The question at the heart of this article may seem a little amusing. An ardent opponent of AI might pose it not because they genuinely want an answer, but because they want to end the conversation. “Well, would Jesus have used AI?” In their minds, the answer is obviously no!
On the other hand, it would be silly to say that Jesus would have used AI to draft the Sermon on the Mount. As parents, we should bring faith into everyday conversations with our children. This question frames AI more helpfully when we don’t approach it with an all-or-nothing mindset. To begin, consider how Jesus interacted with the world of his day.
What Technology Did Jesus Use?
Jesus did not take on flesh in a vacuum. He lived among people who used the technologies of their day, and he likely used many of them himself. First-century Capernaum, where Jesus based much of his ministry, had a population of about 1,500 and relied primarily on fishing.1 Jesus also worked as a tektōn, traditionally translated from the Greek as carpenter. He likely produced wooden farm equipment such as carts, plows, winnowing forks, and yokes, along with structural components including doors, frames, posts, and beams.3 Yet his work may have extended beyond woodworking. The Greek term tektōn also encompassed skilled workers who worked with stone and metal. In first-century Galilee, this likely meant that Jesus also worked as a stonemason.4
Jesus would have been well acquainted with the tools of his day. Carpenters used pencils, planes, saws, hammers, axes, adzes, chisels, plumb lines, drills, and files. They formed joints with dowels and nails, and used mortised, dovetailed, and mitered techniques.5 By Roman times, various types of wood planes and spoke-shaves were also in use.6 This context matters for a key observation: Jesus did not reject the technology of his day simply because it could be used for evil. Consider the tools in the list above. Could any—or even all—of them be used for evil?
Throughout Scripture, a consistent theme emerges: the tool itself is not the problem; what matters is the heart of the person who uses it.
A Theology of Technology
When God created the world, it was good.7 Yet the Garden was left unfinished. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to form and fill it—participating in the creative cultivation of God’s creation. But by Genesis 3, sin had entered the world, distorting humanity’s minds, desires, work, and relationships. As a result, the tools we make can express both our God-given creativity and our fallen nature.
These two realities appear side by side in Genesis 4. Cain’s descendants develop livestock practices, musical instruments, and tools made of bronze and iron. The text does not condemn these technologies. Yet these developments emerge within the same family line in which Lamech boasts about violence. Human creativity and human sin advance side by side.
Then, in Genesis 11, people develop the ability to make bricks and mortar. This is a genuine technological achievement, and neither bricks nor mortar is evil in itself. Yet people use this new capacity to build the tower at Babel. Driven by their sinful desires, they seek to make a name for themselves and resist God’s command to fill the earth.
The technology did not create their pride; it amplified what proud people could accomplish.
When thinking about tools, we must remember the hand that holds them. A hammer can build a house, or function as a weapon. An ax can break into a home, or chop firewood on a family camping trip. Even technology created and intended for evil purposes may have a redemptive use in the right hands. Mustard gas, for example, was developed as a chemical weapon, but researchers later discovered that related chemistry could be redirected to destroy cancer cells.8 What was intended for evil could later be used for redemptive purposes.
A Christian Perspective of AI
When we consider whether Jesus would have used AI, two guardrails provide a helpful starting point. First, Jesus would not have used any technology for evil purposes. Second, Jesus used the technologies available to him for creative and good purposes. With those guardrails in place, consider the possibilities with a little tongue-in-cheek humor. Managing twelve teenage-to-young-adult men was no small task. Could AI have helped plan meals for their journeys between towns, optimize their travel routes, or summarize Jesus’ instructions to the disciples about finding a colt fit for the Messiah? Perhaps.
Technology may help you and me become more efficient, but we must remain watchful that efficiency does not come at the expense of integrity or obedience to God’s commands.
For example, Jesus would not have used AI to write The Sermon on the Mount and then pass it off as his own work.
Someone might object, “Jesus would not have needed AI because he was omniscient.” But Jesus took on flesh and modeled a virtuous life that depended on the Spirit. He grew in wisdom and asked his teachers questions.9 He did not use his divine nature to bypass the valuable human process of wrestling with Scripture in the name of efficiency. Neither should we when it comes to AI.
As Christians parents, we must bring every area of life under the lordship of Christ and seek redemptive uses for the tools at our disposal. For example, my wife homeschools our kids, and she found an AI-based software that dynamically schedules her lesson plans. If the kids miss a day due to illness, the software reorganizes the rest of the year to help them stay on track. Amazing!
As my children grow older, I plan to teach them to use AI as a research tool without allowing it to do their writing. The goal is to help them develop critical-thinking skills rather than outsource the thinking itself. So press on. Teach your children to embrace what is redemptive and reject what is foolish and evil.
By Richard Eng
To dig even deeper into this topic, check out Arlene Pellicane’s free book, The Great Tech Reset: Reclaiming Real Life for Christian Families.