"The Art of Asking Questions in an Age of AI" [Online Course]

Planned

"In a future promised to be filled with so much artificiality, the world will belong to those who have the ability to discern between what is fake and what is real, and evermore to those who have the ability to create what is real" (Jake Weidmann, "The Future of Art and Artificial Intelligence"). In a recent blog post, Microsoft founder Bill Gates calls the 2022 release of ChatGPT "the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface [in 1980]" and proclaims that "the Age of AI has begun." This recent technological development confirms the prescience of Oxford professor John Lennox, who in 2020 (!) published a book called 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity. So what does AI mean for our daily work? Our creative process? Our self-conception as human beings? Most everyone is asking these questions. And if they are not, they should be! "The Art of Asking Questions in an Age of AI" is envisioned as an online course to help human beings use emerging AI technologies prudently and skillfully. Based on the deep and rich resources of the classical tradition of liberal arts, "The Art of Asking Questions" is envisioned as master-class in a perennial art-form as old as humanity and civilization. It will help you use ChatGPT more fruitfully. It will also help grow in your ability to cultivate relationships with your fellow human beings. Here's a tentative outline of the course: The Grammar of Questions: based on Kipling's "I Keep Six Honest Serving Men" and traditional grammars of Latin and Greek The Logic and Dialectic of Questions: inspired by Aristotle's Organon, supplemented by Bacon's New Organon and Isaac Watts' Logic The Rhetoric of Questions: drawing from the rich resources of the ancient, medieval, and modern sourcebooks of rhetoric, "the study of effective speaking and writing" The Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics of Questions: Why ask questions? What is at stake? However, this outline is subject to change. What topics would you like to see in the course? Submit your ideas by posting a comment in response to this post.

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Church Front Porch Incubator: 12-Week Course/Cohort

Planned

How can Christians connect with the unchurched in our post-Christendom society? One important way is by creating what Dr. Timothy Keller calls “church porches.” A “church porch” can take many forms. Like “Solomon’s Porch” (John 10:22-39; Acts 3:11-26; Acts 5:12-16), a “church porch” is a “half-way space between the ‘world’ and the holy place.” Examples of church porches include: Christian study centers, such as L’Abri or the members of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers Christian schools which incorporate non-Christian families, such as South City Community School Mercy/service projects, programs, and organizations, such as Friendship House and LifeSpring Community Health Pregnancy resource centers, such as Blue Ridge Women’s Center Book clubs and Bible discussion groups where at least half of the participants are unchurched people, such as Christianity Explored, a Great Books discussion group, or a “current bestsellers” discussion group Co-working spaces, perhaps with discounts or grants for gospel churches to host meetings for a free or at reduced rates; Faith-Driven Entrepreneur lists some examples Church-run coffee shops such as Ebenezers Coffeehouse Community life centers such as Bonsack Baptist Community Life Center or Cave Spring Baptist Family Life Center Outdoor sports spaces, such as a basketball hoop in the parking lot, paired with occasional church-run tournaments, such as Christ the King Presbyterian Church is doing The “Church Porch Incubator” is envisioned as a 12-week course which integrates theory and practice: The theory component is to include selected readings from authors both ancient and modern, possibly to include Augustine of Hippo (City of God Book 19), Tim Keller (various selections), Abraham Kuyper (selections from Pro Rege), and Daniel Strange (“For Their Rock Is Not as Our Rock”). The practice component is to incorporate tools such as the Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, as well as resources from Praxis Labs, The Chalmers Center, etc. The goal of the course is to launch a micro-venture (e.g., a mercy project or book discussion group) or generate a compelling “pitch” for a larger venture such as a study center, Christian school, or anything else that involves purchasing, building, or leasing additional real estate (e.g., a co-working space, coffee shop, community life center, etc.) The “Church Porch Incubator” could be delivered in-person (e.g., open to all church leaders of gospel churches in a city), online (e.g., Zoom meetings), and various hybrid formats.

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"The promises of God" Scripture cards

Planned

The Christian life is a life of faith: faith in Christ, and faith in God's promises. "Does God give you his Spirit," writes the apostle Paul, "and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: 'He believed God [i.e., by exercising faith in God's promises], and it was credited to him as righteousness'" (Galatians 3:5-6). But in order to walk by faith in God's promises, we must know them: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). "The promises of God" Scripture cards set will be based on the 366 promises curated by C.H. Spurgeon in his classic devotional Faith's Checkbook. Each card will be beautifully hand-lettered and/or digitally designed by one of the talented visual artists in our household: my wife and two daughters. Designing all of these cards will probably take at least a year. However, we will be able to begin to produce and release the cards one Scripture book at a time. For example, there are 10 promises from Genesis and 16 promises from Matthew. Some of these "mini-sets" will need to be combined: e.g., Leviticus and Numbers have 8 promises combined. Others might need to be split in two or three parts: e.g., Psalms or Isaiah. Once all 366 cards have designed, people will be able to buy the whole set. A monthly subscription is also a possibility: one promise for each day of the month. We must never, ever underestimate the value of God's promises. As Spurgeon writes: "A promise from God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check." My hope and prayer is that these Scripture cards will be used mightily by the Lord to build up his people through faith in his promises.

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"God's Profitable Word" podcast

Idea

"Meditations on God's Profitable Word" is a journey through the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, on a treasure-hunt for jewels and pearls of wisdom of particular value to us in our daily work (including business and entrepreneurship. Each episode zooms-in on a short text of Scripture, providing a concise explanation of its meaning and how it applies to our lives and work. This podcast takes 2 Timothy 3:16 seriously: "All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable." This podcast is for anyone and everyone who is interested applying the Bible to daily life not only “at home,” but also “in the marketplace” as a worker, business-person, and/or entrepreneur. You can listen to "alpha versions" of the first two episodes of the podcast here: https://theologyforentrepreneurs.substack.com/podcast A comprehensive list of Scripture texts to be discussed has been already curated: Click here to view a Google Doc of the Scripture texts

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"Adventures in the City of God" Podcast

Idea

This is a podcast structured as a conversation based on The City of God by St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Why this podcast? Why now? First, the parallels between Augustine's cultural moment and our own are striking. (1) A sense of civilizational decline -- or at least pressure -- was palpable. (2) The battle between Christianity and paganism was fierce. (3) There was deep and significant polarization even among Christians. Second, Augustine's vision of what's most important in times of turmoil remains profound and insightful even 1,600 years later. Themes include: Living in community Battling idolatry Embracing pilgrimage Remembering eschatology Cultivating humility Developing servanthood And that's just the preface! If you love Jesus, love history, and love thinking outside the box ... this is the podcast you've been waiting for! P.S. You can listen to an "alpha version" of the first episode of this podcast here: https://theologyforentrepreneurs.substack.com/p/what-is-a-city-who-is-god-what-is P.P.S. My wife Rebekah and I are interested in making this podcast a discussion between her and myself. I can tend to be overly academic and thus dull and boring. With Rebekah involved, the risk of "dull and boring" is virtually eliminated. (Case in point: The mischievous twins Fred and George Weasley from the Harry Potter series are a couple of Rebekah's fictional heroes.)

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"Small group discussion" edition of Book 19 of Augustine's City of God

Idea

What does it mean to be in the world, but not of the world? In his recent bestselling book Strange New World (2022), Dr. Carl Trueman suggests that in order to live faithfully as Christians in our contemporary culture, we must learn from the ancient church: specifically the Didache, Greek apologists such as Justin Martyr, and "Augustine in Book XIX of his masterpiece The City of God" (177) Trueman explains that Book 19 of Augustine's City of God is a classic account of our "dual citizenship" as Christian believers. Augustine gives "a vision of the church in a hostile culture that calls on the church to be the church and on Christians to be constructive members of the wider society in which they are placed." It is a vision of Christian cultural engagement which renounces the "tools, rhetoric, and weapons" of the world. Instead, we must seek God-glorifying goals via God-glorifying means. Augustine's City of God is a Christian classic which richly rewards study and discussion. And Book 19 has long been considered one of the best "on-ramps" into Augustine's Bible-saturated worldview. Book 19 is the place where he explicitly explains the purpose -- and the way -- of the Christian life in the world, in this present age. But the greatest asset of Augustine is also his greatest liability: He is a 5th-century author. His culture is unfamiliar to most of us. And so we need help to understand him. This "small group discussion" edition of Book 19 of Augustine's City of God is designed to help contemporary readers understand and discuss this marvelous ancient Christian text. Features include: Explanatory annotations of names, terms, and concepts -- similar to what you find in a study Bible Discussion questions for each of the 28 chapters (sections) A reading plan for a 12-week study Use of Marcus Dods' English translation, which is in the public domain One or more appendices to explain background information Admittedly, this book is likely to interest only a relatively small "niche" readership. But with an election year coming up in the United States in 2024, interest in "Christianity and politics," "Christ and culture," and "Christian cultural engagement" is likely to be higher than average. So this is probably a better-than-average time to try to launch a book like this. And it also definitely helps that a best-selling author such as Dr. Carl Trueman has recently recommended reading this ancient text in his most recent best-selling book.

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Faith’s Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon - a new multi-media edition

Idea

Since 2020, this daily devotional has been a treasured source of hope and encouragement as my wife and I have walked through many difficult circumstances. Originally published in 1888, Faith's Checkbook is a collection of 366 promises of God drawn from the entire canon of Scripture (Genesis to Revelation). Each promise is explained by Spurgeon in sparkling, vivid prose. "I commenced these daily portions," Spurgeon explains in the Preface, "when I was wading in the surf of controversy [the 'Downgrade Controversy']... I do not mention this to exact sympathy, but simply to let the reader see that I am no dry-land sailor." Faith's Checkbook is already available online and in multiple print editions. My favorite online edition is published on the Christian Classical Ethereal Library. However, none of these editions do full justice to the beauty and practicality of this classic daily devotional. I envision a collection of new products based on Faith's Checkbook: First, a beautiful, heirloom-quality printed edition. I envision a top-of-the-line cover, a ribbon marker, perhaps gilding on the page edges, top-quality paper, and state-of-the-art binding. This will be by far the most expensive edition of Faith's Checkbook on the market, but also the highest-quality edition. Second, a budget-friendly printed edition. It will contain the same content as the heirloom edition, but use budget-friendly materials. Perhaps it will be spiral-bound, similar to the Spiral Bible. Third, a set of Scripture verse cards, one for each of the 366 promises curated by Spurgeon. Each card will be hand-lettered by one of the talented visual artists in our household: my wife and daughters. Finally, an accompanying website, presenting the text of Faith's Checkbook along with an audio edition, and hyperlinked resources. I envision a top-quality treatment similar to what the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has done for Matthew Henry's Method for Prayer. 6,600 searches are conducted each month for the keyword "God's promises." This website aims to connect the people searching for God's promises with Spurgeon's battle-tested, trustworthy guidebook.

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