Special Conference Episode: Chris & Adam join a conference for pastors on technology called Teche: A Christian View of Technology, put on by the Center for Pastor Theologians. This is our same-day hot-takes—recorded live on location!
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What do you think? Are selfies narcissistic? Yes, right? But we’re starting season 3 off right and taking one of our own. Selfies have become part of normal life. We see them. We take them. We see other people taking them too. And while they may be normal, do they show us anything real?
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What do you think Siri looks like? Is she someone you would tell your secrets to? She’s not a person—but she’s getting more personal than ever—could she change our real relationships? In this episode Chris & Adam chat up the voice part of “voice assistants.” More talking and less typing—what happens when as we shift our interaction with technology to the very personal medium of voice?
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Ever pass the plate in church and there’s nothing in there? Smartphones are the new tithing tech—building church budgets—even as they shape our souls! Adam & Chris cash in on the question: what happens when the cash goes out?
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Does technology control history? Or does history control tech? Adam & Chris take sides. When major technologies hit the world stage, do they upend human history? There are a couple camps out there in scholarship. But one of the big questions is—how big of an influence is technology on human society?
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Imagine: You’re pregnant and your doctor offers you a DNA edit so your baby can avoid a terminal illness. Do you do it? That decision is coming sooner than you think. Turns out an expert professor on DNA-editing (who is also a Christian) had some early conversations with the Chinese scientist who shocked the world in 2018 by editing two real babies DNA. The trouble is . . .
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Would you be OK if your church tracked you the way Facebook does? Some churches already are. When Adam meets representatives for a church software company, he can’t help but interrogate them for half an hour. He brings his reconnaissance back, and he and Chris sit down to discuss just how they feel about how churches are tracking their congregations.
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Some people think the next great evangelist will reach more people than Billy Graham ever did. And they’re already programming the artificial intelligence to do it. When Chris and Adam meet an Australian who’s already programmed an AI chatbot to do evangelism, they look at each other and wonder, “Can a chatbot really spread the Gospel?”
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Has your pastor preached a sermon on Facebook settings or surveillance cameras? Mine hasn’t. Does the Bible really have anything to say about digital privacy? And—is Alexa actually listening to us in my kitchen? Chris wrote the cover story for Christianity Today on a Christian view of digital privacy.
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Last summer, Chicago Cubs baseball player Ben Zobrist got thrown out of the game when he turned to the umpire and complained “that’s why we want an electronic strike zone”. Who is a better witness to the truth—a person … or a computer?
Read MoreAdam & Chris start a podcast. By arguing.
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So Chris found an article from 1962 called “Is Technology Diabolical?” German theologian Helmut Thielicke posed this question more than 50 years ago, and it’s more relevant than ever. Chris and Adam unpack Thielicke's article and the most challenging questions it poses. Questions like, “If humanity wasn't sinful, would we need technology?”
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CS Lewis became a household name because of the Radio. So why did he get rid of the one in his own house? What did CS Lewis think about technology? He had strong opinions about the radio and other technologies inhabiting our lives. Chris and Adam sit down to talk about what CS Lewis thought about technology, and also how he lived with it personally.
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The merging of human and machines sounds like an Ironman movie. But it’s actually happening right now. We even found some Christians who are praying this is the next big thing. Has humanity reached the end of its evolution, or could technology light the path for the next stage of human development? People like Neil Harbison believe technology could be just the beginning.
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You’ll never guess who just released an ethics statement all about the values they are trying to promote. It’s not the government or your church. Yeah. It’s Facebook. Included in this episode: All the morals of scrolling through those cat pictures. How do Facebook and Instagram decide what you see every time you scroll through?
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Our grandparents met because they lived in the same neighborhood. Today, we meet because we’re on the same app. From dating scenes to dating screens, the Internet has turned your parent's relationship into a foreign world. Aziz Ansari, in his book Modern Romance, dives deep into how the Internet has transformed love and relationships.
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Some day your computer will drive your car. “Ok Google, Take Me To Church!” Could driverless cars alter church life? Could they even impact Christian beliefs? As we outsource human activities to technology, those devices come to define our human activities, and even our ways of thinking.
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Facial recognition is everywhere—it’s how you unlock your iPhone, and some cops are even using it. So what if your church did? Software companies are already stepping into the sanctuary. Could facial recognition help make large churches more personal … or more anonymous?
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When did social media start? In 2004 when Facebook started? Nope, try the 1st century! Social media is anything but new and early Christians played a key role in its growth, Tom Standage argues in his book, Writing in the Wall. We dive in to look his claim that social media existed in the Roman Empire . . .
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