Most modern people think technology is the fancy stuff that appears to us almost like science fiction. It’s phones buzzing with notifications from the latest apps, tablets glowing with AI assistants, or smart washing machines, dishwashers, and even toasters.
More thoughtful people might recognise technology as that which helps us become more efficient at day to day tasks. Or help improve medical outcomes, and speed up financial transactions.
Older people may see technology in a different way. Douglas Adams once commented about how age impacts our view of technology. The young quickly embrace new technologies, while more middle aged people act befuddled and dumb-founded by it. While the elderly look at it and say, ‘What’s the point?’. They have survived for 70 years without this latest gadget, why would they need it now?
How people see it is personal to their circumstances. So, what of pre-Modern peoples. How did they see technology?
We have a notion that a Victorian explorer entering a tribal village in a far flung pacific island might ‘wow’ the locals with his matches. This common trope flatters our Modern sensibilities, but in truth, the villager would consider how useful this would be for them, and calmly enquiry where they could get some matches too.
Humans have engaged with technology from the beginning of their existence. Bows, baskets, fire making techniques, and ploughs were all technologies which changed the course of humanity. Writing, record keeping, and oral storytelling are all technologies too. Even mental conceptions like philosophy, government structural bureaucracy, and rituals, are all types of technology.
In the Bible, the first mention of technology is in Genesis 3.
Genesis 3 v 6-7
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.
After Adam and Eve were tempted by the snake, and ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they saw they were naked. They then knitted together fig leaves to cover themselves. God’s response to this was to provide them with ‘garments of skin’. This first technology was created to protect the person.
In Genesis 4, after Cain kills Able, he flees and founds a city.
Genesis 4 v 16-17
So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.
This technology of buildings and walls created protection for Cain. Symbolically similar to his parent’s fig leaves.
Then his descendants, Jabal, Tubal-Cain, and Jubal, created other technologies. Forging iron, animal husbandry, and ritual religious music.
Genesis 4 v 20-22
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock. And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, a forger of every implement of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
All these technologies involved control and exerting dominance on the environment. These influenced the spheres of people, other earthly creatures and demons and gods.
The third time technology is mentioned is in the story of Noah. As the world cries out in pain and suffering, God chooses to flood the land. He speaks to the only righteous man, Noah, and gives him the blueprints for an Ark. Using ‘gopher wood’, pitch and tools, he builds a large boat. So when they Great Deluge comes, Noah, his family, and the animals are saved.
These three instances set out how Genesis comprehends technology. This ancient book proposes three elements:
1 - Technology can protect
2 - Technology can dominate
3 - Technology can help save
Like the fig leaves, and the garments of skin, technology can protect humans from the chaos of the outside world. Think about winter coats worn by people who live in the far north. Or sunscreen used in the Summer to protect people from the Sun’s rays burning them. Door locks are another form of protection, as well as burglar alarms. This even extends to people using anti-virus programs on their computers to protect their personal data.
We have all seen how humans have subdued the environment. Whereas, the pre-Modern people only had spades and hoes to order the physical world. Nowadays, we have access to an array of tools, chemicals, and techniques which can all be used to scar the skin of the planet.
And, now with digital technologies, this has increased our reach. Scanning for oil using high energy sound waves. Finding new mineral deposits using satellite technology. And using drones to map out areas of geological interest.
With each layer of technology, we continue to become more effective at dominating the Earth. But it also means we are becoming more abstracted.
The hand that dug the clay was replaced with the spade. Then the spade, replaced with the mechanical digger. Now, a robot could dig the soil while the operator sat and watched drinking tea. Not a single grain of dirt would appear under their finger nails.
With each layer, the person gets one more step removed from the reality of digging a hole.
Think about cattle farming. Traditionally, a family might have a couple of cows. They raised the animals, named them, fed them, brushed them, cared for them. Then when it came of age, they slaughtered them. In our Modern times, cattle farmers can rear and raise massive herds of cattle. They use selective breeding, hormones, and high nutrient feed to improve the yield.
None of these animals have a name. No one has taken the time to speak to them calmly. So, when I chew on a T-bone steak, I have no connection to this animal. It is simply a resource, which can fill my stomach for a short period of time. It’s simply calories, and nothing more.
In both these cases, as technology increases, humanity becomes progressively more abstracted from reality.
The first order of tech are hand held tools. The second order are powered ones. The third are automated systems. And the fourth order will appear to us as sentient.
The final idea is technology can help save. In the story of Noah’s Ark, the heavenly-inspired boat helps save the remnants of humanity. Just like how, the technology of the Cross, the nails, the hewn wood, and the technique of torture, murdered Christ. But, through this the Resurrection and the salvation of humanity was seen. Without these technologies, God’s plan of salvation would have been far different.
From a Christian perspective, the relationship between humanity and technology is very complex. In one hand, a surgical knife can save a life from death, but then in someone else’s hand, it can kill.
So what’s God’s perspective on technology. The first chapter of Genesis gives us a clue.
Genesis 1 v 28
Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.
How are we to subdue the Earth without technology? How are we to be a steward of the Earth, to fulfil our function to bring order to Creation, to fill it with humans without technology? I don’t think we will get very far. So, it seems, technology is not optional, but necessary.
Though, as Genesis points out, irresponsible use of technology leads to destruction (Cain’s descendants to the Flood), while its proper use helps guides towards salvation (Noah’s Ark).
This is the aim of the series. I will explore whether there is a golden path for technology through the Christian lens. And if the abstracted digital technologies of today’s world are a hindrance, or a help, or something else.