AI and Faith – Cautions and Concerns
For better or worse, artificial intelligence is showing up in spiritual space these days. Should we be worried? How much should we engage with it? Will it diminish human agency? What does the Bible say?
Leading a ministry that serves young digital natives, I’ve had to wrestle with these questions. My approach has been to seek a biblical, Christ-centered perspective.
Understanding AI
I begin with the understanding that there is no one universal AI. I’ve written 3100+ blogs and 14 books. We’ve used this content to train multiple AI systems to reproduce content from my perspective and with my voice. There are countless AI systems being developed all over the world – mathematical models trained on human-created content that can recognize patterns and generate responses based on that training.
In contrast, Scripture tells us that humans alone bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27). We possess moral agency, creativity, and spiritual capacity that no created technology can replicate. AI may imitate human-like responses, but it lacks the divine spark of true consciousness.
A Biblical Perspective
Throughout history, Christians have engaged with new technologies—from the printing press to radio and television. Each innovation brought both opportunities and challenges for ministry and discipleship.
The Bible offers timeless principles that apply to AI:
- Stewardship: Technology should be used responsibly as part of our calling to steward creation (Genesis 1:28)
- Discernment: We must “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
- Wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10)
- Truth: Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)
Training AI Using a Biblical Worldview
It helps to understand that any AI is developed over time. An AI system develops by being fed information in the same way we might develop a student through schooling or a child through parenting. A biblical concept of discipleship and parenting is similar in that regard. 2 Timothy 3:16 talks about using Scripture “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” – a process over time. Proverbs 22:6 instructs us to “train up a child in the way he should go.” Similarly, we need to recognize that AI systems are trained and reflect the values embedded in that training.
Just as parents must carefully guide their children’s development, we should be mindful of what values and worldviews shape AI systems.
The two things I worry about the most with AI:
- Bad actors: Broken and evil people will train AI using content grounded in evil intent. We see how this works in the media all the time. Rusty Gordon is a friend I trust in this arena. He says, “In the wrong hands it will attempt to create companionship, earn trust more than it deserves and lead followers down a destructive path. AI itself has no ulterior motive or bias but those that create AI tools often do.”
- Over-reliance: AI itself is known to “hallucinate” – when it doesn’t “know” based on its existing content, it makes up stuff. Because it is in many ways already smarter than humans, humans will be prone to cede their agency, thinking the AI knows better than they do. It will become more difficult to discern truth from falsehood.
Here’s my conclusion: The genie is out of the bottle and we can’t hide. Rather than avoiding these technologies, we who follow Christ should engage in their development and training, ensuring they align with biblical principles.
Maintaining Human Agency and Responsibility
A legitimate concern is whether AI might diminish human agency or responsibility. Scripture clearly teaches that God has entrusted humans with moral choices (Deuteronomy 30:19) and that we are accountable for our decisions (Romans 14:12).
AI tools don’t make moral decisions—people do. When we use AI, we remain responsible for how we apply its outputs. Just as a calculator doesn’t determine how we use mathematics, AI doesn’t determine how we apply its capabilities.
Practical Guidelines
- Maintain primacy of Scripture: No AI can replace the inspired Word of God or the Holy Spirit’s guidance
- Exercise discernment: Evaluate AI outputs through a biblical worldview
- Preserve human relationships: Technology should enhance, not replace, God-ordained human connections
- Protect privacy and dignity: Use AI in ways that honor others as image-bearers
- Contribute positively: Participate in creating and shaping AI that reflects Christian values
Salt and Light in a Digital World
Jesus called us to be “salt and light” in our culture (Matthew 5:13-16). Withdrawing from technological advancement would abdicate our responsibility to influence society for God’s kingdom.
Instead, we’re called to thoughtful engagement. Christian programmers, ethicists, writers, and users all have roles to play in shaping how these technologies develop and are applied.
Conclusion: AI as a Tool for Kingdom Work
When approached with biblical wisdom, AI can be a powerful tool for kingdom work—expanding our capacity for language translation, educational resources, research, and creative expression in service to God and others.
The key is remembering that all tools, including AI, must remain subject to Christ’s lordship. As Colossians 3:17 reminds us, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
By approaching AI with discernment and a commitment to biblical truth, we as Christ-followers can remain faithful to our calling.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
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Well written Seth. Since all things are ours in Christ, I concur that AI, like anything else, if approached and used as the Spirit leads, can be a tremendous tool for the Kingdom. Love you brother. M
Hey Mark – good to hear from you on this. I trust your judgment! Hope you are well.
“Similarly, we need to recognize that AI systems are trained and reflect the values embedded in that training.”
This is the primary area where we need to test everything… AI is trained by humans and therefore will make things up, hallucinate and change facts based on it’s original training. There should likely be a team who is developing an AI that’s trained by Christians to correctly interpret the bible from a biblical perspective rather than one trained by agnostic, woke or other religions in order to get the most accurate tool for Kingdom work.
Yes. It’s been a decade from when I first started noticing the alarming potential for harm in how we use social media and the current day where Jonathan Haidt is leading the crusade to teach young people and their elders how to use it appropriately in order to avoid its abuse. And before that, parents were grappling with how to provide guardrails against TV undermining their family values. We will inevitably see all manner of toxic and evil downsides of AI. We who follow Christ need to lead the way in preventing and protecting against the inevitable abuse and toxicity coming our way.
Thank you for this post Seth. You know this is a topic I’m closely following and attempting to discern The Lord step by step.
You’re doing a good job. We have to engage with it. If you look at the blogs I wrote in 2015 when I saw how potentially destructive social media was, it was all so new and poorly understood. Too many parents waited until it was too late to dig into the issue.
I did a whole podcast on the gospel implication of AI. In short, rise of skepticism & mistrust across every aspect of society (including anything digital or in large settings including church/pastors), the critical need for relationship intimacy to verify what is real or not, the need for christians that relationally engage in smaller settings so non-christians can through personal relationships verify what is real or not vs. hearing someone they don’t know personally so cannot verify the authenticity of any personal story/testimony re: Jesus. AI & the Gospel Opportunity> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjYMv390KCE&t=1257s
I just checked out your video post, Troy. Yes – let’s fight for trust and for relationships that go deep! The world hungers for that.
amen!
Great insights. Like most technology, the morality of the tool is in how it is used. I think often of Neil Postman’s quote, “Asking what this new technology will do is no more important of a question than asking what this new technology will undo.”
What will be the “undoing” of AI?
In medicine, I have seen again and again, that good technologies nonetheless create relational distance between doctor and patient. How did the doctor listen to the heart before the stethoscope? With his ear on the patient’s chest. Then came diagnosis by telephone instead face to face. Then came hospitals to store expensive medical equipment instead of doctors visiting the patient at the bedside. Now EMR’s where the doctor’s gaze is directed at a screen instead of a person. And telemedicine machines where a doctor can even look in a patient’s ear or do surgery from a hundred miles away.
These technologies have certainly helped in our quest to defeat disease. But it comes at the cost of relational distance.
Relational distance is the biggest “undoing” I see with most modern technologies, from iPhones, to television, to virtual church services, to Facetime, to social media. In person face-to-face community is compromised.
I like Keller’s words of advice, “As the world becomes more high-tech the church needs to become more high-touch.”
Thanks for your prescient advice and insights, Seth.
Yes! Let’s move toward intimacy and depth. If AI frees us to be anything, it should be to be our truest selves.
Seth, thank you for the summary. I’m in agreement and am excited to see how God’s people can continue to advance His Kingdom through the continued creation of tools we get to use. Blessings, Chris