Writing with AI and Scripture: My Creative Process

Here's my problem. Before I start writing content for the Spiritual Warfare Operator topic, I must research the Bible. I look for specific verses and themes from the Bible to help me in my research. However, using a regular search engine like Brave (or Google) takes too long. Scanning search results and hoping I found the right page is not my jam.

The other problem I encounter is that I want search results to show groupings or themes when I search for topics in the Bible. This is one area where I feel some websites try to offer this capability. But it's very rigid and depends on the search parameters. And if I type in the wrong word, my search results are skewed. Again, not a great outcome since I am pressed for time and need results quickly.

I thought I'd check out ChatGTP and see how effective of a tool it could be in my creative process of writing posts. Here are some insights and lessons from using the Open AI ChatGTP tool.

3 Rules to Follow Using ChatGTP

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Never ask ChatGTP to summarize or interpret Bible verses.

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Treat it as a retrieval tool that speeds up your research.

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Read the entire chapter of the Bible verses to understand the broader context of the verses you are retrieving.

Exploring the Bible with the Help of ChatGPT: A User's Guide

I will walk you through some of the common scenarios I've encountered using ChatGTP and exploring the Bible.

Scenario #1 Tell ChatGTP What Bible Version You are Using

Tell ChatGTP what version of the Bible you want to use, it will remember the version when you ask it to retrieve more verses.

Scenario #2 How to Look For Similar Verses

When I want to look for additional Bible verses that are similar to specific verses, ChatGTP will retrieve what it believes to be similar verses.
You might have to add an additional prompt and ask it to retrieve 5 or 10 similar verses.
Sometimes it will start adding verses that don't appear to be similar to what you were looking for. That tells you that it has a hard time finding matching verses.

Scenario #3 How to Look For Specific Words

Sometimes you want to see other verses that use a specific word or theme you are researching.
As you can see in this example, it sometimes struggles with the words you might want it to look for.

Scenario #4 How to Look for specific mentions in the Bible

If you forget where specifically a topic can be found, you can ask ChatGTP, and it will find it.
What's important to note here, is that using ChatGTP and a search engine produces the same result. Both will find your topic. However, ChatGTP is faster and produces the text without the clutter of the search results such search engines show.

Scenario #5 How to Search for Topics in the Bible

Sometimes you need to go broad and want to ask ChatGTP a question about a specific scenario or a situation. It does a pretty good job of generating accurate results.
You may want to try a broader prompt to generate additional verses to explore and build on.

What's Next?

After using ChatGTP off and on for about a month, I find it a valuable tool to help me explore the Bible. However, from my perspective, you need to stick to the three rules to protect yourself from the idea that AI can help you study the Bible.

As I continue to use this AI tool, I will update this post and get back to you with more of my learnings. Don't stop reading the Bible. Meditate on it every day. Don't stop praying and asking God for help.

No AI program or software tool should exist in our daily communion with the Lord Jesus.

Stay well, brothers.

~ FA