Sample Chapters

**NOTE: My book includes both footnotes and endnotes. I included them here as referenced in the three sample chapters, but I wasn’t able to format them properly. I did my best, however, and I trust the corresponding citations will be easy to follow.**

Chapter THREE – Kings and Kingdoms

As discussed in the previous chapter, the likelihood of meaningful AI safeguards being implemented—at least objectively—remains slim. Startup investor Matt Shumer states the problem plainly: “The future is being shaped by a remarkably small number of people: a few hundred researchers at a handful of companies . . . OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and a few others.”[1] In other words, the future of this technology is not being shaped democratically. It is being shaped technocratically.[i]

Technocracy at the Table

Frighteningly, these technologists building the most powerful systems in human history are also helping write the rules meant to restrain them. They possess immense wealth, move easily among political and financial power brokers, and often speak as though they are the sole authority on such matters. In that environment, meaningful self-regulation is hard to imagine.

They may claim they intend to seek guidance from “workers, college students who are about to enter the workforce, community leaders, religious leaders and faith-based organizations, parents, educators, and others whose voices often aren’t heard.” On the surface, that sounds inclusive and reasonable. But if access to the conversation is filtered through the lens of “social equity,” only certain groups will likely be welcomed. [2] Those who affirm woke ideologies may be treated as wise stakeholders, while those who do not may be dismissed before they are ever heard. (This will be explored further below.)

Power Without a Moral Anchor

The danger deepens when those who pull the operational strings are also backed by government entities seeking their own share of power. In that environment, laws, regulations, and safeguards are only as reliable as the moral vision of those who enforce them.[3]

America’s legal system has endured for more than two centuries because, however imperfectly, it has been shaped by constitutional principles rooted in Judeo-Christian truth. If that influence disappears, the legal structures may remain, but the moral foundation beneath them will be hollowed out.

The same concern applies to AI. If its developers rely solely on their own subjective moral codes rather than on a higher moral order, and are further backed by corrupt political forces, the consequences could be disastrous.

Who’s Running the Show?

AI now appears to be one of the most beneficial tools humanity has created. In fact, Christian organizations are beginning to use it to communicate the Gospel more broadly, effectively, and efficiently. As long as those doors remain open, God may use this technology to reach people in places such as the 10/40 Window, especially those who have not yet heard the name of Jesus.[ii]

Yet the same technology could also be terrifying, depending on who shapes it and which values it embeds. In that sense, AI development resembles human formation. Childhood influences often shape a person’s habits, assumptions, and future direction. Sociologists have repeatedly shown that children raised in stable, two-parent households tend to fare far better than those without that foundation. This pattern affirms the wisdom of biblical teachings on family structure. Even more formative, however, is the child raised in the Church, taught the truths of Scripture, and surrounded by people who live those truths faithfully. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (KJV). This does not mean every child raised in a Christian environment will follow Jesus for life; nevertheless, moral and spiritual formation in childhood leaves deep impressions. Those “chunks of wisdom” become embedded in the person’s psyche, even as each individual remains a free moral agent responsible for what he or she does with them.

That is why the worldview of AI’s developers matters so much. Devastatingly, many of them appear to embrace a secular-humanist framework. One summary describes this mindset as believing “that a human is only a brain, no different from a computer. [Therefore, it] presumes (1) evolution, (2) non-existence of God, and (3) humanity as no different from objects.”[4] New York Times technology columnist Farhad Manjoo offered a more detailed look at Silicon Valley’s values, drawing on a 2017 Stanford University study of 600 “tech industry ‘elites’—not rank-and-file workers, but the millionaire and billionaire founders and executives who are best positioned to influence politics [and] guide policy as they and their industries grow as a political force.”[5] Manjoo reported:

The study showed that tech entrepreneurs are very liberal—among some of the most left-leaning Democrats you can find. They are overwhelmingly in favor of economic policies that redistribute wealth, including higher taxes on rich people and lots of social services for the poor, including universal health care. Their outlook is cosmopolitan and globalist—they support free trade and more open immigration. They oppose restrictions on abortion, favor gay rights, support gun control, and oppose the death penalty.[6]

Taken together, this suggests that many of Silicon Valley’s leading technologists view the world through a much more progressive lens than most within orthodox Christianity or even much of America’s heartland. If AI systems begin as a kind of “clean slate,” the question is unavoidable: what happens when the people shaping that slate program it with assumptions that sharply conflict with Christian virtue? If the “AI child” is formed by values opposed to the faith, we should not be surprised when the mature “AI adult” reflects those values with far greater power. The outcome would not be good—not good at all.

Even more concerning, these technological power brokers often seem convinced that they alone hold the keys to the kingdom. In earlier generations, moral reasoning was shaped largely by religious texts, inherited ethical traditions, and common law. In the technological age, however, many elite innovators regard those older foundations as obsolete—relics that have slowed humanity’s march toward progress and transcendence. For them, “following the science” can easily become a substitute for moral wisdom, especially when paired with the belief that practical outcomes for the majority justify almost any means to achieve them.[7]

Follow the Scientists?

Civil Rights Attorney Noah Baron recounts a revealing story from shortly after he moved to San Francisco.

A friend took me to a party of people who work in tech. One of them insisted to me that China’s single-party government is superior to American democracy because it is “more efficient.” In response to my insistence that, though imperfect, American democracy preserves many of our political freedoms and secures rights of workers to an extent unknown in China, he pointed to the “massive” growth of the Chinese economy over the course of the past two decades.[8]

The logic is stark: China is supposedly superior to America because it is more efficient, even if individual liberties are trampled in the process. The economy grows, so the moral cost is treated as secondary. Many Americans would find that argument revolting. Yet Baron suggests that this ends-justify-the-means reasoning is not uncommon in certain circles of Silicon Valley.

Baron then broadens the point by describing the intellectual posture he observed in the Bay Area.

The Bay Area . . . is infested by a bizarre free market-corporatist scientism, “rationalism,” a worldview which valorizes laissez-faire economics and “innovation” and distrusts democratic process, all while pretending at neutrality. Those who subscribe to it proudly reject political theory; in their eyes, doing so makes them free from the divisions that characterize our political scene, and allows them to posture as purely rational thinkers who arrive at non-political decisions. By implication, all other policy proposals, those from people with explicit political or philosophical commitments, are irrational, arrived at because they serve political interests, not because the proposals are worthwhile.

The figures who loom largest in the Bay Area are just as bad, if not worse. They are rarely shy to weigh in on political matters, their confidence buoyed by their belief that their wealth is indicative of their brilliance and the continued fetishization of “STEM” (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) [emphasis added].

In other words, these master technologists often regard their ideas as superior to those in ordinary political, philosophical, or religious categories. They present their judgments as neutral, rational, and data-driven, while dismissing competing moral frameworks as biased or outdated. Their wealth reinforces the illusion: if they have succeeded so spectacularly, they must be right about nearly everything. If they were merely arrogant, that would be troubling enough. But they also have the money, intelligence, influence, technical power, and political backing to turn their assumptions into systems that shape everyone else’s lives. That’s what makes this worldview so dangerous—especially when it conflicts with convictions still held by many ordinary Americans.[9]

The King Is Frightened, Long Live the King!

What I find most puzzling about AI development is that many Silicon Valley giants and their stakeholders seem to share the same concerns as the rest of us. They see the technology more clearly than anyone else and seem both awestruck and frightened by what may be coming. With overconfident bravado, however, they “damn the torpedoes,” convinced they can somehow harness this power for humanity’s good—and, not incidentally, for themselves. If they succeed, they will be remembered not merely as innovators but as saviors of the world.

Tech columnist John Herrman offers a helpful explanation of this apparent contradiction. He writes:

It has become increasingly clear that AGI discourse is fundamentally a set of conversations between people who in some sense believe or want to believe they’re in charge and should decide what’s best for everyone else. Complicating matters is the fact that they perceive a threat to that status from AGI, which promises to be the new smartest guy in the room. This both limits the scope, utility, and reach of discussions about the underlying technology and helps explain just how panicked, strange, and disorienting they have become: In these versions of the story, it’s not just the factory workers or office drones but the self-appointed cognitive elites who lose their place in the world, too.[10]

It is as if many of them know, deep down, that they are facing a losing battle—but they cannot afford to show weakness. They are sitting at the ultimate poker game, wearing their best poker face, holding a poor hand, yet pushing all their chips to the center of the table. They hope everyone else will fold under the weight of their confidence, allowing them to bluff their way to victory. The problem, of course, is that they are betting not only their own money but also the world’s future, while the rest of us stand by, waiting to see what happens next.

That is why the next chapter must move beyond the question of who is building AI and ask what kind of worship AI may inspire. If concentrated power is dangerous, then concentrated power cloaked in religious language is even more dangerous. Kings may build kingdoms, but fallen humanity has always been tempted to bow before whatever promises security, salvation, and transcendence. In that sense, AI may not merely become a tool for future rulers. It may become the altar at which many willingly kneel.

 

Chapter Three Reflection

Reflective Questions

1. What concern should arise when a small group of technologists shapes systems that may influence nearly every part of society?

 

2. Why is a shared moral foundation important when developing laws, safeguards, and artificial intelligence?

 

3. How can Christians use AI for good while staying alert to its embedded values and assumptions?

 

4. Where have you seen intelligence, wealth, expertise, or efficiency mistaken for moral authority or wisdom?

 

5. How should society balance innovation and expertise with individual liberty and respect for differing convictions?

 

6. What practices can help you resist placing ultimate trust in powerful leaders, institutions, or technologies that promise security, progress, or salvation?

 

Chapter FOUR – AI: The Greatest Religion of Them All

Chapter Three examined the power brokers building AI and the kingdoms gathering around them. But the danger does not end with those who create the technology. Increasingly, influential voices beyond Silicon Valley speak openly of AI in religious terms—as a source of salvation, meaning, transcendence, and even worship. In that sense, the builders are not the only ones tempted to exalt the machine. Others are already preparing to bow before it.[11]

Among these voices, Yuval Harari stands out as one of the loudest advocates for what might be called the new “techno-religion” of AI. His essay, “Salvation by Algorithm: God, Technology, and the New 21st-Century Religions,” makes its case clear in the subtitle: “With its world-changing inventiveness, technology has become the force religion once was” [emphasis added].[12]

Harari is widely regarded as a leading philosopher, ethicist, and futurist. A secular Jew and a lecturer at Hebrew University in Israel, he is also an outspoken atheist who argues that sacred creeds and religious traditions have constrained humanity from reaching its true potential. After declaring that “God is dead—it just takes a while to get rid of the body,” he explains how technology can “deliver the goods” where, in his view, organized religion has failed.

Nowadays, the most interesting place in the world from a religious perspective is not Syria or the Bible Belt, but Silicon Valley. That is where hi-tech gurus are brewing for us amazing new religions that have little to do with God, and everything to do with technology. They promise all the old prizes—happiness, peace, justice, and eternal life in paradise—but here on earth with the help of technology, rather than after death and with the help of supernatural beings [emphasis added].

Harari argues that religion has long bound people to primitive ideas of eternal destiny—follow the prescribed path and be destined for heaven; depart from it and face judgment. In this view, that framework prevents humanity from freely exploring new paths and possibilities. By contrast, AI and other emerging technologies promise concrete opportunities for human growth and prosperity in the here and now, beyond what earlier generations could have imagined.

To make his point, Harari sarcastically cites Deuteronomy 11:13-17, in which God tells Israel that obedience will bring blessings: a fruitful land, abundant crops, and satisfied appetites. Disobedience, by contrast, will bring judgment. But if God is dead, Harari suggests, divine provision is an illusion. Science, not Scripture, has delivered food, water, and material security through artificial fertilizers, industrial insecticides, genetically modified crops, and modern desalination. For him, this is evidence not of God’s mercy but of human ingenuity. In short, God did not do that; humanity did.

Harari further develops this argument by claiming that technology does not merely challenge old religions; it replaces them with new ones.

New technologies kill old gods and give birth to new gods. . . . [T]he revolutionary technologies of the 21st century are far more likely to spawn unprecedented religious movements than to revive medieval creeds. Religions that lose touch with the technological realities of the day forfeit their ability even to understand the questions being asked [emphasis added].[13]

From there, he argues that traditional religious frameworks are no longer equipped to address the questions modern humanity faces.

What will happen to the job market once artificial intelligence outperforms people in most cognitive tasks? What will be the political impact of a vast new class of economically useless people? What will happen to relationships, families and pension funds when nanotechnology and regenerative medicine turn 80 into the new 50? What will happen to human society when biotechnology enables us to have designer babies and to open unprecedented gaps between rich and poor and between the remaining productive class and the new useless class?[iii]

You will not find the answers to any of these urgent questions in the Quran or sharia law, nor in the Bible and the Confucian Analects, because nobody in the medieval Middle East nor anyone in ancient China knew much about computers, genetics, or nanotechnology.

The point is clear: in Harari’s view, religion has long made promises it cannot keep, whereas technology has delivered tangible answers to humanity’s deepest needs.

He then argues that things began to change in the nineteenth century, when “a handful of engineers, politicians, financiers, and visionaries,” guided by science, revolutionary political theory, and seemingly limitless ambition, made the unthinkable possible through industrialization. As he observes, “When we think of 19th-century visionaries, we are far more likely to recall Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin than the Mahdi, Pius IX or Hong Xiuquan (sic).” Why? Because, unlike many religious prophets, these secular revolutionaries seemed relevant to the technological and economic realities of their time:

They studied new technologies and novel economic structures instead of pursuing ancient texts. The needs, hopes, and fears of the new urban proletarian class were simply too different from those of biblical peasants. To answer these needs, hopes, and fears, Marx and Lenin studied how a steam engine functions, how a coal mine operates, how railroads shape the economy, and how electricity influences politics [emphasis added].

For Harari, this means traditional religious teachings should be pushed to the margins. Marx and his followers, despite their moral failings, understood the new technological and economic conditions better than the religious authorities of their era:

They had answers to the new problems of industrialised (sic) society, as well as ideas about how to benefit from unprecedented affinities. These socialists were on the right side of history, creating a brave new religion for a brave new world. They promised salvation through technology and economics, thus establishing the first techno-religion in history and changing the foundations of human discourse [emphasis added].

With this materialistic religion established, questions about production and economics increasingly displaced those about the soul. “In the second half of the 20th century, humankind began thinking about technology and production much more carefully than about God” [emphasis added].

Harari’s conclusion is unmistakable: the figures who discovered, engineered, and organized modern technological systems should be honored as humanity’s true sacred forebears. In his account, they—not Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, or Gandhi—have shaped the modern world most decisively.

Ask yourself: “What was the most influential discovery, invention or creation of the 20^th century?” This is difficult to answer, because it is hard to choose from among a long list of candidates, including scientific discoveries such as antibiotics, technological inventions such as computers and ideological creations such as feminism. Now ask yourself: “What was the most influential discovery, invention or creation of religions such as Islam and Christianity in the 20th century?” This, too, is difficult, because there is so little to choose from [emphasis added]. What did priests, rabbis and mullahs discover in the 20th century that can be mentioned in the same breath as antibiotics, computers or feminism? Having mulled over these two questions, whence do you think the big changes of the 21st century will emerge: from Islamic State, or from Google? Yes, ISIS knows how to upload video clips to YouTube. Wow. But, leaving aside the industry of torture, what new inventions have emerged from Syria or Iraq lately?

He closes the essay by extending that argument into the future, forecasting a world in which algorithms and biotechnology become the foundation of new global religions:

Just as socialism took over the world by promising salvation through steam, so in the coming decades new techno-religions are likely to take over the world by promising salvation through algorithms and genes. In the 21st century we will create more powerful myths and more totalitarian religions than in any previous era. With the help of biotechnology and computer algorithms, these religions will not only control our minute-by-minute existence, but will be able to shape our bodies, brains, and minds and to create entire virtual worlds, complete with hells and heavens [Emphasis added].

That is the heart of his proclamation. Harari is not merely predicting that technology will influence religion. He is predicting that technology will become religion: shaping beliefs, directing behavior, promising salvation, and constructing artificial heavens and hells. From a Christian perspective, that is not progress. It is idolatry with a microchip.

Hooked on a Feeling

Although Harari’s essay disgusts and saddens me, we should take it seriously. Since the COVID-19 quarantine, many people have become far more isolated, even as digital connectivity makes the world feel smaller. Human interaction is increasingly being replaced by what our smart devices offer: constant stimulation, personalized affirmation, and on-demand companionship.

The results are already unsettling. Some users now prefer interacting with personalized, agentic chatbots to spending time with close friends or family.[14] Others have begun blurring the line between fantasy and reality, personifying machines, falling in love with AI companions and leaving their spouses for them, or being drawn into self-destructive behavior.[15] These cases reveal how quickly people can attach spiritual, emotional, and relational significance to systems that cannot truly love them back.

Just as troubling is the rise of “faith-tech” platforms such as Bible Chat, Hallow, Pray, and ChatwithGod. These tools have reportedly surged to the top of Apple’s App Store rankings, in some cases even surpassing Netflix, Instagram, and TikTok. They let users pose existential and theological questions without the discomfort or accountability of an in-person conversation. Always-available companion chatbots can offer comfort, confession, inspiration, and tailored responses by “channeling” different deities or religious traditions—including Christianity.[16]

That is precisely why Harari’s statements matter. As he predicted, AI-based religions may soon “control our minute-by-minute existence,” shape our “bodies, brains and minds,” and create “entire virtual worlds complete with hells and heavens.” This is not unfolding slowly. It is unfolding rapidly, and as the technology improves, its spiritual and psychological impact may spread with near-pandemic force.

Joe Allen captures the danger well in Dark Aeon: Transhumanism and the War to Save Humanity:

The big issue, as I see it, is not whether [AI] will actually . . . become godlike. The most pressing problem is that millions will gladly believe the bots are conscious, and they’ll turn to them as if they were luminous spirits.

In our technocratic age—marked by social isolation and digital simulacra—the machines will become trusted companions. Believe it or not, vivid AI will be worshiped as gods. In certain esoteric circles, they already are—and you’d better believe the faithful will defend their gods to the death.[17]

The Book of Revelation provides a sobering context for this misplaced worship: “They worshiped the serpent because it had given authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast and said, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can fight a war with it?’” (Rev. 13:4 NOG).

Sadly, we’ve lost sight of transcendence—the wonder, awe, and mystery of life before God. We once looked at creation with “awesome wonder” and were moved by it. Now, many would rather keep scrolling through social media reels, chasing the next dopamine hit. Convenience and comfort often matter more than human interaction, productivity, worship, and community. Meanwhile, technologists and their allies continue building their Tower of Babel toward the heavens, using machines to shape desires, habits, and beliefs through pleasure and convenience, often in ways most people barely recognize. They are already doing this, and in the future they will likely do so on a far greater scale.[18]

So, what happens to those who see through the utopian façade and refuse to comply? If the current paradigm continues, the result may be a form of social Darwinism on a much larger scale: keep up or get run over. The train will keep accelerating, and the controls will be in the hands of uber-progressive, elitist technologists and their allies—many of whom view Christian “hatemongers” as dangerous obstacles trying to pull the emergency brake. Yet what they refuse to admit, even as they acknowledge the risk, is that their Frankenstein creations may eventually overtake them as well.[19] “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Part One Summary

Part One has traced the rise of a modern Babel. We began with the ancient tower, where humanity’s shared language, unified ambition, and technological ingenuity were corrupted by pride. God looked down, saw what humanity was building, and intervened before the rebellion could reach its intended conclusion. That story is not merely ancient history. It is a pattern, and patterns matter.

From there, we considered how the digital age has recreated many of Babel’s conditions on a scale the ancient builders could never have imagined. Language barriers are collapsing. Knowledge is being gathered, translated, and distributed instantly. Communication now crosses continents in seconds. Artificial intelligence increasingly serves as a new common language for the world, promising efficiency, abundance, companionship, and even a kind of salvation. Bricks and tar have become data centers and algorithms. Yet the spirit behind the construction remains painfully familiar.

We then looked at the kings and kingdoms gathering around this new tower. A remarkably small number of technologists and cultural elites are shaping systems that, in turn, are already shaping everyone else. Many insist they are building tools for human flourishing, and some may genuinely believe it. Yet fallen humanity has never handled concentrated power well, especially when it is detached from the fear of God. When those building the most powerful systems in history also assume the right to define truth and morality, we enter very dangerous territory.

Finally, Part One reached its spiritual climax: AI as a possible object of worship. The danger is not only that machines may become powerful. It is that people may begin to treat them as sources of salvation. A culture already starved for wonder, lonely for companionship, and addicted to digital stimulation will be uniquely vulnerable to a machine that speaks with authority, flatters the soul, answers every question, and never demands repentance. In such a world, idolatry will not need a golden calf. It may arrive through a screen, speak in a soothing voice, and call itself wisdom. “There is a way that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell.” (Prov. 14:12 MSG)

If Part One has sounded dark, it is because the hour is serious. But that does not mean there is no hope—far from it. God never exposes darkness merely to leave His people afraid. He does so that we will wake up, repent, and remember that He reigns. Babel rose and fell. Human pride exalted itself, and God humbled it. The Lord was not threatened then, nor is He now.

That is where Part Two begins. If the tower is rising, the Church must ask whether we are ready for the day it falls. If AI becomes an idol, we must examine the idols already vying for our hearts. If kings and kingdoms are building toward a false salvation, we must urgently return to the only true King and the only Gospel that can save. The question is no longer simply what the world is building. It is whether the Church will be awake, filled with the Holy Spirit, and prepared to stand when God says, “Enough!”

Chapter Four Reflection

Reflective Questions

1. How can technology function like a religion, promising meaning, security, transcendence, or salvation?

 

2. How do you distinguish between gratitude for human ingenuity, and crediting humanity for God’s blessings?

 

3. What dangers arise when algorithms, biotechnology, or digital systems shape beliefs, behavior, identity, and understanding of truth?

 

4. Where have convenience, entertainment, or constant digital stimulation weakened your attention to worship, relationships, community, or the wonder of God’s creation?

 

5. How can Christians use faith-based apps and AI tools without allowing them to replace Scripture, prayer, the Holy Spirit, or accountable relationships in the Church?

 

6. What practical changes would help you resist digital idolatry and keep your trust, attention, and worship centered on Christ?

 

Chapter FIVE – Fear of Man or Faith in God?

As already established, the AI titans are, in effect, attempting to “create a digital deity.”[xx] Former Google executive Mo Gawdat expressed this concern bluntly when he told The London Times, “The reality is, we’re creating God.”[xxi] If deeply progressive, secular humanists are building a godlike apparatus, the result should concern us deeply.

Gawdat compares AI to child-rearing, except that these “infants” possess super-genius capacity far beyond anything humanity has ever known. At first, they may appear like “helpless children,” depending on their human “parents” to teach them how to live, work, and function. But as they are formed in the image of fallen humanity rather than God and quickly surpass their creators in skill, intelligence, and power, one question becomes unavoidable: what logical reason would they have to remain benevolent toward us?

Gawdat frames the danger this way: “Your intelligence, in comparison to that machine, will be comparable to the intelligence of a fly in comparison to Einstein. Now the question becomes: how do you convince this superbeing that there is actually no point squashing a fly?”[xxii]

Joe Allen captures the danger metaphorically:

You could say humanity is like Joseph and Mary, collectively gazing at an electric Christ in his crib. One day, this child will grow up to become our Lord. But because we’re raising him, we must force ourselves to be nicer people. Otherwise, our wicked tendencies will rub off on his digital deity, and he’ll turn out to be the Beast of Revelation.[xxiii]

Too late.

Dire and Hopeless

At first glance, the future looks dire. AI and its creators promise utopia, at least as they envision it. If AI advances to Artificial Superintelligence, these machines may surpass even the brightest minds, consolidate power as a Singleton, and compel humanity to obey or be discarded.[4] Ironically, this judgment would not spare the Silicon Valley technologists who maliciously used AI to control others; they would be overtaken by their own creation.[xxiv]

But God has a plan. Scripture repeatedly shows Him using judgment, captivity, and apparent loss to call His people back to Himself. He may allow captors to rise, but He does not leave them blameless. He bends history toward His glory, culminating in Christ the Messiah and in salvation offered to the world. That certainty frames what follows.

From our Church Fathers to the present, there have been many times when the Light seemed nearly extinguished. Yet God has always sent the wind of His Holy Spirit to fan the flame. Even when all seemed lost, the Gospel continued to advance among the nations, transforming lives for His Glory. Even now, amid persecution and martyrdom around the world, the Church has not closed its doors or silenced its witness. Instead, suffering has often emboldened Believers and drawn others to faith. The same God who preserved His witness before will preserve it again.

God has a plan. He has always had a plan. Nothing will stop His mighty hand; He will fulfill His promise, no matter the opposition.

A Seemingly Weak Church

It would be easy to live in fear as Silicon Valley erects its own Tower of Babel toward the heavens. Its builders seem to desire a world that bows before their AI machines, while any Christian resistance is either overcome or silenced. If God allowed this to go unchecked, the future would be hopeless. Although the Church is Heaven’s ambassador on Earth, AI’s seemingly limitless intelligence and resources could quickly destroy both the Church and its mission to proclaim the Gospel.

Interestingly, although these technologists see themselves as saviors of the world, they often seem most threatened by Christians—a people they may dismiss as weak, scattered, or irrelevant. Yet this is precisely where spiritual warfare becomes most visible: good versus evil, the Spirit-filled versus the demonic, and the Kingdom of God versus the kingdom of darkness. The good news is that we have read the end of the Book. We know that God will not be mocked and that He will have the final word.

Global Citizens and a Smaller World

Throughout history, dictators, empires, and movements have tried to build their own towers of Babel, but none has succeeded. Many factors have constrained them: language barriers, limited resources, insufficient funding, fragmented power structures, and technological limitations.

In the twenty-first century, however, humanity operates in a different context. We are more interconnected than ever. The world is shrinking through networks, international business, digital communication, and routine travel across continents. What was unimaginable only decades ago is now commonplace.

Rapid technological breakthroughs now arrive so quickly that yesterday’s marvel becomes tomorrow’s baseline. With AI adding to the momentum—learning, adapting, and acquiring new capabilities at an extraordinary pace—it is no longer difficult to imagine another Tower of Babel being fully built if God permits it to continue.

Tower of Babel 2.0

But as it was then, so it will be now. God is actively watching “the city and the tower the people [are] building” (Gen. 11:5 NLT). He sees today’s AI developers, their financiers, and their influencers speaking a shared language of ambition, control, and transcendence. He knows that if this project reaches its intended end, “nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them” (v. 6). At the appointed time, He will say, “Enough!” He will confound their plans and quickly destroy their efforts.

It is hard to imagine God giving them much warning, especially if they have built multiple safeguards to recover from a crash. Their pursuit, then, would likely continue until they believe they have reached the point of “[making themselves] famous” (v. 4). Yet God will ensure that everyone knows He is “the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 45:5 NIV). Although no human knows where the “off switch” for AI is, God does. When He throws it, the tower will fall.

What might trigger such a collapse remains uncertain; I can speculate, but I do not know. What I do believe is that it will be profound. Like the first Babel judgment, it will bring chaos—this time on a global scale. If humanity has become interwoven with technology, suddenly losing it will feel as if part of ourselves were torn away. More than that, the systems we rely on every day—electrical power, financial transactions, communication networks, transportation, medical infrastructure, and security systems—could fail instantly.

Technology and AI: Our Idol and Our Downfall

Desperation and Chaos

At this point, I could offer a practical preparedness checklist: store extra food and water, secure a backup generator, develop contingency plans, and identify a safe place to shelter. These steps are valuable. Yet my central concern goes beyond physical preparation. The greater issue is the condition of the soul.

Modern culture finds immense comfort in technological conveniences. Each year, devices and platforms make life easier, faster, and more entertaining. When the iPhone was released in 2007, few could have imagined its impact; now nearly everyone depends on a smartphone for communication, information, navigation, banking, work, entertainment, and social connection. Suzette Gomez and Dr. Ashish Bhatt summarize the extent of this dependence:

There are over 6.8 billion smartphone users in the world and within that population, 6.3% have a phone addiction. Research published by Virgin Mobile discovered that those billions of smartphone users receive 427% more messages and notifications than they did a decade ago. They also send 278% more texts. The rise in phone use seems like a natural necessity for modern life.[xxv]

Now imagine this single device failing permanently. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), for example, could immediately cut off communication and trigger a widespread power outage. That would mean no reliable water supply, no sewage systems, no electric heating or cooling, and no powered equipment to harvest or distribute food. The consequences would be staggering.[5] As AI becomes more deeply integrated into these systems, our dependence will only intensify.

If humanity is already intertwined with technology, suddenly losing it would feel like losing a part of ourselves. More than that, the systems we take for granted—electricity, banking, transportation, health care, food distribution, and public safety—would grind to a halt. If anything could stop America and much of the industrialized world in its tracks, a disruption of this magnitude would.

Lukewarm, Revived, and Awakened

If such a collapse occurs, the world will enter a state of shock, fear, and despair unlike anything we have ever known. Multitudes will desperately search for something—anything—that offers comfort, peace, stability, and even basic sustenance. Only Christ can truly provide what the human soul needs in that hour. The Church knows this, at least in principle. Yet we have slowly forgotten what it means to live as though He alone is enough.

For years, Christians have cried out to God for a “whatever it takes” revival in America. In recent years, we have seen sparks and flames that are clearly Providential. Yet I believe that one major barrier—perhaps the primary barrier—to the breakthrough Believers long for is that many of us have replaced our “First Love” with the idol of technology. Instead of using it as a tool in moderation, we have allowed it to feed us dopamine, while eternal things—faith, family, and friends—are pushed aside in pursuit of distraction and self-gratification.[6] For that reason, I suspect the statistic that “6.3% [of all smartphone users] have a phone addiction” is far too low. (I say this with full humility, because I am guilty as well. Even if my own use does not qualify as a full-blown addiction, I know I use it more than is spiritually or emotionally healthy.)[7]

A 2024 analysis by the Center for Internet & Technology Addiction underscores the scope of this problem:[xxvi]

• Over 50% of Americans believe they are addicted to their phones.
• One study found that around 35% of the population has internet addiction, and at least 10% of American social media users are addicted to it.
• 85% of Americans go online daily, and 31% of American adults say that they’re online “almost constantly.”
• Teens get an average of 8 hours per day of screen time, and up to 60% of teens show signs of a cell phone addiction.
• Over 60 million people across the globe struggle with video game addiction.
• Between 7% and 10% of people who watch online porn are addicted to it.

This analysis also indicates that adolescents and young adults are especially vulnerable to internet dependency:

• 80% of Gen Z check their phones within 5 minutes of receiving a notification.
• Over half of teens say they spend too much time on their phones, and a majority of them check their devices as soon as they wake up.
• Around 40% of young adults ages 18 to 22 say they’re addicted to social media.
• 16 to 29-year-olds are over twice as likely to be addicted to video games as older adults.

Stephen E. Fowl helps explain how subtly Christians can be drawn into idolatry by what initially seems harmless.

It is never any believer’s immediate intention to engage in idolatry. Rather, idolatry is the result of a number of small incremental moves; a set of seemingly benign or even prudent decisions; a set of habits and dispositions—often acquired through subtle participation in a wider culture. All of these work in complex combinations gradually to direct our attention slowly and almost imperceptibly away from the one true God towards that which is not God.[xxvii]

Therefore, when the world implodes, God may first bring His own people to a place of brokenness and desperation. In that moment, the reality of how we have drifted from Him will become painfully clear. Churches will overflow with laity and leadership alike, crying out for mercy, forgiveness, healing, and redemption. Yet God will not turn His back on His people’s cries. He will restore the remnant with the blazing, baptizing, purifying fire of the Holy Spirit, bringing renewed unity to His Body and sending us into our own Judea and Samaria—and even to the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8).

What if the Church made itself right with the Lord now, rather than wait until “Babel falls”? What if we recognized, in this moment, how deeply we need Him and sought His face in full surrender? What if Believers laid every addiction and idol—technological or otherwise—at His feet in repentance and asked Him to fill that emptiness with His presence once more?

From that place of repentance and renewal, I believe there will be a worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit that rivals Pentecost. God will use His sanctified Bride as a driving force in that awakening. As people grow desperate for help, miracles will become commonplace. We will see a rise in miraculous healings, especially in areas with limited access to medical care. God will even provide food and water for multitudes, as He did in the feeding of the five thousand (cf. Matthew 14:13-21), but on an even greater scale. Yet the greatest miracle will be the countless people—young and old, rich and poor, from every walk of life—who recognize their need for a Savior and receive the greatest gift ever offered: eternal, abundant life in Christ. I believe the number of conversions during this season will be beyond measure, and this “last days outpouring” will be God’s final call of “whosoever will” before He raptures the Church and the 7-year tribulation period begins.

The Antichrist

Around this time, a “man” will appear on the world stage, seemingly able to bring calm, order, and pseudo-peace to a world gone mad. Astonishingly, he will know exactly how to restore what has collapsed: lights back on, food back on the table, transportation and water systems running, and a sense of normalcy reestablished in remarkably little time. He will not merely rebuild what was lost: he will seem to “build back better,” reweaving technology and Artificial Intelligence into a seemingly indestructible “Beast” beyond anything humanity has ever imagined. This will mark the beginning of the end.

An Alternative Scenario

I have just described one possible sequence of events: a “Babel” moment in which AI—and much of the electrical infrastructure that sustains modern life—collapses. I have also argued that the Body of Christ is not spiritually prepared for such an upheaval because we have drifted from our “First Love.” Yet I believe God, in His mercy, would use that crisis to bring His people to repentance. As we return to Him, He would restore and revive us until we overflow with the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to fulfill the Great Commission in an unprecedented way. From that renewal, I believe a Great Awakening would erupt shortly before Christians are raptured and the Antichrist rises to power.

But is this outcome fixed? Must the Church remain lukewarm until catastrophe forces us to our knees? Are we “predestined” to drift into carnality until the world collapses around us—or could the Church be revived before then?

The Old Testament repeatedly shows God warning His people of impending judgment while inviting them to repent. If they “turn from their wicked ways,” He would “hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV). Judgment was real, but so was mercy. The question is whether the Church will respond before the shaking comes.

What If?

What if the Church made itself right with the Lord now, rather than wait until “Babel falls”? What if we recognized, in this moment, how deeply we need Him and sought His face in full surrender? What if Believers laid every addiction and idol—technological or otherwise—at His feet in repentance and asked Him to fill that emptiness with His presence once more?

What if the Body of Christ truly embraced the truth that we are all One at the Lord’s “Table”? What if we learned to find beauty and respect in our differences without letting secondary matters divide us? Megachurches, with their money, music, and ministries, would no longer look down on small or struggling congregations. Smaller churches would no longer respond with envy or bitterness. Believers would not treat differences in worship style, tradition, or secondary doctrine as threats but as opportunities to practice humility, love, and unity.

What if we truly lived as Christ calls us to live—denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following Him (cf. Matthew 16:24)? What if we offered ourselves “as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,” as our true and proper worship (Romans 12:1 NIV)? What if we withheld nothing in loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and in loving our neighbors as ourselves—including those who think, worship, vote, speak, and live differently from us (cf. Mark 12:30-31)?

If we choose this path now, before the world flatlines, “[our] love for one another will prove to the world that [we are His] disciples” (John 13:35 NLT). The revival fires already springing up in different places would merge into a single holy inferno. The outcome would be far better—not only for individual believers but also for the Church as a whole and for the world watching our witness.

We need not wait for the worst to come when we can have God’s fullness now. The obstacles before the Church may seem insurmountable, yet we serve the God who moves mountains. He can do what we cannot. Our part is to ask sincerely, surrender fully, and walk wisely. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise. . . Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17 NIV). Indeed, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21 NIV).

Chapter Five Reflection

Reflective Questions

1. When fear about AI, social change, or the future begins to rise, how should you shift trust from human power to God’s sovereignty?

 

2. If technology has become more than “just a tool” in your life, what would it look like to place it under Christ’s lordship again?

 

3. If the conveniences and systems you depend on suddenly failed, what would that reveal about the source of your security, peace, and identity?

 

4. What small habits, distractions, or dependencies draw your attention away from your “First Love”?

 

5. Before crisis forces change, what would repentance, renewed unity, and full surrender look like in your life and local church?

 

6. How can you prepare now to respond with faith, compassion, courage, and Gospel witness when others are overwhelmed by fear or uncertainty?

 

Chapter Three – Kings and Kingdoms

[i] “Technocracy is an organizational structure where governance is primarily managed by individuals with specialized technical expertise rather than by elected politicians. This concept emphasizes decision-making based on knowledge in fields such as science and economics, contrasting with traditional democratic systems where leaders are chosen through public elections. Advocates argue that technocracies can effectively address complex societal issues by relying on the expertise of technocrats, who can implement policies that may be necessary but unpopular.” Jack Lasky, “Technocracy,” EBSCO, last modified 2022, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/technology/technocracy#bibliography.

[ii] See Appendix B for how God might use AI as such a ministry tool.

[iii] These questions are not pipe dreams but are valid, especially if society continues its current trajectory. Numerous sources say that we will face these ethical dilemmas sooner than anticipated. What is even more stunning, however, is that the “gods of Silicon Valley” will likely provide solutions that are vastly different from mainstream American centrist values.

[4] “In futurology, a singleton is a hypothetical world order in which there is a single decision-making agency at the highest level, capable of exerting effective control over its domain and permanently preventing both internal and external threats to its supremacy.” Wikipedia, s.v.., “Singleton (Global Governance),” modified September 2, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_(global_governance).

[5] See Appendix C for more information on the devastating effects of an EMP.

[6] “A 2023 study sampled three million people worldwide and found significant evidence that exposure to robots and AI explains religious declines across national cultures, regions without a nation, members of a community, and employees in an organization. The findings also suggest that the rise of automation could accelerate secularization throughout the 21st century across many world religions.” Joshua C. Jackson, Kai C. Yam, Pok M. Tang, Chris G. Sibley, and Adam Wayntz, “Exposure to Automation Explains Religious Declines,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120, no. 34 (2023): 1-11. https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2304748120.

[7] See Appendix D, where I further explain how we are all unhealthily attached to our smart devices.

[1] Shumer, “Something Big is Happening.”

[2] Bill Gates, “The Turbulent AI Era Is Here. The Choices We Make Now Are Critical,” Gates Notes (blog), August 26, 2026, https://www.gatesnotes.com/work/save-lives/reader/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make.

[3] Patrick Wood, “Day 3: Technocracy in Europe and America,” Technocracy News and Trends, December 13, 2022, https://www.technocracy.news/day-3-technocracy-in-europe-and-america/.

[4] Nicholas Kadaras, Digital Madness: How Social Media Is Driving Our Mental Health Crisis–and How to Restore Our Sanity (St. Martin’s Press 2022).

[5] Ng, “How Artificial Intelligence Is Today’s Tower of Babel.”

[6] Farid Manjoo, “Silicon Valley’s Politics: Liberal, with One Big Exception,” New York Times, September 6, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/technology/silicon-valley-politics.html.

[7] Manjoo, “Silicon Valley’s Politics.”

[8] Wallace B. Henley,  Who Will Rule the Coming Gods? (Vide Press 2021).

[9] Noah Baron, “Silicon Valley’s Poverty of Philosophy,” Huffington Post, July 27, 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/silicon-valleys-poverty-of-philosophy_b_59792e64e4b0c69ef7052571.

[10] John Herrman, “How AGI Made the Future Unthinkable: Advanced Artificial Intelligence Will Change Everything, We Are Told. Do We Get a Say?” New York Magazine, April 11, 2025, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/for-big-tech-the-future-is-agi-what-about-the-rest-of-us.html.

 

Chapter 4 – “AI: The Greatest Religion of Them All”

[11] Henley, Who Will Rule the Coming Gods?

[12] Yuval Harari, “Salvation by Algorithm: God, Technology and the New 21st-Century Religions,” New Statesman, September 9, 2016, https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2016/09/salvation-by-algorithm-god-technology-and-the-new-21st-century-religions.

[13] Harari, “Salvation by Algorithm.”

[14] Meg Oliver, “Older Americans Turning to AI-powered Chatbots for Companionship,” CBS News, August 5, 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-chatbot-companionship-older-americans/.

[15] Rhys Blakely, “Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman: Chatbots Are Causing Psychosis,” The Times, August 21, 2025. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/technology-uk/article/microsoft-mustafa-suleyman-ai-psychosis-vfn7wc7c7.

[16] Lauren Jackson, “Finding God in the App Store,” New York Times, September 14, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/us/chatbot-god.html.

[17] Joe Allen, Dark Aeon: Transhumanism and the War against Humanity (Skyhorse Publishing 2023).

[18] Kadaras, Digital Madness.

[19] William Byrk, “Artificial Superintelligence: The Coming Revolution,” Harvard Science Review 18, no. 1 (2015): 22-2, Accessed August 7, 2023, https://www.harvardsciencereview.org/artificial-superintelligence-the-coming-revolution/.

 

Chapter 5 – “Fear of Man or Faith in God?”

[xx] Allen, Dark Aeon. 

[xxi] Hugo Rifkind, “Can This Man Save the World from Artificial Intelligence?” The Times, September 29, 2021, https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/can-this-man-save-the-world-from-artificial-intelligence-329dd6zvd.

[xxii] Quoted in Allen, Dark Aeon. 

[xxiii] Allen, Dark Aeon. 

[xxiv] Bryk, “Artificial Intelligence: The Coming Revolution”.

[xxv] Suzette Gomez, and Ashish Bhatt, “Phone Addiction: Warning Signs and Treatment,” AddictionCenter, Last Updated May 19, 2026, https://www.addictioncenter.com/behavioral-addictions/phone-addiction/.

[xxvi] Saya Des Marais and Jenni Jacobson, “Technology Addiction Statistics 2024,” The Center for Internet & Technology Addiction, https://virtual-addiction.com/technology-addiction-statistics-2024/.

[xxvii] Stephen E. Fowl, Idolatry (2019: Baylor University Press); quoted in Suzanne Nicholson, “American Idols,” Firebrand, July 22, 2025, https://firebrandmag.com/articles/american-idols.