Genesis 11 describes the strange story of an ancient people banding together to build a tower that reached to the heavens. The construction project occurred sometime after the great flood, when the numerous descendants of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth resolved to accomplish what no men on earth had ever attempted: to build a great city with a tower stretching to the heavens. They said:
“Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
“Brick for stone” and “bitumen for mortar”.
Stone and mortar were the ancient, traditional construction materials. Stone, which was actually scarce in Mesopotamia, had to be found, quarried, shaped, transported, and fitted together. The builder had to work with whatever nature provided, and mortar bound these irregular stones together.
By contrast, brick and bitumen were serious technological advancements. Baked clay bricks were as hard as stone, but uniform in size and shape and could be mass-produced. Bitumen is a form of petroleum that seeps from the ground; we still use it to make asphalt today. When heated and processed, it becomes a sticky adhesive that glues the bricks together.
Using the most advanced building technology of their day, these ancient people built the skyscraper known as the Tower of Babel. But it’s clear from the text that this displeased God:
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
Don’t miss the irony here. Despite the great height of the tower, God still had to “come down” to see it. It’s not as if the tower threatened God, but that it represented an attitude in the hearts of men that was contrary to God’s design for humanity.
In Genesis 1:28, after creating mankind in His own image, God blessed them and commanded, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” This command is called the “creation mandate.” By building a city and tower for the express purpose of avoiding dispersion across the earth and making a name for themselves apart from God’s name, the people of Babel appear to be using their technology to resist God’s purposes rather than fulfill them.
Fast forward to the New Testament letters of Second and Third John. Second John is addressed to “the elect lady and her children,” an unknown but devout Christian recipient, while Third John is addressed to Gaius, a Christian in Asia Minor. Despite their different recipients, John closes both of these very short letters in nearly the same way. In Third John he writes, “I had much to write to you, but I would rather not with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.”
“Pen and Ink” and “Face to Face”
In John’s time, pen and ink were the most advanced technology for human communication. There were obviously no iPhones or social media at this point. But rather than continue using the technology available to him, John intentionally chose face-to-face conversation. The phrase “face to face” comes from the Greek stoma pros stoma, literally meaning “mouth to mouth,” emphasizing the importance of physical proximity to human communication. In Second John, he explains why face-to-face matters: “so that our joy may be complete.” Ultimately, John recognized the limitations inherent in his technology and discerned that, for whatever he still had to say, it would be better to talk in person.
So, what can ancient skyscrapers and pen and ink teach us about technologies the biblical writers could never have imagined?
Technology is a tool, not a moral guide.
Technology may tell us what we can do, but it cannot tell us what we should do, and just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. We need Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience to help us discern.
Technology must be governed by God’s purposes for mankind.
Technology is good when it helps us fulfill God’s purposes for humanity and promotes human flourishing, not when it becomes a means of resisting those purposes or has deleterious effects on people and society.
Not every human limitation is a problem to be solved.
Some human limitations are actually gifts. We cannot be everywhere at once, know everything, work without resting, or live without depending on others. These limits are actually a good thing and remind us that we are creatures and not the Creator.
Technology should serve human relationships, not replace them or damage them.
John knew when to put the pen down. We need the same awareness. A Christian approach to technology requires knowing when a tool is helping human communion and when it is hurting, then having the courage to put the pen down. By the way, technology IS hurting human relationships, particularly among young people. Check out the most recent study on this titled Teens in the AI Era: Pornography and Sexual Content.
The more powerful our technology becomes, the more important human formation becomes.
The development of the atomic bomb in the 1940’s confronted humanity with the reality that we had developed the power to do things we might not have the wisdom or virtue to handle responsibly. The age of artificial intelligence confronts us with that possibility again. As our tools become more powerful, the character of the people using them matters more, not less. Intelligence is not enough. Virtue is required.
We need a theology for technology.
Toward a life lived in Christ,
Chris Breiland, Head of School