Breakpoint

It's all a bit funny, given (as John Mulaney observed a couple years ago), just how much time we spend these days proving to robots that we're not robots. Only human brains, apparently—can recognize every square with a stop sign or a boat.

It's also a bit ironic, given the most exciting trend in computing technology is building computers using design principles based on the human brain.

"Today's most successful artificial intelligence algorithms [are] loosely based on the intricate webs of real neural networks," writes Allison Whitten in Quanta Magazine. She's referring to something called "deep learning," advanced artificial intelligence that can compute huge amounts of data, while correcting mistakes or even anticipating future problems.

From mapping traffic patterns to predicting storm fronts to understanding the stock market, the possibilities of deep learning are endless. For years, though, there's been a major holdup: how to keep it running. Deep learning requires so-called "simulated neural networks" or multiple layers of computers all crunching out the same problem.

"Unlike our highly efficient brains," Whitten explains, "running these algorithms on computers guzzles shocking amounts of energy: The biggest models consume nearly as much power as five cars over their lifetimes."

And now, after years of puzzling out how to make a system capable of running advanced AI, researchers are finding a breakthrough source of inspiration: the human brain.

The secret lies in how the brain processes electronic data. Whereas digital communication is binary, using 1's and 0's, the brain's communication is analog: using one continuous data stream. Likewise, while digital tech relies on one central processing unit, the brain arranges millions of computing units next to memory units in the forms of synapses and neurons.

The science is definitely chewy for us non-engineering types, but the results are incredible. Digital technology has transformed the modern world, opening vistas that previous generations would have thought impossible. Yet to fully master artificial intelligence, our brightest scientists are forced to direct their attention back to God's original design specs.

This is part of a bigger phenomenon in engineering called "biomimetics." It's a word coined from the Greek bios, which means life, and mīmēsis which means imitation. Neurocomputing is just one of the more dramatic examples of what some have called the biomimetics' "goldrush," a race to understand and apply systems and design features of the natural world, which in many cases are far beyond even our most advanced engineering.

This is not to say God somehow always prefers "natural" systems to "artificial" ones. Humans are designed to create and innovate and design in ways that have advanced us past our Garden of Eden beginnings.

At the same time, there's no escaping the basic truth that natural systems are nothing short of stunning. People didn't design themselves, yet we possess self-repairing, massively complex biological systems. We experience life through five senses, our brains seamlessly integrating terabytes of data at all times. And to do it, we require only assorted organic materials we find around us. The brain can sustain itself on a cheeseburger.

In 2013, a collaboration between Japanese and German scientists created one of the most realistic brain simulations ever attempted. They used what was, at that time, the world's fourth-largest computer, containing over 700,000 processor cores and producing an eye-popping 1.4 million gigabytes of RAM. The machine worked at top speed, crunching numbers for over 40 minutes. In the end, it produced just one second of simulated brain activity.

Technology has advanced since then, but it still raises a fundamental question: How do we explain the complexity of the natural world?

Darwinian naturalists are forced to punt to random, genetic mutations—or in the words of Bertrand Russell "accidental collocations of atoms"—and a limitless supply of time and chance.

But they still can't escape the haunting questions. How did the universe itself come into existence? How do the laws of physics perfectly align for our survival here? How can we account for the incredible amount of complex and specified information in biological systems, including the human brain? How can we explain abiogenesis, or the origin of the first life from non-life?

Christians don't have to agree on every scientific detail to point to what is obvious. There's a designer behind all of this design. In other words, as Casey Luskin with Evolution News summarizes: "Where, in our experience, do language-based digital code, computer-like programming, machines, and other high [information] structures come from? They have only one known source: intelligence."

John and Shane review healthy technology use. A listener asks for insight on what practices and habits a mindful parent has in their home as they lead their family in the digital age.

Another listener writes in to ask how Christians should respond to the presence of oppression. The listener asks for perspective on what a Christian should do when they don't feel oppression, but are told it is present.

John also helps a listener have a whole perspective of critiques of the modern church. The listener asks why church practices aren't reflected in the Bible.

One of the chief purposes of Lent, after all, is to confront our mortality.

For the last two years, our focus has been on avoiding our mortality, dodging death, and largely hedging life against our fears of death. In this cultural moment, confronting our mortality during Lent is incredibly important.

As New Testament scholar Mary Healy said, "We instinctively resist and recoil from everything that reminds us of our mortality—pain, deprivation, weakness, criticism, failure. This paralyzing fear ... leads to various forms of escapism and addiction, induces us to grasp the false security nets proffered by Satan, and keeps us from pursuing the will of God with freedom, peace, and confidence."

Whether or not you typically participate in traditional Lenten activities—like the marking of ashes, fasting, or giving up something—I hope you'll still use these 40 days to face and ponder your mortality, with an eye to Jesus' resurrection, and the resurrection that awaits all of us who belong to Him.

A central claim of the gay rights movement—a claim that won the movement acceptance with the majority of Americans—was that being gay is part of who a person is, and not a choice. "Born this way," declared the title of a popular song. Another song insisted, "I can't change even if I tried."

This idea of immutable sexual identity was further extended to other orientations and self-expressions. So, trying to suppress or change orientation or even behavior was labeled "conversion therapy." And, now that sexual orientation is considered identity, anything labeled "conversion therapy" is increasingly being outlawed. Recently, A new law just passed in Canada bans conversion therapy and defines it as any "practice, treatment or service designed to change a person's sexual orientation" or "repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behavior."

Completing this rapid worldview revolution, all kinds of identities, also based on desires and feelings, are being treated as if they are unchangeable. And, if a desire is unchangeable, the reasoning goes, a person has a right to act on it. This logic has been applied to most desires imaginable—until now.

In January, USA Today ran an article by Alia Dastagir titled, "The Complicated Research Behind Pedophilia." The article summarizes a growing consensus among psychologists that pedophiles, too, are "born this way," and that attraction to children is unchangeable. Understandably, Dastagir doesn't call pedophilia a sexual orientation, but rather, "attraction." Still, it isn't hard to imagine a slippery slope here.

Slippery slopes are considered logical fallacies because they don't have to happen. However, it isn't hard to see how often they do happen. If our society maintains the logic that desires determine identity and therefore justify behaviors, then more deviant behaviors will eventually become acceptable.

Dastagir argues that even if pedophilia is an unchangeable attraction caused by genetic or environmental factors, pedophiles can and must "control [their] impulses." The experts she quotes agree that people who are sexually attracted to kids have a choice whether to "act on the urge to abuse."

One psychologist and author even said that acting on pedophilia is the same as the choice to act on any other "inappropriate sexual thought." As she puts it: "Pedophiles may not have control over the fact that they are attracted to kids, but they are responsible for whether they do or don't act on it."

That psychologist continues: "Offending is devastating. It damages the lives of victims…You can learn to control yourself. You have the capacity to do better."

The language sounds an awful lot like the kind that's been labeled "conversion therapy," or as the Canadian law puts it, an attempt to "repress or reduce a non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behavior."

Don't misunderstand me: Pedophilia and homosexuality are not the same. As much as we critique consent as the only moral stand our culture will take, it applies here. A minor isn't developed enough to give consent. I'm only pointing out that the logic could be argued the same in both cases. It should also be noted that, at the same time pedophilia is being reconsidered an orientation, minors have been given control of their sexual identities. If they can determine their sexual identification at younger and younger ages, how long will we prevent them from determining their sexual activities?

Even so, the fact that social scientists and the press can avoid the logical conclusion of "born this way" for this instance shows how flawed that logic always was. Desires don't determine behavior or identity. They never did because, as human beings, we are moral agents responsible for controlling our appetites.

This slope is just really, really slippery. I'm grateful that there are still those in our culture willing to distinguish between desires and behavior, in at least one case. We should press them on why this is a unique case because if the sexual revolution doesn't stop here, the consequences are quite simply unthinkable.

As the world watches the situation unfold in Ukraine, we are forced to deal with the world's fundamental brokenness and the stark reality of human evil.

But at the same time, there's something even more pervasive than evil and death: life. Today, even in Ukraine, there will be babies born, marriages officiated, and neighbors gathering to pray.

On a deeper level, redeemed life is everywhere. Jesus came that we may "have life and have it abundantly."

That life is not about material wealth. Neither is it about simply waiting for heaven.

It's a renewed commitment to the values of God's Kingdom, right now. That can be simple as feeding pigeons or giving a cup of cold water to those in need. The joy Christians take in life points to our ultimate hope: a hope that can't be shaken.

If there's a term our culture has little appreciation for, it's "limitations." But that's exactly what makes Kelly Kapic's newest book You're Only Human worth reading.

Intentionally or implicitly these days, people are told to ignore their physical, interpersonal, and spiritual limits. Even in Christian circles, it's common to constantly feel exhausted or guilty, as if we haven't done enough for God and His Kingdom. Dr. Kelly Kapic, a professor of theology at Covenant College, provides a compelling counter-thesis:

"Many of us fail to understand that our limitations are a gift from God, and therefore good.This produces in us the burden of trying to be something we are not and cannot be."

Human limitation is different from the idea of "sin" or even "fallenness." As a feature of time and space, "limitations" are nbuilt-in aspect of God's design. We need things like food and rest. We were not created to do everything by ourselves, even something as simple as finding our own individual identities. Ultimately, we are dependent, and our dependency is meant to draw us closer to the God who created us.

Recently, Dr. Kapic joinedmy colleague Kasey Leander for a special episode ofon the BreakPoint podcast,. Their conversation is an especially relevant counter to dangerous assumptions that are shaping our world.

One of these assumptions has to do with physicality. Seized by what some have called a "gnostic impulse," much of modern life downplays physical limitations. Digital technology tells us we don't need to "go" anywhere to "be" with people. We sexualize everything, and in the process destroy the possibility of normal, everyday physical touch. The most extreme example of this gnostic impulse is transgender ideology, which tells people they can only and finally feel fulfilled outside the physical reality of biology.

In God's original design, the physical world was created "good." We flourish best, not when we "transcend" our God-given physical limitations, but when we live in accordance with them. This doesn't mean everything is perfect: Some of our limitations, of course, actually are caused by the fall. However, even in a world infected by evil, Christians have hope in a renewed, physical creation. If God loves our bodies, we should too.

Kapic also highlights the idea of faithfulness in the Christian life. Too often, we're driven by a desire to do everything, ignoring our limited resources of time and energy. "It was Ben Franklin who said time is money," he tells us, "and as Christians we have baptized that."

It makes me wonder what Jesus would make of modern busyness. The Son of God never shied away from challenges or difficulty … yet he spent an inordinate amount of time simply praying and resting. As the Agent of creation and the second Adam, Christ set the standard for a life well lived.

A third takeaway from You're Only Human. has to do with the Church, the Bride of Christ:

"God extends his love, provision, and values through the people who make up his church. His offer to be a refuge and strength frequently comes through his church. When he wants to bring a word of grace, a safe hug, a warm meal, it often comes through his church. Even when the church cannot do everything itself, it keeps seeking to promote the common good."

The Christian walk demands community,and our collective limitations also point at something significant about our human limitations. Kapic continues:

"The central mission of the church is to point people continually to the Messiah: he alone fully reveals the love of the Father and pours out his Spirit on us. The goal of all our good efforts is to draw people to the embrace of the triune God, not to serve as a replacement for him. All the gifts we exercise must ultimately point back to the true Giver."

This is why Christians can read the news without losing hope. We cannot heal or restore our broken world, but Christ can and will. In that respect, our limitation isn't weakness. It makes us rely on the only true Source of strength.

Dr. Anthony Bradley of the King's College addresses the very important issue of how we are failing young men. The tyranny of low expectations, soft relationships, absent fathers… ours is a culture failing to transition boys to men. Dr. Bradley explains the current landscape and emboldens listeners to take action to love and support young men. This presentation is part of our Lighthouse Voices Series, done in partnership with Focus on the Family. Click here for more on the Lighthouse Voices Series>>

With the "Stop WOKE Act" and unfairly labeled "Don't Say Gay" bill, the Florida legislature is ordering state-run schools to adjust their curriculum, and respond to the will of parents.

The U.S. Secretary of Education, in a strong response, threatened the state to follow federal interpretations of Title IX and civil rights laws or risk federal funding. It's not the first time the White House has used federal funds as leverage to get what it wants from Florida.

The fundamental question here is whose job is it to educate? Increasingly, the state has not only claimed that task, it's also sought to actively keep parents out of it, especially when it comes to controversial social issues like race or sexuality.

That state does have a place and purpose that was ordained by God. So does the church and so does the family. But the family isn't designed to be the church, the church isn't designed to be the state, and the state shouldn't be teaching its worldview to our kids.

For example, Psalm 69 says:

"Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents."

Psalm 83 declares:

"O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!"

Then there's Psalm 109: "May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!"

Most disturbing of all is Psalm 137. Written after the people of Judah had been conquered and enslaved by the Babylonians, the psalmist cries out:

"O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!"

We don't know what to do with these words. We wonder why these psalms are in the Bible, and if the author was an awful person. We ask ourselves how they fit with the self-sacrificing God we've known and loved.

Not everything contained in the Bible is, of course, prescriptive. Many of the passages we struggle with are descriptive, describing evils or wrongs that took place. These passages, however, are hymns, even prayers of God's people. So, in the case of imprecatory psalms, the confusion remains.

At times when world events, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, shake us out of moral lethargy, these cries for justice and wrath make more sense. We, too, become enraged. In the last few weeks, the world has looked on with horror as Russian forces violated the peace with those they claimed were their brothers. Millions have been displaced and thousands are now dead. As Moscow's become increasingly frustrated at its lack of success, its leaders have resorted to indiscriminate shelling and intentional targeting of noncombatants.

It is right at these times to want justice, and to want it now! It is right to weep at the horrors of human existence, as Billie Holiday did with her mournful song about lynchings in the Jim Crow South, "Strange Fruit." Passages like Psalm 88 describe the struggle to find hope in God, and to lament the injustice in the world. Sometimes, the only possible moral response is to appeal for God's judgment on evildoers. Anger is a proper response to real evil in this world, a world that was created good.

At the same time, we should pray that evildoers will see their sin and approach the throne of grace for forgiveness and salvation. After all, Paul was a persecutor of the Church, yet he was saved and used by God to take the Gospel across the Roman world. At the same time, just three chapters after Paul's salvation, another persecutor, Herod Agrippa, is struck down by God, and, as the text colorfully notes, was eaten by worms. The same Jesus who came gently riding a donkey into Jerusalem will one day come to establish the New Jerusalem riding a warhorse.

Imprecatory psalms affirm our sense that there's real wrong with the world, that we are right to be angry about it. They speak of the psalmist's pain in their realness and rawness. They remind us that God is not afraid of our anger. In fact, He, too, is grieved and angry at evil borne of the sin we have committed against one another.

These psalms, these imprecatory words, remind us that we can come to God in our anger and ask that He do something about it. The rest of the Psalms, and the rest of the Bible, remind us that He is trustworthy. As Abraham said of God, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" He will, and we can count on it.

John and Maria discuss the rise of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They ponder why the world seems to admire his leadership and what the significance is when the wider culture largely rejects many displays of masculinity.

Then, Maria asks John to explain a recent commentary that highlights beauty in the face of the conflict in Ukraine. Sharing about the weight of redemption, John notes that redemption grounds many issues in the world and expounds on the Wilberforce Weekend theme "Life Redeemed."

To close, John describes a recent commentary at BreakPoint on assisted reproduction. Maria shares some of the feedback often received on commentaries about this topic, identifying some challenges to questions for BreakPoint.