God, Technology, and the Christian Life by Tony Reinke
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Ben Kreps:
Welcome to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our executive director. Mark, everyone who's watching this or reading this podcast is likely aware that the headlines are full of all manner of technological advancements about social media, artificial intelligence. And while pastors don't need to be experts about everything that's going on, I think it's wise for pastors to be informed about technology as it advances and the impact it has on our folks and our lives as believers. And you have a resource that you've been reading that you want to talk about with us today.
Mark Prater:
I do. And I think it's a great encouragement. I think we, as pastors, need to be informed in the area of technology because we all interact with it, it all pushes into our lives, and it can raise both theological and even ethical questions. So I'm reading and just about finished with God, Technology and the Christian Life, a book written by Tony Reinke. Tony's a very good writer, and this book is an excellent resource. I would encourage anyone listening or reading this podcast to get this book and read it, whether you're a pastor or not, because it will really, really help you. And the reason I'm reading the book, partly just interest, but I lead a faith in work, bible and book study at Covenant Fellowship Church. And as we talked about our next book to read, which we're actually reading right now, we chose this one: God, Technology and the Christian Life by Tony Reinke because in the workplace, you interact with technology all the time.
And the emergence and the rapid progression of artificial intelligence is making its way into the workplace, as well. So it's raising theological questions and ethical questions for members of my church as they interact with technology and AI in particular in the workplace. Beyond that, just some of the headlines that we read regarding AI, they can strike fear; the worst case doomsday scenario that robots will take over the world type of type of fear. They can also just raise ethical questions. I just read recently about the writer strike in Hollywood, in part what they're negotiating is the emergence of AI that is writing scripts for television shows and movies, and of course, the writers, the union for the writers, wants that to stop. And Hollywood producers, or that industry is saying, we're not so sure we want to stop it. We want to leave room for that. So just some examples of how AI is beginning to emerge because it has progressed fairly rapidly and there are ethical questions surrounding that, that we need to answer as Christians. But to be able to answer the ethical questions, we need to have a good theological understanding of technology and how God views it and how it's supposed to work in our life, which is the reason that Tony wrote this book.
Ben Kreps:
Yeah, that's excellent. I'm looking forward to reading the book. I'm preparing actually for this fall to do a class on technology and the Christian life. I mean, if you're highlighting some important concerns about technology, there's also pastoral concerns; the soul-eroding effect of smartphone addiction and what might happen, the untrustworthiness of AI generated content, and all of those kinds of things; virtual reality. So it is important for us to understand. And, what is it about the book that you're enjoying? What are some highlights for us to take away?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, I think probably the best way to answer that question is just kind of go through the progression of the book. The first chapter is entitled What Is Technology? And so what he does is he defines technology and gives a very concise definition. But then he goes to the Bible and basically shows us that God made technology, and he begins with what he calls tar. Noah actually used tar to seal the boat when he built the ark. And that was the emergence of beginning, at least early in the Bible of technology there. And he just does a very good job of developing a theology of technology. He does that in chapter 2 and 3 as well.
Chapter 2 is: What is God's Relationship to Technology? And he springs from the creation account, as I just mentioned. He also springs from a passage in Isaiah that builds a theology of, of technology that would include all that we have is given to us by God. And so any development of technology is something that comes from what God has already given us. He also just does a great job from the Isaiah passage of saying, God made the blacksmiths that made weapons. He made the Avengers, he calls them, who used the swords, and he rules over both of them. So he establishes over and over and, and repeats this theme; the sovereignty of God over technology. And that doesn't mean that technology can't be used for evil, but it's not beyond the scope of the sovereignty of God, which I think is a very important theological point for anyone, but especially Christians, so that we can counter the fear of where AI could go with the realization it's not going to go any further than God allows. And that's what Tony is saying. So there's much more to his theology of technology. It's the best that I've read.
He devotes a chapter titled Where Does Technology Come From? I've already mentioned that it comes from what God has already given us. So any new human innovation, ultimately, man can't take credit for any new human innovation. God gets all the glory because all that we innovate comes from what God has already given us. And then he does a really good job in a couple of chapters of just contrasting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the gospel of technology. And one of the ways that he does that is the gospel of technology sort of pushes against death, meaning that we want to find ways to prolong life, somehow develop a technology, whether that's medication or some technology that stops the aging process or slows down the aging process. So we push against death. And that's not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is very clear that we die because death is the penalty of sin. But here's the good news. We have a savior who defeated death through his death on the cross and resurrection. And those who trust in him will die physically, but we will live forever with Christ. And so it's a great contrast of the gospel of technology and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then he ends the book in the last chapter with How Should We Use Technology? It's a really helpful chapter. He gives 14 ethical convictions for you to consider as it relates to technology. So it gets very practical there. And, because technology raises ethical questions, it's good for us as Christians to have ethical convictions; to know how to respond to the rapid progression of technology. So it's a book I would highly recommend and just some of the ways I'm benefiting from it, the group that I'm leading at Covenant Fellowship is benefiting from it. And I would just encourage anyone reading or listening to this podcast to read this book, God, Technology, and the Christian Life.
Ben Kreps:
It sounds excellent. I'm reminded of Proverbs 25:2 that says, it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. It's just wonderful how God has concealed hidden within the created order, all of these materials to turn into smartphones, for instancw, and so that's a wonderful gift. Thanks for recommending a resource to help us to be wise in how we navigate through technological advancement.
Mark Prater:
And I'll mention one other thing, and I think it's at the fear point. An excellent point that Tony makes in the book. So we can read about technology and there can be this fear that technology is gonna overtake us or overtake the world. And he's making the point that, of course, technology can be used for evil, but even then God redeems it. And he uses the cross actually as an illustration. He said he made the blacksmith that then made the nails. And those nails were used by evil men to crucify Jesus Christ. So even though technology was used for an evil purpose in that moment, God was using it redemptively to save sinners like you and me, through Christ's death on the cross. So we shouldn't fear because our God is in control and he is good and uses all things for his good redemptive purposes.
Ben Kreps:
That's fantastic. Well, thank you, Mark, for the recommendation. Thank you all for watching or reading. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.