Biblical Wisdom for Digital Living: Wired for Technology, Instructions Not

Included

The pool at Bethesda, John 5:2-8

Jonathan D. Quick

CCIH Annual Conference, May 23-25, 2009

2

LAST YEAR - Leading Health Organizations in 2008: Lessons from God's First Century Leadership Team

~28-30 AD/CE Start-up Phase – The Ministry of Jesus Christ, Twelve Apostles, Mary Magdalene and team Teaching – Miracles – Parables – Actions Creating the vision – formulating the messages

~30-36 AD/CE National Scale-up – The Ministry of Peter Peter, Philip, Matthias, others of the Twelve The Seven, Barnabas, others Expansion in Judea, Galilee, Samaria First inroads with Gentiles, incl. Greeks

~36-66 AD/CE Regional Scale-up – The Ministry of Paul Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, John Mark, others Active outreach to Gentiles Missionary trips throughout the region

3

Leading Health Organizations in 2008: Lessons from God's First Century Leadership Team

Teams that lead:1. Are aligned around a compelling vision and

shared values. The Great Commission, Matthew 28:19;

The Great Commandments, Matthew 22: 37-39

2. Are strengthened through diversity in skills and backgrounds. 

One body, many parts, 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31

3. Grow by embracing challenges.

Trials and Temptations, James 2: 1-5

THIS YEAR - Technology for Health in 2009 In case you fall asleep during this year’s “sermon”1. Wired for Technology – God has blessed humankind with

boundless creative capacity to develop technologies for health, which allow us to follow in Jesus’ healing footsteps.

2. Instructions Not Included – Humankind is at the same time cursed with a propensity to develop or use new technologies in ways that separate us, create inequalities, and undermine our humanity.

3. Biblical Wisdom – Scripture is silent on “nanotechnology”, “cloning”, other new technologies. But there is a great deal of Biblical wisdom to guide our responsible development and application of new technologies .

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

4

5

Biblical Wisdom for Digital Living

Wired for Technology

Instructions Not Included

Biblical Wisdom

Technologies for health – what are we talking about

A. Digital Technologies 1. Communications – cell phone, Skype, Go-to-Meeting2. Social networking – Facebook, MySpace 3. Information technologies – e-records, on-line

databases4. Decision technologies – D-tree, others

B. Medical and Bio Technologies1. Medicines & vaccines2. Surgical innovations3. Cybernetics & nanotechnology4. Xenotransplantation, transgenics

6

The history of technologies for health – what our wiring for technology has produced

First Millennia

• 7000 BC, dental surgery

• 2600 BC, surgical suture

• 500 BC, cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery

• 1000, cataract extraction

• 1796, vaccination

• 1846, general anesthetic

• 1865, antiseptic

• 1895, X-ray

Century of Modern Medicine/s

• 1900, aspirin

• 1928, penicillin

• 1940’s, large scale use of antibiotics and vaccines

• 1957, artificial pacemaker

• 1967, heart transplant

• 1973, CAT scan

• 1982, artificial heart

• 1996, highly active antiretroviral therapy

7

Democratizing information – from parchment to printing press to internet

Pre-printing press• 1000’s of monks in 100’s of monasteries• Skilled monk = 1200-1300 pp /year• Books only for the wealthy 

Gutenberg press, 1450• Team of 20 = 5 million pages/years• Martin Luther’s German Bible,1522 • Price low enough for even a poor farmer

“Printing made the Protestant Reformation possible”

8

New technologies are democratizing health care as the printing press democratized information

. “. . . traditional paternalistic relationships between patients and doctors are being undermined in much the same way as the religious Reformation of the 16th century empowered the laity and threatened the 1,000-year old hierarchy of the Catholic church in Europe. The Reformation had irreversible consequences for Western society; the implications of the healthcare reformation could also be profound.”

Joanne Shaw, British Medicine Journal, 2009

9

Detecting and mapping disease outbreaks – web-crawling, mapping monitoring (NEJM, May 21, 2009)

10

Swine flu cases as of May 22, 2009

Improving front-line decision-making

Use of PDA’s for follow-up assessment and counseling for AIDS treatment

11

(www.d-tree.org)

The future of technologies for health– what our wiring for technology may produce

The “Biotech Century”?The “Biotech Century”? Animal-grow replacement organs

for 50% of humans awaiting transplant

“Transgenic vegetables” for vaccines in poor countries

Biological, protein-based computer 1000’s times faster

Control of aging and obesity Human-level computing

power

12

13

Biblical Wisdom for Digital Living

Wired for Technology

Instructions Not Included

Biblical Wisdom

Loss of personal control – Internet Addiction Disorder

Loss of childhood – Neil Postman Sexting Blogging run amok – “Tourette’s blogging”

14

Instructions not included Undermining our social fabric and social well-being

Digital medical records loss of privacy

Artificial insemination “human husbandry”

Organ transplants organ trafficking

Biomedical research manmade

epidemics?

15

Instructions not included Instructions not included Techno-abuse / techno-crime

Biogenetics – “Human husbandry”

Human enhancement technologies

Cybernetics

Cloning of humans www.clonaid.com

16

Instructions not included Instructions not included Encroaching on our humanity

17

18

Biblical Wisdom for Digital Living

Wired for Technology

Instructions Not Included

Biblical Wisdom

Instructions not included Instructions not included - How then should we react to new technologies for health?

Three views Three views Optimism

• Extropianism, Transhumanism, Techno-utopianism

Pessimism• Luddite, Neo-luddism, Anarcho-Primitivism,

Bioconservatism

Realism• Appropriate technology, Echnocriticism, Technorealism

19

Biblical WisdomBiblical Wisdom – How we manage technology depends on what we believe about origins of technology

What is the origin of technology?

1. Natural mechanism

2. Human capacity

3. Divine gift

Adapted from: Children of Prometheus, Technology and the Good Life, The Trinity Forum, 2006

20

Biblical WisdomBiblical Wisdom – The desire to create new technologies is God-give and inherently good The desire to create is part being in God’s image

• Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;

- Exodus 1: 26-27

The desire to heal follows Christ’s example• 27 of Jesus’ 37 miracles were healing (23) or raising from the dead (3)• In Matthew and Mark, a healing was the first reported miracle

Creation of new technology can glorify God• So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of

God. I Corinthians 10:31

• Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights… James 1:17

21

Adapted from: Martin LaBar: “Technology: some biblical basics” http://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2005/03/technology-some-biblical-basics.html (accessed May 9, 2009)

Biblical Wisdom Biblical Wisdom - w - with our focus on God the right attitude toward technology will follow

Worship God• Worship God, not technology – don’t let technology be a wedge• Worshipping idols – Isaiah 44:9-2

Credit God• Credit God, not our own prideful sense of accomplishment• The king’s pride in Babylon – Daniel 4:30-32 

God sets our limits• Presuming there are no limits to human ability is wrong• Builders of the tower of Babel – Genesis 11:5-9

God’s rules still apply – even in cyberspace & nanospace• The Golden Rule – Mark 12:31• The Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21

22

Adapted from: Martin LaBar: “Technology: some biblical basics” http://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2005/03/technology-some-biblical-basics.html (accessed May 9, 2009)

Biblical WisdomBiblical Wisdom – “76 Reasonable Questions to ask about any technology” (Jacques Ellul)

1. ECOLOGICAL: effects on health of planet and people?

2. SOCIAL: connect people, strengthen bonds?

3. PRACTICAL: is the benefit really worth it?

4. MORAL: what is gained or lost by the individual, by society?

5. ETHICAL: will it compromise values, lead to control of others?

6. VOCATIONAL: will it create or reduce life-enhancing work?

7. METAPHYSICAL: does it reflect aspects of our higher selves?

8. POLITICAL: does it concentrate or equalize power?

9. AESTHETIC: Does it create ugliness or annoyance?

23

Adapted from: http://www.thewords.com/articles/ellul76quest.htm (accessed May 11, 2009);http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/nine-questions-ask-about-any-technology (accessed May 22, 2009

24

Biblical Wisdom for Digital Living

Wired for Technology

Instructions Not Included

Biblical Wisdom

ConclusionsNew technologies for health are New technologies for health are inevitableinevitable

As bottom-up digital medicine arrives in full force, it

will at last provide reformers with the tools they need

to tackle the great healthcare challenges of this

century: dealing with the cost of chronic care for the

ageing populations of the rich world and helping the

weak health systems in poor countries tackle deadly

diseases.

The Economist, April 18, 2009

25

For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to

do.

Ephesians 2:10

26

Conclusions - Our stewardship of these Our stewardship of these technologies is essentialtechnologies is essential

27

AcknowledgementsWe are most grateful to Jim Longhurst, Joe Krivakas, Andy, Mills, Dan Russ,

and Sharon Franzen their encouragement and rich suggestions for this presentation

Title Slide: The Pool of Bethesda by William Hogarth (1697-1764) http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/hogarth/p-hogart15.htm

Closing Slide:

Thank you

“All the other domain names were taken”

28

History of Technology 501 Quiz – the answers

1. How many years ago did our human ancestors first use tools?

2.5 million years in Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia

2. Which of the following species uses “tools” : a. homo sapiens b. dolphins c. crows d. chimpanzees

All of the above

3. When was the first dental drill used?7000 BC, Indus Valley Civilization

4. How many:

a. hand-copied pages per year could a hand-working 15th century monk produce? 1200

b. printed pages per craftsman could a 16th printing press produce? 250,000

29

History of Technology 501 Quiz – the answers

5. How much clean-up time does an automatic dishwasher save?

1 minute per clean-up

6. How much does the world spend each year on:

a. Fighting AIDS? $10 billion (2007)

b. Video games? $35 billion (2005

7. How many year elapsed:

a. between discovery that lime juice prevents scurvy and its introduction in the British navy? ~250 years

b. between the launch of Viagra and sale to 10 million patients?  

3 years

30