Luke24

Methodology

This prototype separates two distinct questions:
1) How are Old Testament verses formally visible in New Testament texts?
2) How have historical witnesses interpreted and used those links?

Scripture remains the authority. Reference scoring, commentary layers, and doctrinal witnesses are editorial aids for study, not a replacement for direct textual judgment.

Candidate references

OT→NT rows begin as candidates and are assessed across witnesses, confidence metadata, and editorial status. Candidate means provisional, not theologically fixed.

Historic Reformed witnesses

Historic Reformed sources remain the primary editorial home tradition for dataset direction. Their witness layer is treated as the default theological orientation for evidence triage.

Evidence scoring

  • Category (quotation/citation/allusion/etc.) and confidence contribute the baseline score.
  • Editorial status, Reformed-witness presence, witness count, and source priority-weight also adjust score.
  • The score assigns a display tier: default, advanced, or hidden.
  • Low-confidence, disputed, or unresolved items are typically advanced or hidden.

Display tiers

  • default: visible in the primary reading flow and suitable for first-pass study.
  • advanced: preserved but less certain or more historically contested.
  • hidden: retained for workflow only, not shown in default browsing.

Apostolic usage vs historical reception

Apostolic usage is reconstructed from explicit textual ties in the NT. Historical reception layers (commentary and doctrinal witnesses) are downstream summaries, not direct evidence of apostolic intent.

Historical commentary witnesses

Commentary/patristic witnesses preserve how interpreters explained or summarized links. They are grouped by tradition family (Reformed, patristic, broad Protestant, Roman Catholic/medieval, etc.) and can be filtered by verification need.

Patristic witnesses

Patristic witnesses are intentionally modeled as their own family, separate from medieval and later Roman Catholic sources. This lets early church testimony stand apart from post-Reformation comparison traditions.

Doctrinal witnesses

Doctrinal witnesses tie OT and NT material to formal standards: creeds, confessions, catechisms, and conciliar texts. They are grouped by tradition family: ecumenical creed, Reformed standards, Continental Reformed, Reformed Baptist, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist/Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic / Trent.

Proof texts and doctrine tags

Doctrinal tagging tracks recurring theological themes (for example sonship, incarnation, priesthood, justification) as a navigation aid for comparison. Tags are descriptive and do not establish direct apostolic quotation claims.

Roman Catholic / medieval and broader comparison

Roman Catholic and medieval sources are retained for comparison and should be treated as external witnesses. Broader Protestant witnesses (Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist/Wesleyan, Baptist) are used to test convergence and divergence, not to replace primary Reformed editorial direction.

Why agreement is not identical to quotation

  • Independent agreement among witness traditions increases confidence, especially where sources converge for long periods.
  • Agreement can also come from shared reception history rather than original apostolic intent.
  • Public-domain historical status is not itself permission to reuse text. Verification guidance is checked before citing large quotations.

Quotation strength and uncertainty

  • Direct quotation and explicit citation are strongest by default.
  • Typology/allusion are retained but are triaged separately.
  • Echo and uncertain categories are surfaced with weaker styling and higher verification burden.

Editorial statuses

  • candidate: imported and awaiting deeper review.
  • needs-review: retained but marked for follow-up.
  • attested: inspected and carried forward for default witness surfaces.
  • default: suitable for primary study surfaces without promoting broad candidate layers.
  • disputed: generally advanced or review-limited.
  • hidden: suppressed from default browsing.