“…Eventually Paul references a second poem, Phaenomena , by the late third–early fourth century BCE Hellenistic stoic philosopher Aratus. Phaenomena attempts to poeticize the technical scientific language of Aratus's time, and as such it is a remarkably nuanced poem (Gee ). Beginning at the poem's opening will help contextualize the lines that Paul quotes in Acts: From Zeus let us begin; him do we mortals never leave unnamed;Full of Zeus are all the streets and the marketplaces of men;Full is the sea and the heavens thereof; always we all have need of Zeus.For we are also his offspring; and he in his kindness unto menGiveth favourable signs and waketh the people to work, reminding them of livelihood.He tells what time the soil is best for the labour of the ox and mattock.…”
This article explores questions about chatbots in particular and artificial intelligence (AI) in general from a Pauline, that is, a Christian theological perspective. It does so in a way that focuses on a particular scene in the New Testament: Paul in the Athenian Areopagus, considering an altar to an “unknown God,” quoting Greek poets and philosophers, and sharing curious theology as he dialogues with Stoic and Epicurean thinkers (Acts 17:16–34). By examining the sociohistorical nuances of this scene and their philosophical and theological implications, this article shows how the altar Paul considers philosophically and theologically becomes the focal point for an important dialogue about apocalyptic ends, or ideas about who we are, where we are going, and who or what is responsible for that who‐ness and where‐ness. In turn, this can teach us how to ask practical questions, which can uncover the unsuspected apocalyptic ends represented by, or even contained within, common technological objects such as chatbots.
“…Eventually Paul references a second poem, Phaenomena , by the late third–early fourth century BCE Hellenistic stoic philosopher Aratus. Phaenomena attempts to poeticize the technical scientific language of Aratus's time, and as such it is a remarkably nuanced poem (Gee ). Beginning at the poem's opening will help contextualize the lines that Paul quotes in Acts: From Zeus let us begin; him do we mortals never leave unnamed;Full of Zeus are all the streets and the marketplaces of men;Full is the sea and the heavens thereof; always we all have need of Zeus.For we are also his offspring; and he in his kindness unto menGiveth favourable signs and waketh the people to work, reminding them of livelihood.He tells what time the soil is best for the labour of the ox and mattock.…”
This article explores questions about chatbots in particular and artificial intelligence (AI) in general from a Pauline, that is, a Christian theological perspective. It does so in a way that focuses on a particular scene in the New Testament: Paul in the Athenian Areopagus, considering an altar to an “unknown God,” quoting Greek poets and philosophers, and sharing curious theology as he dialogues with Stoic and Epicurean thinkers (Acts 17:16–34). By examining the sociohistorical nuances of this scene and their philosophical and theological implications, this article shows how the altar Paul considers philosophically and theologically becomes the focal point for an important dialogue about apocalyptic ends, or ideas about who we are, where we are going, and who or what is responsible for that who‐ness and where‐ness. In turn, this can teach us how to ask practical questions, which can uncover the unsuspected apocalyptic ends represented by, or even contained within, common technological objects such as chatbots.
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