Equipped with Chris BrooksScientist and apologist Dr. John Lennox delves into the world of the future and the role of Artificial Intelligence. What is the scope of AI now and how will it grow over the next 60 years? Dr. Lennox invites us to consider the implications of AI and the definition of “human” as he points the way to our ultimate answers. Don't miss this in-depth conversation about the scope of science and the hope of Christianity.
Today's resource: 2084 and the AI Revolution
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This month's featured resource: Praying the Bible
Hey friends, please enjoy this encore presentation of equipped with Chris Barron. Well hey there folks, welcome to another exciting edition of equip with Chris Brooks. I am so glad you tuned in today. Why don't you strap on your seat belt? We've been praying for you. We're going to navigate through the contours of culture, as always, with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But before we do that, let me remind you, as always do, that this is the day that the Lord has made. He has given it as a gift, so that you and I might rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. One of the reasons why we can rejoice is because Jesus declares himself to be the way, the truth, and the life by saying that he is the truth. He is, uh, not only affirming his deity, but he is proclaiming that he is the measure of truth. And today we have big questions that we are asking about culture, about society, about ethics, and, yes, about what it means to be human. And I want to take up one of those big questions. What does it mean to be human? In particular, in light of the technological advancements that are being made in the realm of artificial intelligence? Now, when I say artificial intelligence, for some this evokes concern fear, fear, curiosity. What does it mean? Are we going to be taken over by robots? Is our society going to replace humanity? Well, in some ways the answer is is yes. It was a few years ago that I went to a large auto plant in Kentucky, and my friends there in Georgetown, Kentucky will know what I'm talking about. I went to a large auto plant there, and that this auto plant, I was amazed. It was an auto plant that had 7000 human workers, but 15,000 robotic machines, everything from robots to help to assemble the cars, to robots, to help to repair the machines that were assembling the cars. It was absolutely fascinating to walk the floor of this plant, and it helped me to understand that, man, the future of humanity is something we should be talking about, the future of what that means for us, not only economically and as it pertains to the workforce, but what does it mean theologically? What does it mean philosophically? What does it mean morally? So today, I want to take up that conversation with one of the most brilliant apologists of our time, Doctor John Lennox. He is an emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford. He's also an emeritus fellow in mathematics and philosophy of science at Green Templeton College. He's the author of numerous books, his most recent, 2080 for Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity. Doctor Lennox, how are you today?
Very well. Thank you very much. And nice to talk to you again, Chris.
Always a blessing. It is an encouragement to hear your voice. I continue to pray for you and your sweet Sally and thankful for the work that you're doing. 2084. Your newest book. I've been eager to talk to you about it and in many ways thrilled by the content. So I'll start with the basic question what provoked you? Doctor Lennox, to say, I need to take up this project, and I need to do it now.
Well, because I've always been interested in the nature of human beings, being both a scientist and a Christian, and very interested in the biblical account of the origin of human beings as made in the image of God. It's pretty obvious to anybody that follows what is going on, that artificial intelligence in one of its forms, artificial general intelligence is beginning to encroach on what we mean by human beings.
Yes.
And one of the books that stimulated me to do this was the best seller by Yuval Noah Harari, called Homo Deus the Man Who is God. And he describes in there the quest for a super intelligent being, whether human or not. I don't know, but it raises so many questions. I thought that it would be important for me to find out exactly, or try to find out exactly what is going on, and try and separate the hype and the science fiction from the reality and attempt to evaluate it. And as a result, I came up with 2084.
Maybe there's some scientists that are listening to us today that would love to join the conversation. Maybe you've been studying artificial intelligence. You're intrigued by AI. You're concerned about the future of humanity. And you like to ask Doctor Lennox a question? Please do so now. The number 8775675. That's 877548 3675. But if this field is new to you entirely, you have not surveyed the landscape of the literature. I just want you to know that 2084 is a very approachable book. It's not written to be distant or intimidating, but Doctor Lennox provides a clear overview of the current capacity of AI, its advantages, its disadvantages, and all the potential implications. I want you to find out more at our website. Equip radio.org. But again join the conversation now. 8775675877548 3675. Uh, Peter Atkins is someone that you've debated, uh, numerous times can find that on YouTube, but in an interesting way. He's an atheist, but in an interesting way. He had an impact on this book, didn't he?
He did indeed. We were travelling to University of the South of England, University of Southampton, where we had a fascinating debate which is actually on my website, John Lennox. Org and he asked me and I asked him what we were writing about. So when I told him what I was doing, he said, I've got a great title for you. And he said 2084. And immediately I thought, that's it. I don't.
Need to.
Look any further.
Yeah, I agree, that's that's brilliant. And obviously it harkens our memory of George Orwell. For those who are younger in our listenership or may not be familiar with George Orwell's phenomenal work. Can you talk about 1984 and the connection to 2084.
Well, 1984 is a dystopian novel by George Orwell imagining a future with a totalitarian state. And in it, there are phrases that we're all familiar with, like Big Brother and so on, and therefore some of the scenarios for advanced artificial intelligence or general artificial intelligence are dystopian. And therefore, uh, I thought this is an ideal title because we're much nearer, so to speak, to 2084 than we, um, were much nearer to seeing the technology that could fill 1984, because some of the stuff in 1984 has come to pass already.
So I'm going to mention some names, and then I'm going to ask a question. uh. Jenny. Grace. Herbie. Freddy. Sally. Lizzie. Jessica. Robin. Robin. Uh, Jonah and Jesse. These names are familiar to you, aren't they?
They are. They're my ten grandchildren.
So when you write about artificial intelligence, I guess the question is these sweet grandchildren of yours, should they be afraid of AI?
Well, there are different sides to AI. It's like saying, here is a knife. Should I be afraid of it? Well, yes, if it's going to be used to stab you. But no, if it's going to use the use to perform surgery on you. The point is that and this is part of the motivation for writing the book, there are aspects of AI that we should welcome, and I welcome the fact that not only are people in general working there, but it's a very good place for Christians to be. For example, the stunning work that Professor Rosalind Picard, who is a Christian, is doing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has developed AI systems that do very advanced facial recognition work on autistic children or children liable to seizures, and that helps her predict a seizure event and help her to avoid it. This is marvelous stuff. So we've got to separate the good from the bad. And another example which will illustrate things very well for most of your listeners X rays. If my lungs if I have difficulty with my breathing, then I can go and get a local x ray. But the person examines that is probably not the top person in the world. So suppose we take a million X-rays and get the top people in the world to label them with their respective diseases. And then my x ray is compared with each of those million very rapidly in an artificial, intelligent computer. And it comes up with a diagnosis and says you're most likely to have this disease. So it's compared my local x ray with a million certified x rays by the top people in the world, and that's already being used to get a diagnoses that are, on average, quite a lot better than I would get at my local hospital. So AI systems as diagnostic techniques are absolutely marvelous. But then on the other hand, we've got facial recognition systems a bit different from x rays that are being used to as surveillance techniques on citizens. For example, the Uyghurs in China who don't necessarily want that kind of intrusion and it's being used to control them. So similar systems are already being used. This is not the science fiction side of artificial intelligence. This is what's called narrow AI. And I should explain to the listeners, Chris, that narrow AI is simply this it's a computer system that works on the basis of looking for patterns in a lot of data, and as a result, it can do something very rapidly and efficiently that it normally takes a human intelligence to do. It's doing one thing like examining x rays or like telling you on your smartphone that people that bought the book you read last week should buy this other book. Yes, that's a single thing. But we got to realize it is artificial. It's not consciously intelligent. Human beings are conscious beings. These computers are not. That is why it's called artificial intelligence. It's almost a contradiction in terms because we tend to associate intelligence with consciousness.
You know, Doctor Lennox, I appreciate that overview. I live, as you know, in Detroit, Michigan, the home of automobiles. And the big conversation here for years have been self-driving automobiles. And there there are a number of individuals who work in that specific area, uh, for that, that attend our church and, uh, over meals. We've had many conversations about the moral implications. And I would love for you to help to frame for us before we go to break. Maybe take two minutes or so to frame for us the the moral and theological concern you have here.
Well, the moral and theological concern. Do you want me to talk about the I that's already working or the more futuristic type?
Let's start.
Real moral. Yes. Currently. Well, take, for example, what I've just mentioned with the smartphone that we wear voluntarily, interestingly a personal tracker. It's tracking where we are by a GPS system. It's tracking what we buy. And that information is fed into a vast database, which is used to recognize patterns in our buying and to suggest things we might like to buy in the future. So far, so good. And some of us find that useful. Some of us find it irritating. But what many of us don't know is that this information that's harvested from us goes way beyond what is necessary to do that kind of prediction. And it's being sold on as valuable information about us, valuable data, and it's being sold on because it's commercially valuable without our permission. And this is such a big issue. There's a brilliant book written about it by a retired professor at MIT, Shoshana Zuboff, and it's called Surveillance Capitalism. And so if you look at the surveillance techniques in the Communist world used against a population of Uighurs in China, I call that surveillance communism. But we have an equivalent thing operating in the West, and we are just not aware of what's going on. And she makes the point that this is in danger of unbalancing and destabilizing our society, because it's an extremely serious intrusion of our privacy. So it raises moral problems. But let's take another example.
Well, let's do this, Doctor Lennox. We're going to take a quick break because I want you to talk about the problem of evil. On the other side of this break. But folks, this is a very important conversation I want you to learn, but I also want you to join the conversation. Hopefully, you're taking notes like I am the book 2084. At our website, click radio.org our phone number to join the conversation. 8775675. Much more to come right after this. Do you want to deepen your prayer life but you don't know where to start? Praying the Bible. By doctor Don Whitney shows how anyone can have meaningful prayer times using Scripture as our guide. This transformative book reveals how the Bible, especially the Psalms, can fuel your prayer life with fresh language and God centered thoughts. Get your copy today. When you give a gift to equip, call 888644 4144 or give online at Equip radio.org. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded and we won't be taking your calls. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks having a very important and critical conversation with Doctor John Lenox, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, on his newest book, 2084 Artificial Intelligence The Future of Humanity and the God Question. I want to invite you to join the conversation for two reasons. Number one, this is one of the most important conversations of our time. Uh, the relationship between technology and what it means to be human. Both the advantages and disadvantages of artificial technology. Maybe you're in the field of science or technology and you would love to ask Doctor Lennox a question. I would encourage you to do so. 8775675877548 3675. Secondly, I would love for you to join the conversation because there are deep and profound moral implications around the use of artificial intelligence. No doubt there is much good that comes from this use of technology, but there's also a number of concerns that we as Christians should consider as well. So how do we as a as, as believers and followers of Jesus Christ, leverage our voice in a way that is both informed by the best of science and also informed by the best of Scripture. 8775675. That's 877548 3675. Doctor Lennox, you were talking about the problem of evil and framing the moral, uh, concerns around artificial intelligence.
Yes, I was indeed. And it's concerning many people right up to national and governmental level, because we live in an age of autonomous vehicles. Now, think of that. How are you going to program an AI system to drive a car? Cars will come into situations where the sensors might have to decide between knocking over an elderly person crossing a road, or smashing into a bus queue of young people. Or let's go to autonomous weapons. That raises even bigger moral questions. The idea that a system can pick a target and destroy the target without any human intervention. What ethical principles are going to be built into such systems. Now, folks are aware of this kind of thing, very aware of it. But the question I want to ask is who is in a sense in charge, what ethical principles are going to be used? And I'm glad to say that some of the major operators in the AI business realize that this is a problem for one simple reason, and it's this that technology is advancing much more rapidly than the ethical backup. And so we need to have thinkers, people of ethical and moral principle who get involved in this debate. And that's another reason why I wrote the book in order to encourage people to think about these things. Because although they may not understand the details of the technology, they can certainly easily understand what it's being used for and the moral problems that it creates.
Doctor Lennox, why is it important for Christians to have a voice in this discussion?
Because Christians have something to say about the moral structure of the universe. We live in the West, at least in a society that is increasingly dominated by atheism, by naturalism, by a belief system that actually thinks that morality is essentially something that we construct. And that's very risky, because if you add to that the postmodern questioning of truth and relativism, then it ends up saying that morality is relative. And that's obviously not true. We all know that there are certain things that are absolutely wrong, like torturing infants, for example. But by and large, our society is developing very rapidly, a very soft view of ethics. And that's not going to be robust enough to deal with these new technologies. Whereas the biblical view places at the center a God who created human beings in his own image and therefore gives them infinite value. And it's interesting that Jordan Peterson, in one of his talks in Genesis, points out that the Genesis statement that human beings are made in the image of God is the cornerstone of, of Western civilization. And then he says something like, man, you neglected at your peril. And therefore I, as a Christian, feel that it's very important to introduce the biblical standards and their source in God into this discussion so that people can see that there is an alternative, indeed, a life saving alternative to the kind of vague relativism that characterizes so much moral discussion today.
I'm so grateful for your willingness to call us to Christian voice and to speak into these issues, because when we are silent, we, in essence, are turning over the discussion to secular forces. Again, in your book, you say that the first big question is where do we come from? Why is that important to start there?
Because our idea of our origin determines our identity. When a person loses their memory, to give you a simple example, they sometimes end up not knowing who they are, and their friends have to come around them and remind them of things in the past to trigger that memory so that they can suddenly rediscover who they are. and that's why history is so important that if we fail to see that our identity is determined by our past, then we might be condemned to live through it again, so to speak. As one historian has remarked, and the same is true of the future. You see, if the past shapes identity, the future shapes hope. And if you're not sure about your past. And by that I mean I'm going back as a Christian to my origin in God. That gives me a stable concept of who I am. And if you've no real hope for the future, then that's a very sad situation. And it's interesting that the biblical worldview tends to come into most criticism where it's talking about either the past or the future, because these things are so crucial to our identity and to our hope. And that's why in my book, 2084, I want to write about both of those.
I think that is that's huge. And I want people to get a copy of the book. 2084 you go to our website, equip radio.org that's equip radio.org. Doctor Lennox, we're we're up against a break. But I do want want to do this. And I just want to kind of tease this out because I'm really interested in your chapter, chapter six, in the book on upgrading humans. Upgrading humans. That is a a big focus of conversation now. And we're going to take that up on the other side of this break. So if you're willing to stay with us, Doctor John Lennox, we will take a short break and come back to that. But folks, here's what I want you to do. I want you to join the conversation. You can do so in two ways. First, using technology for the good. Go to social media and join the conversation. On Facebook and Twitter. One of the other questions I'm going to talk to Doctor Lennox about is, is the question of algorithms. What is an algorithm and how are they shaping the way that we are encountering life today? I think you're going to be very intrigued by Doctor Lennox, his response to that question. But you can interact with us on social media, Facebook and Twitter there, but you can always call 8775675. That's 877548 3675. I want you to join the conversation there. Now these breaks are important because again, they give you the opportunity to not only join the conversation, but to order the resource. And folks, Doctor Lennox has written this book in a way where it is highly approachable. He could have written it in a number of different fashions, but I love the fact that he made it available to the masses. And though this is a maybe a heavy and heavy conversation for for you now it's an important conversation in particular, not only for this generation, but the generations that are to come. So go to our website, order a copy of 2084 and equip radio.org that's equip radio.org. We'll be right back with more with Doctor John Lennox on the other side of this break. Next up on equipped with Chris Brooks. Today's program has been pre-recorded so our phone lines are not open. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks having a fascinating conversation with Doctor John Lennox, emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, Christian apologist and author of the book 2084 Artificial Intelligence The Future of Humanity and the God Question. There's so many questions I'd like to ask Doctor Lennox. Maybe that's true for you as well. You can join the conversation at 8775675877548 3675. Uh, Doctor Lennox, uh, Pamela Mccorduck says this I began with an ancient wish to forge the gods. In some ways, she is echoing what Yuval Harari has been writing about. Talk a little bit about this and this quest to upgrade humanity.
Well, Harari's book is called Homo Deus, which is Latin for the man who is God. And his basic idea is this his agenda for the 21st century is that we're going to have to solve two problems. The first is to solve the problem of physical death, that he regards physical death as simply a technical problem that can be solved by technical means. That's the first thing. The second part of his agenda is that we're going to enhance human happiness by genetic engineering, by upgrading humans. He says we have been upgraded from animals. Now we want to upgrade and become gods with a small G. And this, of course, reminds you of the ancient story at the beginning of Genesis, where humanity was tempted to disobey God with the promise that they themselves would become as gods, and that has been deep in the human psyche for millennia. This sense that God, if there is a God, is against humans, he's trying to suppress them. Now that's absolutely wrong. God made humans in his image and gave them every advantage. But the lie has stuck, and it's why many people don't want to think about God because instinctively they feel God is against them. So this reaching for gods by our own technology reminds us of the Tower of Babel as well. So Harari says, right, we now have the capacity to deal with these things. We can abolish death. He doesn't mean that humans won't die. What he means is they won't have to die. That's his idea. And then by all kinds of means drugs, genetic engineering, or maybe even refashioning our bodies, upgrading us to such an extent that we may be able to transform or transfer our brain contents into silicon and therefore get rid of our dependence on organic material which perishes, all that kind of stuff. It's called the transhumanist vision. And that is what.
The bibliography of your book is worth the price of the book alone. You referenced Mark Oconnells book To Be a machine. It is a powerful book on this particular topic of transhumanism. But but I guess the question to make it as practical as possible for those that are listening is what then does that mean for the vulnerable in our society? You and I ascribe to a worldview that argues that all humans have intrinsic value. We are image bearers of God that would include those who are born with special needs or disabilities. But it seems like this vision of the future that Yuval Harari and others are motivated by pictures of a future in which vulnerabilities are not appreciated, It valued or tolerated.
Well, that's the huge danger. And there's a warning by one of the United States most distinguished commentators in this kind of thing. Leon Kass, who's a professor of social thought at the University of Chicago. And he says, we have paid some high prices for the technological conquest of nature, but none so high as the intellectual and spiritual cost of seeing nature as mere material for our manipulation, exploitation and transformation. With the powers of biological engineering gathering, there will be splendid new opportunities for similar degradation of our view of man. If we come to see ourselves as meat, then meat we shall become. Now that's a pretty grim view, but it it responds to what you're saying By it will. This sort of development will ignore, as you say, people with special needs and people who are disadvantaged. It will only be affordable by the very wealthy. So it will drive another huge wedge between the rich and the poor. And indeed, there's another aspect to this because I narrow, I the stuff that's working now is likely to render a whole class of people not only unemployed, but unemployable. And that's a huge problem for people, because God gave us work as part of what it means to be human, fully human. And when people yes, when people don't have work, they begin to sense that that there's something wrong. So there are huge issues here. And I think.
It seems to me, Doctor Lennox, that the Trojan horse of this whole thing is the promise that to do this allows us to prevent or end war or sickness, and that is a promise that humanity longs for. But yet it seems that we have entered again into Genesis in trying to become gods ourselves.
Well, that's exactly right. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to prevent sickness and help ourselves. But if it's at the expense of changing humanity into something different. C.S. Lewis has had a huge influence on me, and years ago he wrote two books, The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength, which is a science fiction novel. And he pointed out that if the scientists in the end are allowed to meddle with human nature and attempt Attempts to enhance it. Design something new that the product of that process will not be human. It will be an artifact that is something made by a group of scientists. And he has this chilling statement. He says the final triumph of humanity will be the abolition of man. And I take that that really seriously. And that's just another reason to re-orientate ourselves. Not everything that we can do is a good thing to do. We've got to decide. Yes, on the basis of what morality are we doing these things?
I want to read From the Abolition of Man. Here's what Lewis writes. What we call man's power over nature turns out to be a power exercised by some man over other men. With nature as its instrument. We need to be cautious here. And there is a broader admonishment here that I want us to take up later. And that is the call for Christians to enter into the fields of science rigorously and passionately, because we need Christian voice there. But there's a question that has been on my mind, and I think for every smartphone user, everyone who's using social media should be on your minds as well. Doctor Lennox, what is an algorithm and how are algorithms currently shaping and impacting our lives?
Well, an algorithm is a very familiar thing to someone who works in mathematics. It's a precisely defined set of logical operations to perform a particular task. And in arithmetic at school, we learned one of the most famous algorithms is named after the famous Euclid, the Greek mathematician. And it's a procedure used to find the greatest common divisor of two positive numbers. And in 300 BC, Euclid came up with this very clever idea for doing this. Now, people who haven't done any arithmetic needn't worry about it, but simply rules that could be implemented by a machine to get to a certain result. And there are thousands of different kinds of algorithms that are used today in all branches of science, engineering and medicine. And a prime example is robotics, where you have a robot to do a repeated task, to do it precisely, to do it 24 over seven, and to always do exactly the same single task again and again and again, and the algorithms that control that are embedded in computer software. And that's the way it works.
We're going to talk about a lot of things. But before we go to break, Doctor Lennox, I would love for you to make a quick argument, maybe a minute or so of why, in particular, young people that are listening to us today should consider going into the fields of science.
Well, science is absolutely fascinating, and Genesis, interestingly, gives us a mandate for doing it. God told the first humans to name the animals in the garden. Now naming things we call it taxonomy is the foundation of every intellectual discipline and in this case, biology. Go and name the creatures, the plants, the trees, the animals. And God told them to do it. And I find that as a wonderful mandate for doing science. Coming at the beginning of the Bible, God has made us in his image. And part of that image is intellectual curiosity. Finding out about the world, how it works, how it operates, what it consists of. And so I encourage young people with that kind of aptitude to go into science. It's very much a province for Christians.
We're going to take a short break when we come back. I hope you have not missed a connection here between artificial intelligence, intelligence, this discussion on the moral and theological framework around artificial intelligence and the gospel. I hope you've not missed that connection. But in case you have. What we're going to do when we come back is to ask Doctor Lennox, who is the true Homo Deus. I think this is the connection point that we need to make. We're going to take a short break here. The book is 2084. Uh, artificial intelligence, the future of humanity and the God Question. You can find out ordering information by going to our website. Equip radio.org. To our friends throughout the US and into Canada. I would encourage you to do so now also on our social media site. One of the things that we put up is a statement of faith that was written by the Erlc, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission on Artificial Intelligence. I would love to hear your thoughts about their framing of this from a theological perspective. Let's keep the conversation going. Go to Facebook and Twitter. Equip radio. That's equip radio on Facebook and Twitter. We'll be right back with more of equip right after this. When it comes to prayer, do you find yourself praying the same things in the same way that Donald Whitney offers a refreshingly simple solution pray the Bible back to God. I want you to experience meaningful conversations with God every day. That's why I chose Doctor Whitney's book, Praying the Bible as Our Gift. When you support equip this month, I'll send you your copy with a gift of any amount. To equip, simply call 888644 4144 or visit Equip radio.org. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded. While we won't be taking calls, we do want to connect with you on social media. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. Doctor John Lennox is my guest. The book 2084 Artificial Intelligence The Future of Humanity and the God Question. Doctor Lennox, we only have a few moments, but I want to land this plane in the heart of the gospel. Yuval Harari is looking for superintelligence. Uh, something with a sense of godhood as he looks at the future of humanity. But yet you, in your chapter ten of your book, helped to connect this to the gospel. So who is the true Homo Deus?
Well, this is the very interesting thing about Harari. He's got these two major problems he wants to solve the problem of physical death, and the problem of enhancing human intelligence and creating a superintelligence. And my short answer is that he's looking in the wrong place, that he's too late. First of all, the problem of physical death was so long ago when Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God and the question of superintelligence. There already exists in the universe a super intelligent human whose name is Jesus Christ, God incarnate, and the heart of the Christian message, which answers this stuff of hers directly, is the message that if we're prepared to repent of the mess we've made of our lives and other people's lives, maybe, and trust Christ for salvation, then we receive eternal life. And that means that one day when the true God man, when Jesus Himself returns, we shall be resurrected and live with him forever. So there are the answers to all of those questions. And the divine upgrade, as I call it, comes in two stages. Firstly, when we trust Christ, we are born again. That is, we receive the very life of God which will exist eternally. But then the next stage is when Homo Deus, that is, Christ himself Themselves returns. We are raised from the dead and upgraded into heaven. That's the real thing. The other is artificial and it may never happen. The biblical stuff has got strong evidence backing it up, and that is why I believe it with all my heart and mind.
I believe it as well, and I am grateful for the words of Isaiah who said this. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The beautiful truth of the gospel is not only is Jesus the God man, but he is the Savior of us all who takes the sin of the world upon himself. Praise God for that truth. Doctor Lennox?
Absolutely. And you see, that's a major. There's no evidence that they'll ever be able to solve the problem of physical death. But there is evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, and that is at the same time, evidence that he is going to return and he will return as judge. So there's a huge moral dimension. And that's why I have this great hope that the proper ruler of the earth will one day come in all his glory, and he will complete the salvation that he has promised to those who trust him. This is real big stuff, and there's nothing artificial about it.
You intrigued me by that last statement. We often don't hear much eschatology and preaching anymore. There was a time where that was the dominant theme. Why is it important that we not forget to to shape our message in the future. Hope that is promised through Jesus.
Because it's part of the essential Christian claim I don't understand quite. Although I do a little why people get embarrassed by it, that usually comes because of extreme interpretations of Scripture. But when we think of what Jesus himself said, he promised his disciples privately that he would return and receive them to himself. But when he was publicly put on trial, he used the words of the prophecy of Daniel, written 600 years or so before his time, and when the high priest challenged him and said, are you the Messiah? He said, yes, and you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, sitting on the right hand of God, and coming on the clouds of heaven. So it is central to his public claim that he would return. I mean, from a purely practical point of view, if Jesus is God, and the last time he was here, we crucified him. We cannot imagine we've heard the last of it.
Praise God, praise God for that truth. Doctor Lennox, there's so much that is in the book. It's it's it's in, in in many ways, not a large book by number of pages, but the content is so rich in helping us to survey the landscape of the AI conversation and, more importantly, connecting it to the theological truths of the gospel. I want to say thank you, as always, for the effort and work that you have put into this project. Thank you for helping us to think clearly, biblically, scientifically, and most of all with a future hope and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ. God bless you. Doctor Lennox.
And you. Thank you very much indeed. It's always a delight to talk to a former student of mine.
Always, always a privilege of mine as well. Folks, I want you to go to our website at Equip radio.org. Doctor Lennox has just helped us to understand everything from algorithms to transhumanism and how all of that fits into this conversation. Folks, the book is really a gift to us as Christians who say, maybe I have not spent eight years in in higher education learning about the science behind artificial intelligence, but yet I want to give a good Christian witness for this generation and the one to come. I encourage you go to our website, equip radio.org and social media as well. Can't wait till we're together again next time. Until then, equip with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
