Theological Markup Language

The Theological Markup Language (ThML) is a "royalty-free" XML-based format created in 1998{{Sfn | Plantinga | 2003 | loc = Introduction, ¶7 | ps =: ‘…the first version of ThML was designed in the summer of 1998…’}} by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) to create electronic theological texts. Other formats such as STEP and Logos Library System (LLS) were found unacceptable by CCEL as they are proprietary, prompting the creation of the new language.{{Sfn | Plantinga | 2003 | loc = Introduction, ¶4 | ps =: ‘Commercial formats, including STEP and the Logos Library System (LLS), are not designed for integration with the Internet, and preparing texts for these systems requires expensive software, beyond the means of most individuals. Publication in one of these formats may also be controlled by the company or consortium in question. As a result, few public-domain or on-line texts are available in these formats.’}} The ThML format borrowed elements from a somewhat similar format, the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI).

{{As of|2006|September|19|df=US}}, CCEL had 650 documents in this format.{{cite web | quote = There are 650 XML documents | url = http://www.ccel.org/info/vision.html | work = CCEL | title = The Vision | accessdate = 2007-01-06 | date = 2006-09-19 | publisher = Christian Classics Ethereal Library}} The advantage of using an XML-based format is that a ThML text can be converted into HTML by using an XSLT stylesheet. Also, standard XML tools can convert to PDF and RTF.

{{As of|2012|November|8|df=US}}, the last Document Type Definition of the format, version 1.04,{{Citation | url = http://www.ccel.org/ThML/ | title = Theological Markup Language (ThML) | publisher = CCEL | quote = ThML Definition [v. 1.04]}}. was released on January 20, 2003.{{Sfn | Plantinga | 2003 | loc = Header | ps =: ‘Version 1.04, January 20, 2003’}}