Use with AI assistants

An MCP connector is a small add-on that lets an AI assistant look things up in an outside source while it answers you. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that Claude, ChatGPT, and many other assistants support. Once you add the Sophia Scriptura connector, your assistant can search this library itself: which early church writers cite a Bible verse, what a passage says in Greek or Latin and in English, and who wrote what and when. Instead of answering from memory, it can quote the actual passages, give their exact references and editions, and link to them here, so you can check every claim.

The connector is free: no account, no subscription, and no key. It is read-only, needs no sign-in, stores nothing, and does not log your questions. Adding it takes about two minutes. (Some assistants allow custom connectors only on certain plans; see below.)

Connector address

Every assistant below needs this one address:

https://mcp.sophiascriptura.com/mcp

Claude (claude.ai, desktop and mobile apps)

On claude.ai or in the Claude desktop app, open Settings, then Connectors.
Choose Add custom connector.
Enter the name “Sophia Scriptura” and the address above, then choose Add. Leave any sign-in or OAuth fields empty.
In a conversation, open the tools menu and make sure Sophia Scriptura is turned on.

A connector added on the web or desktop also works in the Claude mobile apps. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner adds it for everyone under Organization settings, Connectors.

ChatGPT

Open Settings, then Connectors (called Apps on some plans).
Under Advanced, turn on Developer mode.
Choose Create. Enter the name “Sophia Scriptura” and the address above as the MCP server URL, set authentication to No authentication, and confirm.
In a conversation, choose the connector from the tools or developer-mode menu.

Custom connectors are not available on every ChatGPT plan, and the menu names change from time to time; look for Connectors or Apps in Settings.

Claude Code

Run this once in a terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http sophia-scriptura https://mcp.sophiascriptura.com/mcp

VS Code (GitHub Copilot) and Cursor

In VS Code, add this to .vscode/mcp.json in your project (or run “MCP: Add Server” from the command palette and choose HTTP):

{
  "servers": {
    "sophia-scriptura": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.sophiascriptura.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

In Cursor, add this to .cursor/mcp.json in your project or in your home folder:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sophia-scriptura": {
      "url": "https://mcp.sophiascriptura.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI

Add this to .gemini/settings.json in your home folder (merge it with what is already there):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sophia-scriptura": {
      "httpUrl": "https://mcp.sophiascriptura.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Other assistants

Any assistant or tool that supports remote MCP servers over HTTP (“Streamable HTTP”) can use the address above with no authentication; look for a setting called connectors, integrations, tools, or MCP servers.

A tool that can only start local MCP servers can reach this one through the free mcp-remotebridge (it needs Node.js installed). Use a setting like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sophia-scriptura": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.sophiascriptura.com/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Try it

After adding the connector, ask something like:

Which early church writers quote Matthew 19:9, and what do they say about it? Use Sophia Scriptura.
What did writers before AD 325 say about infant baptism? Quote them with references.
Find early Christian uses of the Greek word πορνεία and summarize how they understood it.
Give me Ignatius, To Polycarp 5.2 in Greek and English, with an SBL footnote.

If the answer cites passages with links to sophiascriptura.com, the connector is working. Mentioning “Sophia Scriptura” in your question helps the assistant choose it.

What the assistant can look up

lookup_scripture: early church passages that quote, allude to, or echo a Bible verse or range (e.g. “Matthew 19:9”, “Ps 22 LXX”), oldest first. Add compact for short excerpts (up to 100 per call); filter by author, date, and language.
get_passage: one passage by its reference (e.g. “Ign. Pol. 5.2”, “Augustine, Conf. 8.12”), with the original text.
get_passages: up to 20 passages by id in one call (use after a compact search to read only the ones that matter).
list_topics: the topics passages are tagged with (marriage, baptism, Trinity, and more), with a note on each and the number of passages.
lookup_topic: early church passages on a topic, oldest first, each with the sentences that address it; same compact option and filters.
search_text: words in the English translations, the Greek (Greek letters, Beta Code, or transliteration such as “porneia”) and the Latin, with filters for author, work, language, and date, and the same compact option.
list_works: the published works with author, date, genre, authorship status, place, and number of passages.
get_author: a short biography of a writer and a list of their works.

Every passage comes back with its English translation, the edition and page or column it was taken from, its permanent address on this site, and a ready-made footnote in SBL style. The English is a translation by Claude, an AI model, and the answers say so; the original Greek or Latin can be included for checking.

Questions

Does it cost anything?: No. The connector and the library are free. Your assistant's own plan may limit custom connectors, but Sophia Scriptura charges nothing.
What does it do with my questions?: It answers the search your assistant sends and forgets it. It sets no cookies, keeps no logs, and stores nothing about you. Your conversation itself stays with your assistant's provider, as it always does.
Can it change anything?: No. It can only read what is published on this site. It cannot see your files, your other conversations, or anything outside this library.
Does it cover the whole site?: It covers every published work in the early church writings. New works appear in the connector as soon as they are published here.
It does not work. What should I check?: Make sure the address ends in /mcp and that no sign-in method is set. Check that the connector is turned on in the conversation, and that your plan allows custom connectors. If it still fails, write to[email protected] with the name of your assistant and what you saw.
How do I remove it?: Delete it from the same Connectors (or MCP) settings where you added it.

Without a connector

Assistants and scripts that cannot use MCP can read the site’s static files instead:

llms.txt describes the site, its addresses, and how to cite it.
The data and coverage page lists every published work with downloads in Markdown and JSON, and citations in BibTeX and RIS.
Every citation of a Bible book is listed on that book’s page, for example Matthew.