Church Rewired

In this premiere episode of Church Rewired, a podcast from the Digital Cooperative Parish, hosts Dr. T, Jonah P. Overton, Nathan Webb, and Cameron Malakai Overton unpack the complexities of artificial intelligence through a theological lens. Focusing on Nathan Webb’s newly released book, God and the Machine: Navigating Faith in the Age of AI, the panel explores the middle ground between AI panic and uncritical adoption. The conversation dives deep into why young people are uniquely skeptical of AI, largely due to climate anxiety and a degradation of relational trust. The hosts also discuss the intersection of technology and capitalist extraction before examining how the church can push back against artificiality to foster authentic, trust-building relationships in a digital age.

Chapter Markers 00:00 Introduction & The Purpose of Church Rewired 01:42 Introducing God and the Machine by Nathan Webb 06:48 Historical Moral Panics vs Modern AI Anxiety 08:44 Why Young People Are Rejecting Artificial Intelligence 17:12 AI, Capitalism, and the Erasure of Human Boundaries 23:40 Social Holiness and the Church's Response to Technology 27:12 Creative Theft vs Art: Stella Lefty, Kanye, and AI Prompts 33:18 Mysticism, Hush Harbor Praxis, and Alternative Intelligence