is trapped in HTML and PDFs. No structured commentary dataset exists on HuggingFace. No per-chapter commentary JSON exists on GitHub.
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+
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+ This dataset processes public domain Christian literature — commentaries, church fathers, confessions, catechisms, devotionals, prayers, sermons — into clean, schema-validated records with full provenance metadata.
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+
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+ **GitHub:** [OpenChristianData/open-christian-data](https://github.com/OpenChristianData/open-christian-data)
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+
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+ ## Schema types
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+
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+ | Config | Records | Description |
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+ |---|---|---|
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+ | `commentary` | 109,774 | Verse-level commentary (Matthew Henry, Barnes, Calvin, Wesley, Adam Clarke, Gill, JFB, KD, Treasury of David) |
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+ | `church_fathers` | 70,191 | Patristic quotes indexed by scripture reference — 325 authors (Augustine, Chrysostom, Jerome, Origen, Aquinas...) |
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+ | `bible_text` | 31,086 | Berean Standard Bible — all 66 books, 31,086 verses, CC0 |
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+ | `structured_text` | 13,207 | Paragraph-level blocks from 11 works (Calvin's Institutes, Augustine's Confessions, Pilgrim's Progress, City of God, Chesterton, Thomas à Kempis, MacDonald, Underhill, Milton, Luther's Large Catechism) |
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+ | `topical_reference` | 5,945 | Nave's Topical Bible — 5,322 topics, 76,957 scripture references |
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+ | `reference_entry` | 11,145 | Easton's, Smith's, Hitchcock's Bible Dictionaries + Torrey's New Topical Textbook |
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+ | `catechism_qa` | 3,279 | Question-and-answer catechisms (Westminster Shorter/Larger, Heidelberg, Baltimore #1–3, Luther's Small, Keach's, and more) |
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+ | `doctrinal_document` | 1,331 | Confessions and creeds at clause level (Westminster, Nicene, Chalcedonian, Belgic, Dort, London Baptist 1689, Savoy, and 30+ more) |
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+ | `devotional` | 1,464 | Spurgeon's Morning and Evening (732 entries) + Daily Light on the Daily Path (732 entries) |
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+ | `sermon` | 36 | George MacDonald's Unspoken Sermons — 3 series, 36 sermons, 171k words |
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+ | `prayer` | 191 | BCP 1662 Collects (85), BCP 1928 Collects (102), Didache Prayers (4) |
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+ | **Total** | **247,649** | |
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+
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+ ## Data format
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+
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+ Every record is a flat JSON object. Six fields are inlined from the source file's metadata:
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+
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+ | Field | Description |
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+ |---|---|
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+ | `_source_id` | Unique identifier for the source work |
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+ | `_source_title` | Title of the source work |
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+ | `_author` | Author name |
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+ | `_schema_type` | Schema type (matches the config name) |
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+ | `_license` | License identifier (`cc0-1.0` or `public-domain`) |
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+ | `_source_url` | Canonical URL for the source |
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+
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+ The remaining fields are schema-specific. All verse references use OSIS format (`Gen.1.1`, `Rom.9.1-Rom.9.5`).
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+
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+ ### Commentary record example
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+
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+ ```json
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+ {
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+ "_source_id": "matthew-henry-complete",
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+ "_source_title": "Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary",
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+ "_author": "Matthew Henry",
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+ "_schema_type": "commentary",
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+ "_license": "public-domain",
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+ "_source_url": "https://bible.helloao.org",
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+ "entry_id": "matthew-henry-complete.Ezek.1.1-3",
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+ "book": "Ezekiel",
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+ "book_osis": "Ezek",
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+ "chapter": 1,
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+ "verse_range": "1-3",
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+ "verse_range_osis": "Ezek.1.1-Ezek.1.3",
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+ "verse_text": "In the thirtieth year...",
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+ "commentary_text": "The circumstances of the vision which Ezekiel saw...",
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+ "word_count": 2042
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+ }
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+ ```
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+
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+ ### Structured text record example
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+
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+ ```json
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+ {
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+ "_source_id": "pilgrims-progress",
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+ "_source_title": "The Pilgrim's Progress",
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+ "_author": "John Bunyan",
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+ "_schema_type": "structured_text",
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+ "_license": "public-domain",
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+ "_source_url": "https://github.com/standardebooks/john-bunyan_the-pilgrims-progress",
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+ "work_id": "pilgrims-progress",
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+ "work_kind": "allegory",
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+ "section_type": "part",
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+ "section_label": "The First Part",
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+ "section_title": "",
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+ "section_path": ["The First Part"],
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+ "block_index": 0,
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+ "text": "As I walked through the wilderness of this world..."
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+ }
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+ ```
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+
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+ ## Usage
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+
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+ ```python
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+ from datasets import load_dataset
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+
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+ # Load a specific schema type
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+ commentary = load_dataset("OpenChristianDataOrg/open-christian-data", "commentary")
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+ church_fathers = load_dataset("OpenChristianDataOrg/open-christian-data", "church_fathers")
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+ catechisms = load_dataset("OpenChristianDataOrg/open-christian-data", "catechism_qa")
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+
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+ # Filter by source
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+ matthew_henry = [r for r in commentary["train"] if r["_source_id"] == "matthew-henry-complete"]
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+
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+ # All commentary on a specific verse
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+ rom_8_28 = [
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+ r for r in commentary["train"]
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+ if "Rom.8.28" in (r.get("verse_range_osis") or "")
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+ ]
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+ ```
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+
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+ ## Sources
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+
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+ - **Bible text**: [Berean Standard Bible](https://berean.bible) — CC0 since April 2023
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+ - **Commentary**: [HelloAO Bible API](https://bible.helloao.org) — Matthew Henry, JFB, Gill, Adam Clarke, KD; [CrossWire SWORD](https://www.crosswire.org/sword/) — Barnes, Calvin, Wesley, Treasury of David; all public domain
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+ - **Church Fathers**: [HistoricalChristianFaith/Commentaries-Database](https://github.com/HistoricalChristianFaith/Commentaries-Database) — 325 authors, public domain
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+ - **Devotionals**: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org) — Spurgeon's Morning and Evening (ThML XML); CrossWire SWORD — Daily Light on the Daily Path; public domain
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+ - **Structured texts**: [Standard Ebooks](https://standardebooks.org) — 9 titles in CC0-annotated XHTML; Project Gutenberg — Luther's Large Catechism, Calvin's Institutes, Augustine's Confessions; public domain
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+ - **Catechisms**: Project Gutenberg — Luther's Small Catechism, Baltimore Catechisms #1–3; additional catechisms (Westminster, Heidelberg, Keach's, and more); public domain
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+ - **Confessions & creeds**: Westminster Confession, Nicene Creed, Chalcedonian Definition, and 30+ more historic documents; public domain
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+ - **Prayers**: [eskimo.com BCP 1662](https://eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/) (Lynda M. Howell); [episcopalnet.org BCP 1928](https://www.episcopalnet.org/1928bcp/); [Wikisource Didache](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Didache_(Lake_translation)) (Kirsopp Lake 1912 translation); public domain
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+ - **Bible dictionaries**: Easton's (1893), Smith's (1863), Hitchcock's (1874), Torrey's (1897); public domain
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+ - **Topical reference**: [CrossWire SWORD](https://www.crosswire.org/sword/) — Nave's Topical Bible (1896); public domain
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+ - All authors died before 1928; texts are unambiguously public domain.
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+
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+ ## Attribution
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+
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+ Devotional text sourced from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). ThML parsing permitted per correspondence with CCEL (April 2026).
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+
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+ ## License
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+
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+ - **Data** (JSONL datasets): [CC0 1.0 Universal](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) — dedicated to the public domain
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+ - **Code** (build scripts, schemas, tooling): [MIT](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
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+
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+ The underlying texts are public domain. Our value-add is the structuring and provenance tracking, which we also dedicate to the public domain.