Fr Trevor D’Souza, OFM (Franciscan) –
Introduction
This article presents three widely used Artificial Intelligence (AI) sites that will help in bible study. AI can assist a person who may be a catechist, bible scholar, priest, writer, student, and every disciple of Jesus to delve deeper into the pages of the bible. One must remember, that AI tools can be used to enhance our bible-study, not replace it. Hence see AI as a tool for study.
Also read: Part I Bible Study: Internet and Artificial Intelligence
There are many AI apps and site available. Here we are presenting three sites that can be helpful. These are:
http://www.biblemate.org
https://bard.google.com
https://openai.com
Some of these sites may need that the user sign in, by creating a user id and password.
Google bard and Biblemate.org – both can be used without a sign in. Simply type <google bard> or <biblemate.org> in the dialog box and it will open itself up for use. Once the site is open, you will see a dialog box where you can insert your question after which you click the submit button. Wait for a few seconds before the answer comes up on the screen.
Kindly note, the more you refine your question, the more precise and accurate your answer is likely to be. Let us see a few examples.
Q: Summarise the book of Genesis from the bible.
Q: Summary of Genesis chapter 1-2.
Q: What is the significance of Jacob’s ladder?
Q: Summarise the life of Jesus.
Q: What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach about abortion.
Q: What is heaven according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Q: How many Popes were there with the name Sylvester.
Q: Explain the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The questions can flow according to your imagination. Do not put a limit to your imagination.
Coming to bible study or church teachings or dogmas or doctrine, etc
Self or group Bible study can be done using AI tools. Say for example you want to study the book of the gospel according to John. Keep asking AI all relevant questions about this gospel and read the answers. You can also copy and paste the answers to a Word file for future reference.
Begin your study with a particular book from the bible. It is good to start by asking general questions, such as, the summary of the book, or a gist of the book, when was the book written, who wrote the book, what was the historical context in which the book was written, what is the key words in the book, what is the central message of the book, for whom was the book written, what were some of the problems at the time of writing the book, in which language was the book written, etc. Reading the answers to these questions itself will provide a lot of information for a better understanding of the book.
After you have made a general survey of the book, now go for an in-depth study of the book. You can move chapter-wise or section-wise or theme-wise. You can ask for the general outlay or structure of the book and follow by studying the structure. You can look up for key words in the book and ask for its Greek or Hebrew meanings. You can ask more information about characters in the passages, customs, traditions, etc., that you come across.
You can ask AI to prepare a quiz based on a particular character or chapter or book of the bible. You will be surprised at the results. I asked AI to prepare a quiz based on the first chapter of John’s gospel. It gave me five questions with alternative answers and the correct answers too!!! You can ask AI to re-do the story of the Good Samaritan in today’s context … see what it gives you.
Sometimes AI will tell you that it is not possible to give you the answer because of its limitations. Re-phrase the question and it is likely that you may get an appropriate answer. Sometimes AI may give you a weird answer. Re-phrase the question for a better answer.
What is said about bible study is also true of church teachings or dogmas or doctrine. All you need to do is ask the right question. Keep refining your question. AI will make bible and faith study interesting for you.
Prepare yourself for daily and Sunday mass. Type in the mass readings and ask questions. You will go prepared for the mass and you can also discuss your learning with the preacher after the mass!
Do not be afraid of the questions your child or student may ask you. AI can help you.
Conclusion
AI is opening doors to knowledge as never before. Hope AI assists you in your endeavour to study the bible and tenets of the Catholic faith. AI will become more powerful as days go by and it will become part of our daily life. Now there is no reason for us to complain that there is no one to teach us the bible. Paul writes, “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8-9). AI goes one step further to say, “Understanding the Word is at your fingertips.” God is opening doors to learning His Word. Do not miss this opportunity.