We often tell people that we started Relight—our free web app for studying the Bible and Reformed theology—simply so that we could use it. Previously we’d found ourselves recommending other Bible apps, but with what felt like a hundred caveats and qualifications. In terms of resources offered, many of the existing platforms are mixed bags at best, and we were always concerned that, while on the hunt for Matthew Henry, they might also walk away with something from N. T. Wright. Or even worse, something Roman Catholic or Mormon.

We wanted an app we could recommend wholeheartedly to anyone, and we wished for years something like that existed. We may have even pitched the idea to techie friends we thought might be able to make it, to no avail.

How Relight Began

Back in 2017, we used to go on walks every Lord’s Day and often ended up talking about this app we wished existed. Over the course of months, it slowly started to take shape. It was entirely self-centered initially—we were just inventing an imaginary app that we wanted to use. But at some point along the way, we realized we couldn’t be the only ones that wanted this to exist, and we started talking about how it might aid the church. One day, we looked at each other, clearly on the same wavelength, and David said, “What if we actually just made this thing?”

David wasn’t a web developer at the time, but he had job experience with both web design and HTML/CSS, being self-taught in those fields. So, he thought, why not learn as I go?

We started with a web app, because that’s where David had knowledge and because it would be the most widely usable. A web app works on any device that can browse the web—iPhones, An-droid phones, tablets of any kind, and even some smart refrigerators. We hope someday to expand into “real” native apps for iOS and Android.

The two of us worked together on large portions of the web app. Both of us have a background in graphic design and web design, as well as a love for typography, which is the art of styling with fonts and arranging words. Our mutual fondness for typography is one of the common interests that we bonded over when we first met in our early 20s. Just ask us about our font choices for Relight. Or maybe don’t, unless you want to be a captive audience for at least 20 minutes.

Our web app launched in fall 2018 with just the KJV Bible and John Brown of Haddington’s cross-references, and it has grown exponentially since then. Now, Relight sports the ESV translation, Reformed commentaries like Matthew Henry, John Calvin, and Matthew Poole, tools for word studies and studying the Greek and Hebrew text, many of the Reformed confessions and catechisms, John Calvin’s Institutes, and more.

Our Vision for the App

Beyond having exclusively Reformed content, our vision for Relight was to create an app that could help us study Scripture and study theology, especially with the help of the Reformed confessions and catechisms like the Westminster Standards. So, in addition to the usual study tools like cross-references, word studies, and commentaries, the app has features for studying theologically.

Let’s say you’re studying Philippians 4:6: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” In addition to the “usual suspects” of Bible study listed above, Relight has a related section where you would see that Philippians 4:6 is used as a prooftext in Westminster Shorter Catechism question 98: “What is Prayer? Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.”

Within seconds of being commanded to pray, you’ve been given a beautiful and clearly worded picture of what prayer is! And not only that, but with one click or tap, you’re reading the context and learning what it means to pray as Christ taught us in the Lord’s Prayer.

While the above is already possible, we have more in store for Relight. We eventually want to add more systematic theologies and start adding church histories, so that we can go from studying a verse to studying the theology bound up in that verse, all the way to reading about the various heresies involving that doctrine and how the Reformed tradition has refuted those heresies.

We want it to be like scrolling Facebook or letting YouTube auto-play the next video—except it’s the Bible and Reformed theology. These days, we’re always talking about “the algorithm” negatively, but algorithms themselves aren’t bad. Relight doesn’t have an algorithm in that sense yet, but when it does, we want to use modern technology to pull you in and help you grow in your faith and knowledge, rather than sucking your time away with fruitless, idle things.

Most of all, we want all of the above to be natural and easy. One of the things that makes Relight unique is that everything appears in-line, right where you’re already reading. You don’t need a user manual; everything is very streamlined and, we hope, intuitive. Wherever you see a lightbulb icon, tap or click on it, and suddenly you’re studying. If it’s underlined and looks clickable, it is clickable, without guesswork. Anytime you see a verse mentioned, you don’t have to go look it up. Just click on it, and it shows up right underneath what you’re reading.

How David and Sarah Hope Relight Can Help

One of our goals with Relight is to make the work of long-deceased but solid Reformed theologians more accessible and less intimidating using modern technologies as they evolve. One of our favorite and most recent examples of this is something we made for our exhibitor table at this year’s Ligonier National Conference. We created an image of someone shaking hands with John Calvin using art generated by artificial intelligence. We printed it to life-size scale on a pop-up banner, cut out the face of the person chatting with Calvin, and created a photo opportunity for people to stick their heads in the hole and “meet” John Calvin.

We hope to do more than just create silly photo opportunities, though. We want to use technology to help RP members and Christians in general connect with the resources and authors that shaped Presbyterian doctrine and piety.

An important part of that is the price tag. From the start, we wanted the app to be free. At some point, we may end up charging for certain resources that are only available through a publisher’s requirement to charge, but other than those rare occasions, we plan to keep the app free.

We hope that Relight can aid the study of laypeople and provide a good introduction for those just starting to dip their toe into the deep waters of the Reformed tradition, without having to fork out a bunch of money to do so. The Puritans and Reformers can already be intimidating as it is! We also hope that Relight’s free resources can supplement the libraries of RP and other Reformed pastors, especially those with small book budgets that might make other expensive Bible apps a burden or even impossible.

Relight and the RPCNA

Being members in the RPCNA has been a big blessing and help to the continued development of Relight. Because of our mission to be reliably Reformed and wholeheartedly recommended by pastors, we always wanted our work on Relight and especially the resources we add to have the accountability of local and outside elders.

Being in the RPCNA has also surrounded us with people who are just as excited about the resources and features we’re adding to the app as we are. We love getting requests from people who use the app. That’s one of the things we always invite people to do, whenever we tell them about the app—so please consider this your invitation, as well!

To Try the App

Relight is a web app, which means it can be used on any device that has a browser. Just type relight.app into the URL bar, and give it a try! There are three primary things you need to know: 1) Click on the lightbulb icon, any-where you see it, to study. 2) If it’s underlined, it’s clickable. And 3) Just keep exploring! You will be surprised what connections you’ll find, and what new light—pun intended—can be shed on the Scriptures.