I critique Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit decision to include new convert Nala Ray on their speaker panel. I warn that new converts like Ray should not be put into leadership/authority roles too soon, emphasizing the need for care and nurturing in a less hectic environment. New converts, famous or not, should be exhorted to settle into a church pew during their faith journey.
Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit aims to empower women through civic engagement and political activism. However, the article critiques this initiative, questioning its alignment with biblical roles for women which are supposed to be primarily focused on home and motherhood. It highlights inconsistencies among speakers promoting activism while diverging from scriptural teachings on femininity and family responsibilities.
In 1 Kings 13, a ‘Man of God’ is sent to rebuke King Jeroboam but later falls prey to an old prophet’s deception, leading to his demise. The narrative emphasizes the importance of discernment for believers, urging them to verify teachings against scripture, as false prophets can mislead even the faithful.
The seventh day, sanctified by God for rest, underlines a universal need for downtime. Studies indicate productivity diminishes beyond 55-hour workweeks, showing God’s wisdom in structured work balanced with rest enhances efficiency. Christians remember Jesus as a model for intentional breaks amidst busy lives, supporting a cyclical rhythm of work and worship.
The Laodicean Church, as depicted in Revelation 3:14-22, embodies spiritual complacency and arrogance, marked by self-reliance on wealth and ignorance of its wretched state. Jesus warns of the dangers of this “lukewarm” condition, urging repentance and emphasizing the necessity of recognizing one’s dependence on Him for genuine righteousness.
We have passed the traditional gateway to summer: Memorial Day Weekend. I hope you had a nice one. I rested on Saturday and on Sunday after church there was a BBQ picnic at a member’s home. I’ve had a few pamering apointments during the week, adn a few social engagements.
I’m looking forward to a slower pace, some penetrating reading (Man in His Fourfold State by Thomas Boston) and some light reading, (The Way of the Gladiator) and trying some new recipes. I also want to do more photography. Will I do some bookbinding or crafting? Maybe. I know I will binge some TV shows in some evenings. I like TV. So, nothing fancy, just a nice season of 8 weeks of being a homebody.
Time for another roundup of interesting links and pics that I call Prata Potpourri. Enjoy.
Pastor Tom Buck posted this graphic on Twitter, saying someone sent it to him. The origin is embedded in the graphic, it’s from Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte NC. It contrasts godly repentance with worldly sorrow. It’s helpful.
Pastor Darrell Harrison of the Just Thinking Podcast had an essay published in TableTalk magazine, pondering our artificial culture. It’s good.
Here’s an excerpt: “Lamentably, many professing believers succumb to such shallow enticements, choosing instead to gratify their flesh rather than obey God. An example from Scripture is that of Demas, who became so enamored of the world that he deserted the Apostle Paul in carrying out the work of the gospel (2 Tim. 4:10).”
If you care to descend 2800 feet into a recently discovered world’s deepest sinkhole to explore a unique microclimate containing rare and undiscovered plants and animals, then have at it. It is in China. The site Beauty of Planet Earth says of the giant hole,
The Xiaozhai Tiankeng is more than just a giant hole in the ground. Its unique microclimate, with its own weather patterns and lush vegetation, has fostered a distinct ecosystem. A total of 1,285 plant species, among them the ginkgo, along with various rare animals such as the clouded leopard and the Chinese Giant Salamander, have been discovered in the sinkhole. Due to its remote location, many plant and animal species found within the sinkhole haven’t been documented elsewhere, potentially representing new discoveries for science.
Thinking Biblically is a hub of resources from experts ranging from theologians to paleontologists affiliated with The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, CA. If you are interested in a 12-episode video tour & Lectures of Old Jerusalem led by Mater’s Seminary professor Dr. William Varner, seeing and learning about the biblical places mentioned in the Bible, then this series is for you. It’s free.
It’s summer. Not that the hot season these days sparks the need for less clothing, it seems that less clothing rather than more clothing is the standard whatever the season. WHen did our culture get so casual with showing so much flesh?
Here are two resources. One is by Jeff Pollard, an Elder at a Florida Church, editor of the Free Grace Broadcaster and manager at Chapel Library. He wrote a 40 page essay titled Christian Modesty: The Public Undressing of America. Here is the blurb-
God’s Word has much to say about the way we dress, especially in worship. Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America examines relevant portions of Scripture and investigates a little fashion history in order to present a Biblical doctrine of modesty. This is an important discussion for both men and women. While this controversial subject often falls into the realm of subjective experience and speculation, the author begins with a study of Holy Scripture.
The black-and-white photo below went viral. Caption: “Before sagging, bonnets, and Walmart PJs were worn in public…” It’s not just nostalgia. It’s a rebuke. We used to dress like we belonged. From Dignity to Disorder:
This isn’t suits vs. sweats. It’s about the collapse of culture. When we dressed with honor, it wasn’t vanity. It was identity. It said: I belong to a family, to a Church, to a standard. Today? We dress like we’ve been abandoned by all three. Listen to or read my Substack article for more:
Do you like seeing homes and how the owner decorated? Apartment Therapy has got your back. If you like Quiet Luxury, Dark & Brooding, Coastal Inspired, Enviable Exposed Brick, Inspired Kitchens, whatever style you enjoy, click on the image to see more of it.
The other night I enjoyed reading historical newspaper articles from the early 1900s, particularly regarding women’s suffrage and First Wave feminism. While supporting women’s voting rights, I critique the underlying philosophy of feminism, saying it promotes a negative view of traditional gender roles. Editorials from that era reveal mixed sentiments on women’s societal roles from opposition prior to WWI to acceptance afterward. The Right to Vote for women passed in 1919.
Our local paper has been going since 1882. This week I was captured by reading the old, old digitized historical articles going back to the early 1900s. The writing used to be so good, even in ads. The social news cracked me up, like, so-and-so is visiting so-and-so, who is sick, who has recovered. But there were serious articles too, many about farming, especially cotton, since 100 years ago that was a major crop. And as the Women’s Suffrage debate heated up nationally, it heated up locally too.
Women’s suffrage was passed by Congress in 1919, giving women the vote. First Wave feminism historically began in 1848 at the Seneca Falls convention, and outlined the platform in a white paper called the Declaration of Sentiments, which was to secure legal rights for women.
The right to vote, own property, have a bank account, seen as independent of the husband etc., were contended issues. These are good things, of course, but look at the attitude and position behind these items of these first wave feminists that propelled their cause. In their 1848 “Declaration of Sentiments” they contended that men have perpetuated-
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them [women] under absolute despotism,
and
“the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her“
and that men have fomented
“their social and religious degradation over her“. (Source).
Viewing God’s design for men and women as a ‘degradation’ began early, I see. The notion that men have in all cases engendered a widespread ‘absolute tyranny’ and ‘absolute despotism’ over women is hyperbole. And it cannot be a ‘usurpation’ if that is the way God had designed roles for the genders, in other words, if that is how things are supposed to be.
I am for women voting. I believe if I’m represented in government, I should have a say. I also believe that women should participate in civic spheres, which includes philanthropy, volunteering, good works, hospitality, church work, and so on.
Editorials appeared in many newspapers across the country written by The President of the Texas Farmer’s Union, WD Lewis. He wasn’t wrong when he said “It is, as a rule, the city woman promoted to idleness by prosperity, who is leading the suffragette movement.” Indeed, it was many upper middle class white women from prominent families with access who were the original founders.
Suffragette Katharine Dexter McCormick, who was born to a life of wealth, which she compounded through marriage, could have sat back and simply enjoyed the many advantages that flowed her way. Instead, she put her considerable fortune — matched by her considerable willfulness into … most notably to underwrite the basic research that led to the development of the birth control pill in the late 1950s. Above, McCormick in 1914, traveling to a suffrage convention on the RMS Aquitania. She contributed financially to the movement, and ultimately took on leadership roles. Credit Bettmann Archive/GettySource, NYT.
I also agreed with some of the sentiments expressed by men who opposed the Suffrage concept, too. Like this paragraph:
“It is her hand that plants thoughts in the intellectual vineyard; It is through her heart that hope, love and sympathy overflow and bless mankind. Christ—the liberator of womankind—was satisfied to teach the lessons of life and He was a man. He chose to rule over human hearts and refused worldly power and men followed after Him, women washed His feet, little children climbed upon His knees and the Ruler of the universe said that In Him He was well pleased. Can woman find a higher calling?” from Ordway New Era, (Ordway, Colo.) 1902-1927.
Does he sound like an oppressive, tyrannical, despot?
Bettmann Archive. Despite the threat of incarceration, Suffragettes continued to march with American flags in protest, circa 1910.
The First Wave Feminists asserted that the genders were equal, as they began their Declaration with the same words as our founding document, the Declaration of Independence did:
We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…
Yes, we are equal. But we each have different roles, according to God. But for them, ‘equal’ meant ‘interchangeable’. It was a subtlety not lost on the TX Farmer’s Union President, who wrote,
“From many standpoints, perhaps a woman has as much right to vote as a man. So has she as much right to plow as a man; she has has much right to work in a factory as a man; she has as much right to shoulder a musket as a man, but we would rather she would not do so from choice and we regret that necessity ofttimes compels her to earn a living by engaging in gainful occupations.”
Of the articles I’ve read this week, I noticed the same arguments were promoted by Phyllis Schlafly in the 1970s when she organized to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment- which was originally introduced to Congress as a bill in 1923. Suffrage came to women in the US in 1920. The ERA came close to succeeding but thanks to Schlafly, with only 3 sates needed to ratify, she almost singlehandedly organized and stopped the political momentum. ERA finally failed in 1982, never recovering the momentum to regain the 3 states needed to ratify.
“Schlafly’s conservative values led her to staunchly oppose feminism in all of its forms, Faulkner says, and the ERA was certainly part of the feminist agenda. “She feared that greater sex equality would lead to a moral decline in society by changing the roles that women had traditionally held,” she says.” (History.com)
Suffragists Standing at U.S. Capitol. Bettmann Archive.
Phyllis was right. She was exactly right. So were the men in the 1913 and 1915 newspapers who said the same in opposing original suffrage.
Now, to be sure, not all the rhetoric opposing women’s suffrage was politically or even morally appropriate. When you go to the historical newspapers web page, there is a disclaimer that says some of the material contains “harmful content”. I disagree with the terminology of ‘harmful’ but it’s true that the prejudicial attitudes toward women, Chinese, and black people in 1913 were more accepted and widespread than they are today. Nonetheless, it bears reading to see how the citizens of the nation felt about women getting the vote, and their tactics both sides employed along the way.
The writers of the historical articles in the paper were also adept at sly (or wry) insults. Here, is an article I do not believe is real, since the Women’s March never planned to march IN the inaugural parade. Their march the day before the Inauguration of Woodrow Wilson was the largest Washington DC had ever seen. However, the subtle dig at women’s aims to not be satisfied with just getting the vote, but to actually supplant men is clearly seen, and the writer made a sly joke about it:
Women Won’t March. Chicago.— “There will be no band of Suffragists marching behind President Wilson and Mr. Taft in Washington, March 4 (1913). The plan has been dropped, it was announced here, by officials of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association. Instead the Suffragists will march through the streets of the national capital March 3, headed by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Miss Jane Addams and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw. The officials said that It was poor policy to play second fiddle to anybody.”
TX Farmer’s Union president WD Lewis opposed suffrage. I saw his editorials in newspapers far flung from Texas, and they were all different in content, not repeated as a syndicated column. He asks good questions and comes at the concept the same way that Phyllis Schlafly did almost 60 years later when the Equal Rights Amendment (proposed by suffragette Alice Paul in 1923 as part of the feminists’ “Great Demand”) was eventually derailed. It was written in 1915, so as per the culture at that time, it was a little florid, but still, many good points. Here’s Lewis:
WHY IS WOMAN RESTLESS? DESTINY OF NATIONS DEPENDS UPON CONTENTED HOMES. By W. D Lewis, President Texas- Farmers’ Union, May 1915.
Why is woman dissatisfied? Why does she grow restless under the crown of womanhood? Why is she weary of the God-given jewel of motherhood? Is it not a sufficient political achievement for woman that future rulers nurse at her breast, laugh in her arms and kneel at her feet? Can ambition leap to more glorious heights than to sing lullabies to the world’s greatest geniuses, chant melodies to master minds and rock the cradle of human destiny? God pity our country when the hand shake of the politician is more gratifying to woman’s heart than the patter of children’s feet.
Woman Is Ruler Over All.
Why does woman chafe under restraint of sex? Why revile the hand of nature? Why discard the skirts that civilization has clung to since the beginning of time? Why lay aside this hallowed garment that has wiped the tears of sorrow from the face of childhood? In its sacred embrace every generation has hidden its face in shame; clinging to its motherly folds, tottering children have learned to play hide and seek and from it, youth learned to reverence and respect womanhood. Can man think of his mother without this consecrated garment? Why this inordinate thirst for power? Is not woman all powerful?
Man cannot enter this world without her consent, he cannot remain in peace; without her blessing and unless she sheds tears of regret over his departure, he has lived in vain. Why this longing for civic power when God has made her ruler over all? Man has given woman his heart, his name and his money. What more does she want? Can man find it in his heart to look with pride upon the statement that his honorable mother-in-law was one of the most powerful political bosses in the country, that his distinguished grandmother was one of the ablest filibusters in the Senate or that his mother was a noted warrior and her name a terror to the enemy? Whither are we drifting and where will we land?
God Save Us From a Hen-Pecked Nation.
I follow the plow for a living and my views may have in them the smell of the soil; my hair is turning white under the frost of many winters and perhaps I am a little old-fashioned, but I believe there is more moral influence in the dress of woman than in all the statute books of the land. As an agency for morality, I wouldn’t give my good old mother’s homemade gowns for all the suffragette’s constitutions and by-laws in the world.
As a power for purifying society. I wouldn’t give one prayer of my saintly mother for all the women’s votes in Christendom. As an agency for good government, I wouldn’t give the plea of a mother’s heart for righteousness for all the oaths of office in the land. There is more power in the smile of woman than in an act of congress. There are greater possibilities for good government in her family of laughing children than in the cabinet of the President of the United States.
The destiny of this nation lies in the home and not in the legislative halls The hearthstone and the family Bible will ever remain the source of our inspiration and the Acts of the Apostles will ever shine brighter than the acts of Congress.
This country is law-mad. Why add to a statute book, already groaning under its own weight, the hysterical cry of woman? If we never had a chance to vote again in a lifetime and did not pass another law in twenty five years, we could survive the ordeal, but without home, civilization would wither and die. God save these United States from becoming a hen-pecked nation; help us keep sissies out of Congress and forbid that women become step fathers to government, is the prayer of the farmers of this country.
A DIVINE COVENANT.
God Almighty gave Eve to Adam with the pledge that she would be his helpmeet and with this order of companionship, civilization has towered to its greatest heights. In this relationship, God has blessed woman and man, has honored her and after four thousand years of progress, she now proposes to provoke God to decoy man by asking for suffrage, thereby ending an agreement to which she is not a party. Woman, remember that the Israelite Scorn’d a divine covenant, and as a result wandered forty years in the wilderness without God. Likewise man should remember that it is a dangerous thing to debase woman by law. –end of Lewis editorial
So these are a few thoughts on the passage of the votes for women. As I said, I do believe women should have the vote, should be able to own property, to have her own bank account, and to be able to work if she needs to. However, as one editorial from an anonymous person said in the historic newspaper, “militant feminists put the rage in suffrage”. The underlying philosophy of feminism, though topped with the cream of the above civic concepts, is rotten down to the bottom. Indeed, it is right to say 100 years later, ‘God save us from a hen-pecked nation’.
I discuss a post promoting an inclusive queer community group in my city and express sorrow over the misguided celebration of sexual sin. I emphasize the importance of repentance to align with Christian values. The commentary also presents evolving terms related to sexual identity, while urging spiritual redemption through Jesus.
I read the posts in my county Facebook group and the adjacent city’s group. The city is liberal. The county is conservative. In the City group I saw the following post:
FACEBOOK POST: “I run a queer women/sapphic community group based in Atlanta called Peach City Sapphics, and I’m excited to start bringing inclusive events to Athens! A lot of the queer scene here feels super undergrad-heavy and not always the most diverse, so I’m hoping to create some fun, affirming spaces for sapphic folks of all backgrounds — especially those who are lesbian, bi, queer, or anywhere on the spectrum. If that sounds like your vibe, feel free to follow us on Instagram and DM me if you’d be interested in coming to events or helping brainstorm!Let’s build something beautiful here in Athens too!“
I pondered that for a while. Firstly, I am sad that the so-called ‘queer folk’ are so lost. They don’t know how angry God is with sexual sin. They don’t know how ugly their sin is to Him. It’s not “beautiful”. They should not feel “proud”. They should fear God and repent.
‘Sappho of Lesbos’ painting by John William Godward (1904).
My second thought was that after having observed the sexual revolution for some decades now, in a perverse sense, I admire their persistence, dedication, and commitment to their religion, which is self-worship based on sexual sin. They work hard at evangelizing, as we saw with the sudden influx of “drag queens” into children’s story hour at libraries and civic events.
Thirdly, those who are dedicated to this chosen lifestyle are adept at shifting the language so that their sin doesn’t seem so powerfully perverse to those who have not chosen it. I am speaking of this old but newly emerging term, “sapphic”.
Sappho was a Greek poetess who lived from 630 BC to 570 BC. She lived on the island of Lesbos, and she wrote lascivious lyric poetry about the delights of younger women. To many, she is both a feminist heroine and a gay role model whose works subverted traditional marriage. Few of her poems remain, yet she is considered the cornerstone of ancient Greek literature. It’s where we get the term lesbian, and the term sapphic obviously points to the eponymous poetess who is famous for her abominable predilections.
Sadly, to secular researchers, or blessedly to Christians, very little of Sappho’s works remain today. Scholars estimate that she wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry. She was prodigious in her output and her works are constantly quoted or mentioned in ancient texts. Yet, only about 650 lines remain today. Some fragments are as small as a single word.
fragments of a Sappho poem. It seems crazy to me that a person with as little text to support her life has fomented such worship, but the Bible, with thousands of early copies, is disregarded as ‘old & unreliable’.
So, apparently she was an astounding lyric poetess, but the themes and content of her works are sadly representative of our fallen state. Those wishing to emulate her perverse focus on same-sex attraction continue today, as evidenced by the posting on the Facebook group.
AI explains that “Sapphic is an evolving term used as an umbrella for anyone who is attracted to women, encompassing lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, trans women, trans men, non-binary individuals, and cis women, among others. It’s a way to describe the experience of love, attraction, and desire between women, emphasizing the focus on the person rather than their gender identity.“
Yes, descriptions and terms to identify those with same-sex lifestyle choices have undergone an evolution. As fast as we are inured to one term, another comes to the foreground, which, by the way, is usually less incendiary than the last one. For men, we’ve seen an ‘evolution’ of terms such as Sodomite->homosexual->gay. For women, we have Lesbian->gay->Queer->Butch/femme->Dyke->Sapphic.
Though the term ‘sapphic’ has been around since the 1700s, its use is becoming more popular and used in non-homosexual contexts, as we see in the poster for the Facebook event.
Though homosexuals choosing their lifestyle talk a lot about ‘being our authentic selves’ or mention their ‘identity’ (we are NOT identified by our sexual activity), it’s human beings’ fallen state that is our most common bond. If we are unconverted, we are being our most authentic selves – sinners – when we choose same sex activity. It is only through faith and repentance, submission to Jesus who paid the penalty for that sin that we become who we need to be, not ‘who we are’.
For ‘sapphics’, Jesus stands ready to receive you, if you forego the lifestyle and repent. His standards for human morality are clear in His word. Sex is an activity to be engaged in with one person of the opposite sex within marriage, for life. Outside of marriage, celibacy and abstention from pornography are the standards.
It makes me mournful to see the advance of homosexuality because I know that people who choose that lifestyle are in spiritual pain and darkness. But as much pain as they are in, the wrath of God abides upon them, and we must share that fact with those who, absent repentance, will endure much worse pain throughout eternity in hell, along with all who sin of any type. But God gives grace and mercy to those who seek Him. He stands ready to receive those who seek to abandon their sinful ways and turn to Him for righteousness. He is a great savior, who saves the lost from their sin. In Him, there is peace.
I share Ken Ham’s insights on the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for pastoral work. Ham argues that using AI diminishes pastors’ theological study and reliance on God’s wisdom. The piece emphasizes the importance of genuine engagement with Scripture rather than easy technological shortcuts in ministry, as well as warnings about technology’s advance and potential for supplanting proper worship of the true Creator.
I respect Ken Ham. I’ve been following his ministry for a long time. I finally got to hear him at a G3 conference. His commitment to creation exposition, to Genesis 1-11 as the foundational belief for our faith, and his persevering and unwavering dedication that built the Creation museum and the Ark Experience is to be praised. He recently wrote a short-ish essay on Facebook about AI becoming a digital god.
I’ve been watching the rise of technology since the 1980s when a lot of things were invented, such as personal computers with graphical user interface (I took a computer elective in 1978 to try and learn coding language FORTRAN…), CDs, VCRs, video games and so much more. My father bought Pong when it first came out in 1972. Our family has always enjoyed the earliest and most advanced tech inventions.
In this era of the 2000s, the rise of sophisticated AI is a concern not only over potential plagiarism issues, laziness issues, or how easily technology controls us (cell phones, anyone?), or how the recent discovery of ‘kill switches’ in Chinese technology sold to the US could wipe us out with one click (Business Today), but because of prophecy.
Revelation 13 discusses how in the future one man and his cronies institute a global world economy and that all who wish to participate in this economy must accept the Mark (of the Beast). From my vantage point of having observed the economy since 1965, I have seen how this prophecy is becoming easier and easier to implement when it arrives on the scene.
In Ken Ham’s recent essay he asked the question, “Should pastors be using AI to write their sermons?”. I am re-posting the essay below in case the link in this paragraph doesn’t work for you, or if you are not on Facebook. He raises some good questions and makes some exhortations to pastors and others who should be wrestling with the scriptures instead of asking an impersonal digital presence to give them instant content.
Answers in Genesis, being a science ministry, also has other great essays pointing to the issues with AI and tech in general. For example, in this essay we read that ,
It’s an interesting notion, how easily we transfer worship to anything other than the only One who should receive it. We’ve seen it over and over in the Bible, and over and over in our own lives. I’ve written before about how prescient EM Forster was in his 1909 novella The Machine Stops, which a 116 years ago predicted this exact moment in technological time. It’s eerie how Forster predicted the loss of original thought, dependence then worship of a machine, and the lack of human contact. Friends and family are on screens only, not real life. You can read Forster’s novella online here.
AiG’s scientist Patricia Engler is an expert in AI, transhumanism, and other technological ethical issues. She recently spoke at the AiG for women conference in April on the issue of transhumanism. Others term the issue “human enhancement”. Engler explains in this 2023 article Thinking Biblically About Transhumanist Technologies at AiG,
The term “human enhancement” can mean anything from moderately improving someone’s natural abilities to radically modifying humankind.
I remember the splash the television show The Six Million Dollar Man made in 1973 when it debuted. He was an “enhanced human.” Wikipedia has a summary, which I excerpt- “a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors… After being seriously injured in a NASA test flight crash, Austin is rebuilt (at considerable expense, hence the title of the series) with bionic implants. His right arm, both legs and left eye are replaced with “bionic” implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms.”
Viewers including me, marveled at the thought that robotic implants could enhance human capabilities. Of course, 50 years later we are used to hip replacements, knee replacements, organ transplants, hearing aids for the deaf, and the like. We are also used to terms like cyborg, droids, clones, bot, algorithm…
Personally, it is my opinion we have passed a threshold with technology where its grip is on humankind is so tight we can never escape until we are called home. I hear of issues in colleges, high schools, and even younger of plagiarism in using ChatGPT, video games consuming minds for double digit hours on end, parents who prefer their phones to their children, critical thinking abandoned by the wayside in using Grok. Ask Google a question and at least it will yield links that the questioner must sort through and decide for herself if they are credible or not. Grok just tells you. I view AI-generated art as plain creepy. I hate to see it all, I just hate it. I pray the Lord comes for us soon.
As for Grok, the artificial intelligence Elon Musk has built, the name comes from Robert Heinlein’s 1961 science fiction novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land“. I read that book in the 1990s when a hippie friend gushed about its supposed deep truths and wise philosophy. I found it unintelligible. Though the title is taken from Exodus 2:22 KJV, the religion the book espoused is far from anything reasonable. But by secular standards, it seems wise and deep.
We must always remember that God is Creator. Our bodies are a machine on a level that no human creator could ever imagine when building a robot or an artificial intelligence. The sturdy delicacy of our bodies’ systems is amazing to behold. The brain is still a mystery. The Creator is worthy of praise for this and for all living things He has created.
Here is Ken Ham’s essay on AI (artificial intelligence). Though it’s aimed at pastors, anyone who studies, researches, writes on theological topics should be convicted by it. The link to his Facebook page where the essay originated is above.
Should pastors be using AI to write their sermons? I recently saw a website for a company that advertises itself as “Your AI-Powered Sermon Assistant” designed to help pastors “create better sermons in less time” using artificial intelligence.
A video on the website claims you can just type a word (like “forgiveness”) into the sermon builder tool and “instantly have a sermon ready to preach” and if you like the sermon “copy it, paste it, you’re ready to preach.” In other words, as a pastor you don’t even need to go to the Bible yourself to prep for your sermon—AI will do it all for you.
There are many good uses for AI—this is certainly not one of them! Yes, perhaps AI could be useful in pulling some cross-references, finding related passages, or pulling quotes to consider from church fathers (although resources to do all of these things already exist). But using AI to write sermons strips away a pastor’s wrestling with and studying of God’s Word. When a member of such a pastor’s flock comes to him for wisdom, counsel, and shepherding, he won’t know God’s Word to apply it properly!
And pastors surely should be praying (as any teaching pastor should do) for God’s guidance and wisdom as they build sermons. Be assured, AI doesn’t pray for any wisdom from God!
Contrast “copy, paste, preach” with these commands to pastors from God’s Word:
“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17)
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:9)
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)”
The work of pastoring isn’t meant to be easy—it’s laboring; it’s having patience; it’s training to be ready. It’s a hard calling, but a worthy one for those who are willing to be trained by the Word of God.
If you’re a pastor, don’t take the easy way out. Labor in your preaching and teaching as God has commanded you to. Don’t outsource one of the most important aspects of your job—opening the Word for your flock—to a robot!
— Ken Ham
FURTHER READING
Owen Strachan had some thoughts about digital media, here on Facebook
Tony Reinke wrote the book called God, Technology, and the Christian Life, you can download a 32 page sample here
I discuss Psalm 1, which contrasts the righteous with the wicked who are likened to chaff, which is worthless and destined for destruction. Through biblical references, chaff represents unrepentant sinners who reject God and face eternal punishment. The discussion emphasizes grace and the importance of salvation through Jesus, reminding readers of their own past.
the-end-time.org 