God’s grace can manifest in many ways. For three years I have been praying for safety from covid and also making what seemed like common sense adjustments to my life to avoid catching it. It was a bit like what Cromwell said to his troops “trust in God but keep your gunpowder dry!” I was set on avoiding covid, so when it finally caught up with me I was rather concerned. But my prayers and the prayers of others were... Read more
Suffering is an inevitable part of life, and for many people, faith plays a significant role in navigating through these difficult times. Christian literature has long provided comfort, guidance, and wisdom for those experiencing pain and loss. In this article, we have enlisted the help of ChatGPT, an advanced AI language model, to rank the top 20 Christian books on suffering. Drawing from various perspectives and addressing different aspects of this complex topic, these books offer timeless wisdom and... Read more
Are you struggling to make sense of suffering in the world and wondering about God’s role in it? In this new series of articles, written with help from ChatGPT 4.0, I introduce a new way of outlining the very different ways Christians address questions about God’s power, responsibility, and love. By delving into bible verses, theological quotes, and personal stories, we aim to provide insight and clarity about this complex issue. Whether you are questioning your faith or seeking to... Read more
There’s so much pain and suffering in this world. That happy person you are envious of might be carrying a pain you are not aware of. And many lose their faith as a result of unbearable pain in their lives. One of my fellow Patheos authors writes: People who are sick and hurt and dying want rest, healing and hope. They need comfort right where it hurts the most. But what happens when the religion you offer them... Read more
A Christian is someone who believes in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, and lives in light of the implications of that event.” Raised With Christ, Page 20 I wrote this broad definition of a Christian back in 2009. It is inspired by a phrase in one of the Apostle Paul’s letters: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)... Read more
Easter Saturday, also known as Holy Saturday or the Great Sabbath, is a day filled with mixed emotions for Christians around the world. It is a day that falls between Good Friday, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and Easter Sunday, which celebrates His resurrection. As we reflect on the events of that first Easter weekend, we find ourselves in the quiet space between despair and hope, mourning and joy. Easter Saturday reflects the situation we find ourselves in... Read more
I’ve been exploring the way ChatGPT can be used in a faith context. This time I asked it to write a sermon on the Holy Spirit in the style of a Southern Baptist preacher who loves Donald Trump. Sadly the result is once again all to believable. Certainly this system seems to have a good grasp of the way different groups of people think and talk. This kind of preaching is not to be commended in my mind but sadly... Read more
Usually I spend some time at the end of December each year summarising and reviewing my blog articles of the year. I found myself feeling too weary to do so. So being lazy I just thought why not outsource this rather belated task to my new writing assistant? The result is remarkable and I will share it today as a break in my series of ChatGPT generated sermons. More of those are coming by the way and tomorow is when it... Read more
Todays BOT sermon on the Holy Spirit comes in the style of a progressive Christian. It’s remarkable how the artificial intelligence is able to tailor both the style and the content of this output to match such a broad range of different communities. And I have several more to come! This is actually quite a helpful tool to gain some perspective of the emphases other groups than your own might put on familiar subjects. Could it be that we could... Read more
One of the remarkable features of the ChatGPT AI Bot interface is you can carry out a conversation with it almost as though it was a human being. I have been demonstrating in this series of posts that it knows lot about the subtle differences in both style and content of belief in different groups of believers, and can adapt its output accordingly. Today I experimented by not repeating the whole command but interacting with it like I might a... Read more
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