What Would Jesus Tech

What is philosophy? How does it help us in our pursuit to understand how to live in our world? And how does living in our technological world, or "technoculture," affect our beliefs in God? Today we're joined by Dr. Joseph Minich, the author of Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age. There are two main parts to this episode. In the first half, we discuss ancient philosophy and it's significance to techies. In the second half, we dive into the thesis of Minich's book, and how our sense of God's existence has changed in our modern secular age.Minich's Books:Enduring Divine AbsenceBulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age He is also the co-author of various other works including Protestant Social Teaching: An Introduction, Philosophy and the Christian: The Quest for Wisdom in the Light of Christ, and People of the Promise: A Mere Protestant Ecclesiology.Other resources referenced:Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life by Jonathan PenningtonChapters:0:00 - Intro2:30 - What is Philosophy and Why is it Important for Christians?7:25 - Joseph Minich's Journey into Philosophy13:45 - Retrieving Older Philosophical Traditions19:18 - Retrieving Older Philosophical Traditions26:54 - The Impact of the Technological Age on Belief in God35:16 - The Loss of Agency in Modern & Future Labor45:42 - Reframing Work, Reclaiming Agency, and Finding PurposePlease send your ideas and feedback to the cohosts, Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob, at whatwouldjesustech@gmail.com. Recorded in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. Video and sound editing by Peter Behnke. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

As CES24 proved, robots are on the rise. But is this like an IoT (Internet of Things) fad, or is AI on legs here to stay? Andrew learns from Joel, as he unpacks some of the new technologies making it easier to *feel* like you're in the same room as someone else. And Joel asks Andrew to assess this theologically as well as practically, for "virtual church" and for each imitator of Jesus. 0:00 - Intro & Background1:45 - IoT vs Embodied AI - just another trend?5:40 - CES24, Apple Vision Pro, MetaVision, AR & VR9:30 - Holotiles, Simulating Smell, and New Tech11:20 - Don't Underestimate Physicality17:35 - If The Tech Gets Better Though... 25:33 - What Makes Virtue Church Unacceptable?31:15 - Would Jesus Use Embodied AI?Things & Books ReferencedFigure 01, a humanoid robot being built by a startup called FigureVideo on disembodied AGI- Sanctuary AI company (shows robot control) Video of Disney’s HoloTiles Full Original - Lex/Zuck Interview Simulating Smell Analog Church - Jay Y. KimThe Life We're Looking For - Andy CrouchWhat God Has To Say About Our Bodies - Sam AlberryCultural Mandate, Grey Sutanto - ThemeliosGrace Restores Nature - Grace In Common PodcastOne Assembly - Jonathan LeemanWhat Is A Church? The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith Please send your ideas and feedback to the cohosts, Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob, at whatwouldjesustech@gmail.com. Recorded in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. Video and sound editing by Peter Behnke. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show, visit whatwouldjesustech.com

Will Robotics have its ChatGPT moment? Will Elon Musk become a Christian? Will the 2024 elections be overcome by artificial images? From multi-model AI to deepening embodied desires, Joel Jacob (Product at Splunck) and Andrew Noble (Pastoral Ministry at Grandview Church) predict what they think might happen in 2024.0:00 - Intro1:45 - Cisco bought Joel's company. Is he out of a job?4:02 - 2023 trend: increasing mental health concerns for teens5:45 - 2023 trend: rise of AI6:45 - Prediction 1: Multi-modal AI & Robotics9:30 - Prediction 2: The Increasing Artificiality of the Internet (and a pull to embodied relationships)12:25 - Prediction 3: Small Uptick in "Metaverse" Adoption (AR & VR traction via Apple & Meta)18:09 - Prediction 4: A Big Tech Leader Will Become A Christian (and conversely, the rise of techno-religion)27:36 - Prediction 5: The Inflection Point For Robotics31:19 - Prediction 6: A New Analogue Dating App Is Coming (wildly specific prediction from Andrew)35:06 - Prediction 7: The Crypto Winter Ends (it will become harder to mine Bitcoin again in April 2024)Links: - Rex Woodbury's 2024 predictions - What Would Jesus Tech website - Support us on Patreon

Complete our listener feedback survey! Link: https://forms.gle/pmi9jWf65cjGFn2TAWhat happened at OpenAI? And why does it matter? How should Christians prepare for a world increasingly mediated through Artificial Intelligence?In this episode, we brought on the author of the Church and AI Substack, Dave Betts, as well as The Gospel Coalition's Austin Gravely. Links:- Listener feedback survey: https://forms.gle/pmi9jWf65cjGFn2TA- https://www.churchandai.com/- https://digitalbabylon.substack.com/Please send us your ideas and feedback to the cohosts, Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob, at whatwouldjesustech@gmail.com. Recorded in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

We need to get serious about what social media is doing to teenagers without throwing out technology altogether. That's what this episode is about.Right before American Thanksgiving, a redacted lawsuit between a coalition of 41 US states and Meta (Instagram) was made public. This lawsuit outlines exactly how Instagram has knowingly harmed teens and lied about it to the public. As msn.com put it, "Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta could protect teen girls but puts $270 profit from each of them first: suit."In this episode, we talk with a veteran youth pastor John Perritt, who is the dad of a few teenagers himself as well as the Director of Resources at Reformed Youth Ministries. We are also joined by Erica Bechtel: mom of three, Instragram influencer (@doityourself_mom), and a volunteer at a local youth ministry.Together, we aim to support teens and the supporters of teens in this special episode of What Would Jesus Tech.John's book: Social Media Pressure: Finding Peace Alongside JesusOther links mentioned:Digital Liturgies by Samuel JamesTeaching kids how to code with Swift PlaygroundsChris Martin: Instagram Addicted Your Teenager Because She's Worth $270 to ThemJason Kint's 20 tweet summary here: X link.The full 233 page lawsuit between the states and Meta: pdf link.Please send us your ideas and feedback to the cohosts, Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob, at whatwouldjesustech@gmail.com. Recorded in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

What were the similarities in the last two technological revolutions? How might this affect us in our current age? And how do we make disciples? In this episode, we chat with Jake Meador, the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy, an online magazine covering the Christian faith in the public sphere. Jake wrote What Are Christians For?, which led to some of our questions, while others (especially related to futurism and C.S. Lewis) were more curiosity-based. We hope you enjoy this episode!0:00 - Intro3:30 - Speed Round Questions7:30 - The Discipleship Gap11:30 - Similarities In The Industrial And Sexual Revolutions17:10 - How The Digital Revolution's Placates Analysis Paralysis22:57 - Could We Have Gone Through The Revolutions More Faithfully?28:55 - But Won't Future Technology Correct Our Current Problems?33:02 - Take Advantage of Tech With Mere Orthodoxy?37:55 - Growing Embodied Communities44:31 - A Tech Futurist Hypothetical47:29 - Read C.S. Lewis' Space Triology! Here's why.Books/Links:What Are Christians For?: Life Together at the End of the World by Jake MeadorIn Search of the Common Good: Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World by Jake MeadorPandora, AI Girlfriends, and “Reborn” Babies by Nadya WilliamsThe Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality by Glen ScrivenerA Quiet Mind to Suffer With: Mental Illness, Trauma, and the Death of Christ by John Andrew BryantTools for Conviviality by Ivan IllichTechnopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil PostmanThe Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength by C.S. LewisPlease send us your ideas and feedback to Joel Jacob and Andrew Noble whatwouldjesustech@gmail.com. Recorded in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

Matthew Chan was born in San Francisco, raised in Hong Kong, and is now on a journey that only God knows in full. He's written code for Francis Chan, built apps for The Bible Project, and now he and his friends at Basil Tech are about to launch a brand new product. Matthew is an inspiration for technologists looking to build technology for Christians.* BasilTech: https://www.basiltech.org/* BibleDojo: https://www.enterthebibledojo.com/* ReadScripture: https://www.readscripture.org/* WeAreChurch: https://wearechurch.com/* ScriptureLabs: https://www.scripturelabs.com/* Streetlights Bible: https://www.streetlightsbible.com/* Larry Hurtado: Destroyer of the Gods* WWJT Episode on Dating Apps: https://www.whatwouldjesustech.com/all-episodes/11-yes-christians-should-use-dating-apps-with-ruth-cuthbertYour comments, questions, and ideas are welcome! Send them our way at whatwouldjesustech@gmail.comCo-hosted by Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. Website Design by Zeke Gancena. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

After being laughed off in 2022, the idea of the metaverse is coming back thanks to improvements in AR, VR, and AI. Not only that, but some new chatbots on Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram are concerning. In this episode, we are joined by digital technology writer Ian Harber to make sense of all these changes. We focus especially on Mark Zuckerberg's latest announcements and products only available in the past week. How should the church respond? What is real? And just how good or bad are these new AI Chatbots?Ian Harber: https://substack.com/@ianharber, https://twitter.com/ianharber0:00 - Intro10:15 - Fast-Paced Change17:25 - When Will The Metaverse & Metachurch Arrive?31:52 - Recreate A Dead Relative? What is real?38:12 - Meta Chatbot DeepdiveLinks:Ian's Deconstruction StoryHow To Prepare For The MetaverseDestroyer of The Gods by Larry HurtadoCo-hosted by Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. Website Design by Zeke Gancena. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

Andrew and Joel continue their journey reconciling their love of technology with their love of Jesus. In this episode, they reflect on what they've learned, discuss their future careers in technology and theology, and announce that they'll write a new ebook to help equip local churches to discover a Christ-centered approach to the technologies of our day.0:00 - Intro0:45 - Meta Metaverse Updates3:13 - What is the goal of What Would Jesus Tech?6:17 - What has Joel learned through WWJT?12:41 - Joel's future building technology?18:40 - Will Andrew write a book?26:05 - New Idea For WWJT34:48 - Share Your FeedbackCo-hosted by Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. Website Design by Zeke Gancena. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com

The social internet is shaping us, but how? Samuel D. James says, "Habits create habitats for our hearts; they shape our identity and train our desires." Today we speak with Samuel and learn how our digital habits are even more than habitats, they're liturgies.***Enter to win a free copy of Digital Liturgies book by following and sharing our posts on social media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatwouldjesustech/Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/WWJTechWinner will be selected on September 20th, 2023.0:00 - Intro2:44 - Speed Questions - Kids, Church, Writing, Blocking/Distraction App Called Freedom5:16 - What is Digital Liturgies about?5:48 - How The Shallows Shaped Samuel7:35 - Why "Liturgies"?10:27 - Our Doing Shapes Our Thinking?15:27 - The Internet Shapes Gender?21:42 - Wait... what's the "internet" we're talking about?25:45 - Reading Hyperlinks & Ebooks Shape You28:45 - The Future With AI31:03 - Anxiety, The Failure of Therapy, and The Social Internet43:48 - Magic Wand To Change Things?48:59 - The Gospel Changes How We Use The Internet53:05 - Equipping People To Think Theologically About TechnologyBooks/links referenced:Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online AgeDigital Liturgies - Samuel's NewsletterYou Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K.A. SmithThe Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas CarrTerms of Service: The Real Cost of Social MediaThe Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling Audio DocumentaryWWJT interview with John DyerPeople of the Screen: How Evangelicals Created the Digital Bible and How It Shapes Their Reading of Scripture by John DyerJonathan Haidt's research on After BabeliGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of UsGenerations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's FutureCo-hosted by Andrew Noble and Joel Jacob in Ontario, Canada. Original Music by Abigail Neale. Website Design by Zeke Gancena. To learn more about What Would Jesus Tech and to support the show visit whatwouldjesustech.com