Does Jesus use an iPhone? - Some thoughts on technology

I was recently thinking -- a common pastime for a seminary student -- and came to the following question. “Would Jesus use an iPhone?” But, I remembered that Jesus has His human body now. He is resurrected and He sits in heaven now. So, a more important question would be, does Jesus use an iPhone? Well, perhaps it is not an important question, but it got me thinking about technology. I used to be an engineer and so I have had a lot of experience with how things work and how to use technology to make things great. Here are some of my thoughts.

The world, even without technological advance, is made for humans to enjoy. Apples, oranges, and peaches all fit in the palm of the human hand. So do chicken eggs. A horse’s back is flat and long enough for one or two human riders. Wouldn’t it be a stretch to say that each of these came to be by mere chance? Wouldn’t it be even more of a stretch to say that all of these, together, randomly occurred? The agriculture and livestock which we enjoy demonstrate that all things were made for the enjoyment of mankind.

Someone may object, saying, “Perhaps humans adapted hands to the size of the fruit. Or, perhaps the horse was selectively bred to have a flatter, longer back.” Essentially, they may look at what appears to be the nature of things and say that perhaps technology is hidden behind things getting the way they are now.

But, what strikes me here is even if the horse was selectively bred, why was it possible to achieve what we now know as the horse? We know that selective breeding has limitations - you can breed bigger and bigger meat chickens, but eventually they get too big for their hearts and die of heart attacks before they can reproduce. Selectively bred stock can have common immune deficiencies or inherent illnesses. So why is it that horses aren’t too big for their hearts? Why is it that the horse breeds which are suitable for human use are stable and have relatively few maladies? For a Christian, that horses are designed for humans makes sense. When God made the first horses, he made them with the genetic diversity to make it possible to breed a clydesdale. Another way of saying it is that God had a clydesdale in mind when he created the horse, and not only that, but he also had in mind what man would look like riding that clydesdale. Furthermore, God made man at the peak of creation, man is made to be steward/ruler over all other creatures.

The world has characteristics which make technology easy for humans. Rams grow horns which can be used as trumpets. Olives can be crushed to make oil, grapes to make wine. Anything stable on one end can be used as a sundial with which to tell time. These are simple technologies, perhaps nothing to write home about, but they beg a question, “why is technology so easy?” So, what about more complex technologies?

Once, during my college years, I went to the Amana colonies and took a course in blacksmithing. It was there I first used a hand cranked bellows, a coal-burning forge, and an anvil. It was there that I learned some of the properties of metal which are for man’s benefit. For example, iron turns bright red when malleable. Metals can be very brittle, but with heat treating can be made hard. This heat treating is visible to the human eye; the color of the metal goes from a yellow straw color to purple to blue. You can see the effect in the pictures here:
http://ironoakfarm.blogspot.com/2011/01/fiery-friday-making-center-punch.html. Metal is made to be worked with by humans. Our eyes are able to see the changes which heat makes in the metal.

Consider also the basic avionics instruments. They measure environmental phenomena and from that are able to determine the necessary information for flight, including altitude, airspeed, heading, pitch. Here are some examples:

Static air pressure is proportional to altitude. The differential between static and impact pressure is proportional to airspeed. An iron ball in whiskey can provide a magnetic heading. A weight on a string points opposite the direction of acceleration plus gravitation. With these two vectors, you can know your airplane’s attitude.

Now, this is more than just about man. Why should visionless flight be possible? Why should the vectors of gravity and magnetic field be roughly orthogonal? Why should pressure differential produce lift? Are all these “just so”? If they are, then they are perfectly “just so”. If they occurred randomly, then they apparently all occurred perfectly for flight AND the mind of man just randomly was able to discover them all. Is it just random that the mind of man can understand the way the world works? Is it just random that the eyes of man can see things which are important for him to understand? Is it just random that the hands of man can manipulate the raw materials around us to make devices which our minds conceive? Is it just random that these devices work or are capable of working? I do not see randomness -- I see design and purpose and wonderfulness! God made the earth to be of use to man and God designed man to make use of the earth.

Psalm 139:
13 For you formed my inward parts;
   you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
   my soul knows it very well.

So, where did technology originate? So, given that I’ve just been talking about how great technology is and how perfectly suited man is to discover it, you may be surprised at my next comment. The first records of technological advancement are attributed to ungodly men. In ancient times, as recorded by Moses in Genesis 4, it is the line of Cain (who murdered his brother, Abel) which makes use of technology. Cain built a city. Jabal was the patriarch of camping and livestock (though Abel was a keeper of sheep before him). Jubal was the patriarch of musical instrumentation. Tubal-cain was a metalworker of bronze and iron. Yet, Cain was a murderer and his progeny, Lamech, was a murderer and proud of it. When Israel comes into the promised land under Joshua, it is the pagans who have chariots of iron. The Biblical account is clear, the origins of technology often aren’t the godly, but the ungodly. And this matches our experience, does it not?

Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple, died last year. From what I’ve read of his life, he was a talented, brilliant man, but no Christian. I recall hearing (but can’t seem to find the quote) that he thought technology would solve all our problems. As great as the iPhone is, it certainly hasn’t solved all our problems. Some have theorized that our modern devices have shortened our attention span (even you probably have been scanning this article and not reading every word, admit it!). Also, is the device recyclable or will it just end up in a refuse dump? There have also been many concerns about the working conditions at the Chinese Foxconn factory where iPhones have been manufactured. Several workers there committed suicide, begging the question of whether they were being exploited.

So, is technology bad? Certainly exploitation of third world countries is wrong. It is wrong to destroy the environment. Technology has always been used for evil ends, e.g. internet pornography. BUT, technology originated in the mind of God. When God made sand He wasn’t ignorant that it could and would eventually be melted down into silicon which could be fabricated into transistors programmable to be computers. Far from ignorance! God had planned liquid crystal displays long before we discovered they were made by man. God knows the technology we haven’t yet dreamed of. He designed all things with how they can and should be used in mind! So, technology is meant to happen. It is pictured as a blessing and will endure to the consummation.

Technology is a blessing. God Himself commanded construction of the tent of meeting, the tabernacle. Later, David collected bronze and iron for construction of the Temple (1 Chronicles 22:3). Even before entering the promised land, God promised the Israelites that it would be plentiful with iron and copper (Deuteronomy 8:7-9). Isaiah promises every material used for technology would be replaced by things more precious (Isaiah 60:17). God gives the building blocks used to make technology because He delights in blessing His creation.

Furthermore, God tells us that the world to come will include technology. The picture of the redeemed world is a city (Revelation 21-22). This is an alarming contrast, especially since the first mention of a city is the one built by the hands of wicked Cain. Even the technological advance of a city will be redeemed by God. But, not every technological advance will be necessary. The swords will be beaten into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3, c.f. Joel 3:10). In the eternal state we will no longer need weapons and medicine. But even though there won’t be swords, there will be plowshares. There won’t be spears, but there will be pruning hooks. In Heaven, there will be technology, but it won’t be used except in the way in which God intended it - for His glory and for being a blessing to His people.

So, does Jesus use an iPhone? What do you think?