The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

scripture and literature texts.

Description

CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a professor of computer science at

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed (Calvinist) ...

. It was initiated at

Wheaton college Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

in 1993 and is currently supported by Calvin University. It includes

Hymnary.org Hymnary.org is an online database of hymns, hymnodists and hymnals hosted by Calvin College's Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The searchable database contains over one million hymn tunes and texts and ...

. The purpose of the CCEL is simply "to build up Christ's church and to address fundamental questions of the faith." The documents in the library express a variety of theological views, sometimes conflicting with those of Calvin University. CCEL stores texts in

Theological Markup Language The Theological Markup Language (ThML) is a "royalty-free" XML-based format created in 1998 by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) to create electronic theological texts. Other formats such as STEP and Logos Library System (LLS) were f ...

(ThML) format and automatically converts them into other formats such as HTML or Portable Document Format (PDF). Although they use mainly Public Domain texts, they claim copyright on all their formatting. Users must log into their website to download all formatted versions of the text. CCEL is funded by advertisements, sales of cd-roms (available since 1997), sales of some books not freely downloadable, and individual gifts. Calvin University has also provided them with space, network access, and significant financial support. As of 2006, the library was recording about 200,000 page views per day and providing about 2 TB of information (equivalent to over a million books) in a month. A 2002 reviewer acknowledged that while the site is "intended to be a basic online theological library," it was actually much more valuable than that: it is "a treasure of primary sources for anyone teaching Western Civilization or more specialized courses in medieval or Reformation history." They also specifically noted that the ability to search the music "for specific note patterns" was valuable to musicologists. As of 2005, the primary users of the library fell into three main categories. These are university professors and their students using texts from the library as required reading without running up the students' bill for textbooks, people preparing sermons and Bible studies, and those reading for individual edification.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url = https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/homehttps://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home , title = Anthology of patristics citations of the Bible , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160921163504/https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home , archive-date = Sep 21, 2016 , url-status = live 1993 establishments in the United States American digital libraries Christian libraries Christian websites Discipline-oriented digital libraries Internet properties established in 1993 Libraries established in 1993 Online Scripture Search Engine Publications of patristic texts

Description

See also

References

External links