Posted on September 3, 2025 by Rev. Jonathan Conner
Godly Living
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AI is listening and responding through Alexa, directing customer service calls, recommending products on Amazon, writing student papers on ChatGPT, solving math problems, generating images on Midjourney, offering life coaching, therapy, and “friendship” through character bots, planning menus, ordering groceries, suggesting recipes based on fridge contents, adjusting GPS routes, composing music, flagging credit card fraud, translating in real time through smart glasses, giving financial advice—and more.
Is that exciting? Terrifying? Both?
Will AI help humans flourish—or take over the world?
Is it good, evil, or just a super powerful tool?
How should Christians think about AI? Should we eagerly embrace it, adamantly reject it, or navigate a middle way? Simplistic answers won’t do. In order to chart a thoughtful and wise path forward we will need to establish a robust conceptual framework in order to respond to the multifaceted realities of AI. Before we assemble our framework, though, we need to understand what AI is.
IBM has defined AI as “technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy [1]. The key word here is simulate. AI only mimics those human qualities [2]. To do this it needs massive amounts of information. You are perhaps most familiar with ChatGPT [3]. This incredibly powerful AI has been trained on mind-bogglingly large amounts of text (books and articles), images (artwork and photos), and videos. Eric Holloway and Robert J Marks, authors of “Human Creativity Based on Naturalism Does Not Compute,” put it in perspective: “The impressive performance of AI chatbots is built on the back of almost all of the literature in English ever written” [4].
Think of it this way: The internet is a very big box. It’s a box teeming with unsorted text, images, and videos. AI is an incredibly powerful sorting, processing, and pattern recognition tool that has been placed in the box to analyze and recognize patterns in these words and images. Based on probability, it can quantify, organize, and make predictions [5]. When you ask ChatGPT a question or tell it to produce something for you, it scours the internet, devours all the relevant information it can find, and then regurgitates it according to the most probable arrangement (based on the vast information it has consumed).
We might refer to this as computational intelligence. It’s not human intelligence and it’s not sentience or consciousness. It often looks like it, but that’s a mirage. Remember, AI simulates human intelligence. People sometimes describe AI as agentic, i.e., having the properties of a thinking agent. It’s understandable why they would describe AI this way; it appears to be making independent decisions (adjusting your route on GPS, analyzing markets and making investment decisions, “remembering” conversations as a “friend”), but AI doesn’t truly possess agency, not in a human sense. AI doesn’t have intentions, desires, or self-directed goals. It doesn’t lie awake at night dreaming about its future or experience goosebumps in the middle of a beautiful song. It is driven by programmed algorithms. Even advanced AI systems that make autonomous decisions [6] are still acting within the bounds of human-defined rules and objectives.
While it’s true that AI can seem agentic in its behavior, its agency is only one of appearances. It doesn’t have the inner life (motivations, moral sense, or subjective awareness) that underpins real agency. Dr. Angus Menuge, author and philosopher, writes, “… human beings do, but machines do not, have meta-insight. By ‘meta-insight’ I mean an independent knowledge of what one is doing” [7]. Dr. Menuge adds,
LLMs [Large Language Models like ChatGPT] can recombine the products of human creativity in amazing ways, producing mostly reasonable text, appealing art, and music. But their output is parasitic on past patterns in their training history or reinforcement. What they cannot do is find a possible item that is not derivative of items already instantiated in the actual world, a truly novel invention, theory, or work of art [8].
In other words, AI can’t think outside its box [9]. To “learn,” AI must have information added to the really big box. It’s exceedingly good at devouring, regurgitating, and recombining the contents of its box, but AI knows nothing of anything outside its box. AI is a mindless, soulless, super tool, driven by probabilities, that operates in the internet box (or within whatever content box its creators choose).
The power and reach of this super tool in our lives, as the examples in the opening paragraph expressed, demand a wise human response. Humans, as ensouled, enfleshed, living minds conscious of their consciousness (possessing meta-insight), have been given a sacred stewardship from God to order and manage all of creation, including AI.
Managing creation well, especially AI, requires wisdom. This wisdom must come from beyond the box, even from beyond us—from God Himself. Where does God communicate wisdom to His creatures? His Word. Here we will discover the necessary framework to wade through the complex questions AI is raising.
We might call this framework The Good of God. In one sense, the framework to evaluate AI’s role is no different from the framework Christians use to evaluate any technology or life decision: We thoughtfully and relentlessly ask, What has God called good? And, How does this align with God’s good? As we prepare to consider specific applications of AI, we will utilize this framework to discern what God has called good and whether AI aligns with it.
What, then, has God called good? God answers this question beginning in the very first verses of Scripture as the creation account regularly repeats, it was good. When we read these opening verses, we see God ordering creation for life, giving everything a home, and putting like with like. Order, therefore, must be something God considers good.
We also see God creating embodied humans in His image. These are not generic humans. Scripture is clear: male and female He created them. Sexed embodiment must be important to God. God then brings male and female together in a one-flesh union and blesses them with the potential to procreate. Male/female marriage is good. Babies are good. Families are good. And God gives dominion to His human creatures, a dominion that does good when it mirrors God’s dominion, bringing order and beauty out of chaos and supporting the good of marriage and family. In the creation narrative we also see God fellowshipping with His human creatures. Fellowship with God is good.
In the Ten Commandments we see God defending the good. The ultimate good is God Himself, but we also learn that God’s name is good and that His worship is good. Parents (and parental figures), life, sex, property, and reputation are good when ordered as God has ordained. Vocations (our God-given stations in life in which we live out these goods) are good. And in the Church God gives us His saving Word and Sacraments. These are most certainly good.
And, if you notice, these goods of God have all been given to us in three dimensions [10]. They are the key to human flourishing, flourishing in the three dimensions God has placed us in and fit us for.
As we bring wisdom to bear on AI, we must keep these three-dimensioned goods of God in mind. This is our framework: What has God called good and does AI align with it? Where it does so, we can embrace it. Where it does not, where it undermines or diminishes the goods of God, we would be wise to refrain or to work to redirect it toward the goods of God. This is the framework of wisdom we will bring to bear on several specific questions in this series [11].
Before we consider a few specific examples, we need to address one more essential truth. We have established that AI is a tool (possibly the most powerful tool humanity has ever created). Our lives are full of tools: hammers, scissors, microwaves, vehicles, calculators, etc. There’s something we need to understand about tools: No tool is neutral.
AI is not neutral. This is not merely a matter of the ethical fingerprint of a tool’s creator or of the bias often demonstrated in crafting/training a specific tool of AI or even of which government or corporation is using AI to collect whose data. These realities cannot be overlooked and we would do well to give considered thought to them.
For our purposes, though, what we need to recognize is that tools change the way we see the world. They change what we believe is possible, what we consider reasonable. They even change the way we tell truth. If you gave a hammer to a toddler, it would change the way he sees the world. Everything would become a nail. Railroads changed the way we view time. It was the expansion of the railroads and the desire to standardize arrivals and departures that expedited the adoption of time zones. Air conditioning changed the way we built houses, moving activity increasingly indoors and turned away from our neighbors. Microwaves changed the way we view food and our assumptions about what food preparation should look like and how long it should take. Television and social media have changed the way we use time and the way we interact with others.
The record of history shows that our tools change us and our society. AI is no different. AI will make what is now unimaginable possible. And that will change us. Wisdom says we should ask how—whether AI aligns with our framework of what God has called good. AI might free us from monotonous routines so that we can prioritize human creativity or empathy. It could free us to pursue great good (meaningful conversations with family and friends, time to volunteer in our communities, opportunities to extend mercy to those in need).
Or it could open new avenues to sin, addiction, self-destruction, and community disintegration. AI might change us from critical thinkers to mere prompt writers [12]. AI might change the way we understand friendship and relationships [13]. We might begin to treat AI as a god (or a demon) that we turn to for guidance or spiritual insight, fearing, loving, and trusting it before Jesus [14]. AI could enhance security or surveillance and control.
Perhaps the most important Christian response to AI is to turn earnestly and relentlessly to Scripture’s framework to discern what God has called good, to align our lives with it, and to evaluate AI (and everything) accordingly. This will require work (and trust in Jesus!). It will not be a simple or settled matter. At points we will encounter competing goods. Wise interactions with AI will require a regular return to Scripture and an ongoing conversation in the church as we continually bring wisdom to bear on the technologies and tools of our age [15].
We’ve gotten the conversation started. In the coming articles we’ll get specific as we bring this wisdom framework to bear on the questions of
Until then, practice wisdom; pursue the good! – Pastor Jonathan and Rebecca Conner
[1] https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/artificial-intelligence?lnk=hpmls_buwi_huhu&lnk2=learn&utm_source=chatgpt.com The term artificial intelligence is actually a pretty broad term, encompassing machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI. The AI in focus here (the type that’s been dominating headlines) is generative AI. IBM defines generative AI as “deep learning models that can create complex original content such as long-form text, high-quality images, realistic video or audio and more in response to a user’s prompt or request.” For simplicity’s sake, we will shorten generative AI to AI.
[2] Jason Newell, Senior Creative Director at Biola University, echoes this in Biola magazine, “artificial intelligence is a computer-based application designed to mimic human intelligence and behavior.” (Jason Newell, Biola, “How Should Christians Prepare for the AI Revolution?” Spring 2025, 25)
[3] ChatGPT, which stands for “Generative Pre-Trained Transformer” is a large language model (LLM). Other LLMs include Claude, Gemini, Grok, and Llama. Many are now paired with image creation AI, which are called diffusion models, or in the case of video generation, multi-diffusion models.
[4] Eric Holloway and Robert J. Marks II, “Human Creativity Based on Naturalism Does Not Compute” Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science, 385.
[5] This doesn’t mean that AI actually predicts the future. AI only projects based on probabilities. It does not ask, “What does the future hold?” since it knows nothing of the future. The future lies beyond its box. Instead, it asks, “What has the highest probability of happening or coming next?”
[6] Elizabeth Russell explains in “A Tale of Two Chatbots,” OpenAI’s “Operator,” available to ChatGPT Pro users, “will autonomously purchase groceries via Instacart, browse webpages, or file reports, with or without user approval for specific actions.” WORLD, July 2025, 87.
[7] “Powers of the Soul Beyond AI” – pre-presentation paper. Dr. Menuge has co-edited and written for the book Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science. Menuge and his partners invited 25 philosophers and scientists to weigh in on the question of mind-brain debate. Their contribution is as profound as it is fascinating. I corresponded with Dr. Menuge and he shared a pre-presentation copy of a paper he has written on AI and the soul.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Linguist Noam Chomsky has called AI a form of “hi-tech plagiarism.” Quoted in Eric Holloway and Robert J. Marks, “Human Creativity Based on Naturalism Does Not Compete,” Minding the Brain, 385.
[10] It’s a remarkable thought to consider God’s grace being given to us in three dimensions. It enables us to describe what forgiveness feels like (like a refreshing washing with water), what forgiveness tastes like (like bread and wine), and what forgiveness sounds like (like a called pastor declaring, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.”).
[11] This framework isn’t limited to the specific questions being considered in this article, but may be used to evaluate our interactions with every iteration of AI and technology in general.
[12] David Bourgeois, associate dean at Crowell School of Business at Biola University and director of the university’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, has observed, “As humans, we don’t have a good track record of using technology that gives us power, so to speak, to become our best selves. We want to become our laziest selves or our most self-centered selves. The temptation with AI – generative AI, in particular – is to outsource your thinking to it and to let it do the stuff you don’t want to do.” (Jason Newell, Biola, “How Should Christians Prepare for the AI Revolution?” Spring 2025, 25)
[13] AI has the potential to remove conversational friction, friction that we need to grow and mature as people. Nina Vasan, psychiatrist and founder of Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation, writes in a recent Wall Street Journal piece, “AI offers comfort on demand, but emotional comfort without friction can stunt emotional growth.” (“Can You Really Have a Romantic Relationship with AI?” The Wall Street Journal, Monday, June 30, 2025)
[14] WORLD Magazine reports on a counselor chatbot created by a ministry leader that, much to his surprise, users began submitting their prayer requests to. (Elizabeth Russell, “A Take of Two Chatbots: Generative AI is Growing Increasingly Powerful. What Does that Mean for Humanity?”, July 2025, 85) Ray Kurzweil and Yuval Noah Harari have made many provocative statements in this regard, suggesting that through AI we are, in some senses, creating God/a god, a seemingly omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent entity.
[15] Thoughtful Christians will also consider how AI might be employed in the service of the Gospel. Does it have a role in kingdom work? With a tool that has the power to change the world so dramatically, shouldn’t Christians strive to lead, to ensure our Christian worldview, our ethical scaffolding, informs and governs AI?
Rev. Jonathan Conner is a contributor and speaker for Lutheran Family Service in the areas of mental health, godly living, and parenting. He is a regular guest on the podcast Issues, Etc., and the multi-part series Kids Have Questions. Pastor Conner is a graduate of Concordia Seminary St. Louis and currently serves as the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Manning, Iowa.
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