Booknote: “The Christian and Technology” by John Fesko
The Christian and Technology, by John V. Fesko. Durham, UK: EP Books, 2020, xx + 104 pages, $8.99, paper.
Winston Churchill observed, “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.” The same is true of technology. In six crisp chapters John Fesko explains how six technological advancements have shaped Christian thinking and behavior, for better and for worse:
- Screens: computer, phone, tablets, TV, and jumbotron
- Social media
- The automobile
- The book: both the mass production of books for the past 500 years and the recent phenomenon of e-books
- Virtual reality
- Internet access both to helpful services and soul-defiling evil
The theme throughout this book is this: You must learn to use technology, or technology will use you.
The invention of home computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones presents special problems for Christians. Not only do they bring what Fesko describes as “unfettered access to evil” into our homes and offices (a fact that should be obvious to every Christian), but they also produce unwanted and often overlooked effects: alteration to the brain’s wiring—and with it, distraction, reduced attention spans, and the loss of “deep reading” ability.
