Beyond Babel: Building Faithfully in the Age of AI

Camden Bucey speaks with Derek C. Schuurman, professor and chair of computer science at Calvin University, about Christian wisdom in the age of artificial intelligence. Drawing upon his book Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology, Schuurman explains why technology is never neutral: people shape their tools, and those tools in turn reshape habits, institutions, and communities.

The conversation sets contemporary AI within the biblical story of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. Bucey and Schuurman contrast Christian hope with technicism—the belief that technology can solve humanity’s deepest problems and build a technological heaven on earth. They also discuss human nature, transhumanism, responsible design, Christian higher education, autonomous weapons, and the need to keep human moral judgment and accountability in the loop. Christians need neither withdraw from technology nor place their hope in it. They are called to serve as faithful, wise architects whose work seeks the good of their neighbors while awaiting the new Jerusalem that comes from God.

Resources

• Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology by Derek C. Schuurman
• A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers by Ethan J. Brue, Derek C. Schuurman, and Steven H. VanderLeest
• Wisdom in the Age of AI Conference, Calvin University, October 8–10, 2026
• Magnifica Humanitas

Participants: Camden Bucey, Derek C. Schuurman