I'm here. What should I do first?
Depends on what you are here to do. Disputation does several things, and the right starting point depends on why you came. Pick the path that matches your task and ignore the others until you need them.
Path 1 — I want to understand a specific passage
Open the main app. Enter your passage in the search bar at the top. Run a Loci search. The result shows how the passage is classified — which doctrines it teaches and which doctrinal neighborhood it occupies. You will see, for example, that Romans 3:21–26 maps to justification, propitiation, and the righteousness of God before you ever read the commentary.
From there, switch to the Charting tool to see the passage in its book-level context. Then run the Arcing tool on the same passage to see its internal logical structure. Three views, one passage. The order matters: classification first, then structure, then internal argument.
Path 2 — I want to find everything Scripture says about a doctrine
Use the Loci search. Type a doctrine into the search bar — justification, baptism, vocation, law, sanctification, the office of the keys, the two natures of Christ. Review the classified results. The passages returned are not just keyword matches. They are passages the rubric identifies as teaching that doctrine.
Filter by canon section if you want to focus on Old Testament or New Testament treatments. Filter by book if you want to see how a specific epistle handles the doctrine. Save passages to a Note for use in a study or sermon. The Loci search is the fastest path from a doctrinal question to the texts that answer it.
Path 3 — I am preparing a Bible study or small group
Go to AI Studio and select Build a Bible Study. Enter your passage. Choose your audience: adult class, youth, seminary. Disputation generates a Loci Inquiry lesson with discussion questions, theological notes, and a student handout. The lesson is structured around the doctrines the passage teaches, not just the surface narrative.
Edit the result. The output is a draft. You know your group; the tool does not. Treat the AI output as the starting point for the lesson you would have written if you had three more hours, and use the recovered hours to read the passage one more time.
Path 4 — I want to compare how different traditions handle a passage or doctrine
Use Voice Comparison. Select two to four tradition voices — Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican. Type your question. Each voice answers from within its own theological commitments. The tool shows you the disagreement, the agreement, and the place where the traditions interpret the same Scripture differently.
This is for the user who wants to know not only what Scripture says but how the theological traditions have read it. It is also useful for the pastor who has to explain a passage to a congregation that brings several backgrounds with them.
Start with one path
Most users find that one feature leads naturally to the next. A Loci search on a passage suggests a Charting view. A Charting view suggests an Arcing of the central paragraph. An Arcing diagram suggests a Voice Comparison on the doctrinal point at issue. The features are designed to feed each other.
Start with the path that fits your task. Add the others when the task gets bigger.
Open Disputation and pick your path
The fastest way to understand the tool is to use it on something you already care about — a passage you are studying, a doctrine you are preparing to teach, or a question you have been turning over.