Language of God

In the final episode of our series, we turn toward theology and practice. Christian thinkers have long argued that human dignity isn’t grounded in productivity, efficiency, or being better than everything else. The rise of AI gives us an opportunity to take that claim seriously.

Drawing on conversations with computer scientists, theologians, and ethicists, we develop four principles for navigating life with AI: human capacities are more than outputs; technology is not neutral; the effects of AI are social as well as individual; and AI is not a moral agent. We explore what those ideas mean for everything from education and creativity to relationships, responsibility, virtue, and the common good.

AI may keep getting better at doing things humans do. The challenge is not to keep finding tasks where we can beat the machines. It is to decide what kind of people we want to become—and which parts of being human are worth practicing even when a machine could do them for us.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Pavel Yudin, High Street Music, Chill Chord, Superlegal, Vesper Tapes, Taizo Audio. Titan Sound & Ricky Bombino, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions or organizations with which they are affiliated.

Read the Pope's Encyclical on AI

Artificial intelligence can write poetry, generate images, diagnose patterns in enormous datasets, and carry on a remarkably human-sounding conversation. But what is actually happening inside the machine?

In the second episode of our series on AI & human flourishing, we trace the history of artificial intelligence from Alan Turing and early rule-based computers through machine learning, Deep Blue, AlphaZero, and the arrival of ChatGPT and other large language models with technology and computer science experts to help us understand what changed along the way.

Then we look under the hood of a large language model. What are tokens, vectors, and transformers? How can a machine trained to predict the next word produce such astonishing results? Ultimately posing the question of whether understanding the machinery changes the way we think about what AI is—and what it isn’t.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Ricky Bombino, Chill Cord, High Street Music, & Immersive Music, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions or organizations with which they are affiliated.

Read the Pope's Encyclical on AI

Artificial intelligence can do remarkable things. It can recognize patterns humans miss, accelerate scientific research, and even help restore speech to someone who has lost the ability to communicate. But as these technologies become part of our lives, they also raise questions about how technology shapes us—for better and for worse.

In the first episode of our series, we explore an AI-powered brain-computer interface that can translate neural activity into speech, and then ask where healing ends and enhancement begins. We consider what happens when AI enters our relationships, creative work, and everyday thinking—and what we might gain or lose as things that once required effort become easier.

With help from researchers, theologians, and ethicists, we explore creativity, companionship, vulnerability, embodiment, and the subtle ways technologies reshape the people who use them. The question isn’t simply whether AI is good or bad. It’s how we might use it in ways that help us become the kinds of people we want to be.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by High Street Music, Paradiso Music, Pink Marble, Titan Sound, Vesper Tapes, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions or organizations with which they are affiliated.

Read the Pope's Encyclical on AI

Janet Kellogg Ray returns to Language of God to talk with Jim Stump about her new book, Fish with Feet: Human Evolution in the Image of God. For many Christians, evolution becomes especially difficult when the story reaches human beings. What does it mean to say that we share ancestry with other animals? And does that threaten the belief that humans are made in the image of God?

Ray argues that understanding the long evolutionary history that connects us to the rest of life need not diminish human dignity. Instead, it can deepen our understanding of what it means to bear God’s image—not as a particular physical or mental trait, but as a calling to represent God and care for creation. Jim and Janet discuss the evidence for human evolution, why that evidence can provoke such a strong reaction, what we can and cannot say about God’s role in the evolutionary process, and how our place in the family tree might give us an even greater sense of responsibility for the rest of creation.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Konstantin Garbuzyuk, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

In a time marked by rapid technological change, social fragmentation, political polarization, and declining trust in institutions, what does it mean to flourish as human beings together?

Oxford theologian Luke Bretherton helps us explore why this ancient question feels especially urgent today. Drawing on theology, history, philosophy, and his own experience studying churches and civic life around the world, Bretherton argues that we become fully human not in isolation but through relationships—and that the institutions we build play a crucial role in shaping those relationships.

The conversation explores the Christian understanding of the image of God as fundamentally relational, why modern life has created a crisis of agency and belonging, and how institutions such as churches, schools, hospitals, businesses, and governments can either cultivate or diminish our humanity. Rather than viewing institutions as obstacles to authentic living, Bretherton invites us to recover an “institutional imagination” that prioritizes purpose, character, and human connection over efficiency alone.

Along the way, Bretherton and Stump discuss the role of science in conversations about human nature, why moral questions can’t be settled by scientific analysis alone, and what practical habits can help organizations foster deeper relationships and genuine human flourishing.

This episode offers a hopeful vision for recovering our humanity—not by retreating from modern life, but by reimagining the communities and institutions through which we live it.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Titan Sound, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

After spending five days camping above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Jim Stump reflects on an experience that reshaped how he thinks about creation, wonder, and our place within it.

Guided by the wisdom of Annie Dillard and the poetry of Mary Oliver, Jim recounts the journey from simply being there, to paying close attention, to being astonished by a landscape that refuses to revolve around human convenience. Along the way, he shares stories of endless Arctic daylight, unexpected encounters with wildlife, deep conversations around camp, and the spiritual lessons found in one of the wildest places left on Earth.

This episode explores what Scripture, wilderness, and careful observation can teach us about humility, creation care, and the practice of seeing the world as gift from God rather than merely a resource. 

C.S. Lewis is remembered by many as a novelist, apologist, and literary scholar, but his reflections on science remain surprisingly relevant. Alister McGrath argues that Lewis offers a surprisingly nuanced understanding of the relationship between science, reason, imagination, and faith—one that challenges common assumptions about both scientific and Christian ways of knowing.

The conversation explores Lewis's understanding of the scientific enterprise, the role of imagination in forming and testing theories, and the historical development of science from the medieval world to the present. McGrath also considers why Lewis continues to be cited in contemporary debates over science and faith, while arguing that his views are often read out of context.

Along the way, the discussion reflects on why Lewis's ideas continue to speak into contemporary questions about science, faith, meaning, and the search for truth. Rather than treating imagination as an escape from reality, Lewis saw it as an indispensable part of discovering and understanding the world—a vision that remains both timely and compelling.

When the wind is just right, on a small beach in Titusville, Florida, horseshoe crabs crawl out of the water and onto the beach to lay their eggs. Jim and Colin joined up with two marine biologists—Bob Sluka who works with A Rocha, a Christian conservation organization and Margaret Miller, a coral biologist who works with SECORE International—and three A Rocha interns to survey the horseshoe crabs. That experience began an exploration into paying attention to many of the creatures that surround us, extending hospitality, and learning from the creatures, even from the ocean itself, about how we might better worship the creator of it all. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Vesper Tapes, Klimenko Music, Evergreen, High Street Music, Magentize Music, & Sirius Music, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Links and Resources:

Octopuses and humans have been evolving separately for more than 500 million years, but still, we have a few things in common. We explore what this means about the octopus, what it means about humans, and what it tells us about the Creator of All Things. As we dive into the science of octopus cognition and behavior we find the questions get more and more interesting. To help us sort through it, we are joined by Sy Montgomery (author of Soul of an Octopus and Secrets of the Octopus) who introduced us to two giant Pacific Octopuses at the New England Aquarium. 

Thanks to the New England Aquarium for hosting our visit. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Evan MacDonald, Mattijs Muller, Titan Sound, Klimenko Music, Ricky Bombino, Sirius Music, Northern Points, and Paradiso Music courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

This episode originally aired on March 13, 2025

In the summer of 2022 Dawn Wright became only the 27th person ever, the fifth woman, and the first Black person to descend into the deepest part of the ocean, a place called Challenger Deep. As a scientist, Dawn has been studying and helping to map the depths of the ocean, but being there in person uncovered a new dimension and deepened her connection with the mysterious underwater world. In the episode, Colin and Dawn talk about the science of mapping, the world of deep sea submersibles, and how finding trash in the most remote places of our planet might spark a renewed sense of stewardship for all of God’s creation. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Nick Petrov, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

Additional Resources:

Story map of Dawn's Challenger Deep Dive

This episode originally aired on May 18, 2023