The use of technology should be directed by Scripture 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2

God created us for a purpose and He sets boundaries around our activity on Earth so that our work fulfills our purpose.

The Purpose of technology should be to glorify God God created all things for His pleasure. Our activity then should be focused on bringing pleasure to God. What we invent and how we use it should contribute to this pleasure. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To God be the Glory Romans 11:36

1. Helping to alleviate the consequences of the curse The Christian West was the place where humanitarian technology arose. The monks distinguished between work and toil. Work was good and toil (a consequence of the fall) bad. Innovations such as the watermill, were broadly adopted to reduce toil. Because every person has innate value, the Christian community was dedicated to helping every person find freedom from the curse.

2. Affirming the innate value of every human because they are image bearers A worldview that values people will produce technology. Many of the ideals of the information age arose from a notion of the value of all people. In a time where knowledge is power, a means to spread knowledge broadly improves people lives. This idea of human equality originated in a biblical worldview.

3. Helping people to develop and live out their life call Technology is the magic of the mind. It is a marriage of mind and strength. Every calling relies on technology.

4. Preparing the world for the imminent return of Jesus A Christ-centered worldview is spreading at an exponential rate. Technology is facilitating this. The information superhighway is doing what the Roman roads did centuries ago, spreading biblical thinking to the furthest reaches of the known world. When the whole world knows, when select people from everywhere in the world are beginning to live their faith, Jesus will be able to return (according to His Words in Matthew 24)

Choosing and using technology based on this philosophy If we approach technology from a Christ- centered perspective, we will be equipped to master it. Admittedly the bigger variable in this equation is our own ability to self-manage. Innovations such as iPads are not innately good or evil, they actually magnify and reinforce qualities we already possess. In order to redemptively manage our devices we have to be redemptively self-managed

iPad—the good, the bad, and the ugly

The Good Excellent functionality Rich educational environment Brilliantly accommodates individualization Great for text based learning Portable An all in one educational environment The place for textbooks in the very near future

The Bad Prefers images to words Hard to manage Hard to prioritize Fosters short attention span Can create ADHD learners Makes mindless copying and pasting too easy

The Ugly It’s portal approach to the internet makes filtering evil content a challenge Isolates people in a significant way Facilitates secrecy and addictive tendencies Undermines literacy if its rich reproduction of images becomes its primary use.

Final Thought The impact of technology depends on the intent of the user. When the user is motivated to bring glory to God in all of the complex ways that this is done, the result is a better world and growing body of Christ. This is what we should all aim to do with the old and new tools we have access to. Let us build the kingdom of God with every means possible. This work is the only activity that will continue past the end of history.