What Does The Bible Say About AI Session 2: A Theology of Work

Theology of WorkTo begin the biblical conversation of Artificial Intelligence, we are going to go back almost to the very beginning. The early stories of Genesis reveal several key things about the nature of humanity that speak directly to this cultural moment. Having Meaningful Work to do is essential to our Humanity.Work is a good thing to be embraced, not a punishment to be avoided.God Worked“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” Genesis 2:1Adam and Eve Worked Before the Fall“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” -Genesis 2:15“But for Adam no suitable helper was found… Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib.” -Genesis 2:20-22Adam and Eve were tasked together with the essential care of God’s garden. There was good work to be done and God had entrusted it to them.As an aside, the good work of humanity includes far more than just our vocation. In fact our vocation it just a small part of the work of our lives. Included in the good work is the worship of God, the service of others, the building of meaningful community, the development of marriage and children, caring for aging parents. The list goes on and on. For the formation of our souls and the goodness of our world this work needs to be done by us for this work is deeply human. In doing this work faithfully we grow to be more Christlike.The Temptation of a Short CutWork, like everything else, has been impacted by the Fall. As a result all of this is harder than it used to be. It would sure be nice if I didn’t have to do all of that hard work. If there was a short cut. Unfortunately, it was a short cut that got us into this mess.You Can Be Like God…“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5This desire to be like God is the first and greatest human temptation. It ensnared Adam and Eve and it has been ensnaring humanity ever since. We want to decide, we want to choose, we want to be in the place of God. We want to be like God on our terms not His. This brings us to AI.Questions:We discussed how work is an important part of our humanity. What good and beautiful work has God put before you?Why is it important that you do it and not someone else?What is a hard-won lesson from your life that you only learned through hardship?