AI in our Future Part 8: The Antichrist, the Mark, the Number … and AI – PART TWO

In Part One, I laid the biblical and theological groundwork: who the Antichrist is, what the Mark and the Number have meant across the interpretive traditions, and why the arrival of powerful AI presses these ancient questions on us with fresh urgency. Now I want to bring all of that down to ground level. The doctrine matters little if it does not shape how we live, and AI is no longer a distant prospect but a daily companion in our work, our studies, and our devotions. So the question of this article is not “What is the Beast?” but “How then shall I live faithfully when the Beast’s pattern starts to show up in the systems I use every day?” What follows is pastoral rather than speculative - an attempt to mark out where the line of fidelity actually falls, and how to stand on the right side of it. I introduced some thoughts concerning The Antichrist in an article that prefaced this current series. In this current article, I want to focus on concrete practical things rather than speculation, so just to catch you up, here is an extract: In the article AI – The Good, the Bad, and the Mysterious I wrote the following: There are two well-known passages in the Old Testament, one in Isaiah and one in Ezekiel, that most Evangelical scholars agree are addressing the evil spiritual being motivating the two pagan Kings who are the initial subjects of the prophecies. Isaiah 14:12-14 reads, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star (Lucifer), son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Ezekiel 28:12-16 reads, “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty … You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you … So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” Lucifer, Satan, the fallen Archangel, wanted to be like God and rule the creation with no accountability to the one true God. This has remained his burning ambition to this day. Now consider what he would have to counterfeit to persuade the people of Earth to believe that he is God, not the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true ruler of creation. Well, what are the defining attributes of God? His Omnipotence (all-powerful), Omniscience (all-knowing), Omnipresence (everywhere), and Omnibenevolence (perfectly good). He would also have to seem able to create life. So, if he could produce a new form of ‘life’, never seen on Earth, a digital life, then he could perhaps persuade people to believe that he was a true creator. An Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) could be the basis for a claim to Omniscience. The AI developers are competing fiercely with each other to produce just such a god-like AI. Now pair this with Quantum computing and the World Wide Web (internet), and you have a deceptive claim to Omnipotence and Omnipresence. The really tricky one for him to pull off would be to convince people that he was perfectly good (Omnibenevolent). Well, Paul addresses this in 2 Thessalonians Chapter two – here is an edited version of verses 1-12: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day (the second coming of Jesus) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God … The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion (The Great Deception) so that they will believe the lie …” The powerful delusion will include the lie that Satan is actually absolutely good and has their best interests at heart. AI could certainly demonstrate that attribute … for a while. Now I want to devote the rest of this article to the very practical issues we as Christians need to confront as we go into the age where AI could be anything from a useful tool, to a job and identity threat, to a silicon representative of the devil. Only God knows the extent of the changes racing up on us, but we need to understand how we should respond to a range of eventualities. Fidelity Under Pressure The challenge that AI brings to the 21st century is not much different in essence to the challenges faced by people of all ages. Adam and Eve in Eden, the people of God in Egypt, the Jews and Christians in Nazi Germany … In every age, the real challenge was not persecution or hardship but the satanic demand to bow before him as god. It was a question of fidelity to God as Lord, Saviour, and Sustainer. The Red Line For Christians in every country and in every age, the challenge doesn’t usually come as starkly and brutally. Instead, it comes gradually and incrementally. There is even a special word for it - ‘backsliding’. The slow slipping back from the spiritual heights of new birth into apathy, indifference and, if not reversed, irredeemable death of the spirit. I know that some teach that once-saved-always-saved, a doctrine that disguises the lethal threat of backsliding. But, I hold firmly that passages like Hebrews 10:26-31 cannot be read with integrity in any other way than their first intended meaning. However, and it is a big however, the Red Line between backsliding and total apostasy is as distinct as that which lies between spiritual ‘death’ and New Birth. A new spiritual life is a gift of salvation and cannot be earned or generated, but it requires from us a definite act of will – “I am lost and spiritually dead – I am sorry for rebelling against you – I accept fully that you Jesus, are Lord and God – I ask you now to give me new spiritual life – I commit all of my life to you”. I am stressing all this because it sets backsliding in its proper context and reveals its lethal threat. In the same way, the threat of AI is its ability to draw us right up to the Red Line and make it terribly easy to step over it of our own volition. Here is the key statement that will guide us through all the discussions and examples that follow in this article. The Line between Life and Death “The line between wise engagement with the world’s systems, and AI in particular, and apostasy is drawn at the point where using them requires the transfer of ultimate allegiance, trust, or obedience away from Jesus Christ” Apostasy is the deliberate, knowing abandonment of Jesus Christ. Backsliding, as it progresses, is a form of idolatry, but between this and apostasy lies a wide territory that requires discernment and resolve to navigate. Idolatry usually entails the gradual replacement of God with something else as the source of security, identity, meaning, and ultimate authority. It is whatever one trusts or serves above God. It begins the moment security in the ‘system’ starts to feel more real than security in God’s providence. And such idolatry, not checked and reversed, leads us up to the Red Line beyond which lies the dark land of apostasy and spiritual death. Now on to some Practical Examples First, what is allowed, and then what is disallowed. What is Allowed Some wrong thinking I often encounter among Christians is that all worldly systems are ungodly - be they identity systems, credit cards, microchips or government laws and policies that are not biblical. Well, here is the thing. In Romans 13:1-2, it reads ‘Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.’ Peter wrote along similar lines: ‘Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king.’ (1 Peter 2:13-17) And remember that at the time these were penned, the known world was ruled by Rome and its emperors. So, the first point under this heading is ‘Engagement with governing systems is not only permitted but expected. Withdrawal from world systems is not the default Christian stance’ This same principle has to apply to AI because if it did not, then all of us would be either living as stone-age Neanderthals or outright idolaters! AI is more than a tool, but it is a very powerful tool. To choose not to use AI is to disadvantage yourself in many areas of daily life and business without benefit. Much like a Neanderthal offered a sharp knife, but deciding not to touch it because it might be from the thunder god in the sky who would kill him with it. So, my advice is: Use AI, but never let it use you. Always be in control....