The Interpretation Timeline

How a passage — or a doctrine — has been read across the centuries: the sources themselves, dated and attributed, oldest to newest.

33,418 passages · 8 doctrines · 145,866 excerpts

The Doctrines

A doctrine is a teaching the Church holds and hands on. Each of the 8 below is followed from its earliest witness to its latest — 133 witnesses in all — in the words of those who argued it.

The Eucharist

The doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist: what is given, and how.

23 witnesses · 6 traditions

Justification

How a sinner is accounted righteous before God — the roles of grace, faith, and works.

13 witnesses · 4 traditions

The Holy Trinity

How the Church has confessed God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — one God in three Persons.

26 witnesses · 7 traditions

The Sacraments

The sacraments — the visible signs by which grace is given, and what they are held to effect.

11 witnesses · 6 traditions

Scripture & Tradition

How the Church knows the faith — the place of Holy Scripture and of the tradition handed down from the apostles.

11 witnesses · 6 traditions

The Church

Where the Church is, how she is known, and how she is governed — the marks of the true Church, apostolic succession, and the primacy of the bishop of Rome.

22 witnesses · 6 traditions

The Last Things

Death, judgment, and the life of the world to come — the state of the soul after death, the resurrection, heaven and hell, and the disputed doctrine of purgatory.

12 witnesses · 6 traditions

Mary & the Saints

How the Church has honoured Mary and the saints — Mary as Mother of God (Theotokos) and ever-virgin, and the veneration and invocation of the saints, on which the Reformation divided.

15 witnesses · 6 traditions

Traditions are badged on each spine, never refereed.

The Canon

Every book, chapter and verse the library holds commentary on — 73 books, 33,418 passages. Choose a book for its chapters, a chapter for its verses, a verse for its timeline.

Skip the canon map

The Law

History

Wisdom

Prophets

Gospels & Acts

Paul's Letters

General Letters

Psalms 11,685·Isaiah 7,679·Matthew 7,616

deuterocanonical

The Law

5 books · 21,572 excerpts

Genesis 7,076 Exodus 4,735 Leviticus 3,095 Numbers 3,381 Deuteronomy 3,285

History

16 books · 23,068 excerpts

Joshua 2,143 Judges 2,055 Ruth 368 1 Samuel 3,073 2 Samuel 2,341 1 Kings 2,565 2 Kings 2,357 1 Chronicles 2,163 2 Chronicles 2,115 Ezra 853 Nehemiah 1,183 Tobit 236 Judith 255 Esther 707 1 Maccabees 386 2 Maccabees 268

Wisdom

7 books · 25,875 excerpts

Job 5,348 Psalms 11,685 Proverbs 4,602 Ecclesiastes 1,266 Song of Songs 608 Wisdom 542 Sirach 1,824

Prophets

18 books · 25,565 excerpts

Isaiah 7,679 Jeremiah 4,498 Lamentations 722 Baruch 134 Ezekiel 5,001 Daniel 1,920 Hosea 1,021 Joel 332 Amos 817 Obadiah 121 Jonah 286 Micah 586 Nahum 261 Habakkuk 325 Zephaniah 293 Haggai 182 Zechariah 1,092 Malachi 295

Gospels & Acts

5 books · 28,647 excerpts

Matthew 7,616 Mark 2,915 Luke 7,066 John 6,020 Acts 5,030

Paul's Letters

14 books · 16,576 excerpts

Romans 2,916 1 Corinthians 3,401 2 Corinthians 1,764 Galatians 1,163 Ephesians 1,149 Philippians 718 Colossians 693 1 Thessalonians 558 2 Thessalonians 320 1 Timothy 1,032 2 Timothy 617 Titus 330 Philemon 130 Hebrews 1,785

General Letters

8 books · 4,563 excerpts

James 543 1 Peter 708 2 Peter 341 1 John 771 2 John 66 3 John 60 Jude 149 Revelation 1,925

This is a fact about this library, not about history — the Psalms tower because à Lapide and the Catena are dense there. Every book of the canon carries sources, the deuterocanon included.