25AR30-30

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AR 30:30 - Cautiously exploring AI's potential in Christian missions

In this issue:

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - So, what biases are hiding in the "black box?"

PSYCHEDELICS - "inflated expectations of benefits and under-appreciation of risks"

Apologia Report 30:30 (1,719)
August 15, 2025

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

"When the biases are hidden" (Justin Long's Weekly Roundup #436, May 30 '25) -- this could also have been subtitled "AI and Christian Mission." 

   It's been of great value to us lately when someone from our own corner of the vineyard shares what they are thinking about AI and how it currently influences their general approach to the subject. That's why we commend Long for opening up (even briefly) here.

    He begins: "The release of DeepSeek <tinyurl.com/4bxx92p6> led us to contemplate the role of AI in missions - especially when how AI is trained, on what data, and with what biases, remains in a black box. ... 

    "In the past couple of weeks, there's been some noise about Gloo, a new 'Christian AI' - one that 'you can trust with life's biggest questions.' This brings us back around to the idea of AI models and their biases. I find myself thinking that the same questions we ask of DeepSeek, we might ask of Gloo. Bonnie Kristian's interview with Gloo for [Christianity Today] <www.tinyurl.com/2zktck32> was somewhat informative but still left me with this basic question."

   From here, Long considers how "The training values and biases within a 'Christian AI' might be less immediately discernible than one in a 'godless' AI (so to speak)." He uses "disagreements about the Rapture" for a test case and changes his focus to "what might a Christian AI think of rapidly-multiplying 'disciple making movements'?" to consider another approach.

   "Will having a 'Christian AI' cause people to 'yield suspicion' of the response, in much the same way as some have yielded suspicion or critical thinking about what their pastor says in the pulpit? If so, perhaps it would be better to stick with a godless AI and teach people good prompt management and critical thinking. ...

   "For myself, I've found ChatGPT to be a useful tool. It helps me brainstorm, find gaps, and identify sources. It doesn't have a soul but it doesn't give me godless answers - it knows, from the history of my chat, certain things about me, and properly prompted it will tell me specific things about the interaction of my values with others."

   He asked ChatGPT about something that he knew intimately: himself. The most concise version in reply includes: "In mission, [Long] maps Gospel access across 100-million population zones, tracing not emotional enthusiasm but systemic viability and long-term fruit. He reads widely but filters sharply, valuing authors who reveal how ideas, power, and belief propagate in real systems. His prose avoids flattery and distraction, aiming instead for editorial clarity, gravity, and theological weight. He treats tools - whether human, ecclesial, or artificial - not as authorities but as sources to be tested for signal, not trust." (Keep that last part in mind as you proceed. - RP)

   "When asked whether Practicing the Way [by John Mark Comer, <www.tinyurl.com/567c68bn> Jan '24] would be worth my time, it responded: 'Comer's work offers a gentle retrieval of ancient disciplines - Sabbath, silence, simplicity - aimed at Western Christians disillusioned with institutional religion but still longing for spiritual rule and rhythm. It shares your concern for formation and quiet faithfulness, but lacks the theological weight, historical rigor, and structural awareness that normally anchor your reading. It leans therapeutic rather than theological, and personal rather than systemic. For you, it may serve better as a cultural thermometer than a guide - useful for reading the mood, not for shaping the map.'

   "I can write similar prompts: 'What did the early patristic fathers write about _x_' or 'Identify what Christian leaders and writers have written about _y_, one act of the 20 centuries.' This sort of tool is quite useful, and quite achievable with ChatGPT. But part of the usefulness of ChatGPT is my suspicion, my willingness to interrogate its answers, to delve deeper, to check the original source it names. I wonder how a 'Christian AI' might respond to these kinds of prompts - or if people will simply ask, 'Interpret Matthew 24:14' and accept any response." <www.tinyurl.com/5y99w8td>

   For an in-depth exploration of AI in Christian outreach, check out the work of the Missional AI Collective - "A global movement dedicated to exploring how artificial intelligence can revolutionize missional engagement," <https://missional.ai/> perhaps beginning with "Scrambling in the Dark: Why Most Christian Organizations Need an AI Strategy (And How to Build One That Works)." <www.tinyurl.com/rpxhde4s>

   And on the wilder side, see "How Profit-Driven AI Jesus Chatbots Prey on Prayer-Driven Christians" at <www.tinyurl.com/yhjtvpyu>.

 ---

PSYCHEDELICS 

"After a Decade of Controversy, Clergy Psychedelic Study Is Published" (RNS, Jun 2 '25) -- begins with a brief profile of Rabbi Julie Danan, spiritual leader <www.tinyurl.com/558syavx> of Seaside Jewish Community in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. "Danan was participating in what was billed as a clinical trial exploring the effects of psilocybin in clergy, run by Johns Hopkins and New York University researchers. <www.tinyurl.com/376du8sj> Other participants included four other rabbis, a Catholic priest, several Protestant ministers and a Muslim leader.

   "Like a few of her fellow participants, Danan told RNS that her psilocybin trip was 'the most powerful and overwhelming spiritual experience of my life.' 

   "In the intervening decade, the Johns Hopkins/New York University study has taken on an almost mythic quality among some psychedelic enthusiasts as they awaited the results and imagined their impact. The study, some hoped, could reduce stigmas toward entheogens in certain religious spaces, while proving the value of spirituality in psychedelic ones. Others worried it would generate moral panic or be wielded as license to use psychedelics indiscriminately. ...

   "The long-awaited results <www.tinyurl.com/2649nke2> were less controversial, revealing that 96% of the 24 participants retroactively rated one of their psilocybin experiences among the top five most spiritually significant of their lives. ...

   "Most gave 'strong or extreme endorsement' that the experience 'increased their effectiveness in their religious vocation' (79%) and 'increased the sense of the sacred in daily life' (79%). Forty-two percent said it was among the top five most psychologically challenging experiences of their life." (Couldn't this last remark be viewed as being equally positive or negative? - RP) ...

   "Though the findings are staggering for those involved, it's hard to know how applicable they are to the general population. The study's authors go so far as to warn that the findings could 'lead to inflated expectations of benefits and under-appreciation of risks.' ...

   "Gary Laderman, a religion scholar at Emory University in Atlanta and author of the forthcoming 'Sacred Drugs: How Psychoactive Substances Mix with Religious Life,' <www.tinyurl.com/2swa99pk> said the study's significance is simply its existence.

   "I'm not sure what kind of generalizations anyone can make about 25 people, mostly self-selected liberal Christians, about the drugging impact of psilocybin on people," said Laderman. ...

   "Since the Hopkins/NYU study launched, American culture has continued to experience what Laderman refers to as a second 'psychedelic awakening.' ...

   "'It's all about plant medicine or the kind of therapeutic value of psychedelics,' said Laderman. ...

   "To their own surprise, several of the study's participants were inspired to become leaders in these psychedelic-spiritual spaces. ...

   "'I seem to be able to offer a bridge between psychedelic experiences and Muslim communities,' said Sughra Ahmed, <www.tinyurl.com/2649nke2> founder of Ruhani, <ruhanispirit.org> an organization serving adherents interested in psychedelics, and a onetime associate dean at Stanford University. ...

   "The experiences were not universally positive. Danan said she briefly experienced some of the 'terrible things that have happened to the Jewish people through the centuries.' Kamenetz said he faced 'a confused void.' The Rev. Seth Jones, a Congregational pastor who currently works in artificial intelligence, said of his second session, 'If I weren't at Johns Hopkins, it would have probably qualified as a bad trip.' ... Some attributed their psychedelic experiences entirely to God, while others credited changes in brain chemicals or came away convinced that no spiritual experience, drug-induced or otherwise, happens divorced from the brain."

   "The group believed the study publication was imminent. Then came reports of ethical oversights. Of note were those raised by Matthew Johnson, a researcher and author on the study who charged [recently deceased study lead author Roland] Griffiths with biasing the study's outcome by acting as a "spiritual leader," framing the trial in spiritual terms and involving funders and psychedelic legalization advocates in the study itself. He also "had concerns that Roland Griffiths wanted psychedelic research to influence religious groups," according to The New Yorker. <www.tinyurl.com/2upf5khv>

   "Meanwhile, an audit ordered by Hopkins' Institutional Review Board found evidence of 'serious non-compliance' with clinical trial practices. The published study reports these lapses, including the involvement of two of the study's funders in the trial itself. These conflicts of interest 'were not appropriately disclosed nor managed,' the study says. It also acknowledges that the researchers referred to 'sacred experiences' in recruiting for the study and post-trial questionnaires, language that could have 'biased' responses."

   It adds that "many acknowledged the study's shortcomings, including the self-selection of participants and their lack of diversity — 97% of participants were white, 76% were Christians and 69% were male. ...

   "Several participants cautioned against hasty psychedelic use, stressing that in the trial they were prepared mentally and consumed the drug in an appropriate physical setting with trusted facilitators." <www.tinyurl.com/cbmzk2jp>

      For an earlier (Dec '22) RNS piece, "Psychedelic chaplains: In clinical trials, a new form of spiritual guide emerges," see: <www.tinyurl.com/ywprvhre>

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