Last updated: May 7, 2026
This page sets out the terms under which you can use returntothe.bible (the “site”). The site is a personal Bible commentary project written by Chris (the “author”). By visiting the site, subscribing to the newsletter, or contacting the author through the form, you agree to the terms below. If you do not agree, please don’t use the site.
If anything here is unclear, the contact information is at the bottom of the page.
What this site is
returntothe.bible is a chapter-by-chapter Bible commentary written from a particular interpretive lane (post-evangelical, ancient Near Eastern context, Eastern-context, narrative-theology). The site exists to help thoughtful lay readers, small group leaders, and pastors read the Bible with more historical, literary, and theological depth than American evangelical commentary tradition has typically offered.
The commentary represents the author’s own readings, synthesized from a body of scholarly and theological influences listed on the About and How We Read pages. It is not the official position of any church, seminary, denomination, or institution.
The site does not provide pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, mental health advice, medical advice, financial advice, or legal advice. If you are working through something serious, please reach out to a qualified human professional.
Bible text
The Bible passages quoted on the site are drawn primarily from the World English Bible (WEB), which is in the public domain. Where another translation is quoted (NRSVue, CSB, Wright’s Kingdom New Testament, etc.), the translation is identified at the end of the verse block, and only short excerpts are quoted under standard fair-use practice.
You are free to copy short passages of biblical text from the site for your own study, teaching, or non-commercial use, exactly as you would from any other source that hosts the WEB.
Commentary content
The commentary text on the site (the original prose written by the author of returntothe.bible, including chapter introductions, verse-by-verse commentary, framework articles, book overviews, reflection prompts, and editorial pages) is © Chris, the author of returntothe.bible. All rights are reserved unless otherwise noted.
You may do the following without asking:
- Read any chapter or page on the site, free of charge
- Share a link to a page on social media, by email, or in any other context
- Quote a short excerpt (up to about 250 words from any single page) in a sermon, blog post, lesson, podcast, or social post, with attribution to “returntothe.bible”
- Use the site for personal study, small group preparation, or sermon prep without further permission
You may not do the following without written permission:
- Reproduce an entire chapter, framework article, or book overview on another website, blog, newsletter, or print publication
- Repackage the commentary as your own work or strip the attribution
- Use the commentary to train, fine-tune, or otherwise develop machine-learning models, large language models, or any other automated system
- Sell any portion of the commentary or include it in a product or course you charge for
If you’d like to do something the second list excludes, please ask. Most of the time, the answer for non-commercial educational use is yes.
Influence material
The site occasionally references the work of contemporary scholars and pre-modern theologians (Marty Solomon, N.T. Wright, Tim Mackie, Augustine, Luther, Origen, Rashi, and so on). The site is not affiliated with any of these scholars or their organizations, and the site’s interpretations of their work are the author’s own. Where a specific idea is being attributed, it is named directly so the reader can follow it back to the source.
The site does not reproduce copyrighted books, transcripts, podcast episodes, course material, or other proprietary content from these scholars. Internal reference notes used during drafting are kept off the public site. If you believe the site has reproduced copyrighted material that should not have been reproduced, please contact us at the address below; we will respond promptly.
Images and design
Original diagrams, maps, photographs, illustrations, typographic word study cards, and the site’s branding (the wordmark, logo mark, color palette, and theme) are © Chris, the author of returntothe.bible, unless otherwise credited. Public domain images (for example, from Wikimedia Commons or museum public-domain collections) are used where appropriate and attributed where required by the source.
You may not reuse the site’s original images, diagrams, or branding without permission.
User submissions
If you submit content to the site (for example, through the contact form, by replying to a newsletter, or in any future comment system), you grant the site permission to read, store, and respond to your submission. The site will not publicly publish anything you submit privately without your explicit consent.
You agree not to submit:
- Content that is illegal under applicable law
- Threats, harassment, or abuse directed at the author or any other person
- Spam, advertising, or unsolicited promotional material
- Content that infringes a third party’s intellectual property
- Anything that contains malware, viruses, or harmful code
The site reserves the right to ignore, delete, or report submissions that violate these terms.
External links
The site frequently links to outside resources (publishers, scholars’ personal sites, museums, archive.org, Wikimedia Commons, BibleProject, Bema Discipleship, and so on). The site does not control, endorse, or assume responsibility for the content or practices of any third-party site. When you follow a link off this site, the destination’s terms and privacy practices apply.
Newsletter
If you subscribe to the newsletter, you will receive emails about new chapters, new framework pages, and occasional notes about how the project is going. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any email. The site will not send you anything unrelated to the project, will not sell or share your email address, and will not flood your inbox.
How your email address is handled is described in the site’s Privacy Policy.
Disclaimers
The site is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, express or implied. The author makes no warranty that:
- The site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or available at any specific time
- The information on the site is complete, current, or free of mistakes
- The interpretations on the site are the only correct readings of the biblical text
- Any specific outcome (spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, or otherwise) will result from reading the site
Theological and historical interpretation is a long, contested human conversation. The author has done his best to read carefully and write honestly, but the site can be wrong about things, and the author reserves the right to change his mind, revise chapters, and update arguments as the project develops. Earlier versions of any chapter may be archived but are not authoritative; the version currently on the site is the version that represents the author’s current reading.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author of the site is not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages arising out of your use of the site.
Changes to these terms
These terms may be updated from time to time as the site grows. Material changes will be reflected in the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Continuing to use the site after a change has been posted means you accept the updated terms. If a change is significant, it will also be announced on the site’s homepage and in the newsletter.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the state of residence of the author. Any dispute arising out of or related to the site or these terms will be resolved in the appropriate courts of that jurisdiction.
Contact
For questions about these terms, requests for permission to reproduce content, or any other inquiry, please contact:
For privacy-specific questions, please use the address listed in the Privacy Policy.