Technology in the Bible

Technology in the Bible
RELATED TOPICS	Biblical references to technology
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

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On the page Biblical references to technology, we have tried to catalogue and comment on specific verses that mention technology of any kind. That catalogue provides the raw data for the more thematic comments on this current page.

There are no passages in the Bible that explicitly prescribe a Christian response to technology. Nevertheless, a close reading of the Bible can inform Christian attitudes in several ways:

• We can correlate the Biblical text to other sources of history to understand the prevalence, cultural assumptions and economic importance of technology.
• We can infer what attitudes and assumptions the Biblical writers held with regard to their experiences of technology in their own age, and use those as case studies to inform our own attitudes and assumptions.
• We can learn about how people have employed technology for both godly and ungodly purposes and derive principles for our own decisions about the value of technology.

In the end, there is no fundamental difference between how Christians should decide about the use of technology and how they should decide about most of life's questions. When there is no definitive Biblical statement on the topic, we apply core principles of Christian discipleship such as the call to stewardship over creation, the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:37 - Matthew 22:40), a desire for holiness, a total reliance on God, a commitment to the community of faith, and an expectation that God will give us wisdom (James 1:5).

Metaphoric applications of technology

Many verses in the Bible uses some type of technology as a metaphor for something more spiritual. Examples include:

• Winnowing out the wicked (Proverbs 20:23, Luke 3:17)
• Job says his days go past as fast as a weaver's shuttle (Job 7:6)
• God is a shield around us (Psalm 3:3 and many other places)
• God's word is a lamp (Psalm 119:105)
• God as refiner (Isaiah 1:25, Isaiah 48:10, Malachi 3:2, Zechariah 13:9)
• Jeremiah was as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall (Jeremiah 1:18)
• God uses Israel to 'test the metal' of other nations (Jeremiah 6:27 - Jeremiah 6:30)
• The tongue is like a bow, shooting lies (Jeremiah 9:3, Jeremiah 9:8)
• We are to put on the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:13 - Ephesians 6:18)
• God's heart laments for Moab like a flute (Jeremiah 48:36)
• God shoots the deadly arrow of famine on Jerusalem (Ezekiel 5:16)
• A yoke symbolises a burden or oppression or a bond, often in the context of God relieving that burden (e.g. Genesis 27:40, Exodus 6:6, Leviticus 26:13, 1 Kings 12:3 - 1 Kings 12:11, Psalm 106:28, Matthew 11:28, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Galatians 5:1)
• The hearts of unrepentant Israel are like a poorly tended baker's oven (Hosea 7:4 - Hosea 7:7)
• A plumb-line provides a standard reference point against which our conduct can be judged (Amos 7:7 - Amos 7:8, Isaiah 28:17)

Jesus makes powerful metaphoric use of technology to draw his audience from something that they know well towards some new spiritual concept. This is both great communication and tacit approval for use of technology. Some examples are:

• The kingdom of God is like a fishing net (Matthew 13:47)
• Don't hide a lamp under a bowl (Mark 4:21)
• Vineyards and wine-presses (e.g. Mark 12:1)

God's use of technology

God needs no technology to accomplish any of God's purposes. Although God uses various techniques, no tools are required. God achieves the desired ends by simply speaking things into being. God's word caused the whole universe to be created (Genesis 1, John 1). God's word is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) -- by implication, God's word is more effective than any technology.

There are times, however, when God chooses to use technology (normally metaphorically) to interact with humans. For instance, God is a refining fire/furnace, consuming the dross and purifying God's people (Zechariah 13:9, Ezekiel 22:17 - Ezekiel 22:22, Malachi 3:2).

Jesus used various technologies: as a carpenter he would have used wood-working tools; he travelled in boats; wore clothes; lived in houses; made a whip. But he didn't need any technology: he could turn water into wine rather than rely on the traditional technique; he could walk on water rather than rely on a boat; no doubt he used doors (he even claimed to be the door) and yet he could pass through a locked door (John 20:19, John 20:26).

God is often said to use weapons:

• God uses a sword to keep people away from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24)
• God wields Assyria as a weapon against Israel (Isaiah 10:15)
• God uses Babylon as a sword against Israel (Ezekiel 21)
• God punishes with a sword (e.g. Isaiah 27:1, Isaiah 34:5, Isaiah 66:16, Jeremiah 9:16, Jeremiah 12:12)
• Israel is God's weapon (Jeremiah 51:20 - Jeremiah 51:23)
• God gives Israel horns of iron and hoofs of bronze with which to break to pieces many nations (Micah 4:13)
• Jesus wields a sharp double-edged sword (Revelation 1:16, Revelation 2:12)

Technology in relation to Redemption

In Four Questions for Technology from the Biblical Story and From the Garden to the City: Technology in the Story of Redemption, John Dyer suggests that:

• When a person creates a new tool, the display of creativity and ingenuity glorifies God by displaying the imago dei even if the inventor was not attempting to do so. (Reflection)
• All technology has the potential to be used for sin. Technology is inseparably tied to humanity’s rejection of God and God’s grace toward humanity in allowing us to continue. (Rebellion)
• Technology is almost always designed to overcome an effect of the Fall. It, therefore, can function redemptively and yet simultaneously represent the inadequacy of our attempts to live without God. (Redemption)
• When technology fails, rather than causing us sadness and grief, they offer us a chance to reorient our hope away from our technology and toward Christ’s return. So when you get a blue screen of death or an iPhone lockup, rather than curse in disgust, it should be an opportunity to say, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come!” (Restoration)

Musical instruments

To the extent that music requires a manufactured instrument, it involves technology. We may think that "technology" only implies modern electronic devices, but at various times in history all musical instruments must have seemed like new-fangled technology. The instruments themselves are tools for achieving some human purpose and hence are a form of technology. The ability to manufacture musical instruments also implies the use of other tools.

The Bible is extremely positive in the way it describes musical instruments, especially in the context of those instruments being used to praise God. Psalm 150 is the prime example of this.

Numerous types of instruments are mentioned in the Bible, including:

• Stringed instruments such as harps, lyres, lutes
• Wind instruments such as trumpets, horns, flutes, pipes
• Percussion instruments such as tambourines, bells, cymbals, sistrum

See the book "Musical Instruments Of The Bible" by Jeremy Montagu.

Design and construction

In the Old Testament accounts of Noah's Ark, the Tabernacle and the Temple, God dictates a detailed design but not the construction methods.

Communication technology

• Writing
• scrolls
• trumpets, especially for signals during battle or to sound an alarm. Moses was specifically instructed to make two silver trumpets to call the community together (Numbers 10:1 - Numbers 10:10
• libraries and archives

Medicine

An important aspect of Jesus' mission was to heal the sick, and although he tended to do so by supernatural means, the Bible reflects a positive attitude to doctors and medical treatment. For example,

• Genesis 50:2 -- mentions physicians and embalming, probably concepts that Joseph learnt from his time in Egypt
• 2 Kings 20:7 and Isaiah 38:21 -- a poultice of figs is used to heal a boil
• Ezekiel 30:21 -- the use of a splint for a broken arm
• Luke 10:34 -- the Good Samaritan used bandages, oil and wine to treat the victim of a mugging
• Colossians 4:14 -- Paul refers to Luke as the beloved physician
• 1 Timothy 5:23 -- Paul advises Timothy to "use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses"
• Revelation 3:18 -- God recommends that the Laodiceans buy salve to put on their eyes

The Biblical view, however, is that medical technology and techniques are not the whole story.

• 2 Chronicles 16:12 -- King Asa is criticised for not praying about his illness, but only seeking the advice of doctors.
• Jeremiah 8:22 -- Surely there are doctors and medicine in Gilead, but none of them can heal the wounds of Israel.

What doctors cannot heal, Jesus can! -- the women who had bleed for 12 years is a good example (Mark 5:26).

Military technology

Swords Spears Siege ramps Bows and arrows Chariots

Trust God rather than technology

• Tower of Babel Genesis 11
• Exodus 20:4
• Deuteronomy 6:10 ff, Deuteronomy 8:10 ff
• Job 28
• Psalm 20:7
• Proverbs 18:10 f
• Isaiah 31:1
• Jeremiah 2:13
• John 10:1 - John 10:13 Consider technology playing the role of thief in this parable. Technology cares nothing for the sheep. People who look for a technological shortcut into paradise will be disappointed.

God is greater than any technology

I guess that is true by definition since God is the creator of all there is, but here are a few specific examples:

• Hebrews 4:12 God's word is sharper than any double-edged sword

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