The churches are open and also inclined to the artificial intelligence (AI) that is visibly being pushed by the media. Pastors have AI write sermons for them, and even the Pope hoped for such a “blessing for mankind” years ago.
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AI still seems more than a gimmick
The so-called artificial intelligence (AI) is currently experiencing a strong upswing in the media. One could think directly that the ChatBot called ChatGPT from OpenAI and Co. is being pushed directly. Artificial intelligence as a supplement or even a replacement for human brains? In the meantime, many a result from the “thinking apparatus” of an artificial intelligence has reached the public. One of them was the image of Pope Francis in a quilted jacket so white and above all thick that he resembled a polar bear more than the head of the Roman Church.
The Catholic as well as the Protestant churches seem to have a keen interest in this “art intelligentsia”. The diocese of Essen used the AI to display the images for the Easter story. On Helgoland, the pastor Pamela Hansen had two sermons made by ChatGPT on the fly. The sermons were to be about “betrayal, betrayal, Jesus and Judas.”, so in Domradio.
However, the German Ethics Council warns against the negligent use of artificial intelligence. Such a need rules and responsible handling. So-called media ethicists point out that AI needs ethical support and, above all, “ethical input”.
According to Pope Francis, artificial intelligence could bring positive things to humanity. He is convinced that AI development and “machine learning” can make a positive contribution to humanity in the future. The Pope’s prayers seem to have been “answered”. Already in November 2020 Francis called on his followers to pray for the advancement of artificial intelligence so that it may always be at the service of man.
EKD Council President sees support in AI
Annette Kurschus, Chairwoman of the Council of the Evangelical Churches in Germany (EDK), sees AI as a possible tool for supporting clergy. “Every good idea, every clever theological thought is helpful,” said Kurschus to the “Funke Miediengruppe” (WAZ). However, these theological thoughts must “go through one’s own heart”. The EKD chairwoman is of the opinion that “everything that a spiritual person says about himself must first become a matter of his own heart”. This is a prerequisite so that he can address and reach other people.
However, artificial intelligence then reaches its limits as soon as human action is to be replaced. Then the soul is missing. AI “can’t love, it can’t empathize, it can’t show understanding,” says Kurschus.
“One’s own reason” counts
As with Kurschus, it is (of course) missing in the cath. church to a correct understanding of the gospel and above all to one’s own fallen nature. Their arguments are based on the result of the so-called Enlightenment with the definition of “one’s own reason”. It is already written in the Old Testament how the heart of fallen man is actually in order.
So in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Is this statement unequivocal? I think so.
So it makes perfect sense what Jesus Christ said to his listeners: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
What will the world be like when God has completely withdrawn His Spirit, which still positively affects people’s hearts?
History gives an example
People in France found out what their own morals were like after the revolution and the deposition of the Pope in 1798. It is understandable that people were overjoyed at being freed from Roman tyranny, but the ban Any religion and especially the Bible immediately led to the collapse of all customs and morals in France. At Notre Dame Paris, the wearers of the Jacobin cap even proclaimed a prostitute the “goddess of reason”. After a few years, “human rights” (one’s own reason) and, with freedom of religion, the Bible were allowed again. A sequence in Revelation 11 in the typology has long been described and will also be repeated on a global level.
Only the scripture!
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”, such an important note in 1. John 4:1. The “spirits to be examined” also include the inspirations in one’s own heart and this can ultimately be extremely deceptive. Where do you test the spirits? In the Bible and only in the Bible.
For modern theologians, such prospects for promptings from artificial intelligence may seem like a blessing. Switching off your own brain completely and only listening to the intuitions of “unknown origin” seems very convenient. Especially when this is combined with the idea that God pours out his grace over all “loving” people.
A hypothesis on Off. 13
There is another interesting aspect to the hype surrounding AI with a gospel look. In Revelation chapter 13 the beast out of the earth is mentioned. Thus, in connection with the state power USA, it is about fallen Protestantism. Also called the “false prophet”. The beast from the earth will do what the beast from the sea tells him to do. This includes the creation of an “image” of the animal from the sea. This image must be worshiped by all. In Rev. 13:15 it says:
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
Always a reason to keep an eye on this development around AI and the benevolent churches.
Bible verses from the King James Version
