Editing Christian Classics Ethereal Library

{{Primary sources|date=May 2023}}
{{short description|Digital library and website}}
{{Infobox website
| name             = Christian Classics Ethereal Library
| url              = {{URL|https://www.ccel.org/}}
| commercial       = No (see text)
| type             = [[Digital library]]
| registration     = None
| owner            = [[Calvin College]]
| author           = Harry Plantinga
| launch_date      = {{start date and age|1993}}
}}

The '''Christian Classics Ethereal Library''' ('''CCEL''') is a [[digital library]] that provides free electronic copies of [[Christianity|Christian]] [[scripture]] and [[literature]] [[book|text]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0004026/ |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref>

== Description ==

CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a [[professor]] of [[computer science]] at [[Calvin College]]. It was initiated at [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]] in 1993<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ccel.org/ |title=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |date=April 29, 2005 |access-date=July 28, 2008}}</ref> and is currently supported by Calvin University. It includes [[Hymnary.org]].

The purpose of the CCEL is "To build up Christ's church by making available classic Christian books and promoting their use." The documents in the [[Digital library|library]] express a variety of theological views, sometimes conflicting with those of Calvin University.<ref | name="CCELQ&A" />

CCEL stores texts in [[Theological Markup Language]] (ThML) format and automatically converts them into other formats such as [[HTML]] or [[Portable Document Format]] (PDF).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/about|title=About {{!}} Christian Classics Ethereal Library}}</ref> Although they use mainly [[Public Domain]] texts, they claim [[copyright]] on all their [[Formatted text|formatting]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/about/copyright.html|title=CCEL Copyright Policy {{!}} Christian Classics Ethereal Library}}</ref> Users must log into their website to download all formatted versions of the text.

CCEL is funded by [[Online advertising|online advertisements]], sales of [[CD-ROM]]s (available from 1997 to 2019),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org:80/store|title=Store - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003045515/http://www.ccel.org:80/store|archive-date=October 3, 2019|url-status=dead|access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> sales of some books not freely downloadable, and individual gifts. Calvin University has also provided them with space, network access, and significant financial support.<ref | name="CCELQ&A" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Plantinga |first1=Harry|url=https://www.ccel.org/info/ccel-story.html|title=The CCEL Story|date=July 1997|publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library|access-date=July 28, 2008}}</ref>

As of 2006, the library was recording about 200,000 page views per day and providing about 2 [[terabyte|TB]] of information (equivalent to over a million books) in a month.<ref |="" name="CCELQ&A">{{cite web |title=CCEL Questions and Answers |url=https://www.ccel.org/info/faq |access-date=October 17, 2023 |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library}}</ref>

A 2002 reviewer acknowledged that while the site is "intended to be a basic online theological library," it was actually much more valuable than that: it is "a treasure of primary sources for anyone teaching [[Western Civilization]] or more specialized courses in [[Medieval history|medieval]] or Reformation history." They also specifically noted that the ability to search the music "for specific note patterns" was valuable to [[musicologist]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/r/35/whm.html |title=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |access-date=July 28, 2008|last=Holt |first=Mack P. |date=October 2002 |work=World History Sources |publisher=Center for History and New Media, George Mason University }}</ref>

As of 2005, the primary users of the library fell into three main categories. These are [[university professor]]s and their students using texts from the library as required reading without running up the students' bill for [[textbook]]s, people preparing sermons and [[Bible study (Christianity)|Bible studies]], and those reading for individual edification.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Neff |last1=David |title= Preaching Augustine |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/52.0c.html |website=[[Christian Today]] |publisher=Christian History & Biography |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215072103/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/52.0c.html |archive-date=February 15, 2009 |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Internet Sacred Text Archive]]
* [[List of digital library projects]]
* [[New Advent]]
* [[Wikisource]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.ccel.org/}}
* {{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home|title=Anthology of patristics citations of the Bible|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921163504/https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home|archive-date=Sep 21, 2016|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.catholiccrossreference.online/fathers/index.php/rev%201:8|title=Patristic texts with cross-references to the Bible and internal search engine}} (based on CCEL patristic texts)

[[Category:1993 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:American digital libraries]]
[[Category:Christian libraries]]
[[Category:Christian websites]]
[[Category:Discipline-oriented digital libraries]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1993]]
[[Category:Libraries established in 1993]]
[[Category:Online Scripture Search Engine]]
[[Category:Publications of patristic texts]]