Almost every new technology has been responded to with wild warnings about how it was the antichrist or, at least, its pathway to power. Even those who were not educated enough in the Scriptures to know what the antichrist is considered these new technologies to be the doom of civilization and thought that machines would take us over.

       I have studied the prophecies of the antichrist for many years, but I have seen nothing to indicate that it is anything but a human deceiver who will seek to be a substitute for Christ, the true Savior and our Creator. Many technologies have been assumed to be a part of the “mark of the beast,” which they could be, but to date, all such suspicions have only been distractions.

       Consider that when Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were proposing electrical grids to provide light and power to every household, many Christians considered them to be tools of the antichrist. Of course, those of us who experienced the development of computers can remember how they were considered the same, especially personal computers. Then, the internet, and then social media, brought the same warnings. I believe all of these warnings that they could be used for evil were accurate in some ways—and they certainly have been—but this is also a false premise if we do not include how the Lord has used them.

       Of course, we can expect the antichrist spirits that are in the world, of which we are told there are many, to use all these things to seek the corruption and deception of mankind. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be no different. However, the Lord is also using them all very effectively. So, how do we distinguish what the Spirit of God is doing from what an antichrist spirit is doing? We do this by knowing the Spirit of the Lord so well that we can quickly and easily discern any other spirit and reject it.

       Technology is neither good nor evil, but this will be determined by who uses it, and almost all technology gets used for both good and evil. That forces us to judge use by its fruit. Since the beginning of the Reformation over 500 years ago, the gospel has tended to use technology as its main road into the world. The gospel’s greatest advances began with the first printing press and have made great use of every technological development in communications since.

       The first item printed on the Gutenberg printing press was the Bible. That Bible not only fueled the Reformation but helped it become established on sound biblical truth, which gave the Reformation the longevity to continue moving in the world today. Like this, technology has continued to be a highway by which the gospel has spread.

       Those who had powerful messages and teachings but rejected the technology of the times out of fear inevitably saw their voices and influence shrink. This is unfortunate; by doing this, many surrendered the podium of the day to those who would use the technology but did not have the depth of sound biblical truth that the body of Christ needed, allowing the superficial to lead in their times.

       We can count on AI to be used for good and evil, just as all technology is. My prayer is that those who have the depth to know that the truth is always found in the Spirit, which 1 Corinthians 2:10 says “searches the deep things,” will embrace this technology and not just leave it to the shallow, or worse, the deceivers and antichrists.

       I wrote my first book on a typewriter. Every edit took a rewrite of the entire book. It took me about five years from my first draft to getting the book published. That was five years of really hard work. I’ve now published over one hundred books, some of which were bestsellers in fifty languages, which I neither speak nor understand. These have had a major impact in many nations, many of which I have never visited but in which I am considered a major influence.

       If I had not bought one of the first personal computers and learned to use a word processor, I don’t think I could have written even a half dozen books. There is no way I could do all of the other writing I do, such as this Word for the Week and more articles than I have counted, without the advancing technology of our times. Now AI has opened doors to a greatly expanded reach for all of these. We are now working on putting out our books, The MorningStar Journal, and other messages in almost every major language. 

       My point is that if the true messengers and teachers do not learn to use the cutting-edge technology for the gospel, the less worthy and even the pseudo or false messengers will fill that vacuum. We must learn to discern the spirit behind everything that is produced. We must know our Shepherd and Teacher’s voice so well that we quickly discern any that are not Him. That is a lot easier than trying to discern the spirit of a technology, because it does not have one.

 

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