AI, the Imago Dei, and the Fight for Our Humanity (Paul Hoffman)

Is artificial intelligence just a tool — or are we slowly making it a partner in how we think, relate, and even worship?

In this episode of Thinking Christian, I sit down with Dr. Paul Hoffman — pastor, theologian, and co-author of AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep — to talk about what it means to be human in an age of accelerating technology. We explore the Imago Dei through the lens of AI, the theology of embodiment, and the very real dangers of offloading our spiritual and intellectual efforts to machines.

We also talk about how hearth habits, practical theology, and the intentional formation of Christian communities can help counteract the disintegration of relational and spiritual life in the digital age.

This is not a dystopian tech rant or a techno-optimist’s dream. It’s a pastoral, theological, and deeply human conversation about what we’re becoming — and how we might recover a more grounded, God-centered way of living.

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Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
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Links:

• AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep book

• Follow Dr. Hoffman: @pastorhoffman77 (X), @pastorhoffman (Instagram/Facebook)

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