In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. Until now we get to ChatGPT.
The world is now starting to become familiar with the virtual tool that, through AI (artificial intelligence), builds entire texts about practically everything you can imagine. Just give a command, such as asking for the recipe for a cornmeal cake or an essay on Shakespeare, and the robot returns the finished work to you.
People have been testing the chatbot for the most varied functions. Pastor Melqui Ferreira did not want to be left out. From Surubim (PE), where he leads the Avivafé church, he ordered: “Write a 200-word text about the importance of walking with God.” Thy will be done.
“He gives us the direction, purpose and peace we need to face the challenges and uncertainties of everyday life”, says an excerpt from the writing proposed by ChatGPT.
Melqui subpoenaed the AI to offer him a second suggestion, and the new text began: “Walking with God is one of the most worthwhile journeys a person can undertake.”
Is this the future of Christian preaching? That’s the question that’s been popping up in churches as more and more people hear about the cornucopia of ChatGPT possibilities.
“You might answer: ‘Of course not.’ Maybe you just don’t believe that such a thing could happen,” wrote theologian Russell Moore, as far as is known without the help of the chatbot, in Christianity Today, the reference portal for American Christianity. “But imagine trying to explain to someone, 30 years ago, Google or a smartphone Bible app. What if AI could write completely orthodox, biblically anchored, and convincingly argued sermons for pastors every week?”
It’s not just an imagination exercise. From Pernambuco’s Surubim to Carol Stream, the American village that hosts Christianity Today, religious leaders study how new technology can collaborate for the pastoral mission.
They also reflect on whether preaching written by machine lacks that divine spark that they believe inspires them.
Pastor Silas Malafaia gave ChatGPT a chance and didn’t like what he saw. “It’s very weak. Even for a beginner, it’s weak. The information is little. I didn’t find anything great.”
He asked for words on the topic of reconciliation from a theological perspective and received a text back saying that this topic “is a central message of the Christian message”, plus the recommendation of some verses.
Melqui found some flaws in the tool. “My experiences haven’t been good at first.” For example: I wanted something about the tribes of Israel, and one of those listed does not exist in the Bible. It happens a lot. If wrong information is improperly reproduced on the internet, such as a mistaken reference on Wikipedia, ChatGPT can reproduce it.
But the pastor thinks AI tends to evolve over time, learning from its mistakes. He even agrees that the chatbot can help build sermons. But “without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,” the message will lack depth, he says.
Nothing, however, to demonize the device. With ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), he finds the robot a very useful resource for day-to-day herding. “If I want to talk about holiness, and at that time my brain freezes, the tool helps me a lot to put the pieces of the puzzle together.”
The best thing to do, he says, is not to immediately embed a positive or negative character in technological innovations. Everything will depend on the responsible use that is made of them. Just as the same knife can be used both to spread butter on bread and to injure someone, he compares.
Bishop Newton Rueda is an enthusiast of new technologies. He recalls that his church, Renascer em Cristo, is avant-garde in the virtual field. He joined social networks when it was all bush and has even promoted gospel ballads in the metaverse. But prudence is always wise, he says.
“We don’t know how invasive the system will be”, he says about the chatbot that has been causing ethical itching in several areas where the word has always been central, from education to advocacy.
Director of Information Technology at Renascer, Rueda fears that artificial intelligence will absorb much of our intimacy, extracting our data, to prosper. Another fear is cutting out of preaching what we might call the soul of the text.
“We, as a church, will never despise the priest’s ability to have the revelation to deliver what the person needs. The content of faith is the person’s direct connection with God, and the priest will help in this mediation.”
Not that ChatGPT is all bad. He would be more useful, in the bishop’s opinion, if he pointed to sources to improve the sermon. “A biblical text, a ministry that talks about the topic, which is already done in search engines like Google. Going beyond that… I don’t know how far it will have an effect spiritually. People reading what the machine built will be innocuous talk about the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Fuxico Gospel, an evangelical portal, showed that the chatbot is increasingly sophisticated. He did a series of tests, and what he got in return surpassed the bureaucratic association of religious sayings.
“ChatGPT not only created several sermons, but also helped the way the preacher should speak in front of the church. Phrases like ‘my brothers and sisters’, ‘God bless’ and the usual ‘Amen’ at the end were just some of the amazing points of the AI-created sermons that made them sound like real pastor preaching.”
Luke isn’t too comfortable admitting it, but that’s exactly what he’s done twice in the past week: read an essay on the passage in the biblical book of Romans that talks about not being conformed to the world, but allowing yourself to be transformed by God. .
The youngest among the three leaders of a small church on the outskirts of São Paulo, he prefers to omit his last name because, he says, he is afraid of being judged by his peers.
In addition to being a pastor, Lucas is a systems analyst and computer mouse. He is proud to have joined social networks when “everything that is a pastor thought it was silly”. And now everyone is in them, he points out. Give it time, and people get used to it.
He doesn’t intend to always rely on AI to preach. But he doesn’t see much harm in making use of it when tiredness is too much, and the mind asks for relaxation. “There are many pastors who, before the GPT, entered the pulpit on automatic pilot, with a memorized sermon that the brothers had already heard two, three times. Not me. I’m always there from the heart, even after having worked 8, 9 hours straight. I may be reading a part, but it’s eye to eye that will connect me with people.”
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