Technology & Theology
10/2/25 Rob Genin-Executive Director, Young Business Leaders
In 1890, James Strong completed a 35-year project — a concordance that enabled people to cross reference the use of every word in the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible. This work was done without the aid of a computer. Imagine the patience that project took! Today I can use a computer to accomplish the same work in moments.
I am grateful for technology and how it helps us work better. As we adopt new technologies, we need to think critically about what technology can do – and what it cannot. With that in mind, here are three reasons why AI cannot replace a personal understanding of the Bible:
1) Discernment. AI can give me quick search answers about scripture. It can create mountains of data. It can write me a sermon. It can create a power point or a spiritual action plan. Yet all that information is processed through the large language filter. Whatever predominates on the web is what rules the day. Even more, AI has been shown to have some regional bias and at times to give answers it believes that the user wants. AI cannot discern truth from error. “Hold on to what is good- reject what is evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21b-22). I cannot outsource the function of discernment to a computer. This is the work of deep reflection and interaction both between ourselves and scripture, and engagement with God and our situations in prayer.
2) Access at critical moments. As easy as a search can be on the computer, two of the most important times to have scripture ready at hand do not typically lend themselves well to stopping to do a search – when I face temptation or have opportunities for outreach.
When I am tempted, I need to have scripture ready at hand. “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). Like a tazer needed to stop an intruder, it does me little good if it is locked in a closet when my house is broken into.
When I have opportunity to share God’s Word, many times it would break the flow and connection of a conversation to stop and look up a passage. There are certainly times we can do this, and we should. However, I find that God brings more scripture back to my mind at these moments than any other time – because He cares about helping people and strengthens us to do this work. Memorizing scripture is pre-work for these crucial moments when we can help others.
3) Information vs. Application. I am astounded by the variety of information and work that AI can do. We should use it to simplify our workflows. However, in the workflow of our own growth, we cannot short circuit the internalization of God’s Word. It alone can begin to re-order our priorities and align them with God’s own. “You desire truth in my innermost being” (Psalm 51:6). That must then work itself out in the transformation of our emotions – where we rejoice in the truth and are aligned with God’s purposes. That process will then lead to us living out the truth in practical ways, something only a person can do. It is the emotions and life aligned with the truth that honors God.