Modern Tools and Timeless Truths

BRUCE  LICHT

I was not alive for the discovery of the wheel, the printing press, the lightbulb, automobiles, or airplanes, but I am old enough to remember some amazing advancements. I remember when phones had to be connected to walls. I remember having to go home to listen to messages on my answering machine. I remember getting CDs(1) in the mail from America Online and sending my first instant message.  I remember sending my first text on my Motorola flip phone.  I remember my first smartphone with apps.  These were all amazing discoveries, but can’t God speak to you wherever you are, record conversations, send someone an instant message, or take a picture? Modern technologies should be seen not as human inventions, but rather as human discoveries that imitate or replicate God’s timeless divine attributes.(2)

We now have GPS and navigation apps that rely on satellites to tell us how to avoid traffic and find our destination. But can’t God guide our steps, straighten our paths, and direct us to where we ought to be going in life?

We now have facial recognition and surveillance cameras that can identify us in a crowd, unlock phones, and record all our movements.  But doesn’t God know who we are, where we go, and understand our deepest thoughts, far beyond any camera's view?

We now have artificial intelligence programs that act as creators by writing text, creating images, and composing music from simple prompts. But didn’t God originally create the entire universe out of nothing?  So, isn’t AI really just rearranging what God already produced?

We now have 3D printers and bioprinting which allow scientists to print artificial tissues, organs, tools, and complex structures from raw materials.  But isn’t God the ultimate Creator who breathed life into inanimate matter, a miraculous feat that no technology can replicate?

We now have streaming services with endless, on-demand entertainment at our fingertips.  But doesn’t God offer spiritual satisfaction, peace, and joy that truly fulfills, unlike the temporary distraction of media?

We now have lie detector machines that can tell if you're telling the truth. But doesn’t God know what’s in your heart and when you are not being truthful?

Ultimately, these advancements are not mere human triumphs, but glimpses into many divine attributes that are already present in God.   While technology attempts to mimic omniscience and omnipresence, these tools remain inherently limited, temporary, and subject to decay.  They are not independent creators, but rather, function as reflections of the Creator, utilizing the laws of nature and resources that He established from the beginning. While modern tools offer convenience and temporary satisfaction, they cannot fulfill one’s deep spiritual longing, give actual eternal life, or offer genuine peace as God does.  So instead of making technology our idol, we should see it as a signpost directing us to recognize God’s supreme power, wisdom, and presence. These innovations exist simply as useful tools that dimly reflect God’s unrivaled capabilities.  They point to the God who exists and is all around us.(3)