Braving the Future: Christian Faith in a World of Limitless Tech

by Douglas Estes

Humanity is nearing a technological tipping point. The blistering pace of technological, scientific, and social change is ushering in an era in which human bodies merge with devices, corporations know everything about us, and artificial intelligence develops human and even godlike potential. In possession of the most powerful tools history has ever seen, we will be faced with questions about wisdom, authority, faith, desire, and what it means to be human. In Braving the Future , Douglas Estes equips Christians to thoughtfully and prayerfully prepare for a future of technological reign that is rapidly expanding. Drawing on Scripture, Christian tradition, and scientific literature, Estes offers a theology of work, creation, and personhood that is both prophetic and sturdy enough to keep pace with the technology of a future as yet unknown. He helps readers choose trust in God over fearful retreat and following Jesus over uncritical engagement with technology. The future may not look exactly like a science fiction movie, but are we ready to brave a future of limitless tech and boundless change?

Genres: Church

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 30, 2018

Reviews

[Taylor Barkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best part is the conclusion of each chapter. I found some new insights into biblical tech perspectives there. A fine place to start on this subject.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book that is also very accessible and I could hand out to anyone in my church. He gives a simple description of various technologies, already they are already being used, what they could do in the future, and what their false promises are. He then gives a contrasting attribute of God as a guard against believing in the false promises of each technology. The primary concern of much of technology is not the thing itself but the ideology of transhumanism behind it.

As for criticism, he takes a instrumental view of technology and his optimism seems to be rooted in these created things being an impossible threat to who God is. There are times he says these technologies could be abused to dehumanize people. I’m not convinced the philosophy of technology as purely instrumental is sufficient to undercut the affects it has on people or ways we need to actively resist its ideological underpinnings. It’s affect on us is more subtle and passive than an active shaping. It seems more credence could have been given to the warnings of technological “determinists.” The primary issue though is technology has a way of implicitly shaping our imagination of what could be in a way that is a serious problem. We tend to overlook its limitations and dangers in the hopes it will solve our big problems as while as our minor inconveniences.

Douglas (a friend of mine I should add) accomplishes his primary goal of helping Christians not freak out and trust God. So overall this is a good place to begin for most Christians before they may read those who speak as if the sky is falling before the robots take over.

[Ruth Showalter]

I was hoping to get something of a positive vision of technology and the future that could help mitigate my natural pessimism about the subject. It did that. It dovetailed with the book igen. I passed it on to church library.