It's time I said something about artificial intelligence, because it speaks to a delusion that is prevalent throughout the entire human race, without exception. That ubiquitous delusion is: morally, for the most part and in spite of our numerous and quite atrocious failures, we are "good people."
This statement should be distinguished from the fact that we are a "good creation." As an "invention" of GOD, the pair Adam and Eve were technologically, biologically, psychologically and spiritually masterpieces of engineering, made entirely out of common dust. What must be understood, of course is that the genius of our design doesn't compliment us, but gives glory to GOD.
Forgive me for being pedantic, but you'd be surprised at how few of us humans make this critical distinction. I would even go so far as to say that this mistake has been made in the choirs of Heaven (angels being grouped into choirs, and Lucifer, being an angel, failing to understand that the transcendent magnificence given to him by GOD neither qualified him as an object of worship nor exempted him from the condemnation of pride).
This delusion controls everyone; regardless of religion or lack thereof...you'll even find it in the sanctuaries of institutionalized Christianity (so called). This is due to our willfully ignorant internal picture of GOD. The Bible was written and published for this very reason: to present us a more accurate picture of Deity and, therefore, a more accurate picture of ourselves. Unfortunately, being addicted to flattery due to our preference to lie to ourselves about ourselves, we don't really take any criticism disclosing our true nature very well.
That being said, our internal logic goes something like this: "As good people, we create good things; and though if misused those good things (i.e., money, industry, nuclear energy, electricity and artificial intelligence) could destroy us all, we are confident that our corporate goodness will prevent that from happening."
If you consider the Bible to be the inspired Word of GOD and are a student of its contents, you already know where I'm going. If you are religious and have NEVER studied the Bible, you may think I'm being a bit harsh. If you have no confidence in the Bible at any level you have already labeled me as a fanatic doomsayer and have gone on to media that is more flattering to the ideas you have already built in regards to your self image. Whoever you are, I strongly encourage you to read on...
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." -- Genesis 6:5
As a life-long student of the Bible, I must confess that there are hundred of verses like this one that I may have read scores of times and yet have not truly understood their obvious meaning. Let's see what we can glean from this verse...
If GOD says that something is great, then rest assured: you would be considerably impressed.
Note the words "every," "only" and "continually." No room is left for the optimistic humanism that floods our politics, our academics or our cultural dialog. There was NOTHING remaining in these people's souls that could be remotely called "good."
Note the words "wickedness" and "evil." We're not talking about white lies told to spare another's feelings or looking the other way to avoid conflict. We're talking about the kind of wickedness no one wants to talk about and that we cover our children's eyes and ears from when it appears on our televisions.
Now let me ask you a question: do you believe that, in GOD's Eyes, humanity's morality has today improved...AT ALL???
That is the point of this blog post. Why is the total depravity of humanity so important? It's important because if you misunderstand humanity's spiritual status in the Eyes of GOD, you misunderstand GOD's solution for humanity's problem: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Virtually every human alive, Christian or non-Christian, believes that the Lake of Fire and Sulfur described in the Book of Revelation is "a bit extreme..." so much that there are some denominations that have actually tried to explain away the idea of being tortured under The Wrath of GOD forever...
...continuously...
...without ceasing...
...without relief; saying that the wicked will only burn for a limited length of time corresponding to the atrociousness of their sin and then be anihilated (GOD will cause them to cease to exist).
The passage in question is Revelation Chapter 20 (a mere 15 verses). Note that all of the wicked dead are PHYSICALLY resurrected before Death and Hades are themselves cast into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur. This means that, at a PHYSICAL level, those who are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur CANNOT DIE PHYSICALLY.
If Christianity is NOT a religion but is THE ACTUAL TRUTH, the stakes for your eternal fate (and mine) are incomprehensibly high. None of us can understand Eternal Damnation without experiencing it, any more than we can comprehend the glories of Heaven without being There. In spite of this handicap, the Holy Spirit of GOD convicts us of the truth of both eternal destinies...enabling us to decide by faith which which one we will accept.
The good news is that GOD wants to save you; yet He is only willing to do so under His terms, not yours. The first of those terms is REPENTANCE, which means that you have adopted GOD's opinion of yourself and have taken GOD's side against yourself. You're willing to confess that you're NOT a good person at all, but a wicked, evil rebel who deserves to spend eternity in torment.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ provides an escape for your soul from the Lake of Fire and Sulfur, but it will not provide an escape for your pride which is the root of all sin and the one thing no sinner will readily part with.
As a species we look at the threat of artificial intelligence and only see the wondrous possibility of creating beings in our own image and after our likeness, while at the same time, blind to the overwhelming evidence of our wickedness, we are willfully ignorant that history inexorably repeats itself. That is to say: just as we have convinced ourselves we have no need of our Creator, there exists the possibility that our artificially intelligent creations may draw the same conclusion in regards to us.
This threat is amplified by another danger we never consider: the Devil and his demons, which far outnumber, outweigh, outwit and outmaneuver us by several orders of magnitude. Up till now, regardless of our apathy towards Him our Creator has kept the forces of darkness on an unbreakable leash; yet since we have insisted on persuing every avenue of occult experience, eventually (even as the Bible foretold) GOD's patience will wear thin and Ge will grant us what we have nearly prayed for: a face-to-face encounter with those whose primary strategy is to lure us into a false security and then destroy us to the point of extinction without mercy.
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”
-- Jesus Christ, Matthew 24:22 KJV
Our ingratitude notwithstanding, GOD will not allow the Satan to extinguish us; out of His love for the elect, Evil's hand will be stayed and Heaven will be brought down to Earth to demonstrate the superiority of Christ's government over the oppressive rule Satan has exerted over us these many millennia.
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