The Stones Are Crying Out

The Gap We're Trying to Close

Biblical scholarship has never been richer. We have access to papyri, Dead Sea Scrolls, Greco-Roman literature, ancient Near Eastern texts, and centuries of careful exegesis. The gap between what scholars know and what reaches ordinary readers has never been wider.

Traditional Bible translation requires teams of scholars working for decades. The ESV took 10 years. The NIV took 15. These are massive undertakings requiring institutional backing, funding, and infrastructure that simply doesn't exist in most cultural contexts.

Meanwhile, the people who might benefit most from fresh, accessible Scripture—those outside traditional church structures, those in smaller language communities, those who've been burned by religious institutions—are left with translations that feel foreign, archaic, or loaded with insider vocabulary.

A Theological Justification

"I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

When Jesus said this, he was responding to religious leaders who wanted to silence the proclamation of who he was. His point: if the expected voices fall silent, God will use unexpected means.

We don't claim AI is the "stones crying out" in any literal sense. But we do believe that when traditional gatekeepers can't or won't make Scripture accessible to everyone, God's message will find other ways through.

There's a certain poetry to it: silicon chips are, after all, rocks we taught to think. Sand refined, etched with circuits, trained on humanity's collected wisdom. If God can speak through a burning bush, a donkey, or bread and wine—perhaps silicon isn't so strange a medium.

The printing press was once viewed with suspicion by religious authorities. So was translating the Bible into vernacular languages. Every technological shift that democratized access to Scripture was initially resisted—and eventually embraced.

AI is a tool. Like any tool, it can be used well or poorly. We're trying to use it well.

How Our Process Works

Who This Is For

We're writing for young urban professionals in cities like Berlin, London, Paris, Warsaw, and Istanbul—people navigating questions of meaning and identity in secular contexts. Our translation balances ecumenical breadth, scholarly depth, and genuine accessibility for believers and non-believers alike.

Traditional Bible translations often assume readers are already part of a church community, with familiarity of religious vocabulary and theological concepts. We're writing for people who:

• Are curious about the Bible but feel alienated by church culture
• Read contemporary fiction and want Scripture that reads with similar quality
• Have left organized religion but haven't lost interest in meaning
• Come from cultural contexts where Christianity feels foreign or colonial
• Prefer podcasts and playlists to traditional Bible study
• Want intellectual honesty about difficult passages, not apologetic spin

But we're also writing for lifelong believers who want to encounter familiar texts with fresh eyes—without the interpretive layers that can accumulate over years of church attendance.

Freely Received, Freely Give

There are excellent modern Bible translations. Some are even accessible and well-written. But most are locked behind licensing restrictions that limit how they can be used, shared, adapted, and built upon. We believe Scripture should be as free as the message it carries.

Reading patterns are changing in the digital age. Deep study is becoming rarer while consumptive engagement—podcasts, short-form content, audio—is on the rise. A Bible engagement project for a new generation needs to take this seriously. We want to experiment and explore what's possible with today's "printing presses": AI, multimedia, open-source collaboration.

This isn't about replacing traditional Bible study. It's about creating multiple entry points—songs that stick in your head, podcasts for your commute, practices you can do in five minutes. Some will go deeper. Many won't. Both are okay.

CC BY-SA 4.0 means anyone can take what we create and build on it. Remix the songs. Adapt the translation for your dialect. Create an app, a curriculum, a theatrical production. The only requirement: share your adaptations under the same open license.

Radically Open

Aperto is released under CC BY-SA 4.0. Everything—the translation, the exegesis, the songs, the process documentation—is free to use, adapt, and build upon.

Why? Because Scripture belongs to everyone. The early church didn't copyright their manuscripts. The Reformers didn't paywall their translations. We believe the message of the Bible should be as accessible as possible.

If you want to take our German translation and adapt it for Austrian dialect—go ahead. If you want to use our exegesis to create a children's version—please do. If you want to remix our songs for your local context—that's what they're for.

What We Get Wrong

We're not claiming this is perfect. AI makes mistakes. So do humans. Every translation involves interpretation, and every interpretation can be contested.

Some things AI still struggles with:

• Nuanced theological distinctions that require deep domain expertise
• Cultural adaptations that require lived experience in a community
• Poetic rhythm and wordplay that require native speaker intuition
• Knowing when to be literal vs. dynamic in specific contexts

We try to compensate for these limitations through human review, community feedback, and ongoing revision. But we'd rather ship something imperfect and useful than wait for something perfect that never arrives.