Thinking Biblically About Technology

Out of all these nations, God chose Abraham and promised to bless him, and make him into a great nation so that in him all peoples on earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:2–3). This is the third element in the biblical framework: redemption. After delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God declares, “… you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). As a kingdom of priests, Israel was to mediate between God and the nations. They would do this by obeying the Law (Deut. 4:5–8). Wright argues that because God is a morally consistent God, and He desires the nations to come to Him through Israel’s obedience of the law, what he requires of Israel must be based on principles that have universal validity. [7] 

 

In Deut. 22:8, we find a little known law, which I think should be included in our biblical reflection on technology: “When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.” This law can be seen as the concrete expression of the primary command to the Israelites to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). What objectives/principles can we draw from this law? The parapet was a safety feature that the owner of the house had to erect to protect people from falling off the roof. Those who did not make a parapet around the roof would be guilty of bloodshed if someone were to fall from the roof. The principle here is that designers and builders must include safety features or guardrails when they use technology to build systems, which must protect users and not cause them harm.

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On their journey to the Promised Land, we see God blessed Abraham’s descendants by dwelling with them in the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:8, 22). But similar skills were used to cast the golden calf, which the Israelites worshipped (Ex. 32:1ff). [8]

 

Temple technology​​

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Technology at its best can be seen in the building of the temple in Jerusalem during Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 5–8). The temple was the place where God’s people could meet Him, where they could worship him and bring their petitions, and where foreigners could come to pray to the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:28–53). But Jeroboam made two golden calves, set in Bethel and Dan, for the Israelites to worship (1 Kings 12:26–33). He also built temples, where sacrifices were offered to other gods. Other kings also made places and idols for worship, e.g., King Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites (2 Kings 11:7–8); King Ahaz saw an altar in Damascus and ordered a similar altar to be made, where he offered sacrifices and offerings (2 Kings 16). Technology can be used to glorify God or for idolatry.

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Because of their idolatry, which continued for many generations, God sent them into exile. After their return from exile, they rebuilt the temple for the Lord, for Solomon’s temple had been destroyed during the Babylonian invasion (Ezra 3:8–10; 6:14–16).

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By the end of the Old Testament account, God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:2–3 remained unfulfilled: they were no longer a great nation but subject to foreign powers, and they were certainly not a blessing to all peoples on earth.

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In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ came to fulfil the Abrahamic promise of blessing all peoples on earth. He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), but he was without sin. His death and resurrection bring reconciliation between God and sinful humankind. There was no more need for the temple in Jerusalem, which Herod the Great started rebuilding in 19 BC, and his son Herod Antipas continued the work. No doubt all the best available technological skills and resources were used to erect such a great and magnificent building.

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According to the first-century AD Jewish historian Josephus, Herod undertook the great work of building the temple, “esteeming it to be the most glorious of all his actions, as it really was, to bring it to perfection, and that this would be sufficient for an everlasting memorial of him.” [9] Josephus remarks on the beauty and magnificence of the temple: “Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men's minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were coming to it at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceeding white.” [10]

Jesus’ disciples were awed by the temple: “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” (Mark 13:1). Jesus’ response was not admiration but a pronouncement of judgment on the temple: “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (13:2). Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled when the temple (which was finally completed in AD 63) was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Like the Tower of Babel, Herod’s vanity project came under God’s judgment.

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Jesus pronounced judgment on the temple because it had become corrupt and a place for people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. Jesus said to the people in the temple: “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16). Then he declared, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” John tells us that the temple he had spoken of was his body (2:21). So Jesus’ death on the cross reconciled humankind to God. There was no need for sacrifices to be made in the temple.

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The community of God’s people, living under God’s rule, are still responsible “servant kings”. We are to use his gifts and resources to develop technology which can be used for the benefit of all of God’s creation. This may be costly but that is part of the cross that we need to bear when we follow Jesus.

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[7] See Wright’s theological presuppositions in Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 314–321. He suggests four steps to draw principles from OT Law for today: 1) What kind of law is this? 2) Is the law central or peripheral to the overall social structure of Israel? 3) What was the objective/s of the law in Israel? 4) Preserve the objective/s, and move to our context now.

[8] See also Isa. 40:18–19; 44:9–20.

[9] Josephus, Antiquities 380.

[10] Josephus, Jewish Wars 5.5.6