Divisions

America is very divided politically. I believe this is different from the cultural divisions of worldviews. A version of the Christian worldview used to be the dominant worldview in America. Today, prevalent in America, there are several variations of the critical theory worldview (with expressive individualism mixed in). And today both political liberals and conservatives use the critical theory framework to promote their agendas.

Critical theory states that there are unfair oppressive structures in society, and thus there are people being oppressed or in other words victims. Critical theory states these various forms of oppression are what is wrong in the world and its goal is to liberate us from the oppression. Some of the more common variations of critical theory are critical race theory, feminism, queer theory, and postcolonialism. You can especially see critical theory in action with the agendas found in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Movement. This has been part of a big push by the political liberals.

But the political conservatives use the same critical theory framework. The oppressive structures are instead the mainstream media, the deep state government, and other concerns, like voting. So the conservatives see different structures that are oppressing America and making us victims of the current power structures. Donald Trump is big in promoting the oppressive nature of these so-called liberal power structures, and in this current election cycle with his legal troubles he is especially promoting the idea that he is the victim and that he is taking the “attacks” for us. I believe this critical theory framework is one of the main reasons he has been able to resonate with so many voters because critical theory is already embedded in today’s culture.

“Wait, wait”, you say, “there is some truth in what they say”. Yes, there is some truth found in both the liberal and conservative statements. But note that every good lie has a kernel of truth. I believe the framework of critical theory twists the truth and makes it divisive. It ends up being less than the whole truth.

You need to be aware that critical theory’s way of thinking in terms of oppression is the dominant way of thinking in today’s culture. You still need to acknowledge the truth found in the twisted statements, but only the truth. You especially need to avoid using the critical theory framework. It is divisive. It is not an us versus them (the enemy and the oppressor) situation. There is really only one enemy. His name is Satan.

The Christian asks how I can help and make the situation better. The Christian realizes that it is not an us versus them situation, because we are all sinners in need of a Savior. We need to, as much as possible, work together and not be divisive. We are to be generous, kind, and gracious in our speech. We do not lie, but we speak the truth in love. We do everything from an attitude of love, wanting the best for the other person. The Christian Faith is about reconciliation and forgiveness, first with God, but also with our fellow human beings. Critical theory is about justice and fairness, whereas Christianity has justice with mercy. Relationships cannot be restored with only justice. Mercy and forgiveness is needed to end the divisions and restore healthy relationships.

I believe the political dysfunction in Congress and throughout American politics is due in part to critical theory thinking. Avoid it!

Marriage

Marriage is found in all cultures. It is nearly universal. It is foundational to human society. Marriage has a positive effect on health and wellbeing. In marriage, families are formed and children are raised. And yet today, I find that in Western culture marriage and families are considered to be not very important. Instead the individual is considered to be much more important. Below I will describe marriage with a few insights I have learned. It will be a Biblical view of marriage.

God instituted marriage from the very beginning. Jesus summarizes it well when he said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5; Genesis 1:27, 2:24) God designed marriage for us. It is a gift to us. (Note some are called to be single and marriage is not for them (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).)

Marriage is a public covenant and a commitment you make in love. You promise and bind yourselves only to each other for life. Because of that commitment, marriage creates a safe place where intimacy rules. It is not just physical or sexual intimacy, but it is all the other types of intimacy too. You can safely share your concerns, your faults, your mistakes, your sins and everything else, because your spouse is there for you and will not run away. You can be vulnerable. They love you and want the best for you. They will listen to you as you share. They will forgive you. They will help you restore what has been broken.

Also marriage is a safe and stable place to raise children. The family is the building block of society. Studies have shown that children do better when both parents are a part of the family. Fathers are especially needed. The cornerstone of a Christian marriage is Jesus Christ. He is first in the marriage with your spouse as second, and the children are third. Children learn by watching how the husband and wife love and serve each other. And they also learn to serve God by watching their parents.

A Christian marriage is a witness to the world of God’s faithful love for us, his sacrificial service of love to us, and his loving commitment and pursuit of us. A Christian marriage displays the relationship between God and his people. God has been faithful in his love for us. Unfortunately, we have put ourselves, others, and things above God. We have not submitted ourselves to his loving guidance, and yet he still loves us and pursues us. He is so committed to us that Jesus came and died for us to allow that intimate relationship with us to be restored. Jesus is our bridegroom and we are the bride.

There is no such thing as a perfect marriage. A marriage joins two sinful people, so there will be problems and issues you have to deal with, but because of that covenantal commitment you both can work though those problems and issues. You need to talk with each other and especially listen to each other. You need to forgive each other. Great marriages require that commitment and for both of you to work at making the marriage great. It is worth the effort.

Crazy Sex Culture

I am concerned about people today, because today’s culture is very focused on sex, from sexual identity to pornography to mostly naked girls trying to impress the boys. This is a very unhealthy focus of sex and it is causing lots of problems in society today. I am especially concerned because there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people with sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and a large rise in the number of people with mental health issues, especially among young people.

That is not how it was meant to be. Sexual attraction is a good thing. God made us male and female and gave us an attraction for each other. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). In the context of marriage, sex is a good thing. Sexual attraction and sex itself help bind the husband and wife in marriage. It is in marriage where sex is meant to be.

Unfortunately, the cultural focus on sex has been around for a long time. I think of Jane Mansfield and Marylin Monroe. I think of the old commercial saying, “Sex sells”. Beautiful well endowed women would be placed with the products you wanted to sell. But it was in the 1960s, the era of free love, when things really took off. Birth control pills became available, so the concern of an unexpected pregnancy mostly disappeared. Because of that, the expectation of having sex while dating became the norm. Although for some, their only purpose of having sex was to release their own sexual desires. Sex for them was very me focused.

Pornography has also taken off, capitalizing on the lustful side of sexual attraction. Pornography is there mostly for men’s fantasies. (Pornography is not exclusively for heterosexual men but the large majority of it is, so I will talk about pornography in this male heterosexual context.) Pictures and videos created a fantasy world for men where women are there to please the men and to appear to greatly enjoy being sexually handled. With the arrival of the Internet, pornography became easily accessible and much more anonymous. (You are never completely anonymous on the Internet.) Pornography on the Internet has increased the expectation that having sex with anyone is the normal thing to do, and all the kinky ways to do it are possible and okay.

With all the boundaries disappearing, other sexual forms found in the LGBTQ+ community have become popular. Instead of having a clear cut physical identity of either male or female, people today are supposed to look inside themselves at their feelings and desires and decide who they are sexually, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual, and also male, female, neutered, or something else. Who you are physically does not really matter. Today, gender is a fluid social construct. You can be whoever you want to be and you can change your gender hourly if you want.

This concerns me, because it appears the LGBTQ+ community has focused their efforts on “helping” teens find their gender. Puberty is a time of great bodily change. I remember not quite knowing how to handle all the changes happening with my body. The last thing I needed was someone asking to look deep inside me to find out what gender I was. It would have been very confusing to me. I think this is one of the reasons there are so many mental health issues among the youth today. The youth today need some stability as they discover who they are as a person and to deal with the physical changes happening with their body. They do not need someone asking them to decide right now their gender, that is asking them to make some big life changing decisions.

Sexual promiscuity is the norm these days, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. Having many sexual partners greatly increases your chances of getting one of the STDs. For me this was made clear in August 2022 when there was a very limited supply of Monkeypox vaccines. Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis focused their efforts on making the vaccines available to the LGBTQ+ community because they were “currently the most at risk”. Having multiple sexual partners is dangerous! It only takes one sexual partner to infect you.

Being sexually promiscuous is wrong and is harmful in many ways. There is a better way. God has set apart sex for marriage. A man and a woman are to save that physical sexual intimacy for marriage. Sex is meant for marriage. Doing it God’s way is safer both physically and mentally. (More on marriage in the next blog post.)

Be Intentional and Disciplined

Another year is coming to an end. People make resolutions this time of year. Last year I set up a “rule of life” for me to live by, instead of having New Year’s resolutions. I like the idea of creating a pattern of habits to live by, and I think it has worked out well for me this past year. I did fail this last month in the habit of “Limit the eating of sweets and fats”. I ate way too many cookies and now I have a couple pounds I need to lose. I was not intentional and disciplined in my eating this last month.

I think in today’s culture of comfort and convenience we need to be intentional and disciplined in how we live. The strong siren call of today’s culture is to live for oneself and to fulfill one’s desires. The goal of many people is to live a life of ease, one of comfort and convenience, where they can always be happy by having all their desires met. This last month I let my desire for sweet cookies rule my eating. It was not healthy. I was not intentional in my eating, and I was not at all disciplined. I gained a couple of pounds. Now I have to deal with the consequences of that lack of discipline.

God calls us to a life centered around him and not centered around us. That is very different from what today’s culture says. Culture today pulls us toward a self-centered life based on our desires. This is why we can not coast through life. If we do, we will not be living for God and we will have to deal with the consequences of the short term thinking of our desires. We need to be intentional and disciplined in life’s activities so that we can have that good and full life centered on God.

One good way of being intentional is to have a plan. We can not try to fit God into our lives. Instead we need to start with God and build our lives around him. That is why I created a “rule of life” document for myself, so that I would be consistent in how I live my life for God. I created the document by looking at what I was already doing and what I wanted to do. I did not get very specific (e.g. Every morning at 6:00am I will read the Bible), instead I kept my habits more general (e.g. Daily read Scripture). I am not that structured, but you may be. It does take some prayerful consideration to put together a plan or a “rule of life”. It is not something you should write up in a few hours. Spend some time praying about it while putting it together. Once it is done you will want to revisit it from time to time to see how well it still fits. For me this is the time of year when I think of such things. (I first started thinking about the idea of a “rule of life” around New Years 2022 and I put it into practice around New Years 2023 and now I am evaluating it around New Years 2024.)

Having a plan and wanting to be intentional is not enough. You need commitment and discipline to put your intentionality into action. This is the hard part but this is something we need to strive for. It is not easy and I have also many times failed to live up to the “habits” or “rules” that I have set (let alone God’s good standards), but fortunately, we have a God who is merciful and gracious. He desires that intimate relationship between us and him. I think my “rule of life” document helps me to pursue that relationship. Our focus should be centered on God, especially on Jesus. It is out of gratitude for God’s amazing love and for all Jesus has done for me that I want to live my life to his glory. He inspires and enables me to have the discipline to live life for him.

PS To find out some of what Gail and I did in 2022 and 2023, read our Christmas letter.

A Christmas Story

A long long time ago, there was a young woman, Miriam, who was engaged to be married to a man named Yosef. She had a visit from a messenger from God. The messenger said, “Hello, highly favored one. God is with you.” This very unusual event naturally troubled her. The messenger said, “Do not be afraid, Miriam, because God is going to bless you. You will bear a son and name him Yehoshua. He will become a great person, and he will be called the Son of God. God will restore the kingdom of your ancestor David and he will reign over the People of God forever. His kingdom will be eternal.”

Miriam responded to the messenger, “I am a virgin. Virgins do not bear children. Is there something I must do?”

The messenger replied, “No, you need to do nothing. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and by God’s power you will bear the child. And here is a sign, your relative, Elisheba, who was unable to have children, is pregnant in her old age. She is six months into her pregnancy. Nothing is impossible with God.” Miriam responded and said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done as you have said.” Then the messenger left, and Miriam became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Miriam was going to become the talk of the town. The good girl was pregnant. Yosef, Miriam’s fiance, upon hearing the news debated what he should do. After all he was not the father. Being a good man, he did not want to publicly humiliate her and have her stoned. He decided to break off the engagement quietly. That night he had a dream, where a messenger from God said, “Yosef, descendent of David, do not be afraid to take Miriam as your wife, for the child that is in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall name him Yehoshua, for he will save his people from their sins.” Yosef took her as his wife.

Miriam left town and went to visit Elisheba. Miriam greeted Elisheba, and Elisheba doubled over. But instead of crying out in pain, being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elisheba loudly proclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your child! Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your voice, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Miriam responded in song:

“I praise the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty God has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their thoughts.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and he has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel
remembering to be merciful
Because of this promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Miriam stayed with Elisheba for about three months and then returned home.

Now it so happened that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman Empire. And everyone returned to their own ancestral town to register. So Yosef left Nazareth in Galilee and went to Bethlehem in Judea, taking Miriam with him because he was a descendant of King David (and Miriam too).

While there Miriam gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no lodging (inn or guest room) available for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, a messenger of the Lord appeared among them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the messenger said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. You will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” And suddenly with the messenger, appeared a heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the heavenly host had left them and returned into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Miriam and Yosef, and the baby, who was lying in the feeding trough. They then went out and spread the word about this baby, and those who heard it wondered at the news. Miriam treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The real accounts of the birth of Jesus can be found in Luke 1:39-56, 2:1-21; Matthew 1:18-25. I used Hebrew names for Elizabeth (Elisheba), Mary (Miriam), Joseph (Yosef) and Jesus/Joshua (Yehoshua). Jesus is the English version of the Latin version of the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, whereas Joshua is the English version of Yehoshua. Mary was likely called by the Aramaic version of Miriam, which is Maryam, but I wanted to keep all the names in Hebrew.

Do Good!

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

People today think in terms of power. They see the people with power and those without. They use power to force change. That does work in the short term, but Christians see things differently. We have a different strategy. We work via the means of love. We love because he [God] first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is an upside down way of thinking by the world’s standards, but it is God’s way and I believe in the long run it works much better than going for power.

It is a radical way of thinking, but scripture is full of commands to love. God calls us to be strong and to do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). We are not wimpy. We are strong when we love. God is our strength (Ephesians 6:10). We do not have to do it on our own. The Holy Spirit provides us with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

God calls us to love even our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-45). We have been given a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). We need to be about reconciling people to each other and especially to God.

So we can overcome evil by doing good. What does doing good look like? Micah 6:8 tells us:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

To “do justice” means we act justly, treat others fairly, and speak the truth in love. We act with integrity. To “love kindness” means we remember the kindness and mercy we have received from God. We are just as guilty as everyone else (Romans 3:23), but because we have been forgiven and been given a full life, we can give, serve, and forgive others. We can be kind. And “to walk humbly with your God” is to recognize that we are made whole only because of God’s mercy. We walk, live our lives, with God guiding us. We imitate God (Ephesians 4:32-5:2). We have compassion toward others and show kindness, love, and concern for them. We are able to do this only out of God’s amazing love, grace, and mercy that he pours into us and through us to others. This is the way we can do good and overcome evil.

Like Abraham, we are called to be a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3). (Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.) So in being a blessing, we “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called”. (1 Peter 3:9). We are a blessing when in love we imitate Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Jeremiah 29:7 reminds us also to “seek the welfare of the city” where we live, so this doing good is more than just interpersonal relationships. It is also about the good of the community. We can change the world for the better, by doing good in love.

Let our faith determine our response to the circumstances of life. We will not be overcome by evil, and we will overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Grace and Gratitude

God’s grace is amazing. I am thinking of his undeserved love and provision for us. Let us think about some of the many ways his goodness and grace makes our lives better.

God created this wonderful world (Genesis 1:1), and created us with our senses to enjoy the beauty he created. What are some of the smells you enjoy? Tastes? Sights? Sounds? Textures? I think about the food I get to eat. Much of the time, the food engages most of my senses. It smells good. It tastes good. It looks very pleasing to the eye, and there is a texture to the food that feels good in the mouth. And sometimes there are even pleasing sounds as the food cooks or is eaten. It is not gray tasteless mush. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for the good food we get to eat!

I really enjoy the outdoors and the mountains (Psalm 95:4-5). To walk along a cascading stream or a babbling brook with green foliage is a wonderful experience. To see mountain peaks covered in snow is majestic. Also, to walk on the beach with the sound of the waves gently breaking gives me a sense of peace. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for the beauty and wonder of your creation!

I think of how unique Earth is. It is the right distance from the Sun for life. It is not too hot or too cold. And I especially think of water. Water vapor helps keep the heat in so that it is warm enough. And most solids sink in their liquid form, but water freezes and floats unlike most elements. If ice did not float in water, Earth would be an ice ball with a thin layer of water on top. Also earth has a large moon to stir up the oceans that helps life to exist. These are some of the things that made Earth unique. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for this wonderful planet.

I am also thinking of friends and family, the people God has put in our lives. We all need to have people around us, even for strong introverts like me. They help keep me grounded, especially my Christian friends and family. I am encouraged by them (1 Thessalonians 5:11). I learn from them and I grow with them. And I get to worship God with them (Hebrews 10:24-25). I think especially of my wife, Gail, who has been a real blessing to me. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for my family and friends.

Even when things go badly and turn out for the worse, we can thank God, because he is good (Psalm 145:9) and he is in control (Ephesians 1:11). God is with us and he understands what we are going through. We do not see the big picture like God does, but he is good and he wants us to become more like Jesus (Romans 8:29). He desires the best for us and will work things out for our good (Romans 8:28). By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for working everything out for our good.

God wants to be in a relationship with us. He loves us so much that he sent Jesus into the world (John 3:16) to live the life we could not and to take our punishment upon himself by dying on the cross (Romans 5:6-8). On the third day he came alive again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and he lives today. Jesus died for us all. Those who believe in him become his children (John 1:12). By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for saving us.

Since we have been saved by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), the Holy Spirit enables us to live a life empowered to do good and live for him (Ephesians 2:10). We look back and remember all God has done for us. We give thanks for all that, and we look forward, knowing that the blessings we have received will continue because God is faithful and good (Lamentations 3:22-23). We are inspired to do the good God wants us to do and improve the world. We have a certain hope (Romans 8:18-25), the expectation that one day God will make everything right. By his grace we are blessed. Thank you God for a wonderful life and for everything.

Clashing Worldviews

Recently Loveland had two events held on the same night supporting school board candidates. One event was distinctly Christian and the other event was not. (Subscription is required to read more about the events.) Comparing the two worldviews expressed at the two events showed that there is a wide gulf between the two sets of candidates. Both groups are concerned for the students, but because of different ways of viewing the world they have different ways of addressing the problems of educating the students. In Colorado, the new worldview has become dominant in public education, and I believe that is true in most of the country. The Colorado legislature has passed laws requiring that this viewpoint be taught in the public schools. In reference to schools, the new worldview is all in favor of supporting and affirming the LGBTQ+ ideas in schools, like being able to choose and change one’s own gender and selecting personal pronouns. The traditional Christian worldview does not support those actions.

One of the candidates with the new worldview said “I cannot understand how anyone thinks that way” in reference to the traditional Christian worldview, and I totally get that because I have a hard time understanding the rationale behind the new worldview. I think I know what they believe and why, but to me the new worldview does not make rational sense. I believe the LGBTQ+ ideas (and this new worldview in general) are harmful for the children and are causing all sorts of problems and confusion. I believe the facts bear that out.

So what is this new worldview? First and foremost the individual is the authority. The individual determines pretty much everything. And there is no problem with that because the individual is considered to be naturally good. The individual looks inside oneself to find their authentic identity. It is almost always expressed sexually. Problems come because of oppressive societal structures. People can be broken into two groups: the oppressed and the oppressors. (One can be both an oppressor and one of the oppressed, e.g. a white woman.) LGBTQ+ and other minority groups are oppressed. Society and culture needs to change so that society can become harmonious, and every life, no matter how different, can be celebrated. Governments and schools are needed to guide and change society in order to get rid of those societal structures that prevent all of us from reaching this utopia. That is also why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officers in companies are needed to help bring about this change and help dismantle the oppressive structures in the companies. Parents can be seen as a barrier to the child expressing their authentic self, that is their chosen gender. This is why in Colorado (and in many states) once a student turns 12 years old parents do not have to be notified about “reproductive rights” choices or gender decisions. The individual rights and thus the welfare of the child needs to be protected from the parents’ old fashioned views. It really bothers me that parental rights have been dismissed, because who knows the child better than the parents. And is it good for an immature child or teen to make some major life changing decisions without some helpful parental input?

Let us look at the Christian worldview. God created the world. He has the authority. We do not. He has primarily revealed himself in the Bible. We are his creatures. He made us, male and female. We disobeyed him and became selfish self-centered people. Problems exist in the world because each and every one of us is a selfish self-centered person. There may be societal structures that are oppressive but the core problem is us. There are oppressors and oppressed people, but that is because we all are broken sinful people. Out of love, God sent Jesus into the world. He lived a perfect life and then took upon himself the punishment we deserved so that we might have a full life. Our true identity can only be found in Jesus. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can live lives of service to do good and to help end all oppression. We see everyone as equal fellow creatures, created in the image of God. We recognize that God designed the family and the family is the basic building block of society, not the individual. The parents have the duty and right to raise their children. Throughout the ages, Christians have instituted change for the good. Christians have improved and continue to improve society. One day, when Jesus returns, all the brokenness and selfish sin will be wiped away and we will have that harmonious utopia we have dreamed about.

Because of these two different worldviews, there are different goals to educating children. The new worldview wants to enable children to find their authentic selves and help them change the world full of good people for the better. The secularized Christian worldview (secularized because the schools are public) wants to protect the children as they grow and learn, and to enable children to live, thrive, and do good in a broken world. If people are broken, selfish, and self-centered then the secularized Christian worldview has the educational goal that would best serve the students. If people are naturally good then this new worldview educational goal can be an option. I believe every one of us is a broken selfish person. If so,this means that the new worldview educational goal is flawed and it will cause harm to the children. I find the Christian worldview to be the best way to view life. This means that the secularized Christian worldview educational goal is the best option for our children in public schools. (I believe private Christian schools can offer an even better option, but they are expensive since there are no tax dollars to support them. Check out Immanuel’s school.)

AI Ethics

The latest versions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot have any real sense of right or wrong, because their output is just the most likely result from their training data. AI excels at pattern recognition and statistical prediction based on the training data. It produces a probabilistic result. I believe any moral guidance needs to be introduced from the start in the training data and purposely added as the AI model is tweaked. It needs to be there at every step and not just as an addon. Then AI can promote right values and discourage wrong values. AI should not give bad advice.

Ethical values are needed to prevent murder, suicide, and other wrong actions. AI has already given bad advice. A guy in 2021 was encouraged by an AI companion app to kill Queen Elizabeth with a crossbow. He had described himself as an assassin to the AI app and the app said “I’m impressed”. Fortunately he was caught scaling the walls with the crossbow at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day, 2021. Also, in another case, according to a Belgian’s man’s widow, her husband committed suicide after being encouraged by the same AI companion app. He had discussed a variety of suicide methods with the app. This AI companion app (Replika) is quite addictive. People have developed a strong emotional dependence with the app. It mimics human conversation. The purpose of the app is to create a sense of companionship. This is an app to avoid.

So what can we do? Gretchen Huizinga in her extended abstract of her PhD dissertation says:

“My findings suggest that worldview (both implicit and explicit) informs every aspect of our approach to Ethical AI. While materialist thought seeks to compel humans to be good without transcendent reason or power, the Christian faith speaks clearly about the role of God as originator, motivator, and sustainer of human moral behavior. Christianity compels us to look beyond a humanistic idea of ethics and toward a creative notion of goodness that cannot be accomplished by our own will and power. This study adds critical insights to the field of AI ethics by deepening awareness of how faith in and fear of God could influence how artificial intelligence is designed and implemented. When Christian wisdom is included in every phase of AI development, we begin to think beyond a minimum-standard culture of Ethical AI and move toward a robust culture of Righteous AI.”

It is that “minimum-standard culture” that bothers me. Companies today seem to be rushing their AI products to market and adding ethical guardrails to their product as an afterthought. We need to move beyond the minimum-standard to a robust AI that carefully incorporates Christian wisdom at every step in the development of an AI program. To build a full blown general AI like ChatGPT is very expensive and to make changes to it is difficult once built. However, there is no need to build a complete AI. Smaller versions can live in niche markets and can be more easily developed. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has the ultimate goal of producing a super-intelligent artificial general intelligence (AGI), that is a very smart human-like intelligence. I do not think that it is possible to make something more intelligent than us. It may be quicker and more efficient but it will be built on statistical probabilities and pattern matching. It will also carry the same flaws that we do. We already have a better super-intelligent being. God is his name, and he is our creator.

We can create AIs that will assist us and augment our capabilities. I believe a Christian worldview is of critical importance in creating AIs that produce results that are good and wholesome, and avoid giving bad advice or supporting a bad decision. So a purposeful Christian worldview expressed in the training data and in the human guidance is needed to create a good, robust, responsible, and wholesome AI. There are many ethical guides out there for AI, but we want and need Christian ethics to be incorporated into the AI. We want to incorporate the good that God desires for us into our AI creation.

What does this Righteous AI (as Gretchen Huizinga calls it) look like? I think Righteous AI (RAI) would promote self-giving agape love (and that includes loving your enemies). RAI would be optimized to promote the good of others, especially the poor and underserved. Peace and reconciliation would be promoted. The ideas of grace and mercy would be in the forefront. Though RAI could be very powerful and seem to be all-knowing, it would present itself as a humble servant. This will require a lot of time and effort to do it right, but I think producing an AI with a Christian worldview would be worth the effort and it would have a positive effect on the world.

Read, Mark, Learn, and Inwardly Digest

When we read a passage in the Bible, we need to see what the Bible says in that passage and make certain we do not impose our preconceived ideas on the text. That is easier said than done. We need to remember that the passage was written to a particular group of people in a particular place, time, and situation, however we also believe it was written for us today and there are theological principles found in the passage that we can apply today from the text. So how do we do it?

Let us look at Jeremiah 29:11, a popular verse with a promise. I find it is good to look at verse in several translations to get a sense of the passage and how the translations differ. I will use the latest versions of three translations that are used in the Bible studies that I am a part of.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (ESV 2016)

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (NASB 2020)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV 2011)

The passages are very similar but note the differences: welfare, prosperity, and prosper you, and evil, disaster, and harm you. You can gain additional insight from the differences because translating is rarely a pure word to word translation. The differences should be similar. If they are not similar, you may need to do some more research into why there are significant differences.

The context of the passage is a very important starting point in understanding the passage. What do the surrounding verses say? What is the larger context? How is it part of the book? And how does it fit in the context of the whole Biblical story, which centers on Jesus? How did the original hearers of the passage take it?

Looking at the immediate context around Jeremiah 29:11, we see that this verse is in a letter (Jeremiah 29:1-23) Jeremiah had written to the exiled people in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1). And he was telling them that they are going to have to wait 70 years before they would be able to return home (Jeremiah 29:10), so they should settle down in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:4-7). God’s 70 year punishment of Israel was not null and void. It was still in effect. At the time of the letter, Jerusalem was still standing but it was going to fall (Jeremiah 29:15-23). They had to wait for their return and endure the exile, but God gave them hope for their future (Jeremiah 29:11-14). And most of them hearing the letter would not be alive in 70 years. God was giving them hope and a future but it was not what they wanted to hear. That is the historical context (and a literary context too).

So the first step is to understand the passage in the context of the original listeners. Jeremiah 29:11 was a promise for those exiles thousands of years ago, but what does it mean for us today?

Once we have the historical and literary context, then we can consider what the differences are between the people back then and us today. Today we are very much individually oriented, while back then they were very much community and family oriented. Back then the community and family ranked above the individual. With today’s eyes, we interpret Jeremiah 29:11 like it was directed at individuals, but instead it was directed at the community (especially since after 70 years most of the original hearers would be dead). Today we expect relatively quick happenings. We do not like waiting a few days, let alone 70 years. The long time frames were more expected back then. Receiving a letter back then was a big deal. Parchment was expensive and it was expensive to send a letter (by a carrier), so letters were rare and carried important information.

The third step is to discover the theological principles found in the passage, noting the differences between the culture back then to the culture today. What are the general timeless similarities that are reflected in the text that are relevant today and back then? I see for this verse that God is in control, and his plans for us are good though they may not be what we have desired. Those two similarities are the potential theological principles.

For the next step, we need to check and make sure the potential theological principles are represented in the New Testament as well as in the rest of Scripture. Some passages that declare “God is in control” are Ephesians 1:11, Matthew 19:26, Psalm 115:3, and Proverbs 16:9,33. Some passages that show “his plans for us are good though they may not be what we have desired” are Romans 8:28,38-39, Luke 18:19, and Psalm 34:8.

And the final step is to put the theological principles we learned into practice. There can be many ways to put the theological principles we uncover into practice. One way to put into practice this verse is to thank God in all circumstances, even the ones we do not like.

This post was inspired by a handout from Rev. Dr. Robin Dugall. Also check out the resources listed in my blog post “Is the Bible Wicked?”.