Now We Have AI Jesus To Save the Day – and Our Souls

No, we do not need an AI Jesus:

Recall in the 1999 film The Matrix how one character in league with the dark side is discussing the benefits of a simulated steak dinner. It is not real, but the Matrix is giving him the impression that it is. The character, Cypher, says this: “You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.” See the clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JODWCwycNmg

This is an article that should not have to have been written. But since there is real garbage out there that some real Christians – and others – will readily embrace and consume, it is worth doing a quick piece on this issue. I refer to an AI Jesus. A Christian newswire service recently sent me an email for something called AvatarJesus. I kid you not. Part of it said this:

AvatarJesus is built for Christians who want a private online place to pray and confess, with an experience centered on religious practice itself rather than on attendance or affiliation. Avatarjesus.ai is free to use and is supported by public donations through its GoFundMe campaign. The launch introduces a simple claim: Christian practice does not begin and end with membership. Prayer remains possible. Confession remains possible. Honest religious practice remains possible. AvatarJesus is designed to give those acts a place in ordinary life with immediate online access. AvatarJesus gives users a place to speak plainly, examine themselves, and confess directly. At launch, AvatarJesus centers on prayer and confession, with a product experience designed to be immediate, serious, and accessible.

There is slim pickings on their website. About all we find there is this:

PRAY AND CONFESS DIRECTLY TO JESUS

A Path to Forgiveness and Grace

Through Avatar Jesus, your prayers transcend words, carried by intention and faith, directly to the heart of God.

Avatar Jesus does not trade your personal prayers for targeted ads. GoFundMe donations keep AvatarJesus.ai online—a private place for prayer when there is no church to go to. https://avatarjesus.ai/#/confess

That is actually about it. There seems to be as much there about where you can donate as there is about praying to some machine Jesus. Who is behind this? What is their motivation? Who is getting the money being sent in? This is all simply scam city in my books.

Indeed, it is ludicrous and dodgy as all get out. So what is wrong with it? Let me count the ways:

One. Good grief, what nonsense this outfit is peddling. As if we need some machine or computer program to pray, to confess our sins, and to practice our Christian faith. We have always been able to do this, including well before the machine age came on the scene, or the new technology era arose.

Two. Simply using the term “avatar” is problematic, as it comes directly out of Hinduism. It is actually a Sanskrit term meaning “descent”. It has to do with the physical appearance or incarnation of a deity. And it is usually understood that there are many of these avatars, and the doctrine of reincarnation is tied in with this.

This has nothing to do with the biblical understanding of who Jesus is, and what the incarnation is all about. In eastern thought, these avatars can appear often and in many places. The incarnation of Jesus occurred just once in just one place. In biblical Christianity, the eternally existing second person of the Trinity became a man 2000 years ago in Israel to deal with our sin problem. Jesus was not one of numerous avatars, but he is the unique Son of God who has died and rose again for our sins.

Three. I have warned about the unholy alliance of all things AI and Christianity for some time now. I have often mentioned how too many Christians, including too many pastors and Christian leaders, have been seduced by the siren sounds of AI. They are depending on AI, ChatGPT, and other devices to produce sermons, to create prayers, to write books, to counsel others, and so on.

While there is SOME place for these new technologies in what we do (I for example use my Word spell-checker and the like), no believer should be jettisoning the Holy Spirit for some machine as they seek to do the work of the Lord. Ditching the Holy Spirit for computer programs and machines simply spells the death of Christian ministry and outreach.

Four. Pretending the Christian life can be properly lived all by oneself with the help of AI (soulless machines and algorithms, etc) is just not on. Sure, there might be some folks who are housebound and cannot get out. Or there can be things like Covid lockdowns, and so on. So on some occasions relying on something like Zoom for Christian fellowship might be necessary.

But generally speaking, nothing substitutes for real in-person Christian fellowship and worship. Thinking some computer program or website is going to take the place of other believers, the Holy Spirit, and the God who is there is a fool’s dream.

Sure, as I have written before, I am not saying attending some brick-and-mortar building, or being a member of some institutional church, is the only way to be a real deal believer. Yes, people can worship and love God at home, and things like house churches certainly do exist.

But the norm is to have some sort of corporate fellowship, whether in a church building, out in the woods, at a home fellowship, or wherever – and with other real human beings! Machines can never replace actual Christian fellowship and the role of the Holy Spirit. And confessing your sins to some robot or AI creation is just not on either.

As we are told in James 5:16, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another”. We do this to real live people, not to some ChatGPT program or to some bizarre website that we know nothing about. Christianity is always about real people, and the work of the Holy Spirit in and through real people.

So forget all this AI nonsense and connect with the living God and with the people he has created to have fellowship with himself. Save the machines for mowing your lawn or making your coffee. And if you want to enjoy a good steak dinner, forget about AI, holograms and the like. They are fake and will never satisfy your soul – or an empty stomach.

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