{"id":147763,"date":"2026-10-05T07:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=147763"},"modified":"2026-10-05T15:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:36:26","slug":"ct-christ-butler-is-ai-weakening-pastors-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=147763","title":{"rendered":"(CT) Christ Butler-Is AI Weakening Pastors\u2019 Authority?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A California pastor named Justin Lester has built a digital twin of himself using nearly 2 million words from his sermons, books, and other messages. The artificial intelligence\u2013generated clone offers counsel around the clock to hundreds of people in Vallejo, a city in the Bay Area. The New York Times<\/em>, which reported on Lester<\/a>, said the AI twin talks in the pastor\u2019s cadence. It has comforted a woman the night before heart surgery, advised a person who felt despair over a lost job, and generated a letter for a homesick child at camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lester is not alone in searching for ways to incorporate generative AI into Christianity. The creators of one AI-infused app, called Bible Chat, have created another sort of digital chaplaincy that allows users to confess their secrets and sins to a chatbot, and ask it for insight about how to interpret the bible. Bible Chat has been downloaded more than 30 million times<\/a>. Other \u201cfaith tech\u201d tools are also on the rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure most of us already sense something is off here, and plenty has been written about the obvious concerns with the technology: Can a chatbot pray for you? (No<\/a>.) Can it know you? (No.) Can it be trusted to tell you the truth when the truth costs something? (No<\/a>.) I won\u2019t use this article to rehearse those arguments. Instead, I will focus on our existing problems, as Protestants, with spiritual authority and how AI technology that provides spiritual guidance<\/a> threatens to make it a lot worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

(CT) ‘The New York Times, which reported on Lester, said the AI twin talks in the pastor\u2019s cadence. It has comforted a woman the night before heart surgery, advised a person who felt despair over a lost job, and generated a letter for a homesick child at camp’ https:\/\/t.co\/eimklPp9eQ #faith #parishministry #ordainedlife #technology #ai #21stc<\/p>— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 5, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>\n