Tony Reinke
Crossway Books
9781433578274
320pp, pbk
Book website here
Recent years has seen Christians are becoming aware of the impact of technology on cultural life. Although technology has always been with us, from the time Adam used a branch to reach fruit on a tree (as Calvin Seerveld observes) it is good to see books written on a Christian view of technology (see a list here). The 1986 book Responsible Technology was one of the first in recent decades to take it seriously. They pointed out that technology was not a neutral activity and that it must be done under the Lordship of Christ. One of the authors of that book Egbert Schuurman has written extensively on the impact of technology.
It is good to see that Christians are taking this issue seriously and in the last 12 months has seen several books on this topic. One of them is this book by Tony Reinke. Reinke is no stranger to technology he has previously written on 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You. In this book, he examines the border effects of technology ostensibly drawing on the insights of John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Jacques Ellul, Wendell Berry, Kevin Kelly, Elon Musk, and Yuval Noah Harari.
He identifies and debunks 12 common myths regarding faith and technology. These are:
Myth 1: Human innovation is an inorganic imposition forced onto the created order.
Myth 2: Humans set the technological limits and possibilities over creation.
Myth 3: Human innovation is autonomous, unlimited, and unchecked.
Myth 4: God is unrelated to the improvements of human innovation.
Myth 5: Non-Christian inventors cannot fulfill the will of God.
Myth 6: God will send the most beneficial innovations through Christians.
Myth 7: Humans can unleash techno-powers beyond the control of God.
Myth 8: Innovations are good as long as they are pragmatically useful.
Myth 9: God governs only virtuous technologies.
Myth 10: God didn’t have the iPhone in mind when he created the world.
Myth 11: Our discovery of atomic power was a mistake that God never intended.
Myth 12: Christian flourishing hinges on my adoption or rejection of the technium.
Each chapter ends with a numbered list of take-always.
I was hoping to see more on Kuyper and Bavinck - but they like to other authors mentioned are only utilised in passing. It is a shame that the two (unrelated) Schuurman’s are not drawn upon mere extensively - as both Schuurman’s provide some of the best Christian insights int technology. This is no academic book but provides a good introduction to the subject.
One point I found stimulating was Reinke’s observation in Chapter 3 he makes an interesting observation: Cutting-edge advances will mostly come through God rejectors.
Of course, this is not always the case - most of the early scientists were Christian. And we have the Christian Faraday to thank for discovering electromagnetism. Reinke’s point does however show the effect of common grace. It begs the question is this descriptive or prescriptive?
Why is it the case? Is it because Christians are too heavenly minded to be if earthy use? Is it because technological involvement takes second place to church-based activities? Of course, it shouldn’t be the case - that it is is an indictment on dualistic Christianity.
Contents:
Chapter 1: What Is Technology?
Chapter 2: What Is God’s Relationship to Technology?
Chapter 3: Where Do Our Technologies Come From?
Chapter 4: What Can Technology Never Accomplish?
Chapter 5: When Do Our Technologies End?
Chapter 6: How Should We Use Technology Today?
General Index
Scripture Index
My thanks to Crossway for a review copy.
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