Computer Theology

Computer Theology PDF Author: Timothy Jurgensen
Publisher: Midori Press LLC
ISBN: 0980182115
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Computers are complex tools of the human species. To make them work well for us, we have to specify their actions in very great detail. When properly instructed, networks of computers take on the trappings of human social orders derived from the physiological characteristics and capabilities of our species. To create a social order, we engage in grouping mechanisms through which the actions of the individuals within the group are influenced. From a technical perspective, such grouping mechanisms form the trust environments within which we can effect policy. Historically, the most comprehensive such environments have been formed by religions. Within a specific religion, the policy framework is established by a statement of theology. So, if we connect all the dots, when we want to tell our computers how to act in a manner paralleling human social orders, we must define for them a theology. So goes the rationale explored in great detail by the authors of Computer Theology. Based on their combined tenure of almost a century working in the realms of computer systems and their ubiquitous networks, du Castel and Jurgensen have expressed both social and computer systems through the same concepts. The result offers a unique perspective on the interconnection between people and machines that we have come to understand as the World Wide Web.

Computer Theology

Computer Theology PDF Author: Timothy Jurgensen
Publisher: Midori Press LLC
ISBN: 0980182115
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Computers are complex tools of the human species. To make them work well for us, we have to specify their actions in very great detail. When properly instructed, networks of computers take on the trappings of human social orders derived from the physiological characteristics and capabilities of our species. To create a social order, we engage in grouping mechanisms through which the actions of the individuals within the group are influenced. From a technical perspective, such grouping mechanisms form the trust environments within which we can effect policy. Historically, the most comprehensive such environments have been formed by religions. Within a specific religion, the policy framework is established by a statement of theology. So, if we connect all the dots, when we want to tell our computers how to act in a manner paralleling human social orders, we must define for them a theology. So goes the rationale explored in great detail by the authors of Computer Theology. Based on their combined tenure of almost a century working in the realms of computer systems and their ubiquitous networks, du Castel and Jurgensen have expressed both social and computer systems through the same concepts. The result offers a unique perspective on the interconnection between people and machines that we have come to understand as the World Wide Web.

Digital Theology

Digital Theology PDF Author: Erkki Sutinen
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1839825340
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Digital theology is an emerging and evolving field of research in academia. It is gaining traction with scholars across a variety of subjects including; Computer Science, Theology, Sociology of Religion and the wider Humanities.

Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks about

Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks about PDF Author: Donald Ervin Knuth
Publisher: Stanford Univ Center for the Study
ISBN: 9781575863276
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
How does a computer scientist understand infinity? What can probability theory teach us about free will? Can mathematical notions be used to enhance one's personal understanding of the Bible? Perhaps no one is more qualified to address these questions than Donald E. Knuth, whose massive contributions to computing have led others to nickname him "The Father of Computer Science"—and whose religious faith led him to understand a fascinating analysis of the Bible called the 3:16 project. In this series of six spirited, informal lectures, Knuth explores the relationships between his vocation and his faith, revealing the unique perspective that his work with computing has lent to his understanding of God. His starting point is the 3:16 project, an application of mathematical "random sampling" to the books of the Bible. The first lectures tell the story of the project's conception and execution, exploring its many dimensions of language translation, aesthetics, and theological history. Along the way, Knuth explains the many insights he gained from such interdisciplinary work. These theological musings culminate in a surprising final lecture tackling the ideas of infinity, free will, and some of the other big questions that lie at the juncture of theology and computation. Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, with its charming and user-friendly format—each lecture ends with a question and answer exchange, and the book itself contains more than 100 illustrations—is a readable and intriguing approach to a crucial topic, certain to edify both those who are serious and curious about their faiths and those who look at the science of computation and wonder what it might teach them about their spiritual world. Includes "Creativity, Spirituality, and Computer Science," a panel discussion featuring Harry Lewis, Guy L. Steele, Jr., Manuela Veloso, Donald E. Knuth, and Mitch Kapor.

Shaping a Digital World

Shaping a Digital World PDF Author: Derek C. Schuurman
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830884440
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Book Description
Building on the work of Jacques Ellul, Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman, as well as a wide range of Reformed thinkers, Derek Schuurman provides a brief theology of technology—rooted in the Reformed tradition and oriented around the grand themes of creation, fall, redemption and new creation.

Networked Theology (Engaging Culture)

Networked Theology (Engaging Culture) PDF Author: Heidi A. Campbell
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493404393
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The Theological Implications of Digital Culture This informed theology of communication and media analyzes how we consume new media and technologies and discusses the impact on our social and religious lives. Combining expertise in religion online, theology, and technology, the authors synthesize scholarly work on religion and the internet for a nonspecialist audience. They show that both media studies and theology offer important resources for helping Christians engage in a thoughtful and faith-based critical evaluation of the effect of new media technologies on society, our lives, and the church.

Digital Theology

Digital Theology PDF Author: Erkki Sutinen
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1839825367
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 107

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Book Description
Digital theology is an emerging and evolving field of research in academia. It is gaining traction with scholars across a variety of subjects including; Computer Science, Theology, Sociology of Religion and the wider Humanities.

Love, Technology and Theology

Love, Technology and Theology PDF Author: Scott A. Midson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567689964
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This volume explores love in the context of today's technologies. It is difficult to separate love from romanticist ideals of authenticity, intimacy and depth of relationship. These ideals resonate with theological models of love that highlight the way God benevolently created the world and continues to love it. Technologies, which are designed in response to our desires, do not necessarily enjoy this romanticist resonance, and yet they are now remodelling the world. Are technologies then antithetical to love? In this volume, leading theologians have brought together themes of theology, technology and love for the first time, exploring different areas where notions of love and technology are problematized. In a world where algorithms and artificial intelligences interact with us and shape our lives in ever more intricate and even intimate ways, we might feel attachments to and through machines that suggest sentiments of love while also changing how we think about love. Does love always have to be reciprocal? How can we enact love and care for others with technologies? Whose desires do technologies serve – consumers, corporations, creatures? This volume offers a systematic review of the challenges of living in a technologically saturated world, by means of critical application of, as well as reflection on, theological discussions about love.

Technology and Theology

Technology and Theology PDF Author: William H. U. Anderson
Publisher: Vernon Press
ISBN: 1648890865
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Technology is growing at an exponential rate vis-à-vis humanity’s ability to control it. Moreover, the numerous ethical issues that technology raises are also troubling. These statements, however, may be alarmist—since Telus would tell us “The Future is Friendly”. The Modernist vision of the future was utopic, for instance Star Trek of the 1960s. But postmodern views, such as are found in Blade Runner 2049, are dystopic. Theology is in a unique interdisciplinary position to deal with the many issues, pro and con, that technology raises. Even theologians like Origen in the third century and Aquinas in the thirteenth century made forays into Artificial Intelligence and surrounding issues (they just didn’t know it at the time). Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Transhumanism raise questions about what it means to be human. What is consciousness? What is soul? What are life and death? Can technology really save us and give us eternal life? Theology is in a unique position to handle these questions and issues. This book also has practical applications in terms of ecclesiology (church) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic—both in terms of what it means to be a church and in terms of the sacraments or ordinances. Is there such a thing as a “Virtual Church” or must we gather physically to constitute one? Are Baptism and Communion legitimate if one is not physically in a church building but are “online”? This book struggles with these and many other questions which will help the scholar or reader make up their own minds, however tentatively.

Theology and Technology, Volume 1

Theology and Technology, Volume 1 PDF Author: Carl Mitcham
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1666790699
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
Originally published nearly forty years ago as a spiritual successor to Carl Mitcham and Robert Mackey’s Philosophy and Technology, the essays collected in the two volumes of Theology and Technology span an array of theological attitudes and perspectives providing sufficient material for careful reflection and engagement. The first volume offers five general attitudes toward technology based off of H. Richard Niebuhr’s five ideal types in Christ and Culture. The second volume includes biblical, historical, and modern theological engagements with the place of technology in the Christian life. This ecumenical collection ranges from authors who enthusiastically support technological development to those cynical of technique and engages the Christian tradition from the church fathers to recent theologians like Bernard Lonergan and Jacques Ellul. Taken together, these essays, some reproductions of earlier work and others original for this project, provide any student of theology a fitting entrée into considering the place of technology in the realm of the sacred.

Computer Science: Discovering God's Glory in Ones and Zeros

Computer Science: Discovering God's Glory in Ones and Zeros PDF Author: Jonathan R. Stoddard
Publisher: P & R Publishing
ISBN: 9781596389908
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
What does computer programming have to do with God? Discover how writing code gives programmers a unique insight into Gods all-powerful word, and how constructing software can glorify him.