Introduction

1. Introduction [Next | Contents]

“On the eve of All Saints, when Frederick the Wise would offer his indulgences, Luther spoke, this time in writing, by posting in accord with current practice on the door of the Castle Church a printed placard in the Latin language consisting of ninety-five theses for debate.” [1] From this apparently simple action arose a reformation of theology and morals which thundered through the Church.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) called for a reform which in many ways was the same as that sought by John Wycliffe (1325-1384) in England and John Hus (1373-1415) in Bohemia. But the reforms of Wycliffe and Hus were silenced by a jealous Church. The Church tried to use the same tactics to silence Luther. They failed for a variety of reasons: in Germany peasant sympathy lay with Luther, the Church was loosing its control over the state, the civil rulers and the common people were loosing their patience with the sin and corruption among members of the Church hierarchy, the Renaissance opened the world to new ideas, and the Holy Spirit had prepared men to seek as their highest end the glory of God.

But these reasons do not seem to provide a full explanation for why Luther was successful where Wycliffe and Hus were not. All of these factors were, at least partially, present in the days of Wycliffe and Hus. The answer may lie in another significant element underlying the reforms of Luther which was not available to the earlier reformers. Luther had access to a communication machine which made his message of reform the talk of Europe. Wycliffe and Hus had no such means of reaching the world.

The printing press was invented sometime around 1450. During its first half century, it had only a limited impact on the culture of Europe. It was used essentially to automate a process which had for millennia been labour intensive. It was used primarily for publishing the classics of the past to make them less expensive, and therefore more widely available. However to Luther, the printing press made available new forms of communication that were beyond the experience of anyone in the Middle Ages.

Five years before Luther became a monk, Desiderius Erasmus (c1466-1536), a Dutch humanist, published his first book. It was a volume of proverbs taken from Latin and Greek sources. It was not long before Erasmus acquired fame throughout Europe, and he came to realize the potential of printing. He began to produce books at a steady pace. He published a large number of the Greek and Latin classics, both in translation and in the original languages. He also prepared the first printed Greek New Testament, and wrote poetry, plays, essays, and apologies defending the Church and himself. He laid the foundation for a new world of communication.

Into this world stepped the monk from Germany.

Today the world still feels the impact of Luther’s nails on the door. Ireland is torn with strife, separate school systems exist, Anglicans and Catholics dance around accord, and Evangelicals argue about whether or not to accept Catholics as Christians. Outwardly the effects of the Reformation are still with us. But in the life of the Church and nations of the West, the effect of the Reformation is fading into darkness. Donald Macleod, professor of Systematic Theology at the Free Church College in Edinburgh, editor of the Monthly Record, and a well known speaker at Reformed conferences, summarizes the situation this way:

Modern evangelicals are dancing on the tombs of the prophets. We pay willing and fulsome tribute to the heroism of Luther. But will we follow him? Modern Protestantism is in a bigger mess than 16th century Catholicism, but no one is nailing theses to the gates. [2]

October 31st 2017 will mark the 500th anniversary of Luther’s action. What will be the state of the Church on that day? Will it be trapped in superstition, plagued with corruption, splintered by selfish factions, weak in its faith, clinging to a works-based salvation, and ineffective in its witness for Jesus? Or, will the Church be a vibrant reformed and reforming organism which will be challenging 21st century civilization with the Lordship of Jesus Christ over personal lives, over the Church and over nations?

Who will be nailing theses on the gates? On what gates will they nail them? Who will lay the foundation for a new world of communication? What will it be?

The computer was invented sometime around 1950. During its first half century, it will have had only a limited impact on the culture of the West. It is used essentially to automate processes which have for centuries been labour intensive. So far it has been used primarily for automating the systems of the past to make them less expensive and therefore more widely available. However, the computer will soon make widely available new forms of communication that are beyond the experience of most of us in this century.

There are really two computing eras ... we’re moving into the second one. The first one we’ve been living with for thirty-five years. ... We’ve been exploiting the calculational capabilities of computers — number processing — and we’ve been exploiting the stuff called data processing, which is a fancy way of saying filing and retrieving, and that’s it. That’s all we’ve been doing with computers even though we’ve known from the mid-1930s and the theorems of Turing ... that computers were universal symbolic processing devices capable of any kind of symbol manipulation whatever. ... We are making the transition now from the era of calculating and data processing to the era of symbolic reasoning by machine. [3]

We are situated at the beginning of a new age. In the next twenty five years we will see developments in computer and communication technology which today exist only in the realm of science fiction. But the impact of these developments on society and the Church will likely go beyond the realm of science fiction into areas that we cannot even imagine today.

In this book I wish to look at selected trends in the development of computer and communication technology which will probably have an impact on the Church, whether for evil or good. The trends which I consider are drawn from extensions of the ‘traditional’ data processing capabilities of the computer and also from the area of symbolic reasoning by machine. My time horizon for these trends is the next twenty five years. This is significant, for in about twenty five years we will observe the 500th anniversary of the year in which Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the cathedral.

Some writers have suggested ways in which a personal computer could be used for the work of the Church. [4], [5], [6] Johnson in his book The Pastor and the Personal Computer [7] provides a description of how computers work and guidelines for how to select a personal computer for your Church; and he gives suggestions for how a PC (personal computer) can be used. He suggests that a PC can be used for word processing of bulletins, newsletters and sermon outlines, for keeping church accounts, for maintaining mailing lists, and for maintaining lists of sermon illustrations, hymn usage, evangelistic contacts and birthdays.

These writings serve to awaken Church leaders to the possibilities of using small computers to assist in the office work of the Church. Other writers suggest ways in which personal computers can be used in Sunday School instruction. The focus of what they have written is on current technology. They are suggesting ways in which you can apply computers which you can buy today at your neighbourhood computer store or from the classified advertisements in a magazine. If your church is not currently using a PC, you should consider seriously some of their suggestions. Using a computer can save time in administrative work and improve its quality.

The focus of this book, however, is not on using current technology for administrative purposes in the Church. Rather, it is on the potential impact of technology which is just starting to appear in the leading edge firms, and is still under development in the hardware and software laboratories, or is only ‘vapourware’ (an idea or dream) among the more creative engineers. My purpose is to review some of the trends which appear to be developing in computer technology, and to project these trends in time and in terms of their potential impact on society and the Church.

Such a consideration is needed if an editorial which appeared in Christianity Today [8] is any indication of the state of thinking about technology among the leaders in the Church and our educational institutions. In this editorial the president of Taylor University identified seven challenges which will face the Church as it enters the new millennium. The seven he listed are: privatization and entrepreneurship, biotechnology and human responsibility, pluralism and ethnicity, authority and individual freedom, environmentalism and stewardship, haves and have-nots, and church and parachurch. These are not future challenges of the next millennium, they are all challenges facing the church right now, and the Church is largely failing to meet them by being on the offensive.

Kesler’s list is off the mark in a key area. He only mentions technology once in the area of bio-medical ethics. He overlooks entirely the revolution that is underway in the area of computer technology and telecommunications.

Three years after Christianity Today published Kesler’s editorial, it finally devoted a significant article to the subject of the “information age.” The article is entitled Cyber Shock, [9] and has the following as its lead-in: “New ways of thinking must be developed for the church to keep pace in the coming information age.” The article covers many of the topics considered in this book, but the title speaks loudly about the state of the Church. The Church should not be in shock over the changes that have occurred, and will occur, in the information age. To the extent that we are in shock, to that extent we have been sleeping while the world is being transformed by a revolution.

This revolution is being thrust forward at light-speed, and there is apparently a blind spot afflicting much of the leadership in the Church and religious educational institutions at all levels. The Church is going to be blind-sided by the most significant revolution in the history of mankind.

If we do not prepare, we will miss great opportunities to use the tools of this revolution for God’s glory, and will be ineffective in controlling the negative impact which inevitably will arise. This provides the primary reason for why I have written this book. My hope is that from reading this book, more leaders in the Church will be prepared for the coming technological revolution.

As I consider five key areas of technology which will affect the Church and the way it carries out its mandate, my hope is that more leaders in the Church will see some of the real potential of the computer and communication technology for furthering the work of Christ’s kingdom, and the potential dangers which will hinder the work.

The key areas of consideration in this book are:

Digital Communications — The developing digital telephone and cable TV networks will become an Electronic Highway carrying all communication in the 21st century. Electronic mail and video phones are going to change the way that we interact with one another and the way that we carry out our work, personal business, and recreation. This will affect the way we practice our religion.

Electronic Publishing — The Electronic Highway will support a paperless society which will use electronic bulletin boards and electronic publications for the distribution of information. This will affect the way we publicize our religion.

Voice Processing — The conversational computer will be able to hear you as you speak and answer you in spoken English (or, say, Korean). This will bring about a significant change as most people in our society become functionally illiterate. This will affect the way we present and preach our religion.

Data Banks — As electronic publishing becomes widely accepted, and as information currently in printed form is digitized, there will be an implosion of information. All of the world’s recorded knowledge will be gathered into central data banks which will be accessible from any entry port (e.g., personal computer) on earth. This will affect the way we document and research our religion.

Computer-Aided Instruction — The computer will prove to be a better instructor than humans in many areas. Courseware will be developed to teach students at all levels and in a wide variety of subjects. Dramatic changes will result from the breakdown of centralized, publicly funded school systems. This will affect the way we educate our children and our future pastors.

The technological developments in each of these areas will affect both society and the Church, and there will be both negative and positive impact. Some of the negative impact on the Church which may result from the wide-spread use of computers in society include:

People may want to get their religion from the Electronic Highway rather than from personal attendance at a Church service.

An electronic narcosis may afflict society.

The Church is going to be challenged by a society in which young people obtain most of their information about the world from the Electronic Highway.

People will learn to filter out any message on the Electronic Highway which they do not wish to hear. This will include the message of the Gospel.

Serious reading by the general population is going to decline even more, over the next twenty five years, as people begin to interact with the computer in a conversational mode.

Centralized data banks may be regulated to exclude anything with a Christian content.

Some of the positive impact which may result from the wide-spread use of computers in society include:

People within the Church around the world will find it easier to keep-in-touch.

The free flow of information may bring about the destruction of closed societies such as those supported by Islam.

Electronic publishing will make it easier and cheaper for the Church to communicate with an audience of hundreds of millions.

Computer-assisted translation will bring the Gospel and Christian teaching to a worldwide audience.

Data banks containing the world’s knowledge base may facilitate a review of the history of the Church and encourage Christians to think more deeply about their beliefs.

Computer-Aided Instruction will help the Church reach both those within and without the Church with high quality courseware.

Chapters 3 through 8 evaluate the trends in computer technology and assess the coming impact of the computer on the Church. However, before looking at the new technology, I will present a brief historical review of the impact of the printing press on society and the Church (Chapter 2). The purpose of this review is to show by analogy that the impact of technology is great. If the analogy holds true, which I believe it does, we can expect an even more significant impact as the presence of computer technology continues to expand into all areas of our lives.

By 2017, the 500th anniversary of Luther’s nailing the 95 Theses to the cathedral door, the computer will be part of everyone’s life to a greater extent than the telephone and TV are today. The new forms of communication which will be brought into use will have the potential for a far greater impact than the printing press had when it was introduced. The question which the Church must face is: will it master the technology for Christ, or will the technology master us, and make us into ‘slaves’?

Every leader in the Church has a responsibility to become involved in the computer revolution; at least to understand technology and its application. We must be involved in setting biblical standards for its use, and ensuring that it will remain a vehicle for the progress of the Gospel.

In an advertisement, Westminster Theological Seminary stated: “Will you be ready? — Forming Culturally Sensitive Pastor/Theologians for the Church Tomorrow. — 2000AD.” [10] It is interesting that the artist who prepared the ad chose to use an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) style of character for the ‘2000AD’ text. The message is clear, the Church of the 21st century will face a revolution in communication technology. This revolution will be greater than that brought about through the printing press.

New developments in the computer and communications industries are coming every day. Winds of change are about us, and I hear a rumble of thunder. Is this rumble a rumble of the army of fear and oppression, or is it the rumble of a coming reformation of the Church?

Endnotes [Next | Contents]

[1] Roland H. Bainton, Here I stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1978), p. 60. Back

[2] Donald Macleod, “Is David Jenkins Anti-Christ?” The Monthly Record of the Free Church of Scotland, November, 1987. Back

[3] George Johnson, Machinery of the Mind: Inside the New Science of Artificial Intelligence. (New York: Random House, Times Books, 1986), p. 234. Back

[4] Russell M. Dilday Jr., Personal Computer: a New Tool for Ministers (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1985). Back

[5] Jim Hoogeven, “The PC and The Local Church,” Covenanter Witness, November, 1987. Back

[6] See Christian Computing for many examples. Back

[7] William R. Johnson, The Pastor and the Personal Computer: Information Management for Ministers (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985). Back

[8] Jay Kesler, “Vision Quest — Seven Challenges Face the Church as it Enters a new Millennium. How will it Respond?” Christianity Today, October 5, 1992. Back

[9] Timothy C. Morgan, “Cyber Shock New ways of thinking must be developed for the church to keep pace in the coming information age,” Christianity Today, April 3, 1995. Back

[10] Christianity Today, October 21, 1988. Back