Faith in an Age of Technology
Genesis 11:1-9
Pastor Mark Fuller
August 4, 2024
Recommended Resources
Five Foundational Principles of Technology and Faith
1. Technology exists because humans are made by a creative God
Genesis 1:27-28
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Gen. 4:17, 20-22
Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch…
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.
Technology exists because humans are made by a creative God
• ‘Technology’ (Oxford Dictionary): “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes”
25 inventions that have changed our lives:
iPod
GPS
The credit card
Microwave oven
Calculator
The bar code
Printing press
Radio
ATM machines
Refrigerator
Gun
Telephone
Digital camera
Gaming consoles
Robots
Television
Mobile phone
Aircraft
Automobile
Steam Engine
Email
Internet
Personal computers
Light bulb
Electricity
2. Technology is God’s gift to humankind to push back the curse.
Genesis 3:17-19
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
“The impulse of virtually all human activity is born from the urge to combat sin or its effects.”
Abraham Kuyper
But….technologies remain under the futility of the curse.
3. Technology can lead to both good and evil.
Genesis 11:1-4
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Example Technology for Good and Evil (According to ChatGPT)
• Genetic Engineering
• Social Media Platforms
• Internet and Digital Communication
4. God is Sovereign over Innovation and Innovators.
Genesis 11:5-9
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Isaiah 54:16-17
“See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.
5. Technology must be stewarded wisely by God’s people.
“If we have technology but not wisdom, we will use the best communications ever invented to broadcast stupidity.” Ray Ortlund
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.