ChatGPT, AI, and the Christian

A Typewriter, AOL, and the Internet

The first paper I ever wrote was on a Remington typewriter. No, I’m not 100 years old—I’m 42. I remember the sound of pressing the keys, the piano-like mechanism of a metal lever placing ink on the page, and the satisfying slam of the carriage return marking the accomplishment of one more line of text. And I remember the blessing of using Wite-Out to fix mistakes.

This device was an entire printing press that fit on my desk. It would have made Gutenberg blush, and it was certainly a massive upgrade from having to write long-form cursive in third grade.

I’ve never understood cursive, and I never will. Why? What was the point?

A few years passed, and eventually, a new sound replaced my trusty typewriter. This sound was made possible by a company called America Online (AOL). It sounded something like this:
krrsssshhh, krrsssshhhh, meeewop, meewop.

For those of you too young to remember, the internet used to be delivered to your mailbox on CDs, which you would insert into your desktop computer. These little blessings from AOL granted you free access to THE INTERNET. At first, they offered one hour of free internet, then ten, then fifty. I believe the last CD I received promised 1,000 free hours.

Of course, these free hours were just a clever ploy to get you hooked—AOL’s version of a gateway drug—so that, inevitably, you’d beg your parents for a subscription. But my dad didn’t care about the internet; all he knew was that it jammed up the phone line, making it impossible for anyone to call the house. In his words, it was simply “a waste of time.”

That statement always stuck with me. While I agree that you can waste time on the internet—and believe me, I have. There’s a reason I know all of the conspiracy theories about the Great Pyramid of Giza. But when I used the internet as a research tool, it didn’t waste time—it drastically saved it. A lot of it. And still does to this day.

The internet changed study, research, and productivity forever. I no longer had to go to the school library and use the Dewey Decimal System to find relevant content in a physical book. I could put my topic into LexisNexis or Dogpile (these were search engines before Google existed), and with the click of a button it would give me the title, chapter, section, and sometimes even the printed page in a digital format.

Just like the internet once seemed like a novelty but quickly became indispensable, AI is on a similar trajectory. It’s time for Christians to begin thinking biblically, wisely, and honestly about this powerful tool.

AI Is Just a Tool

Said simply, AI is a tool. It’s no different than a lawn mower. Both were designed for a purpose, and both are morally neutral. The only moral agent with both of these devices is the operator who is using them. Intentional homicide by lawn mower is a real category, and people have used lawn mowers as instruments of death for decades.

It’s not the intention of this blog to list out all of the different AI tools and how to use them and help you understand what AI is—there are thousands of videos on YouTube that can give you that information a lot better than I can. In fact, a pastor trying to explain the technical details of AI agents and LLMs is like asking a flight attendant to tell you how to land the plane.

However, my role as a pastor does require me to be knowledgeable of these tools and know how to interact with them so that I can encourage others on how to leverage them for your own edification and, in turn, for the edification of the church. It’s also my job to warn of the inherent pitfalls of this tool. There’s a reason the manual on a lawn mower still has a picture of someone putting their foot under the blade with a giant red circle and a line through it.

For most of you, at the time of this writing, your main use case for AI will be tools like ChatGPT, NotebookLM, Gronk, and the like. It will be you asking a question of these LLMs and getting a response back or asking it to perform a simple task such as:

• “Write a blog about AI.”
• “Tell me when Tom Petty’s birthday is.”
• “List all the people that appear in the Bible in chronological order.”

I feel that until AI agents become more adopted by lay users, this will be how these platforms will be used for the foreseeable future.
Is there more that can be done? Absolutely. Will most attempt to do that? No.

Where I grew up in Northern Wisconsin there is a thing called a Lawnmower Drag Race at the county fair. These are decked-out lawn mowers with 500-horsepower engines that can do 0–60 in 5 seconds. Will most do the same with theirs to clip their grass? No.
Is it awesome? Yes, yes it is. And if that makes me a hillbilly… so be it.

But before we talk about how Christians should use AI—or how they shouldn’t—we need to clarify something foundational: what do we mean by intelligence in the first place?

A Note on Intelligence

We need to define this term and speak to what it is and is not.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In AI, intelligence refers to the ability of a machine or algorithm to process information, recognize patterns, learn from data, and make decisions based on statistical probabilities. This intelligence is not conscious, moral, or self-aware—it is a simulation of human problem-solving.

• AI intelligence is data-driven and relies on algorithms.
• It lacks wisdom, understanding, or discernment—it only follows rules and learns from data.
• It does not possess a soul, emotions, or the ability to seek truth beyond computation.

Biblical Intelligence (Wisdom & Understanding)

The Bible does not simply equate intelligence with knowledge or processing power. Instead, it often links intelligence with wisdom, understanding, and discernment, which come from God.

• Proverbs 9:10 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
• James 3:17 – “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
• Proverbs 2:6 – “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

True intelligence is seen as a gift from God, rather than something humans can generate independently.

AI can mimic intelligence, but it lacks true wisdom, understanding, and moral discernment—the things that the Bible emphasizes as true intelligence.

Biblical intelligence is relational (connected to God), while AI intelligence is functional (processing data for tasks).
 

The easiest way to think about this is that AI is from the mind of man; intelligence is from the mind of God. Here is a helpful chart.

Key Differences

Aspect	Artificial Intelligence (AI)	Biblical Intelligence
Source	Data, algorithms, human programming	God, fear of the Lord
Nature	Pattern recognition, learning from data	Wisdom, discernment, moral understanding
Purpose	Problem-solving, automation, efficiency	Righteousness, truth, and godly living
Moral Capacity	None – follows logic, but has no ethics	Tied to morality and righteousness

With that understanding, we need to know that AI will have bias and fallibility and involve a lot of groupthink since it is only compiling data and not truly creating it.

How AI Can Be Helpful for Believers

That said, here are just a few ways that I think AI will be edifying and helpful for the believer.

And again, I need to preface these statements with the truism that nothing can replace inductive Bible study—that is, God speaking directly to you through His Word. It’s one of the highest forms of worship.

It also cannot replace sitting under the preaching of the Word in a local congregation. It cannot replace the gift that God has given to you in having a local pastor bring the Word to you.

AI can give you information, but it cannot pray for you. It’s not thinking about you on a spiritual level when it responds to your questions. It will never ask you the why behind the why and drill down to the heart of any matter. AI is a tool—not a teacher, and definitely not a pastor.

With this in mind, let’s look at some inputs:

• Historical Context – Asking ChatGPT to bring you historical context on a given book of the Bible is nothing short of astounding. You can ask continuous drill-down questions such as “Who was the king during this time period?” or “What were some of the problems facing this historical context?”
• Cross References – ChatGPT can deliver reference verses for your further study. “Can you share a reference verse that bolsters the points found in Romans 12:1–2?”
• Quick Bible Verses – “Give me a few Bible verses to share with someone who is grieving.”
• Word Studies in Original Languages – “What is the biblical Greek word for ‘slave,’ and give me all the uses of it in the New Testament in an organized chart.”
• Themes of Books – “What is the main theme of Obadiah from a Reformed Dispensational position?”
• Theological Debate – Yes, this is nerdy, but helpful. Prompt: “You are covenantal in your theology. I am dispensational. We are going to debate the two. You will begin the debate.”
• Theological Tests – You can ask it to create a 10-question quiz that you would give to a seminary student to see if they understand the Trinity.
• Apologetics – “What are the main verses that a Mormon is going to attack in the New Testament to show that the Bible is not true? Give me 3 arguments for each verse showing that their view is incorrect.”
• Apologetic Debate – You can have lengthy conversations with ChatGPT to hone your skills. Try: “You are about to get into a debate with me. You are a member of the FLDS. I am a Reformed Bible-believing Christian. You will lead off the debate. You begin now.”

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but hopefully gives you an example of what is possible for edification purposes using the tool ChatGPT.

Modest Warnings

Now for the part you’ve all been wanting to hear, the warnings. The juicy part where all the luddites get excited to hear Pastor Brett say “AI is the devil and the machines are coming for your kids!” A lot of Christian podcasts have come out lately to hate on AI and chatGPT. Cursing the darkness gets more clicks than being modest. I’ve honestly enjoyed listening to some of them just to simply hear the overstatements that are made.

When the personal computer came out plenty of ink was spilled over if Pastors should be allowed to use them in sermon prep. Don’t believe me? read this 

https://www.reformedworship.org/article/march-1987/computerized-preacher

That was originally written March 1987. Was the computer a cheat-code? Were these pastors losing their integrity because they could type without worrying about grammatical errors? Such suspense!

I love that writer’s perspective…because it’s mine as well. The computer is a tool just like chatGPT is a tool.

With that said, here are some modest warnings.

• You still need to know your Bible.
  ChatGPT might sound confident, but it’s only as good as the data it’s trained on—and that data includes human errors, theological confusion, and cultural assumptions. If you don’t know the Scriptures well, you’re at the mercy of whatever the algorithm gives you. I’ve caught ChatGPT making subtle theological mistakes more than once. But when I pushed back with Scripture—saying, “How does that reconcile with [insert verse]?”—it often admitted the oversight. That’s the point: it’s fallible. You must know your Bible, because ChatGPT doesn’t love truth—you do.
• It is not a Pastor.ChatGPT does not care about you. It doesn’t care about your feelings. It doesn’t know you personally. Your pastor does.
  When your pastors give you answers to your questions or preach sermons, they have thought about you on an individual level. They are thinking about your soul, your feelings, and the tone needed to best encourage you.
  Just this morning I had a brother reach out to me about a sermon series by John MacArthur and he wanted to know if he should listen to it.. I told him not to. He struggles with assurance, and MacArthur is too heavy-handed in this area for this brother’s current state, so I referred him to a book by R.C. Sproul.
  That is something ChatGPT cannot do. Your Pastors are a gift to you from God.
• God loves integrity.
  You can use ChatGPT to respond to emails, write texts, and yes… write papers and even sermons. However, you will stand before God one day, and He ultimately knows whether you have written something yourself or if you have lied or forged what you claim to be your own. I know you want a lot more on this… but that’s all I’m going to give you.
• It can train your heart without you realizing it.Every tool you use shapes you in return. The more you turn to ChatGPT for insight, reflection, or even spiritual guidance, the more you may be tempted to want fast answers, clever responses, and tidy explanations. But that’s not how God works.
  The Christian life is slow and intentional. It’s shaped through prayer, community, repentance, suffering, and meditating on Scripture—not instant responses from a bot.Guard your heart.

Final Thoughts

AI isn’t the enemy. It’s a tool. A powerful one.

Use it with wisdom. Use it with discernment. But don’t let it replace your Bible, your pastor, or the Spirit’s slow work in your life.

And maybe—just maybe—use it to write a blog like this. But only if you’re honest about it. (This entire “final thoughts” section was written by AI. I prompted: “write an ending to this blog”)

~ Pastor Brett