ON TECHNOLOGY
As I look around the home, it is no surprise to see that I live in a world of technology. I’ve got hot/cold running water, and plumbing. I have a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, and microwave. I got a living room with a television and DVD players. I got tons of CDs not to mention additional mp3s elsewhere. There’s an electric guitar, an amp, and a multi-effects unit. Even my acoustic guitar has an electric pickup. I’ve got a computer, and a smart phone, and most of my research is done via the Web. One might say I’m a spoiled American, but maybe there’s more to the picture. The real questions to consider are: what ultimately drives technology?
The question of what drives people to develop technology is important. We can create new technologies for good because they dignify humans. Conversely, we can create technologies for evil because they dehumanize individuals. Technology created for good can be corrupted, and technology created for evil can be redeemed. Whatever technology is available is hardly neutral. The creation of technology for good and the redemption of all technology used for evil is an important component of a biblical worldview.
In Genesis 1-2 we discover God created the material universe and man in the image of God both male and female. God then blessed the man and woman, and said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (1:28). Here God is teaching us to His image bearers to use the earth’s resources, but rule over as His representatives, which precludes the ideas of exploiting and destroying nature.
As the divine image bearer, man also reflects the glory of the Creator. Man, therefore, can take the raw materials in the universe, discover how they work, develop technology, and use it for the betterment of all humanity. Man can, for example, study the properties of water, learn to use water pressure to his advantage, and build reservoirs, pumps, and canals to bring water into cities and homes. This benefits the common good. It means one does not have to get water at a common well, it offers a sufficient supply of water for cleaning, and improves the overall health of a community in lowering the occurrence of waterborne diseases (e.g. botulism, cholera, E. coli, etc.).
There is also the reality that man has fallen into sin, which means he can develop technology to actualize his evil intentions, corrupt the technology meant for good. In this way, technology can be something that dehumanizes the community. For example, the development and use Zyklon B during World War II to destroy human life dehumanized people. Embryonic stem cell research in ways dehumanizes, since it involves the systematic killing of one group of people to benefit another group of people. Is the desire to develop human cloning technology ever neutral or something that can be redeemed for good? How about the development of human/animal hybrids and the application of that technology?
Can technology built for evil be redeemed? Maybe after the first nuclear bomb detonated in New Mexico made us “all sons of bitches;” yet, could not our ability to harness the power of nuclear energy still be redeemed?
Man has fallen in sin. The Good News is that God sent His Son to be incarnated in the person of Jesus Christ to die upon the cross and be resurrected from the dead so that those who believe can be saved from sin and enter into a right relationship with God with assurance of the resurrection to eternal life in the age to come. It is when we reconnect with the divine then we can come to a robust understanding of our place in this universe. We are created in the image of God, and as the divine image bearers, we can use our capacity to invent technologies for the common God, which fulfills our creation mandate to have dominion over the world.
The question of what drives people to develop technology is important. We can create new technologies for good because they dignify humans. Conversely, we can create technologies for evil because they dehumanize individuals. Technology created for good can be corrupted, and technology created for evil can be redeemed. Whatever technology is available is hardly neutral. The creation of technology for good and the redemption of all technology used for evil is an important component of a biblical worldview.
In Genesis 1-2 we discover God created the material universe and man in the image of God both male and female. God then blessed the man and woman, and said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (1:28). Here God is teaching us to His image bearers to use the earth’s resources, but rule over as His representatives, which precludes the ideas of exploiting and destroying nature.
As the divine image bearer, man also reflects the glory of the Creator. Man, therefore, can take the raw materials in the universe, discover how they work, develop technology, and use it for the betterment of all humanity. Man can, for example, study the properties of water, learn to use water pressure to his advantage, and build reservoirs, pumps, and canals to bring water into cities and homes. This benefits the common good. It means one does not have to get water at a common well, it offers a sufficient supply of water for cleaning, and improves the overall health of a community in lowering the occurrence of waterborne diseases (e.g. botulism, cholera, E. coli, etc.).
There is also the reality that man has fallen into sin, which means he can develop technology to actualize his evil intentions, corrupt the technology meant for good. In this way, technology can be something that dehumanizes the community. For example, the development and use Zyklon B during World War II to destroy human life dehumanized people. Embryonic stem cell research in ways dehumanizes, since it involves the systematic killing of one group of people to benefit another group of people. Is the desire to develop human cloning technology ever neutral or something that can be redeemed for good? How about the development of human/animal hybrids and the application of that technology?
Can technology built for evil be redeemed? Maybe after the first nuclear bomb detonated in New Mexico made us “all sons of bitches;” yet, could not our ability to harness the power of nuclear energy still be redeemed?
Man has fallen in sin. The Good News is that God sent His Son to be incarnated in the person of Jesus Christ to die upon the cross and be resurrected from the dead so that those who believe can be saved from sin and enter into a right relationship with God with assurance of the resurrection to eternal life in the age to come. It is when we reconnect with the divine then we can come to a robust understanding of our place in this universe. We are created in the image of God, and as the divine image bearers, we can use our capacity to invent technologies for the common God, which fulfills our creation mandate to have dominion over the world.
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