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AR 22:44 - The adversary of dehumanizing technology
In this issue:
EVANGELICALISM (UNITED KINGDOM) - "a native British proto-fundamentalism, as old or older than the American version"
EXTINCTION, HUMAN - "a call to arms against the adversary of dehumanizing technology"
Apologia Report 22:44 (1,364)
December 6, 2017
EVANGELICALISM (UNITED KINGDOM)
Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in the United Kingdom during the Twentieth Century, by David W. Bebbington and David Ceri Jones [1] -- "an admirable volume in a field that has been fiercely contested" writes reviewer Kenneth J. Stewart (Covenant College). "Since the preaching missions of evangelist Billy Graham to the UK in the early 1950s, British evangelicalism has needed to defend itself against the inflammatory charge that by embracing Graham, it had entered into an unholy alliance with a rigid, alien, American fundamentalism. ... The cumulative effect of [numerous] attempts at theological guilt-by-association has required reflection and self-study, proof of which stands before us in this volume. ...
"Since 1970 there has been a parallel, non-polemical, transatlantic discussion traceable to the work of Ernest Sandeen, who maintained in 1970 that British and American conservative evangelical movements share a common lineage going back to late-Georgian England and Edward Irving's circle. By implication, this view cut across the repeated British insistence that fundamentalism was a regrettable American import, fastening itself upon British Protestantism. However, in the aftermath of Sandeen's work, George Marsden took the contrary view that fundamentalism was primarily an American movement of religious reaction from which the UK had been mostly spared.
"Could the team of contributors assembled to produce this book clear this smoke away? They have very largely done so. ...
"By design this volume concentrates on the twentieth century." Stewart also briefly discusses the nineteenth.
"It may be remarked ... that while the contributors to this volume have shown great industry in locating evidences of a native British proto-fundamentalism, as old or older than the American version, it appears that some contributors were not in accord with such assessments. [I]n what this writer takes to be a concession by writers to the insistence of the British theological establishment that the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is an American aberration, one finds too often in this volume the tired repetition of the view that inerrancy was not held within Britain. ... The view was indeed affirmed by twentieth-century luminary John Stott. It is simply incorrect to assert that the doctrine of inerrancy was manufactured in nineteenth-century America; it is past time that British evangelical writers acknowledge this for the misrepresentation that it is.
"Here then is a stimulating volume that paints a largely cohesive picture of conservative British Protestantism across the twentieth century. Its masterful conclusion provides an admirable synthesis of what the volume has achieved. Carping critics of evangelical Protestantism in Britain should read this book and take note: conservative evangelical Protestantism is not an exotic import, but a native plant showing affinities to other such movements in the western world." Westminster Theological Journal, 78:2 - 2016, pp359-361.
Related items were noted in AR 13:3 (2008) <www.goo.gl/SM9Com> and AR 21:34 <www.goo.gl/QX4EXQ>
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EXTINCTION, HUMAN
Technology vs. Humanity: The Coming Clash Between Man and Machine, by Gerd Leonhard [2] -- an unlikely book to be considered by a scientific journal gets an unexpectedly serious evaluation. Is it already too late? This review by retired professor Jack Swearengen (Washington State University, Vancouver) reveals that futurist Leonhard <www.futuristgerd.com> makes such a case.
Swearengen reports that this book "is a call to arms against the adversary of dehumanizing technology. An influence of tech futurists such as Ray Kurzweil, Alan Turing, Alvin Toeffler, and sci-fi writers such as Ray Bradbury, is evident. Leonhard extrapolates present trends far into the future, but his call to arms is not readily dismissible. If he is correct, we surely must respond. By the time you read this review, it may already be too late, because in Leonhard's view, 2016 - the year of the book's publication - is the critical year to take action. ...
"Leonhard explains that the pivot point is an inflection point of an exponential curve in many fields of science and technology.... [M]any fields of technology, from communications to artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning, are still likely to grow at least exponentially and with combinatorial effects - the changes reinforcing one another. ...
"By 2020, Leonhard writes, almost everything will be perceived or defined as a service because everything will be digitized, automated, and 'intelligized.' This will have huge economic impact as it progressively creates abundance in almost every sector of society - first music, movies, and books, followed by transportation, money, and financial services, and eventually, medical treatments, food, and energy.
"By 2030 technology and pharma will have converged almost completely. Mankind's biggest diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and AIDS are being tackled by advanced bioengineering. We will very rarely take pills to fight sickness or diseases; instead, we will increasingly use technology and genetic editing to observe, predict, and prevent the onset of diseases. ...
"We shall become 'the tools of our tools.' ...
"Leonhard suggests that precaution and proaction - the two principles often deployed to date as possible mitigation tools - are both insufficient to deal with [the influence of our profit-and-growth-driven open market's] combinatory, exponential scenario where waiting will be as dangerous as firing ahead. Too much precaution will stifle progress and innovation, and too much proactivity will free some powerful and likely uncontrollable forces. ...
"Civic and political leaders must develop a deep understanding and personal foresight about technology in the context of humanity, and become stewards of our collective future. Across all sectors of all industries, we will need a new kind of hyper-collaboration, not hyper-competition. ...
"In sum, Leonhard believes we must: (1) put our collective human flourishing first and above all other concerns; (2) allow those uniquely human things such as imagination, chance, mistakes, and inefficiencies to continue to matter even if they are undesired by or incompatible with technology; (3) fight the spread of machine thinking, i.e., not change what we stand for and need as humans simply because it might make it easier for the technologies that surround us; (4) not be tempted into preferring technological magic (i.e., great simulations of reality over reality itself) and getting addicted to technology; and (5) not prefer relationships with screens and machines over those that we can have with fellow humans. ...
"Religious approaches are deliberately ruled out because 'they are not universal and are often regressive.' ...
"Drawing from Greek philosophy, the Buddhism of the Dali Lama, and humanism, Leonhard develops his 'digital age philosophy' of exponential humanism. ...
"Even with [its significant] limitations ... I strongly recommend Technology Vs. Humanity. Why? First, because Leonhard alerts us to the dimensions and urgency of the problem. Second, he proposes semi-tangible approaches, which he says are only conversation starters. Third, he sets forth fifteen shall-nots, five core human rights that should be incorporated into digital ethics, five elements of what it means to be human, and eight must-do actions in order for us to become stewards of our collective future. Finally, he appeals for action, not just another forum!" Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 69:2 - 2017, pp125-7. <www.goo.gl/QtvYUA>
Also consider Eclipse of Man: Human Extinction and the Meaning of Progress, by Charles T. Rubin [3]. For a review, see Issues in Science & Technology (32:3 - 2016, pp91-94) <www.goo.gl/e6dzna>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in the United Kingdom during the Twentieth Century, by David W. Bebbington and David Ceri Jones (Oxford Univ Prs, 2013, hardcover, 432 pages) <www.goo.gl/ZxMn15>
2 - Technology vs. Humanity: The Coming Clash Between Man and Machine, by Gerd Leonhard (Fast Future, 2016, paperback, 184 pages) <www.goo.gl/gm6YPN>
3 - Eclipse of Man: Human Extinction and the Meaning of Progress, by Charles T. Rubin (Encounter, 2014, hardcover, 200 pages) <www.goo.gl/W4F2oq>
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