The Jesus Machine

The Jesus Machine
Author: Dan Gilgoff
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2007-03-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1429917091
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*The crucial Ohio get-out-the-vote effort that lifted Bush over Kerry. *The Terri Schiavo controversy. *The push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. *Attacks on Roe v. Wade. *"Intelligent design" in our science curriculum. The evangelical right has pushed all of these initiatives, led by the immense behind-the-scenes influence of Dr. James Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family: an organization that has grown from its roots as a local parenting advice center to a powerful ministry that broadcasts Dr. Dobson each day on more than 3,000 radio and 80 television stations in the U.S. alone. Dobson has supplanted Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Ralph Reed as the spokesman for tens of millions of American evangelical Christians--even though Dobson is not a minister, but a family therapist with a doctorate in child development. Dobson maintains that the American political and social spectrums are firmly rooted in a centuries-old Christian tradition--one that has come under siege beginning in the 1960s, spear-headed by court rulings that have undermined the necessity of religion in public life. With the support of evangelical followers, Dobson has garnered more and support than many ever thought possible and has harnessed this power to wage a crusade in support of strengthening abortion restrictions and establishing anti-gay rights litigation. The Jesus Machine is the first book to examine Focus on the Family as the cutting edge of the larger evangelical movement, backing what many view to be goals in common with the current political agenda of the Bush administration, as it works to become the voice of mainstream America. Through exhaustive research, Dan Gilgoff, a Senior Reporter for US News & World Report, exposes the intricacies of the Focus on the Family's rallying cry and the drastic implications they hold for the future of America's political system.

The Jesus Machine

The Jesus Machine
Author: Xavier J. Carbajal
Publisher:
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1997-07-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9780965450713
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God, Human, Animal, Machine

God, Human, Animal, Machine
Author: Meghan O'Gieblyn
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2022-07-12
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0525562710
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A strikingly original exploration of what it might mean to be authentically human in the age of artificial intelligence, from the author of the critically-acclaimed Interior States. • "At times personal, at times philosophical, with a bracing mixture of openness and skepticism, it speaks thoughtfully and articulately to the most crucial issues awaiting our future." —Phillip Lopate “[A] truly fantastic book.”—Ezra Klein For most of human history the world was a magical and enchanted place ruled by forces beyond our understanding. The rise of science and Descartes's division of mind from world made materialism our ruling paradigm, in the process asking whether our own consciousness—i.e., souls—might be illusions. Now the inexorable rise of technology, with artificial intelligences that surpass our comprehension and control, and the spread of digital metaphors for self-understanding, the core questions of existence—identity, knowledge, the very nature and purpose of life itself—urgently require rethinking. Meghan O'Gieblyn tackles this challenge with philosophical rigor, intellectual reach, essayistic verve, refreshing originality, and an ironic sense of contradiction. She draws deeply and sometimes humorously from her own personal experience as a formerly religious believer still haunted by questions of faith, and she serves as the best possible guide to navigating the territory we are all entering.

Big Machine

Big Machine
Author: Victor LaValle
Publisher: One World
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2009-08-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0385530412
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Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God. Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle’s fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.

God in the Machine

God in the Machine
Author: Anne Foerst
Publisher: Dutton Books
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2004
Genre: Computers
ISBN:
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A thought-provoking analysis of the theological implications of artificial intelligence addresses important--and controversial--questions raised by robotics about the definition of humanity, what it means to have a soul, and what robots can teach us about our relationship with God.

God of the Machine

God of the Machine
Author: Isabel Paterson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351517155
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The God of the Machine presents an original theory of history and a bold defense of individualism as the source of moral and political progress. When it was published in 1943, Isabel Paterson's work provided fresh intellectual support for the endangered American belief in individual rights, limited government, and economic freedom. The crisis of today's collectivized nations would not have surprised Paterson; in The God of the Machine, she had explored the reasons for collectivism's failure. Her book placed her in the vanguard of the free-enterprise movement now sweeping the world.Paterson sees the individual creative mind as the dynamo of history, and respect for the individual's God-given rights as the precondition for the enormous release of energy that produced the modern world. She sees capitalist institutions as the machinery through which human energy works, and government as a device properly used merely to cut off power to activities that threaten personal liberty.Paterson applies her general theory to particular issues in contemporary life, such as education, .social welfare, and the causes of economic distress. She severely criticizes all but minimal application of government, including governmental interventions that most people have long taken for granted. The God of the Machine offers a challenging perspective on the continuing, worldwide debate about the nature of freedom, the uses of power, and the prospects of human betterment.Stephen Cox's substantial introduction to The God of the Machine is a comprehensive and enlightening account of Paterson's colorful life and work. He describes The God of the Machine as "not just theory, but rhapsody, satire, diatribe, poetic narrative." Paterson's work continues to be relevant because "it exposes the moral and practical failures of collectivism, failures that are now almost universally acknowledged but are still far from universally understo

Misquoting Jesus

Misquoting Jesus
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2009-10-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0061977020
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When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible. Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of their day. Both mistakes and intentional changes abound in the surviving manuscripts, making the original words difficult to reconstruct. For the first time, Ehrman reveals where and why these changes were made and how scholars go about reconstructing the original words of the New Testament as closely as possible. Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes -- alterations that dramatically affected all subsequent versions of the Bible.

God & Golem, Inc.

God & Golem, Inc.
Author: Norbert Wiener
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 116
Release: 1966-03-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780262730112
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The new and rapidly growing field of communication sciences owes as much to Norbert Wiener as to any one man. He coined the word for it—cybernetics. In God & Golem, Inc., the author concerned himself with major points in cybernetics which are relevant to religious issues.The first point he considers is that of the machine which learns. While learning is a property almost exclusively ascribed to the self-conscious living system, a computer now exists which not only can be programmed to play a game of checkers, but one which can "learn" from its past experience and improve on its own game. For a time, the machine was able to beat its inventor at checkers. "It did win," writes the author, "and it did learn to win; and the method of its learning was no different in principle from that of the human being who learns to play checkers. A second point concerns machines which have the capacity to reproduce themselves. It is our commonly held belief that God made man in his own image. The propagation of the race may also be interpreted as a function in which one living being makes another in its own image. But the author demonstrates that man has made machines which are "very well able to make other machines in their own image," and these machine images are not merely pictorial representations but operative images. Can we then say: God is to Golem as man is to Machines? in Jewish legend, golem is an embryo Adam, shapeless and not fully created, hence a monster, an automation.The third point considered is that of the relation between man and machine. The concern here is ethical. "render unto man the things which are man's and unto the computer the things which are the computer's," warns the author. In this section of the book, Dr. Wiener considers systems involving elements of man and machine. The book is written for the intellectually alert public and does not involve any highly technical knowledge. It is based on lectures given at Yale, at the Société Philosophique de Royaumont, and elsewhere.

From Star Wars to Superman

From Star Wars to Superman
Author: James Papandrea
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2017-11-16
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1622823885
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When cultures such as ours toss Jesus out one door, He comes in – albeit disguised – through another. That’s why author Jim Papandrea turned to Star Wars, Star Trek, The Matrix, Terminator, Spider-Man, Batman, Dr. Who, and half-a-dozen other modern shows, discovering in each one powerful images of Christ and salvation. Nor is that surprising. In stories of alternative universes, people always need rescuing; somebody needs to save the day; and sometimes the whole world cries out for a savior . . . which is just what a hero is. About the heroes of some of the most popular sci-fi stories of all time, author Papandrea here answers questions that concern Christians who are also Trekkies, Whovians, Matrix Dwellers, or aficionados of popular science fiction: What kind of “Christ-figure” is the hero of this story, and what does that say about the show’s vision of Christ, humanity and salvation? In the interest of being scientific, Papandrea even gives each hero a Numerical Orthodoxy Score based on the description of Christ in the Nicene Creed, Christianity’s common definition of orthodoxy. Included herein are astute Christian analyses of: Batman * Captain * America * Doctor Who * The Fifth Element * I, Robot * Iron Man * LOST * The Matrix * Planet of the Apes * Pleasantville * Spider-Man * Star Trek * Star Wars * Superman * The Terminator * The Time Machine * Tron * Wonder Woman Here you’ll read about: The pervasive Christian imagery in Doctor WhoStar Trek’s predicted “death of God”Free-will: the stumbling block in the first MatrixThe crucifixion of Spider-ManWhy Wonder Woman is an image of a gnostic saviorThe meaning of salvation in Star Wars (It masquerades as Christian)How Superman’s life begins as a parallel of Moses.I, Robot: the religious reason why the robot is called “Sonny”Whether, in any Christian sense, Neo is The One?Captain American and Iron-Man: one defends the innocent, the other brings justice to the guiltyThe tomb scene in the Fifth Element: it’s not the resurrection we needMatter vs. Spirit in Tron: gnostic to the coreThe anti-Christian bias of Planet of the ApesWhy the Force in Star Wars is no analogy to Grace or the Holy SpiritThe Star Wars Christ figure: Obi-Wan? Luke? Or even, ultimately, Darth VaderWhat Heaven is understood to be in the LOST universeTime travel as incarnation in The Terminator: a compelling analogyRegeneration as resurrection in Doctor Who: Is it Christ-like?How Pleasantville reverses the dynamism of the FallThe baptismal significance of the plane crash in LOSTPleasantville: a twisted version of EdenThe incarnation of the Christ-figure in Planet of the ApesTron’s parallels between Christianity and the Roman Empire . . . and much more about other science fiction and superhero shows! Christians who enjoy popular culture will greet this fun book with interest and acclaim.

The Jesus Revolution

The Jesus Revolution
Author: James M. Scott
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2023-02-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666746606
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This introduction to a biblical theology of the New Testament seeks to revitalize our engagement with the Scriptures for the twenty-first century by showing not only how the assemblage of ancient writings consisting of both Old and New Testaments is intrinsically relevant, but also how we can remain faithful to Jesus Christ, the organizing principle of those writings, in the process. The book is an invitation to all people of goodwill--believers and unbelievers, liberals and conservatives--to put aside their differences in order to cooperate in the revolution that Jesus inaugurated, the creation of a new and better world in the here and now as an anticipation of the eschatological finale. In an age in which many people are overwhelmed by life and looking for ways to cope, this book offers fresh perspectives and penetrating insights that are grounded in solid biblical scholarship with the aid of contemporary philosophical concepts.