The historian Mark Noll once delivered a sobering diagnosis: ¡°The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.¡± This powerful admonition has never been more urgent than in the rising tide of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
A Twofold Crisis with AI
When faith has long been deficient in deep reflection, tending toward emotionalism and pragmatism, the mind will be prone to impoverishment. The rise of AI is exacerbating this tendency by creating a twofold crisis that fuels a new form of anti-intellectualism.
First is the crisis of the outsourcing of thought. AI provides users with instant generation of text and knowledge, tempting them to neglect the personal disciplines of reading, writing, critical thinking, and reflection. This dulls the mind and atrophies intellectual capacities.
Second is the crisis of the transfer of authority. Since AI delivers immediate answers that appear comprehensive, users are prone to grant it undue trust. This can lead to suspecting or distrusting information, knowledge, and wisdom from people around us¡ªincluding pastors, scholars, and mentors¡ªwho have a lifetime of embodied experience. AI users end up trusting algorithms that are, in reality, laden with data biases, distortions, and even falsehoods.
An Unhealthy Spiritual Diet
This twofold crisis has given rise to a culture of ¡®spiritual fast food¡¯. In the name of efficiency and convenience, this culture erodes the depth and health of our faith. Its dangers manifest as three parts of an unhealthy spiritual diet:
- ¡°Fast food¡±: Instant but unstable knowledge
Like fast food that is quickly filling but nutritionally deficient, AI provides instant answers, allowing us to bypass the arduous processes of exegesis, reading, and theological reflection. Satisfied with superficial knowledge, we begin to devalue the guidance of our pastors and mentors and will ultimately lose our ability to discern truth from error. - ¡°Canned food¡±: Standardized but lifeless ministry
Pastors and ministry leaders who outsource the labour of thinking and creating to AI risk filling the pulpit with standardized, ¡°canned¡± content. Their sermons may be structurally sound and topically correct but lack the lifeblood of the preacher¡¯s personal struggles, spiritual wrestling, and lived testimony. This is a failure to live up to the pastoral calling. - ¡°Junk food¡±: Personalized but limited learning
AI algorithms are designed to feed users more of what they already like, easily trapping them in echo chambers. If believers consume only content that confirms their existing biases, their spiritual vision will become narrow and even dogmatic. This ¡°junk food¡± approach to learning destroys the systematic and holistic nature of a robust faith.
Our Response: From Fast Food to Feast
Theological educators and church ministers must lead believers back to the rich, nourishing feast of a deep and thoughtful faith. Here are three ways we can do so:
- Deepen intellectual discipline to resist outsourcing thought
The best antidote to intellectual lethargy is the intentional exercise of the mind. Churches and seminaries must renew emphasis on deep reading, critical thinking, rigorous writing, and meditation. As Paul exhorted Timothy, ¡°Practise these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress¡± (1 Tim 4:15 ESV). We must refuse to delegate the God-given capacity and responsibility of thinking to a machine. - Return to incarnational community to counter the transfer of authority
Theological truth is transmitted and tested in real and relational community. A sanctified mind is forged in fellowship with God and others. Classroom discussions, mealtime conversations, and the bearing of one another¡¯s burdens are formative experiences no algorithm can replicate. The church strengthens this incarnational community life by creating a space where we learn to discern, be challenged, and correct our biases together. - Cultivate holistic character to integrate knowledge and life
The greatest danger of this new anti-intellectualism is its tendency to sever knowledge from life. Our response must be to relentlessly integrate the two. The goal of theological education is to form faithful servants with the character of Christ. Knowledge is worthless if it is not translated into a life of love, humility, holiness, and service.
Conclusion
AI is a powerful tool, but it can never replace our responsibility to think or our need for fellowship. May we all learn to use technology wisely without becoming enslaved by it. May we have the discernment to recognize and reject the temptations of this new anti-intellectualism, preparing for ourselves and our flocks a spiritual feast that truly nourishes, so that we may faithfully fulfil our mission in the kingdom of God.
