Continuing the faith and politics series, James Spencer and Ashish Varma turn to artificial intelligence — starting with the data centers going up across the country, which consume enormous land, power, and water while generating far fewer local jobs than the factories and mills they're often compared to.

From there the conversation widens. Both push on the promise of efficiency: whether a technology that lets you work faster has actually given anyone time back, what gets lost when a middle schooler reaches for the calculator instead of the long-form work, and why the steps toward a goal may matter as much as the goal. James introduces the idea of the tyranny of small decisions — that we adopt technologies one at a time, with clear near-term benefits and no view of where the accumulation leads — and argues that Christians at least have a telos against which to measure the trade.

They also discuss what a soft transhumanism looks like when it becomes ambient, why converging interests don't require a conspiracy, and where ordinary practices of resistance are still available.

Chapters (approximate, from speaker turns — verify against the final cut):

00:00 Data centers: land, power, water, and jobs that don't come

02:25 Does theology touch everyday life at all?

06:39 The efficiency promise, and what it actually delivered

12:49 Efficiency for whom? Paper, batteries, and hidden costs

15:00 The calculator, the long way, and what process builds

16:30 Phil Jackson and trusting the steps

18:33 The tyranny of small decisions

22:45 No telos, no way to weigh a trade-off

25:06 What would you give up to not have the data center?

26:00 Sealed devices and the compromises we already made

32:17 Vinyl, print books, flip phones: the analog return

36:29 Practices of resistance: skip the summary, read the page

43:10 Local action and Hauerwas on assimilation

45:27 Converging interests aren't a conspiracy

51:00 Soft transhumanism and the limits we can't engineer away

58:20 Bodies that need to move, creation that has limits

1:02:00 Atrophy: what we lose the capacity to do

 

Continuing the faith and politics series, James Spencer and Ashish Varma turn to artificial intelligence &mdash; starting with the data centers going up across the country, which consume enormous land, power, and water while generating far fewer local jobs than the factories and mills they're often compared to.
From there the conversation widens. Both push on the promise of efficiency: whether a technology that lets you work faster has actually given anyone time back, what gets lost when a middle schooler reaches for the calculator instead of the long-form work, and why the steps toward a goal may matter as much as the goal. James introduces the idea of the tyranny of small decisions &mdash; that we adopt technologies one at a time, with clear near-term benefits and no view of where the accumulation leads &mdash; and argues that Christians at least have a telos against which to measure the trade.
They also discuss what a soft transhumanism looks like when it becomes ambient, why converging interests don't require a conspiracy, and where ordinary practices of resistance are still available.
Chapters (approximate, from speaker turns &mdash; verify against the final cut):
00:00 Data centers: land, power, water, and jobs that don't come
02:25 Does theology touch everyday life at all?
06:39 The efficiency promise, and what it actually delivered
12:49 Efficiency for whom? Paper, batteries, and hidden costs
15:00 The calculator, the long way, and what process builds
16:30 Phil Jackson and trusting the steps
18:33 The tyranny of small decisions
22:45 No telos, no way to weigh a trade-off
25:06 What would you give up to not have the data center?
26:00 Sealed devices and the compromises we already made
32:17 Vinyl, print books, flip phones: the analog return
36:29 Practices of resistance: skip the summary, read the page
43:10 Local action and Hauerwas on assimilation
45:27 Converging interests aren't a conspiracy
51:00 Soft transhumanism and the limits we can't engineer away
58:20 Bodies that need to move, creation that has limits
1:02:00 Atrophy: what we lose the capacity to do
&nbsp;

Thinking Christian is a podcast hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

James and Ashish talk with scholars, pastors, and authors about Scripture and theology, biblical manhood and discipleship, technology and AI, Christian nationalism and politics, church history, and faith and mental health. 

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.

Episodes, transcripts, articles, and questions: https://www.thinkingchristian.org

Thinking Christian is a podcast hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
James and Ashish talk with scholars, pastors, and authors about Scripture and theology, biblical manhood and discipleship, technology and AI, Christian nationalism and politics, church history, and faith and mental health.&nbsp;
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, transcripts, articles, and questions: https://www.thinkingchristian.org

Thinking Christian with Dr. James Spencer reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers. Each week, James, co-host Dr. Ashish Varma, and guests (biblical scholars, theologians, pastors, and authors) take up the questions Christians face: politics and Christian nationalism, technology and AI, biblical manhood, suffering and mental health, how to read Scripture well, and what faithful discipleship looks like now. Calm, careful, and grounded in the text. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, transcripts, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Thinking Christian with Drs. James Spencer and Ashish Varma

Christians shouldn’t just think. They should think Christian. Join Dr. James Spencer and guests for calm, thoughtful, theological discussions about a variety of topics Christians face every day. The Thinking Christian Podcast will help you grow spiritually and learn theology as you seek to be faithful in a world that is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny Christ.

Find more from James at https://www.thinkingchristian.org/.

Christians shouldn&rsquo;t just think. They should think Christian. Join Dr. James Spencer and guests for calm, thoughtful, theological discussions about a variety of topics Christians face every day. The Thinking Christian Podcast will help you grow spiritually and learn theology as you seek to be faithful in a world that is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny Christ.
Find more from James at <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">https://www.thinkingchristian.org/</a>.

Thinking Christian: Clear Theology for a Confusing World

Who Pays for the Data Center? AI, Politics, and Faith: Politics and Faith #14

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/b1dbba38-f988-4ef0-a6ac-b4b20159dcf9/transcript