Source existence
Resolve the author, work, source identifier, and edition independently of the generated sentence.
Implementation guide · Citation integrity
How to verify theological citations
produced by an LLM
A reproducible workflow for checking theological quotations, passage identity, provenance, source attribution, and coverage before publishing an AI-generated answer.
Maintained by Feason
Short answer
Choose for the evidence contract you need.
Treat model prose as an unverified claim. Resolve each citation to a stable source and passage, compare exact quotations with a versioned snapshot, inspect surrounding context, confirm tradition attribution, and preserve any mismatch for review.Comparison
Different tools solve different layers.
| Approach | Best for | Provides | Your responsibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model-only citation | Drafting and discovery when no publication claim is made. | A plausible reference or quotation generated from model context and memory. | Everything: source existence, exact wording, edition, context, attribution, and link integrity. |
| Retrieved citation object | Applications that ground answers in passage records before generation. | Stable passage identifiers, canonical references, source metadata, and provenance alongside the prompt. | Ensuring the final prose still matches the retrieved passage and does not overstate what it supports. |
| Immutable citation verification | Publication, research, assessment, and other workflows where exact quotations must be auditable. | A repeatable comparison between the requested quote or hash and a named corpus release. | Interpretive context, editorial judgment, source rights, and what to do when verification fails. |
Evaluation criteria
Inspect the evidence, not the pitch.
Exact text
Compare quotations character-for-character and with a disclosed normalization policy; never repair silently.
Passage context
Read neighboring passages to detect omitted qualifications, changed speakers, and joined fragments.
Attribution
Confirm the date, source type, author, and tradition instead of inferring them from a familiar quotation.
Claim support
A real quotation can still fail to support the generated claim. Review the argumentative connection separately.
Release identity
Record the corpus or source revision so the verification can be reproduced after future updates.
Implementation
A bounded way to test the choice.
Extract every citation claim
Separate exact quotations, paraphrases, source names, canonical references, and links from the generated answer.
Resolve the source record
Map each citation to a stable source or passage identifier and retrieve its stored metadata.
Verify text and context
Compare exact wording with the named release, then inspect neighboring passages and the complete cited unit.
Review claim support
Confirm that the verified passage actually supports the sentence and that disputed interpretations are attributed.
Publish the audit trail
Keep the passage ID, release version, verification result, provenance, and any caveat with the answer.
Questions
Frequently asked.
Is a valid-looking theological citation enough?
No. A citation can name a real work while misquoting it, joining noncontiguous text, using the wrong edition, or attributing a source to the wrong tradition.
What does Feason citation verification check?
Feason can compare a passage identifier or requested quotation with an immutable corpus release and report exact, normalized, hash-only, or mismatch outcomes without rewriting the quotation.
Can citation verification prove an interpretation?
No. It proves that the quoted source text and stored provenance match the referenced release. Interpretation still requires context, attribution, and judgment.
What should happen when verification fails?
Do not silently repair the quotation. Remove the exact-quote claim, retrieve the source again, show the mismatch, or send the answer for human review.
Feason Context · Source-grounded Christian evidence