What might we conclude from the Bible's treatment of technology?
3. Trust in God, Not in Technology

We can solve many problems using our technology, but we can also create new problems with that same technology. Even technology with great potential for good can be abused.

It is easy to fall into a utopian perspective toward information technology, tending always to look first to information technology solutions to human problems. We may even catch ourselves favoring information technology solutions to moral and spiritual problems.

At the same time, it seems that humans are equally prone to a dystopian view of information technology—that is, they assume that little good can come from computers. In such cases, we are often guilty of demonizing technology without sufficient cause for doing so.

However, we needn't thrash between these two extreme views. We can accommodate the paradoxical nature of Creation: it is thoroughly fallen, but it also in the process of being completely renewed by God.

Thus, we can be both realistic and hopeful as we consider information technology in the light of our faith.

These pages were written by Jeffrey L. Nyhoff and Steven H. VanderLeest and edited by Nancy Zylstra
© 2005 Calvin University (formerly Calvin College), All Rights Reserved.

If you encounter technical errors, contact computing@calvin.edu.