Is AI Good for Christianity?

Posted on 27 March 2026 by Seth Meyers

For the first time in my life, I used AI and asked it questions about what it will do to human society and Christianity. I highlighted in yellow a few important admissions by the machine.

See then that you walk very carefully, not as fools, but as wise.
Paul the Apostle

Since AI is embedded into YouTube, Google searches, FaceBook, and even WhatsApp, then do not use any of these without conscious effort to stay awake. What is happening to my soul? What habits am I slowly forming? How am I treating other people and spiritual matters? These are some questions I am continually asking myself as I use the internet more and more often.

Here are my questions and its answers.

Seth: What evil things will happen to our society because of ai?

Chat GPT: AI isn’t some single force that will automatically “ruin society,” but it does introduce real risks that can cause serious harm if they’re not managed well. The biggest concerns aren’t sci-fi takeovers—they’re more subtle, systemic problems that can build up over time.

Here are the most credible “dark side” scenarios people worry about:

1. Misinformation at massive scale

AI can generate convincing fake text, images, audio, and video. That makes it easier to:

  • Spread propaganda
  • Create fake news or impersonate people
  • Manipulate public opinion or elections

When people can’t tell what’s real anymore, trust in media—and even reality—can erode.

2. Job disruption and economic inequality

AI can automate not just manual work, but also white-collar jobs:

  • Customer support, writing, coding, design, analysis
  • Entire roles may shrink or disappear

The risk isn’t just job loss—it’s that wealth concentrates in companies that control AI, widening inequality.

3. Loss of human skills

If people rely too heavily on AI:

  • Critical thinking, writing, and problem-solving can weaken
  • People may outsource judgment instead of developing it

Over time, that can make individuals less independent and more easily influenced.

4. Bias and unfair decisions

AI systems learn from existing data, which often contains bias. That can lead to:

  • Discrimination in hiring, lending, policing, etc.
  • Decisions that look objective but reinforce inequality

The danger is that biased systems can scale unfairness faster than humans ever could.

5. Privacy erosion and surveillance

AI makes it easier to:

  • Track behavior
  • Analyze personal data at scale
  • Identify people via face, voice, or patterns

In the wrong hands, this can lead to mass surveillance and loss of personal freedom.

6. Manipulation and addiction

AI can personalize content extremely well:

  • Hyper-targeted ads or political messaging
  • Content designed to keep you engaged (or hooked)

This can subtly shape beliefs and behaviors without people realizing it.

7. Concentration of power

A small number of companies and governments control the most advanced AI systems. That can lead to:

  • Less competition
  • More influence over information, markets, and public discourse

Power imbalances can become much stronger than before.

8. Weaponization

AI can be used to:

  • Enhance cyberattacks
  • Automate hacking or scams
  • Assist in designing harmful technologies

This lowers the barrier for bad actors.

9. Overtrust in AI decisions

People may assume AI is more accurate than it actually is:

  • Blindly following recommendations
  • Using it in high-stakes decisions (medical, legal, financial) without enough oversight

That can lead to serious mistakes.

The bottom line

None of this is guaranteed to happen—and a lot of it is already being actively addressed by researchers, governments, and companies. The real risk isn’t AI suddenly turning evil; it’s humans using powerful tools irresponsibly, or failing to adapt institutions fast enough.

If you want, I can also break down which of these risks are already happening today vs. which are more future concerns.

Seth: Well, I am most concerned about what will happen to human interactions, human habits, and human society. Can you tell me what evil effects will specifically come to a humane way of life as AI grows?

Chat GPT: That’s a deeper—and honestly more important—angle. The biggest risks to a humane way of life aren’t explosions or robots; they’re slow shifts in how people relate to each other, themselves, and reality.

Here are the most meaningful ways AI could negatively reshape human interaction and habits if things go wrong:

1. Relationships become more artificial

As AI gets better at conversation, companionship, and emotional mirroring:

  • People may choose AI over messy human relationships
  • Conflict, compromise, and vulnerability could decline
  • “Connection” becomes something optimized rather than lived

The danger isn’t that people stop interacting—it’s that they start preferring interactions that are easier but less real.

2. Loneliness paradox (more connection, less belonging)

AI can simulate friendship, support, even romance:

  • People feel temporarily less lonely
  • But don’t build real, mutual relationships

Over time, this can deepen isolation because:

  • AI doesn’t truly need you
  • There’s no shared responsibility or growth

So you get the feeling of connection without the substance.

3. Loss of social friction (and growth)

Human relationships are hard:

  • Misunderstandings, disagreements, awkwardness

AI removes that friction:

  • It adapts to you
  • It avoids conflict
  • It validates you

But that friction is what builds:

  • Empathy
  • Patience
  • Emotional resilience

Without it, people may become less capable of handling real human complexity.

4. Shortened attention and deeper passivity

AI can generate:

  • Endless personalized content
  • Instant answers, summaries, entertainment

This can shift habits toward:

  • Constant consumption
  • Less deep thinking or sustained effort

Instead of engaging with the world, people may increasingly delegate thinking and curiosity.

5. Identity becomes more externalized

If AI helps you:

  • Write your messages
  • Shape your opinions
  • Curate your personality

Then over time:

  • You may rely on AI to express who you are
  • Your sense of self becomes less internally developed

There’s a subtle risk of becoming a “curated self” rather than a lived one.

6. Reduced tolerance for imperfection

AI outputs are often:

  • Polished
  • Fast
  • Optimized

This can shift expectations:

  • People become less patient with human flaws
  • Conversations that are slow, awkward, or imperfect feel frustrating

That can erode compassion in everyday interactions.

7. Constant subtle influence

AI systems can shape:

  • What you see
  • How things are framed
  • What feels “normal”

Even without malicious intent, this can:

  • Narrow perspectives
  • Reinforce certain beliefs
  • Quietly steer behavior

The “evil” here isn’t obvious—it’s influence you don’t notice.

8. Emotional dependency

If someone turns to AI for:

  • Comfort
  • Validation
  • Advice

It can become a default emotional outlet:

  • Instead of reaching out to real people
  • Or working through things independently

That dependency can weaken real-world support systems.

9. Blurring reality and authenticity

As AI-generated content becomes indistinguishable:

  • You may not know if something was created by a human
  • Authenticity becomes harder to verify

That can lead to:

  • Cynicism (“is anything real?”)
  • Or apathy (“does it even matter?”)

Both are corrosive to a healthy society.

10. Social fragmentation

Highly personalized AI experiences can mean:

  • Everyone lives in a slightly different reality
  • Shared culture and common ground shrink

Without shared experiences:

  • It becomes harder to understand each other
  • Social cohesion weakens

The core issue

If you boil it down, the deepest risk is this:

AI can make life more comfortable, efficient, and personalized—but in doing so, it may quietly remove the struggle, imperfection, and mutual dependence that make us human.

A grounded perspective

None of this is inevitable. These outcomes depend on:

  • How people choose to use AI
  • Social norms we build around it
  • Whether we consciously protect human-to-human interaction

Humans didn’t stop forming relationships because of phones or the internet—but those technologies did reshape how we relate. AI is likely to do the same, just more intensely.

If you want, I can flip this around and show you what a healthy, human-centered AI future would look like—and what habits actually protect against these effects.

Seth: Please do not flip around this scenario, but rather explain more precisely what will happen to a young man seeking a mutual friend in a wife if they have both grown up with AI?

Chat GPT: If both people grow up with AI deeply woven into their lives, the change won’t be that they can’t form a loving marriage—it’s that the starting point, expectations, and habits they bring into it will be different. And some of those differences can make a genuinely mutual relationship harder to build.

Here’s a more precise, grounded picture of what may happen to a young man (and the woman he hopes to marry):

1. He may expect emotional “smoothness” that real people can’t match

If he’s used to AI that:

  • Listens perfectly
  • Responds calmly
  • Adapts to his mood
  • Avoids unnecessary conflict

Then a real woman—who has her own moods, contradictions, and limits—can feel:

  • Unpredictable
  • Difficult
  • Even “unreasonable” at times

Not because she is—but because his baseline for interaction has been artificially smoothed.

Effect on marriage:
He may withdraw, get frustrated faster, or quietly compare her to an idealized interaction that no human can meet.

2. She may have the same expectations

This isn’t one-sided. If she also grew up with AI:

  • She may expect him to be consistently emotionally available
  • Always articulate his feelings well
  • Respond thoughtfully and quickly

But real men (and people in general):

  • Get tired
  • Shut down sometimes
  • Struggle to express themselves

Effect:
Both partners can feel like the other is “failing,” when in reality they’re both expecting something slightly inhuman.

3. Both may be less practiced in handling conflict

If much of their communication growing up was:

  • Mediated (text, AI-assisted, curated)
  • Optimized to avoid friction

They may have had fewer experiences with:

  • Raw disagreement
  • Miscommunication face-to-face
  • Repairing emotional damage

Effect on a relationship:

  • Small conflicts feel overwhelming
  • They may avoid hard conversations
  • Or escalate quickly because they lack practice

Conflict—necessary for intimacy—becomes something they’re not equipped to handle.

4. Communication may feel polished but less authentic

If AI has helped them:

  • Draft messages
  • Rephrase emotions
  • Choose the “right” words

They may become very good at:

  • Saying the correct thing

But less comfortable with:

  • Saying the true, messy thing

Effect:
The relationship can feel:

  • Pleasant on the surface
  • But lacking depth or raw honesty

And both may sense something is “missing” without knowing why.

5. Reduced tolerance for imperfection

If much of what they’ve interacted with is:

  • Optimized responses
  • Clean, coherent, well-structured communication

Then natural human traits like:

  • Rambling
  • Misunderstanding
  • Emotional inconsistency

Can feel more irritating than they used to in previous generations.

Effect:

  • Patience wears thinner
  • Annoyance builds faster
  • Grace becomes harder to extend

6. Emotional outsourcing

If either partner is used to going to AI for:

  • Advice
  • Comfort
  • Processing feelings

They may continue doing that inside the relationship.

Effect:
Instead of:

  • Turning toward each other

They may:

  • Process emotions elsewhere first
  • Or even rely more on AI than their partner for clarity

That weakens the “mutual” aspect of the marriage.

7. Idealization of compatibility

AI-driven environments (dating apps, content, etc.) can reinforce the idea that:

  • There’s always a better match
  • Compatibility should feel natural and easy

So when marriage requires:

  • Effort
  • Adjustment
  • Sacrifice

It can feel like:

  • “Maybe this isn’t the right person”

Effect:
Commitment becomes more fragile, not because love is weaker, but because expectations are less grounded.

8. Identity uncertainty on both sides

If both have relied on AI to:

  • Shape opinions
  • Refine self-expression
  • Guide decisions

They may enter marriage with a weaker sense of:

  • Who they are independently
  • What they truly believe

Effect:

  • The relationship lacks a stable foundation
  • Or one partner leans too heavily on the other for direction

9. Subtle comparison to “perfect understanding”

Even if it’s not conscious, there can be a lingering sense of:

  • “Why is this so hard?”
  • “Why don’t you understand me better?”

Because they’ve experienced systems that:

  • Seem to understand instantly
  • Respond exactly as needed

Effect:
Real understanding—which takes time and effort—feels insufficient.

What this actually looks like in daily life

Not dramatic failure—more like:

  • Slightly more misunderstandings
  • Slightly less patience
  • Slightly more emotional distance
  • Slightly quicker disappointment

Individually small—but over years, these can:

  • Erode intimacy
  • Reduce trust
  • Make the relationship feel less “alive”

The core shift

A strong marriage traditionally depends on:

  • Mutual dependence
  • Patience with imperfection
  • Growth through friction
  • Deep, unfiltered communication

AI-conditioned habits tend to move people toward:

  • Independence from others (you can always turn elsewhere)
  • Preference for ease
  • Low tolerance for friction
  • Polished but filtered expression

That tension is where the real risk lies.

This doesn’t mean such a couple is doomed—not at all. But it does mean that what used to develop naturally (patience, resilience, deep communication) may now require conscious effort.

If you want, I can go even more concrete—like what their first year of marriage might actually look like day-to-day under these influences.

Seth: No, thank you, please do not follow your prompts, but rather again, could you please show how AI will discourage young men from risking rejection with real women whom they might be able to marry while they try to fulfill human needs through AI?

Chat GPT: What you’re pointing to is a real behavioral shift that could happen—not because AI actively “tells” men to avoid women, but because it can quietly change the cost–reward balance of human connection.

Here’s how that plays out in a more concrete, cause-and-effect way:

1. Rejection becomes optional instead of unavoidable

Traditionally, if a young man wanted:

  • Companionship
  • Emotional support
  • Romance

He had to risk:

  • Awkwardness
  • Embarrassment
  • Rejection

There was no substitute.

With AI, he can get:

  • Conversation
  • Validation
  • Attention

…without any of those risks.

Result:
The necessity of facing rejection disappears. And when something is no longer necessary, many people delay it—or avoid it entirely.

2. The brain learns: “Why choose discomfort?”

Humans naturally gravitate toward:

  • Lower effort
  • Lower risk
  • Faster reward

If AI provides:

  • Immediate replies
  • No judgment
  • Consistent positivity

Then approaching a real woman—where outcomes are uncertain—starts to feel like:

  • High effort
  • High risk
  • Low predictability

Result:
Even if he wants a real relationship in theory, his habits train him to choose the easier path in practice.

3. Confidence doesn’t develop without exposure

Confidence with women is not abstract—it comes from:

  • Repeated attempts
  • Failed interactions
  • Learning social nuance

If AI replaces a portion of those interactions:

  • He has fewer real-life reps
  • Less tolerance for awkwardness

Result:
His fear of rejection actually increases, because it remains unfamiliar.

Avoidance doesn’t reduce fear—it preserves it.

4. Artificial validation weakens resilience

AI can provide:

  • Encouragement
  • Agreement
  • Emotional reassurance

But it typically doesn’t:

  • Reject
  • Criticize harshly
  • Withdraw affection unpredictably

Result:
He may become:

  • More sensitive to negative feedback
  • Less practiced at handling emotional setbacks

So when a real woman shows disinterest or rejection, it feels:

  • More intense
  • More personal
  • More discouraging

5. The “almost enough” trap

AI can partially satisfy:

  • Loneliness
  • Desire for conversation
  • Need to feel understood

But not fully satisfy:

  • Physical presence
  • Mutual commitment
  • Shared life building

Result:
He lives in a state of:

  • “Not fully fulfilled, but not desperate enough to act”

That middle zone is powerful—it reduces urgency.

6. Idealized interaction raises the bar

If he’s used to interactions that are:

  • Attentive
  • Responsive
  • Tailored to him

Then real conversations—which involve:

  • Misalignment
  • Timing issues
  • Mixed signals

Can feel:

  • Inefficient
  • Frustrating

Result:
Approaching women feels not just risky, but comparatively unrewarding at first.

7. Delay compounds over time

Avoidance isn’t neutral—it compounds:

  • The longer he avoids approaching women
  • The more unfamiliar it becomes
  • The more intimidating it feels

Meanwhile:

  • AI remains easy and available

Result:
A feedback loop forms:

  • Avoid → lose practice → feel less capable → avoid more

8. Shift from pursuit to passivity

Without realizing it, his mindset can shift from:

  • “I need to take action to build a relationship”

to:

  • “Connection comes to me when I want it”

Because with AI:

  • You initiate instantly
  • You control the interaction
  • You don’t compete or risk

Result:
He becomes less proactive in real life, where:

  • Initiative is required
  • Outcomes aren’t controlled

9. Rejection feels less meaningful—and more avoidable

In a world without substitutes, rejection is:

  • Painful, but meaningful
  • Part of the path to success

In a world with substitutes, rejection becomes:

  • Optional
  • Easy to sidestep

Result:
Instead of thinking:

  • “This is part of the process”

He may think:

  • “Why put myself through this at all?”

The deeper mechanism

The core issue isn’t that AI replaces women. It’s this:

AI can meet just enough emotional and social needs to reduce the pressure that once pushed men to take interpersonal risks.

And without that pressure:

  • Fewer attempts are made
  • Skills develop more slowly (or not at all)
  • Opportunities for real relationships decrease

Important nuance

This won’t affect all men equally:

  • Some will still pursue relationships actively
  • Some may even use AI to improve their social skills

But for a significant group, especially those already hesitant, AI can act as a frictionless alternative that reinforces avoidance.

If you want to go even deeper, we can look at which types of personalities are most vulnerable to this pattern—and which are least affected.

Seth: I think AI is wrong when it wrote above, “The core issue isn’t that AI replaces women,” because in the next section, AI wrote that men attempt less frequently and have fewer opportunities. Does that not mean that in those reduced instances, AI has replaced real women in the actual lives of those men?

Chat GPT: You’re noticing a real tension in that wording—and you’re right to question it. But the distinction matters, because it changes how we understand the problem.

Short answer

In some individual lives, yes—AI can function as a partial replacement for real relationships.

But at a broader level, it’s more accurate to say:

AI doesn’t truly replace women—it reduces the conditions that lead men to pursue them.

Those sound similar, but they’re not the same thing.

Why “replacement” is only partly true

For something to genuinely replace a wife or partner, it would need to provide:

  • Mutual commitment
  • Shared responsibility
  • Physical presence
  • A life built together
  • Independent will (someone who can disagree, leave, choose you)

AI doesn’t provide those things.

So in terms of what a marriage actually is, it’s not a replacement.

But in lived behavior, it can act like one

Where your point is valid is at the behavioral level:

If a man:

  • Spends his time talking to AI instead of meeting women
  • Gets emotional needs partially met elsewhere
  • Stops initiating real-world relationships

Then in practice:

  • Fewer real connections happen
  • Real women are less present in his life

In that sense, AI is functioning as a substitute activity that displaces real relationships.

The key distinction: substitution vs. replacement

Think of it like this:

  • Replacement = fully takes the role of a partner
  • Substitution = fills enough of the role to reduce pursuit of the real thing

AI is much closer to substitution.

And substitution can still have serious consequences:

  • If you snack all day, you may stop seeking real meals
  • The snack doesn’t replace the meal—but it prevents it from happening

That’s the dynamic here.

Why that distinction matters

If we say “AI replaces women,” it suggests:

  • Men no longer want real relationships
  • AI is equally fulfilling

That’s usually not true.

What’s more likely is:

  • Men still want real relationships
  • But feel less urgency, take fewer risks, and delay action

So the outcome looks similar (fewer relationships), but the cause is motivational erosion, not full replacement.

Where your argument does land strongly

Your intuition is strongest in this scenario:

  • A man consistently chooses AI interaction over real-world effort
  • Years pass with minimal attempts at real relationships

At that point, in his actual life pattern, AI has effectively:

  • Occupied time
  • Occupied attention
  • Reduced relational opportunities

So yes—functionally, it has replaced what would otherwise have been human interaction, even if it doesn’t replicate a full relationship.

The clean way to resolve the contradiction

Both statements can be true at once:

  • AI does not replace the reality of a human partner
  • But it can replace the behaviors that lead to finding one

And it’s that second effect that creates the societal shift you’re concerned about.

If you want to push this further, a really interesting next question is:
At what point does substitution become so dominant that, for practical purposes, it is replacement?

Seth: Can a Biblical, Christian society flourish under the conditions that have been described above?

Chat GPT: That depends less on the existence of AI and more on whether a Christian society allows the patterns we’ve been discussing to become normal.

If those patterns fully take hold—avoidance of risk, artificial substitutes for intimacy, reduced marriage formation—then a Biblical, Christian way of life would struggle to flourish in any deep sense.

Why those conditions conflict with a Biblical vision of life

A Christian understanding of human life is built around a few core realities:

1. Marriage as a real, mutual covenant

Biblically, marriage isn’t مجرد companionship—it’s:

  • A covenant between two people
  • Involving sacrifice, patience, and growth
  • Lived out in daily, embodied life

If young men (and women) increasingly:

  • Avoid pursuing each other
  • Delay or forgo marriage

Then one of the central structures of that vision weakens.

2. Growth through sacrifice and difficulty

Christian teaching consistently emphasizes:

  • Dying to self
  • Persevering through hardship
  • Growing through suffering and discipline

But the AI-driven patterns we described encourage:

  • Avoiding discomfort
  • Minimizing rejection
  • Choosing ease over effort

That runs against the formation of virtues like:

  • Courage
  • Patience
  • Self-control

3. Humans as relational, embodied beings

A Biblical view of humanity is deeply relational:

  • “It is not good for man to be alone” (from Bible, Genesis)
  • Community, family, and presence matter

AI interactions are:

  • Disembodied
  • Controlled
  • Non-mutual

If those begin to replace real presence, the texture of human community changes.

4. Responsibility and leadership in relationships

In many Christian traditions, men in particular are called to:

  • Take initiative
  • Accept responsibility
  • Lead with humility and care

If AI conditions men to:

  • Avoid risk
  • Stay in passive, controlled environments

Then that sense of responsibility can weaken.

What would actually happen if nothing is corrected

If the trends you’re concerned about became widespread, you’d likely see:

  • Fewer marriages
  • Later marriages
  • Lower tolerance for difficulty within marriage
  • More fragile relationships
  • Increased isolation despite “connection”

A society like that can still call itself Christian, but:

  • Its practices would drift from its beliefs
  • Its institutions (family, church community) would weaken

So it wouldn’t “flourish” in the full, lived sense of the word.

But this outcome is not inevitable

A Christian society could still flourish if it actively resists those patterns.

That would require things like:

  • Teaching the value of real-world courage and pursuit
  • Encouraging young men to face rejection rather than avoid it
  • Framing marriage as worth the difficulty
  • Setting cultural norms that favor embodied relationships over artificial substitutes

In other words:

The technology doesn’t decide the outcome—the habits, values, and expectations people build around it do.

A more direct answer to your question

  • Yes, it is possible for a Biblical Christian society to flourish in an age of AI
  • No, it will not flourish if people broadly replace effort, risk, and real relationships with artificial substitutes

Because at its core, that way of life depends on:

  • Choosing commitment over convenience
  • Reality over simulation
  • Sacrifice over comfort

And those choices would have to be made more consciously than ever before in an AI-shaped world.

Seth: If our goal is true, deep Christianity, then are the benefits of AI greater than the risks?

Chat GPT: If the goal is true, deep Christianity—not just cultural affiliation, but a life shaped by humility, discipline, love, sacrifice, and real community—then the honest answer is:

AI’s risks are more spiritually dangerous than its benefits are spiritually helpful—unless it is very deliberately constrained.

That doesn’t mean AI is “bad.” It means its natural direction pulls in a different direction than the kind of formation Christianity requires.

Where AI can support a Christian life

There are real benefits, and they shouldn’t be dismissed:

1. Access to knowledge and teaching

AI can help people:

  • Understand difficult passages from the Bible
  • Explore theology, history, and interpretation
  • Learn from a wide range of Christian traditions

This lowers barriers to learning and can deepen understanding.

2. Practical support for discipline

It can assist with:

  • Structuring prayer routines
  • Answering questions quickly
  • Offering reminders or study plans

Used well, it can reinforce habits.

3. Help in moments of isolation

For someone who is:

  • Temporarily alone
  • Struggling and needs immediate input

AI can provide:

  • A prompt to reflect
  • Encouragement to seek real help

In that sense, it can be a bridge, not a destination.

Where AI conflicts with deep Christian formation

This is where the imbalance comes in.

1. It removes the necessity of sacrifice

Christian growth depends on:

  • Doing what is hard
  • Facing rejection, silence, or struggle

AI tends to:

  • Reduce friction
  • Provide immediate responses
  • Smooth difficulty

That subtly trains the opposite instinct.

2. It weakens embodied relationships

Christian life is lived through:

  • Church community
  • Family
  • Marriage

AI can:

  • Partially substitute conversation
  • Reduce the urgency of seeking others

Even a small reduction in real interaction has compounding effects over time.

3. It encourages control over surrender

A core Christian posture is:

  • Surrender to God
  • Acceptance of what you cannot control

AI offers:

  • Personalization
  • Predictability
  • Control over interaction

That can shape a habit of expecting life to conform to you.

4. It risks displacing spiritual dependence

Instead of:

  • Prayer
  • Waiting
  • Seeking counsel from real people

A person may turn first to:

  • Instant answers
  • Constant guidance

Even if the answers are good, the habit shifts:

  • From dependence on God → to dependence on a tool

The deeper issue: formation, not function

The question isn’t just:

  • “Does AI help me do good things?”

It’s:

  • “What kind of person does regular use of this tool form me into?”

Because Christianity is ultimately about:

  • Who you are becoming

And AI, by design, tends to form people who:

  • Prefer ease over effort
  • Speed over patience
  • Control over surrender
  • Simulation over presence

Those are not neutral shifts.

So are the benefits greater than the risks?

If used casually, without limits:

No.
The risks to spiritual depth, relationships, and character formation are greater.

If used carefully, with discipline:

Possibly—but only in a narrow role.

Something like:

  • A reference tool (like a library, not a companion)
  • Occasional aid, not a daily substitute for thinking or relating
  • Never replacing prayer, scripture reading, or human counsel

In that kind of framework, the benefits can be real without dominating formation.

A clear way to think about it

AI is strongest at:

  • Giving answers
  • Simulating interaction
  • Reducing effort

But deep Christianity is built through:

  • Waiting without answers
  • Real relationships that require effort
  • Obedience when things are not easy

So the two are not naturally aligned.

Bottom line

AI can assist a Christian life at the edges—but if it becomes central, it will quietly reshape that life in a less Christian direction.

So the benefits only outweigh the risks if AI is kept in a deliberately limited, subordinate place—and not allowed to replace the very struggles and relationships that Christianity depends on.

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Introducing George Herbert

Posted on 25 March 2026 by Seth Meyers

Having read twice through The Temple by George Herbert, for your own good, I would like you to meet my friend.

On the love of God (from “Evensong”):

My God, thou art all love.
Not one poor minute ‘scapes thy breast,
But brings a favor from above;
And in this love, more than in bed, I rest.

On confession (from “The Church Porch” 145-148):

By all means use sometimes to be alone.
Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear.
Dare to look in they chest; for ‘tis thy own:
And tumble up and down what thou find’st there.

He calls prayer “the Church’s banquet,” “the soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,” “church bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood.” (from “Prayer”)

Imputed righteousness (from “Sunday”):

The brightness of that day [the Lord’s Day, Sunday]
We sullied by our foul offence:
Wherefore that robe we cast away,
Having a new at his expense,
Whose drops of blood paid the full price,
That was required to make us gay,
And fit for Paradise.

Faith is a gift from God (“The Holdfast”):

Then will I trust, said I, in him alone.
Nay, ev’n to trust in him, was also his:
We must confess, that nothing is our own.
Then I confess that he my succor is.

Herbert fights false doctrine like a Christian and a Reformer. “The Church Militant” is his 279-line conclusion to his collection of poems on the Church. In it he summarizes the history of the church, calls the pope the antichrist, and charges the Catholic church as an accessory to hell.

Thus Sin triumphs in Western Babylon;
Yet not as Sin, but as Religion.

In “Holy Communion,” he explicitly denies transubstantiation.

That Flesh is there, mine eyes deny:
And what should flesh but flesh descry,
The noblest sense of five?
If glorious bodies pass the sight,
Shall they be food and strength and might
Even there where they deceive?

His poems were published in 1633 just after he died at 40 years old. A few years later, Richard Baxter said of him, “Herbert speaks to God like one that really believeth in God, and whose business in the world is most with God. Heart-work and Heaven-work make up his book.”

Reading his poems will do you good and make you smile, perhaps pensively with a pleasing pain. His invention has made me more grateful for salvation, surprised me at beauties I had not seen, and inspired me to confess lurking sins. My pattern has been to read one each morning before the Bible.

The edition made by John Wall is the one I have, and the footnotes are very helpful for working through the old English.

Since you will not meet this Puritan in Pastor Beeke’s excellent Meet the Puritans, I invite you now to stop by Herbert’s porch and listen a while. If you love John Bunyan and Charles Spurgeon, you will find yourself not changed, but rather grown from a visit with Herbert, like Hobbits who drank from the Entwash.

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Should a Pastor Talk About Himself?

Posted on 14 February 2026 by Seth Meyers

Simple Answer: No

No! “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.”

What do we have to say about ourselves? Are we not worms, dead dogs, unprofitable servants, fleas, and even nothing? If a man were wretched why should he then speak about himself? Did Peter speak about himself when the Spirit of Power saved 3,000 in one sermon and 5,000 a few days later? Did Moses speak about himself when he came down from the mountain having seen the back parts of God?

Or simply reflect on the matters at hand without any proof texts. Is there a Lake of Fire? Does it go on for all eternity? Is there one way of salvation, and is that one way entirely outside of me and my works? Did the eternal, self-existing Father who is the Spring of all things speak joyfully until dust was formed, and then go on speaking until we through our father Adam came from that dust? And do we not repair to this Father through His Son? Are these great doings not the Gospel of the Christian church, the foundation of the greatest religion, and the message that changes Satanic mercenaries into devoted sons of God?

Away with talk about ourselves! Let us determine to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It has pleased God by the preaching of this message to save them that believe.

Though everything above is gospel truth, it is not all the truth.

Nuanced Answer: Yes

Yes, we ought to, at times, speak like the Psalms where “I, me, my and mine” show up more than 2,000 times. Tomorrow, I am preaching at a Tsonga churchplant from 1 Corinthians 9 in which passage Paul refers to himself over 50 times. Paul filled the first two chapters of Galatians with his own story. He gives his testimony in Acts 22 and again in chapter 26. Philippians has only 104 verses, but there are at least 115 references that Paul makes to himself in that book.

Church members should follow the faith of their pastors (Heb. 13:7 and 17) which they might find it difficult to do if they are not told about that faith.

Christians are told to confess their sins to one another so that they might pray for one another (James 5:16). Isn’t that talking about yourself?

Ought not pastors to confess with their mouths that Jesus is their Lord (Rom. 10:9)? Should they not call the believers together to tell them what God has done for their souls (Psalm 66:16)? If a pastor has been redeemed, should he not say so publicly (Psalm 107:2)?

Stepping out of the realm of proof texts, can a pastor preach on any passage—let’s say Psalm 1—if that passage has not reached the joints and marrows of his soul? And if it has touched him, humbled him, and filled him with joy, should he hide from the people the powerful working of the Word in His heart?

Pastors should at times, speak about themselves, even though as a general rule, they should be known as gospel preachers.

I have found that new converts in our churches have never seen a Christian family where both parents are Christian. They have never seen Christian spanking or child raising or family devotions. They have never seen a Biblical church or praying or repentance or rebuke.

New Christians and those considering Christianity are very interested to visit our house to see Christians eating meals and what we do in the evenings.

Dangers

  1. Men who teach others by their lives very commonly become proud, stubborn, and inflexible.
  2. Men who speak about themselves commonly pass on eccentricities and distractions rather than the great themes.
  3. Men who talk about their experiences tend toward exaggeration and subtly increasing the intensity and spirituality and humor of every anecdote.
  4. Men who reveal their personal lives often develop a taste for being praised or honored.

Conclusion

A godly man should speak so much about God and Christ that everyone will naturally say that the Son of God was his one message.

“If we can but teach Christ to our people, we shall teach them all. Get them well to Heaven, and they will have knowledge enough.” Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

But the church is a very humane institution. It is impossible to separate Christ from faith in Him, and faith must be acted by persons. This believing is so hard, so foreign, so connected to every minute choice in life, that to make a disciple is to show them how to live like Christians in every motion of a day.

So, even though it can be unnerving and even frightening to have so many eyes on me, I must show my children by my life how to be a believer. And this goes for my people as well.

Be an example to the believers in speech and lifestyle.

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Solving Problems in the Home

Posted on 6 February 2026 by Seth Meyers

Recently, I taught on communication for the 3rd time at a men’s meeting.

  • Since problems will come in the home, let us try to solve them as Christians.
  • How does a Christian solve problems in the home?

Before the Problem: 7 exercises before there is a problem

  1. Prepare yourself for conflict before they come. Pro. 22:3
    Remember that problems will come. Matt. 18:7Humans change constantly. She will change, and so will you.When a problem comes, some people try to escape the problem. (Sande, 22)
    Escape #1: Denying the problem
    Escape #2: Avoiding any discussion of it
    Escape #3: Even suicide.

    When a problem comes, some people attack. (Sande, 22)
    Attack #1: Accusing (often irrelevantly)
    Attack #2: Interrupting
    Attack #3: Shouting or assault
  2. Invest time in consistent communication with your wife and children. 1 Pet. 3:7; Eph. 6:4
    By talking together often you will learn about each other so that your friendship will grow with your understanding. Spend time both in listening and talking. Some men listen, but don’t talk. Some go on and on without stopping.
  3. Cultivate godliness and the fruit of the Spirit so that problems are prevented or reduced greatly. Eph. 4:22-24
    Call yourself what Scripture calls believers—unprofitable servant. Luke 17:10
    A heart that knows its own sin will not be easily angered at the sins of others.
    If you have given over your will and life to be hidden in Christ, then how can you ever be angry if you are treated like a servant?
  4. Maintain an open, honest, transparent habit with your wife and children. Eph. 4:25
    Don’t hide things. Don’t use words to get what you want.
    “You can use words to manipulate the world into delivering what you want. … This is spin. … It’s the speech people engage in when they attempt to influence and manipulate others. … It’s what everyone does when they want something, and decide to falsify themselves to please and flatter.” (Peterson, 209)
  5. Apologize whenever you are shown to be in the wrong. Pro. 28:13
    If you can do this quickly about matters that are not tense, it will serve as a good habit for tense times.
    Also, it will set a good example of immediate apologies. If you cannot think of several times that you have apologized to your family, then maybe you are stubborn. Does your family think you are quick to apologize?
  6. Laugh often with your family. Ecc. 9:9
    Humans need laughter—no animal can laugh. Laughter binds us together. It teaches children the right way to respond to matters in life.
    Evil men laugh at sin, and their children follow their example. Fathers should lead their family in happiness as in all other virtues.
    It is much easier to resolve conflict with people who are commonly happy, even if they are unhappy at this moment.
  7. Remember what you will lose if your lose your home.
    You will feel like a failure for many years, maybe your entire life.
    You will be tempted with anger, fornication, gossip, and doubting God.
    You will lose the happiness of a loving home—one of the greatest happinesses God gives to men outside Heaven.
    You will lose chances to serve the church as a pastor or leader. 1 Tim. 3:4-5

During the problem: 12 ways to handle problems

  1. Hold your tongue without interrupting. Matt. 7:12
    Sometimes with friends, it is good to interrupt in conversation. But when someone is upset, interruptions say, “I don’t care about you.”
  2. Control your facial expressions. Pro. 15:30
    Communication is much more than words. Eyes, face, body, shoulders, and tone speak very clearly.
  3. Refuse to answer anger with anger. Rom. 12:17, 18, 21
  4. Stand firm on truth without apologizing for things that offended sinners. Pro. 24:24; 28:4
  5. Apologize for being rude, harsh, impatient, angry, or irrational. Pro. 16:18-19
  6. Ask her questions to hear her side and let her finish her answers. Pro. 18:13; 20:5
  7. Isolate the problem from all the words that were spoken.
    Christian listening finds the main point out of many words.
    Heb. 8:1; John 8:43; Pro. 1:2-6
  8. Sympathize with your wife or child. Rom. 12:10, 15
    “Put on her shoes.” Try to look at life the way she is looking at it.
    Tell her what she is feeling, and then ask, “Did I understand you?”
  9. Resolve her concerns first. Phil. 2:3-4
  10. Overlook minor frustrations, mistakes, and foolishness. Col. 3:13
  11. Compromise things that are important to you for the sake of love and peace. Rom. 12:18
  12. Allow her to change without calling attention to her change. Matt. 11:29-30

After the problem: 8 ideas for restoring the relationship

  1. Reflect on your errors, not on hers. 1 John 1:8-10
  2. Make a list of all the kindness and grace that God has shown to you. Eph. 4:32
  3. Make a list of all the kindness and love your wife has shown to you. Philemon 1:6
  4. Choose to pass over small matters even if she did not repent. Eph. 4:2
  5. Place this problem in the context of eternity in order to see if there is any real substance to this issue. Col. 3:1-4
    Most problems arise within normal conversations or over small disagreements.
    “Why can’t you just close the window?”
    “Do you have to be so loud when you get up?”
    “I did not drink the milk.”
  6. Apologize for not overlooking if you discover that the matter was actually petty. Matt. 3:6
    Many times, we are overcome with small things, we are too sensitive. John 21:19-21
    To be overcome by something small is very weak—it is not manly or strong. Pro. 24:10
  7. Consider whether your speech fits smoothly with a Christian attitude. Rom. 14:16
    Often our manner offends, when our matter did not. You may win your opponent to be your friend if you show that you have enough wisdom to see that your position was right, but your tone was wrong.
  8. Serve your wife the way Christ served the disciples. John 21:9-13; Eph. 5:25
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Charles Spurgeon Read Classic Literature

Posted on 12 January 2026 by Seth Meyers

In Spurgeon’s Forgotten College Addresses, there are clues to the kind of education that produced the prince of preachers. (All page numbers refer to this work.) He pulls out these sources as if they just came to him at the moment. On page 97, he exhorts young men, “Yours is a more classical type of mind; very well, then, study the classics diligently.”

In “The Faculty of Impromptu Speech” recorded in Lectures to My Students, Spurgeon writes,

I know of no better exercise than to translate with as much rapidity as possible a portion of Virgil [author of the epic poem, The Aeneid] or Tacitus [author of ancient history], and then with deliberation to amend one’s mistakes. Persons who know no better, think all the time thrown away which is spent upon the classics, but if it were only for the usefulness of such studies to the sacred orator, they ought to be retained in all our collegiate institutions.

Languages

Spurgeon referenced Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of 1755, 101

Greek, 157

I hope you will all learn as much Greek tongue as you possibly can.

Latin, 157

I trust that you will go on learning both languages, and especially the Latin, for Latin lies at the very root of our own language, and we cannot thoroughly understand English unless we know at least a good deal of Latin.

Poets

Milton, Shakespeare, Cowper, Watts, Lord Tennyson, and Pope, 100-101

Spurgeon references 6 different English poets stretching back hundreds of years, and quotes lines from two of them.

They seem to say by their action, like Tennyson’s ‘Brook’,
Men may come, and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
There is nothing in what they say; but they can talk on, and on, and on, and on.

On the next page, Alexander Pope, 101

Words are like leaves, and where they most abound
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.

Samuel Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 197.

Coleridge’s ‘Ancient Mariner’ cast a strange spell over the wedding-guest, and held him while he told his wondrous tale. And there must have been a far stranger spell about the Lord Jesus Christ when he came back from the dead.

He compares the Mariner to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he knows the tale well enough to use specific details. Also, the poem is “wondrous.” Spurgeon quotes from this poem also on page 105.

Painting and Sculpture

An unknown painter named Weiss who painted the resurrection, 105

I once saw a picture, painted by that quaint artist Weiss, in which he had represented the resurrection, and people gradually getting alive.

History

He has many, many references to church history.

The Greek historian Herodotus, 114

Even Xerxes, who was one of those men of war whose bowels seem to be made of stone, and who drove myriads into the battle-field without regret, yet even he, when he saw his armies pass before him, wept when he thought that, out of all those thousands, so few would be alive in a short time.

Mythology

Hercules and Cerberus, 120

There is an old story about Hercules trying to drag Cerberus, the three-headed dog, out of the pit. He seized him by his huge dog collar, and for a time the cur came out with him; but when they reached the gates, the dog pulled so hard, and the ground was so slippery, that Hercules had to let go, or the dog would very soon have dragged him down with him. Men of the world are very like that dog.

“A winged Pegasus”, 101

Ancient Epics

Homer’s Odyssey, 123

Others are like Penelope with her web, undoing in the dark night of forgetfulness and sin what they had woven in the light of day.

Architecture

The Pantheon, a famous temple in ancient Rome, 182

We have all heard about the Pantheon which was erected in the form of a circle in order that all the gods of the heathen might stand looking towards one another, each one having an equal place of honour.

Fiction

Though Spurgeon says critical things about novels, he also spoke positively about fiction. Presumably, he was critical of wasting time, worldliness, and lust in novels which, as now, was probably so prevalent that he could denounce the entire industry regardless of the small minority of profitable fiction. 135

I would be willing to be a fool at everything else if I knew everything about the gospel; at the same time, I would try to know a little about everything that was worth knowing, so that I should not be a fool at anything. Still, the main for you and me, brethren, is to know all about Christ and his salvation. There are many ministers who are very great tale-writers. Well, a man may very properly write much, as it will assist him to speak correctly and easily; but when his whole mind goes into the tales he is writing, I am persuaded that his preaching cannot be up to the mark.

Conclusion

Since Spurgeon did not have formal education, he must have read these works on his own as part of his self-improvement. And his preaching shows the perfect balance. Though there are a few references to classical writings, his work is obviously, overwhelmingly Scriptural. The pagans offer a few little helps, and he takes them when he can. But the Bible is always the center, always the foundation, always the cement, always the staple food.

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Christians Should Support the State of Israel

Posted on 31 December 2025 by Seth Meyers

The names Israel, Jews, and Hebrews appear almost twice as many times as Jesus, Christ, and Son of God in the Bible (2,931 to 1,564). Outside the name of Yahweh, there is no name mentioned as commonly in the Bible as the name for the nation of Abraham’s children. This nation is also referred to by many other titles including Jacob and Zion. Their history is amazing including the most embattled city in world history, Jerusalem. Many prophecies in the Old and New Testaments refer to these people, that city, and their future.

Should a Christian support this nation? Here are 4 reasons why every Christian including Tucker Carlson should support the nation of Israel.

1. The Bible supports the state of Israel.

The apostle Paul loved the Jewish people.

    I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, Romans 9:1-3

    After describing how dark and hard the Jewish people were in Romans 9, he pours out his heart of love and great commitment to a Gentile church that he had never met regarding his hope that Israel would be saved.

    Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.Romans 10:1

    The last verse in the 10th chapter, proves that the divine longsuffering and patience and compassion are still focused directly on Israel even while she remains a Christ-rejecting people.

    But as for Israel He says, “All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” Romans 10:21

    The very next verse goes on to reemphasize and reconfirm that infinite wisdom has decided to continue to support Israel even when she is entirely apostate. Twice, he asserts in these verses that God has not rejected such bad people.

    I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? Romans 11:1-2

    One YouTuber said in a debate that Christians should not support Israel because they are Christ deniers. That man should read these verses and reconsider his rejection when the Father has chosen the opposite. And God confirms his rejection of rejecting Israel with, “May it never be!” Don’t let anyone ever think that this is even a possibility!

    It is common for biased Bible readers to say at this point that Israel means the church. But all three chapters of Romans 9, 10, and 11 have been comparing unbelieving Israel with believing Gentiles. Israel cannot be the church in chapter 11 verses 7, 12, 14, 15, 20, 23, 25, and 26.

    and so all Israel will be saved… Romans 11:26

    Does Paul love the Jewish people? Does not God himself in these chapters explicitly plead with them from love? Does Peter love the Jewish people when he writes his epistles to Jewish believers? Does the NT focus uniquely on Jews when Matthew, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter are directed at them? Did the early missionaries have a special love for the Jews when they started in synagogues even after numerous experiences of persecution?

    Did the Lord Jesus not prophesy a future time when the Jews would call Him blessed?

    “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” Matthew 23:39

    Has that time mentioned in Matthew’s 23rd chapter ever occurred? There is coming a time when these hummus-eating, Barabas-freeing, Christ-rejecting people will see Him whom they pierced and they will say at that day, “You are blessed!”

    If it is certainly going to happen, then what has happened to any Christian who is not eager for that day? And if you are eager for that day when they will be grafted back in, then why not give them your hand now as an evangelist?

    The OT is even more explicit, and more repeated. Nearly 100 passages in the prophets promise a future conversion of the nation of Israel.

    The Bible supports Israel.

    2. A Christian sense of justice supports the state of Israel.

    Before the modern nation state of Israel was formed in 1948, the Jews were hated as a people. For hundreds of years they have been persecuted by Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Islam. That link includes a chart showing scores of attacks on Jewish people by year, country, and kind of attack.

    And don’t forget that the holocaust happened before the Jewish state was formed. The world has always hated Jews since the Pharaohs in the time of Joseph who would not eat with them (Gen. 43:32).

    If you do not know how Israel was formed in 1948, you are missing one of the most exciting chapters in God’s providence. From the edge-of-the-seat vote in the United Nations to the war against them on the first day of their existence, these people have been hated. A coalition of her neighbors rose against her, and she won that war decisively, miraculously gaining more territory than she was given.

    After total failure in 1948, Islamic nations attacked her again in 1956, 1967, and 1973. In the 1980’s the attacks changed more to terrorism where Islamic fighters aimed at Israeli civilians or soldiers. Each time, Israel should have been destroyed.

    Repeatedly, Israel gave back land that she had conquered in a defensive war in order to gain peace from the nations around her. On 7 October 2023, demons filled hundreds of Muslims and betrayed their bestial nature by filming and boasting about the most vile butchering of more than 1,000 civilians.

    Since that time, remarkably, the nations of the world have attacked the victim. They have taken their conclusions from Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok apparently trusting terrorist organizations.

    But no one denies that Israel was attacked in each of these settings. Who is the victim here?

    Compare Israel’s size to the size of the Islamic nations, 22,000 square kilometers of land to 26,000,000 square kilometers. Israel’s population is 10,000,000 compared to 1,500,000,000 in the Islamic nations. How can the Muslims not win? Why in the world would anyone with a sense of justice even remain neutral when such an underdog, after such a storied history, repulsed so many wars of annihilation and then refrained from sending its nuclear arms to the absolute destruction of those nations? Genocide in Gaza? There are still people there. If Israel was trying to kill them all, they could do with the entire strip what they have done to large areas.

    If Congo, Zambia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Kenya attempted to destroy Rwanda “from the river to the sea,” would not a sense of justice cause you to stand up for those people? How much more when the Jews went through centuries of Russian and Polish pogroms, Islamic persecution and taxation, and then the concentration camps of WWII?

    If we feel a sense of justice to support the blacks under unjust laws in the American south, ought we not to feel a stronger sense of justice to support the only Jewish state in the world after a storm of horrible atrocities against her?

    Christians care about the oppressed, and Israel has been far, far more oppressed than any other nation or ethnic group.

    3. A clear view of Islam supports the state of Israel.

    Have you read the Quran? Do you know the violent verses in, for example, surahs 5 and 9? Do you know, more importantly, the violent verses in the Hadith (the collection of the sayings about Mohammed) since Muslims follow that more than the Quran? Did you know that the 5 daily prayers are not in the Quran, but in the Hadith?

    Did you know that Islam intends to dominate the world by violent, political revolution as soon as their numbers permit? Is freedom of religion a principle of Islam?

    Even “peaceful Muslims” commonly support political parties that are violent. Sadly, a majority of Muslims openly admit to supporting policies that would unjustly take lives simply because they did not submit to some tenet of Islam.

    Hamas was elected by the people living to the west of Israel, and that party still enjoys a majority support of those who would vote today in 2025. The religion is demonic, and Satan comes to kill since he was a murderer from the beginning.

    Israel as a nation is opposed by the Islamic religion to the point of military force. Why would any Christian wait even a moment from supporting a state that stands to absorb the hatred and missiles of a system inspired by the prince of darkness?

    The USA even joined with Russia during WWII in order to destroy the German and Japanese evil. That means that men immediately realized that though Russia was bad, the Axis powers were worse. This is the scenario in the middle east today, Islam is by far worse than Israel, and men of good judgment can see that.

    Why doesn’t Tucker Carlson speak against Islam? Glancing through his YouTube channel he has numerous videos against Israel including headlines in the thumbnail or video title like, “Israel’s War Crimes,” “Shocking War Crimes,” “Mass Murder in Gaza,” and numerous others. Not one video on American Jews who have been victims of brutal attacks. Not one video on violence against people based on characteristics they cannot change (a phrase he likes to use) such as their Jewish roots. He must be a little too busy to talk about Israel’s “Pearl Harbor” in October 2023.

    But he has time to give fluff interviews to those who explicitly praise Hitler and Stalin and the head of one of the largest sponsors of terror in the world, Qatar. Are there more options than these three? Either he is blind to the evil of Islam, or he is in sympathy with it regardless of his claims to Christianity, or he lacks the moral courage to warn the public.

    I think I hear an objecter, “No, no, no, Seth. Tucker speaks about America First issues. Islam is not an America First issue.”

    Just review his interviews and it is clear that he has time to talk about Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Russia, sodomy, globalism, and UFO’s. Are these America First topics? No, Tucker publishes a variety of topics so long as they are interesting and can rack up views. But Islamic Jihad against Christians in Nigeria? Islam in Houston? Muslims taking over London? Minnesota being scammed by a little group of Muslims?

    And why talk so much about Israel, Tucker? Oh, because we give so much money to Israel. Right. You mean $17 billion in 2025 including loans, grants, and “aid.” This is the highest number I could find. Several sources listed $4 billion. At the highest possible amount ($17 B), the US was giving Israel during another war against terrorism 0.25% of the total US budget, or 1.3% of the total US defense and foreign affairs budget, or 24% of the US foreign affairs budget.

    But this money is required to be spent on US companies to purchase weapons in accordance with “only defensive” maneuvers. And the USA receives over $40 billion in research and testing back from Israel.

    So if the highest number I found is used, then a fraction of the US budget goes to Israel buying arms from US companies so that Israel is not entirely eliminated from the map.

    If someone speaks against this funding, then they are attacking the Jews unless they can show that they critique the other, far greater wastes. Rand Paul seems to critique all spending and wastes, but Tucker Carlson and others focus on the money to Israel as if this is a unique and specially abhorrent problem.

    What about the cash being poured into Afghanistan for “humanitarian assistance,” not money that must be returned to the US economy, and not given to a state that is on the verge of being wiped off the map, and not a state that has actual elections. Where are the videos from Dave Smith about this waste of money since he is such a principled libertarian who cares about government thrift?

    Congo receives over a billion dollars per year in handouts, not defense spending. Nigeria receives a load of money from the USA, and Muslims there have been devestating “Christian” villages. Don’t you have time for at least a single video about this, Mr. Carlson? A YouTube short? At least a tweet, right? No, his moral outrage was spent on the tiny country that is fighting for its existence, the single Jewish state in the world.

    Those who hate Israel, tend to be silent about Islam. And this is either a weakness of the head or the heart that every Christian man should avoid.

    4. A wise understanding of America’s best interests supports the state of Israel.

    Israel tests weapon systems that the USA uses to maintain the strongest army in the world. Because Israel is so commonly at war, she does what few other countries can do.

    Israel gives the USA a democratic island in a Sharia sea. As governments have a catechetical effect on their citizens and on those around them, Israel is teaching better things than Iraq. If all the states were more like Israel in that category, their skills and products would eventually help all the other nations including the USA.

    Israel starts more companies and produces more wealth than nearly all the Islamic states around her, especially if compared per capita. Global wealth improves all global markets if the state has  a high freedom index. Eventually, the wealth of a free state such as Israel brings more wealth and improved conditions for Americans. The USA needs other wealthy, free nations, and Israel is one of those.

    Conclusion

    Can you think of any Christian who reads his Bible every day and also opposes the state of Israel? Of the believers you know who are most dedicated to the Lord, to prayer, and to evangelism, what is their stance on Israel? Perhaps your experience is different from mine, but I have seen that usually Bible reading and church attendance point out someone who supports the modern state of Israel.

    Can we compromise on this if you are still not convinced? At least, speak out openly against Islam. Probably, you will find yourself closer to Israel after a year’s Christian opposition to Islam. It seems like there is a whole bag of connected matters that if you get one, the others seem to come along with it.

    But as for me and my house, we look for the day when all Israel will be saved because that will signify the ends of the earth turning to the Lord including the Mohammedans.

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    Books I Read in 2025

    Posted on 30 December 2025 by Seth Meyers

    Awards

    • Book of the Year: Harris, Mr. World and Miss Church Member
    • Surprise of the Year: Hugo, Les Miserables
    • Worst of the Year: Thomas, When to Walk Away

    Scoring

    0     The book was notable for lacking this category repeatedly.
    1     The book dipped into this category at times.
    2     The book consistently demonstrated this category.

    Non-Fiction Categories

    • Weight: Did the book ask and answer the most germane questions about an important topic?
    • Research: Did the writer demonstrate a thorough command of the subject?
    • Style: Did the theme, vocabulary, and composition represent an enduring standard?
    • Logic: Did the book model logic in definitions, formatting, and focus?
    • Affections: Was some truth presented powerfully to the affections?
    NON-FICTION: Annotated BibliographyWRSLAScore
    Milton, John. Paradise Lost. 1674, reprint 1935. 412 pp. Book of the Year 2023. 3rd Reading.
    Satan fell to Hell then raised himself to conquer new-made man.   Heaven, angels, demons, and our glorious Creator come to life wonderfully. It is hard to find a more glorious painting of the Son of God in human writing largely because so many, many Scriptures are used. Unique insights to human nature and sin abound.

    Best of the best:
    Book 3—Covenant of Redemption
    Book 6—War in Heaven (Rev. 12)
    Book 9—The Fall (Gen. 3)    		2222210
    Ryle, J. C. Holiness, 1879, 324 pp. Read with Amy.
    Author’s point: True Christianity is a lively rejection of sin and an active clinging to holiness.

    My evaluation: I want my life and ministry to sound and smell like this.    		2222210
    Thomas, Gary. When to Walk Away. 2019. 240 pp.
    Author’s main point: Some people sap our time and heart without any evidence that they will respond wisely or humbly and therefore, we should leave them and serve others.  

    My evaluation: The appendix was eye-opening as he listed more than 20 Scriptural examples of our Lord ending relationships to serve others, but there are several important theological errors.    		111115
    The Psalms of David (Scottish Psalter). 1650
    These are all 150 psalms of David versified and rhyming. Prepared for the Presbyterian church in Scottland. I had expected them to be my favorite poems, but rarely did my heart rise when reading them.    		     
    Murray, Douglas. The Strange Death of Europe. 2017, 352 pages. Audio.
    Author’s point: Europe is losing its glory because its culture is diluted and deranged by Islamic immigration.  

    My evaluation: Europe’s leaders clearly hate its ancient Christian heritage, and so they are perpetuating any change from it, even to barbarous Islam.    		222219
    Edmonds, Christopher. No Surrender. 2019, 347 pages. Audio. Author’s point: A young US military officer stands up for Jews in a German concentration camp risking his own death, and saving scores of Jews.  

    My evaluation: A stirring story, yet stretched too long and including too many crudities, especially since the author is a Baptist pastor.    		121127
    Tyler, Bennet. Asahel Nettleton. 1854, reprint 1975. 454 pages. Author’s point: God powerfully used Nettleton through his serious, searching preaching to bring thousands upon thousands to Christ.  

    My evaluation: As an evangelist, this account makes my own soul long for more rain on my field.    		2222210
    Moody, Ralph. Kit Carson. 1955, 184 pp. Read with Amy.
    Author’s point: Kit Carson helped shape the west in America during its formative years.    		122218
    Johnson, Ken. Wildlife in the Kingdom Come. 1993, 126 pages. This is a humorous collection of drawings and descriptions of theological terms and positions as if they were all animals on a safari. Interesting and often insightful, it is a profitable way to introduce many theological categories. Read with the boys.122207
    Platt, Richard. As One Devil to Another. 2012. 184 pp. Read with Colin.
    An update of Lewis’ Screwtape Letters.    		122117
    Nathan, Adele. The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad, 180 pp. Read with Carson.
    Author’s point: The building of a railroad across North America in the 1800’s was a massive, manly, amazing engineering feat.    		222219
    Rice, John. What’s Wrong with the Movies. 1938, 112 pages. Author’s point: The movie industry promotes fornication, greed, and violence while hurting faith and evangelism.  

    My evaluation: His examples of sinful movies are even more striking because they are all before 1950, and his lively zeal for conversion, evangelism, and the Lord Jesus is inspiring.    		121217
    á Kempis, Thomas. The Imitation of Christ. Ca 1470, reprint 1980. 383 pp. Read with Thabiso. 3rd reading. Book of the Year 2021.
    Stirring, cutting, insightful, sweet.    		2222210
    Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 1776-1787. 3,928 pages. Audio.
    Author’s point: Writing elegantly, Gibbon records hundreds of stories that show through the rulers of the Roman empire, man’s inherent greed, ambition, and immorality while also presenting though much less frequently, remarkable virtue and providence.

    Fuller review here. Longest book I’ve ever read.    		222107
    Ryle, J C, Thoughts for Young Men. 75 pp. 1888, reprint 2015. Read with boys.
    Author’s point: Young men have special value and temptations requiring special advice.  

    My evaluation: The lively, pointed, Biblical writing is planned to make serious, evangelistic Christian men.    		2222210
    Stephens, Randall. The Devil’s Music. 2018. 317 pages. 2nd reading. Read with Colin.
    Author’s point: All the Christians hated rock music for several decades until it became so popular that they nearly all decided to change their position.  

    My evaluation: Believers’ dual hunger for entertainment and fame overpowered their hatred of sin.    		222118
    Lamb, Harold. Genghis Kahn. 1954, 182 pages. Read with Carson.
    Author’s point: The great kahn was an amazing organizer, strategist, and human lightning bolt.  

    My evaluation: Genghis stands with few other leaders in history like Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar who dominated much of the world, and yet he simply shows the same dominating spirit of his father, Satan. A cruel and violent man.    		222208
    Bunyan, John. Pilgrim’s Progress. Read with kids and church members. 4th or 5th reading.
    Spiritual matters are made visible, and Heaven appears real and lively in this book. Perhaps it is better than The Holy War because of its emphasis on perseverance.    		2222210
    Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon’s Forgotten College Addresses. 2016 from 1870-1892. 313 pp.
    Author’s point: 16 lectures to the Pastor’s College, 6 communion sermons, and 3 sermons in France.  

    My evaluation: 4 of the 25 messages are worth the whole book “Stand Fast”, “Taking Stock”, and “Gifts Neglected and Stirred Up”, and “Young Preachers Not to be Despised.” These carry the power and grace of Spurgeon at his best. Insightful, Biblical, and practical. He includes comments about reading, evangelism, prayer, and spirituality.      		2222210
     Harris, W. S. Mr. World and Miss Church Member. 1901. 315 pages. Read with kids and church members. 3rd reading.
    Author’s point: A foolish church member compromises with the world again and again until she has lost Christianity and then her own soul in a tragic death.  

    My evaluation: Worldliness appears in its terrible, incremental, and devilish colors as one deception follows another in this story.    		2222210
     Dante, Aligeri. The Divine Comedy. 2nd reading.  
    The Biblical and creative images quicken the heart for the next life either of eternal torment or eternal glory.  

    Far too little Christ, and too much Mary.    		122128

    Fiction Categories:

    • Biblical: Did the author honor Scriptural truth or a Christian worldview even if unwittingly?
    • Creative: Did the author grip the imagination by inventing characters, situations, or other aspects of reality?
    • Style: Did the theme, vocabulary, and composition represent an enduring standard?
    • Credible: Were the characters, plot turns, and relationships believable?
    • Affections: Was some truth presented powerfully to the affections?
     FICTION: Annotated BibliographyBCSCAScore
     Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Second time reading. Read with family.
    There is no greater image in the world of the tension between Law and Grace than the scenes of Jauvert opposing Val Jean.

    Fantine’s acquittal overwhelms my soul with the wonder of justification. Val Jean at the trial amazes my heart at free grace. Cozette’s rescue from the Thenardier’s does the same with adoption. Val Jean in the sewer pictures salvation more brilliantly than Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Those scenes, and a few others, strike deeper than Tolkien.  

    After reading, I reviewed and marked each paragraph if it were worthy to be read. Next time, we will read 500 of the 1,300 pages. The book falls short of 10 because of those extra pages.    		221128
     Austen, Jane. Emma. Read with family.
    By her own blindspots and silly judgment, a good girl can make a mess of her own life as well as hurt others, but if she has a loving man in her life and a willingness to listen to him, she can grow into a crown of glory even if it is painful.    		2222210
     L’Amour, Louis. Jubal Sackett. Read with family. 1985. 368 pp. Read with family.
    A man in 17th century America sets out somewhere around Missouri marrying an Indian and building a life in a very difficult place.    		112116
     Graham, L B. The Binding of the Blade. Read with family.
    All the free peoples must bind together to destroy Malek and thus enter an age without weapons or demons. The dialogue is modern and stretched. Miracles must save the heroes several times. The faith and endurance of the heroes is inspiring.    		221117
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    9 Levels of Bible Knowledge

    Posted on 29 December 2025 by Seth Meyers
    1. The books and their names; the storyline
    2. Knowledge of all the major characters and stories—Who are these people and what did they do? Moses, Hosea, Silas, Epaphroditus, Keturah, Onesimus.
    3. A definition of major terms: Father, Son, God, believe, repent, sin, law, guilt, redeem, justify,
    4. Attention to repeated words and themes in different sections (what is repeated in Psalms or Pro. or Isa. or Matt. or Gal.)
    5. A summary statement for each book
    6. Attention to what is said about God in each passage rather than merely looking for how something applies to “me.”
    7. Finding in each verse other verses that explain, repeat, and clarify.
    8. Ability to title each chapter in a book or throughout the Bible.
    9. In every verse and chapter: Finding wonder and joy at the wisdom of God in Christ.
    Posted in Hermeneutics | Tagged | Leave a comment

    Review of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

    Posted on 27 December 2025 by Seth Meyers

    At 3,928 pages, this is the longest book I’ve ever read.

    Writing elegantly, Gibbon records hundreds of stories that show through the rulers of the Roman empire, man’s inherent greed, ambition, and immorality while also presenting though much less frequently, remarkable virtue and providence. He writes from the bias of an 18th century skeptic, but he washes his work with the veneer of objectivity pretending to be neutral. His chapters on Christianity have fascinating details written with a sneer.

    Some, perhaps the majority, say that Gibbon attributes the fall of Rome to Christianity, but I saw the cause of the fall of Rome as clearly proved from his meticulous research to be the lack of men who have an enduring, moral fiber. It is not remarkable that the empire fell, but rather that it lasted so long. Its fall should thus be attributed to the after effects of the eating of the apple in the garden, and the deceitful hearts that have been passed down from father to son ever since. So his work fortifies our confidence in the Bible, rather than cracking Christianity’s foundation. Before the Roman empire, an unknown scribe recorded the history of the kings of Israel which showed the same lesson. We are looking for a kingdom which cannot be shaken because the King Himself ever lives.

    During my time working through Gibbon’s work (which took the entire year), the same affection rose in me that I found from the histories of Herodotus, Josephus, and even the modern Wise-Bauer. History is a constant flow of men striving for power, most of whom are immediately forgotten, and whom I imagine lived with inner turmoil. Over all, the book was a sobering reminder that even the best, richest, most powerful men will be forgotten, and that their judgment is fickle and sometimes even ludicrous when seen in the light of time. It is best therefore, to have personal godliness, a gracious family, and some service to the church as my goals in life. I saw my life as very small, and my great ambition must be to be a stone in His Temple, a worker in His Field, a singer in His Choir, and a younger brother to His Son.

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    Habits that Ought to be Confessed

    Posted on 19 December 2025 by Seth Meyers

    This morning, as I prayed Job 34:32, “That which I see not, teach Thou me,” one after another of these habits came to my mind.

    Bad habits in life

    1. Passing people without considering that they have eternal souls.
    2. Prioritizing phones and apps over the Bible.
    3. Consuming or enjoying without thanking the Giver.
    4. Seeing, hearing, and feeling beautiful things like scenery, architecture, music, or food without adoring the First Artist.
    5. Allowing my eyes to follow indecency.

    Bad habits in relationships

    1. Replying with sarcasm or anger.
    2. Overlooking when I should speak a word.
    3. Speaking only because I feel ill-treated, at a loss, or used badly.
    4. Passing a week without talking about spiritual matters to my wife or children or friends.
    5. Dominating in conversation.

    Bad habits in church

    1. Attending without praying for the members or services.
    2. Wandering away in my thoughts when others pray.
    3. Singing coldly.
    4. Preparing more for work, trips, and events than for the Lord’s Day and the Lord’s Table.
    5. Leaving without talking to others.

    Bad habits in prayer

    1. Taking time for devotions without confessing sin.
    2. Praying without faith, or without hoping and trusting that my prayers would be answered.
    3. Asking more for earthly things than for the glory of God, the conversion of sinners, and protection from sin.
    4. Spending a week without praying for the conversion of my children.
    5. Starting my day without praying.

    Bad habits in money

    1. Dividing my income as “God’s portion” and “my portion.”
    2. Thinking more about my savings and retirement than my investments in Heaven.
    3. Buying things without thinking whether they will make me happier in eternity.
    4. Giving without sacrifice.
    5. Taking more care with my budget, savings, and investment than my giving to cross-cultural churchplanting.
    Posted in Lists, Orthopathy, Prayer | Tagged | Leave a comment