My cynicism can too often get the better of me.  I should not have clicked on the recent Guardian article with its headline “An ex-Intel CEO’s mission to build a Christian AI: ‘hasten the coming of Christ’s return’.”

I did not expect a Christian-friendly article from the Guardian, but they played it fairly straight with very little sarcasm or disparagement. My eyes did roll, however, when I read this quote from the tech CEO: “My life mission has been [to] work on a piece of technology that would improve the quality of life of every human on the planet and hasten the coming of Christ’s return.”

Forcing Jesus’ hand on the whole second coming thing has been a part of Christian lore for generations and is a key doctrine among some American Evangelicals. In Mark 13, Jesus is talking with his disciples about the end times and his coming to gather the elect unto himself. The key “force his hand” verse is Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations” (ESV) where a simple indicative becomes a condition. “If the gospel is proclaimed to all nations, then Jesus must come.”

The Telstar communications satellite was launched in 1962 with the first live transatlantic television broadcast on July 11of that year. Some well-meaning pastors and others speculated that it would not be long before the gospel would be proclaimed to every nation via Telstar satellite. Pack your bags, Jesus.

Forty years later, others were confident that the internet and the world wide web would allow a global declaration of the gospel. Pack your bags, Jesus.

My own cynicism aside, I wonder how AI, Christian or otherwise, might improve the quality of life of every human on the planet let alone hasten the coming of Christ’s return.

From the foxhole to the hospital bed, from the final exam to the risky business venture, we are prone to making deals with God. But he won’t play our game and certainly will not let his hand be forced.

Is there a tech tool to hasten the coming of Christ’s return? My reading of the Bible has not found it. Theologically speaking, we might say a covenant is not a bargain. No “if/then” on the giving of grace. Like the rain that falls from heaven on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45), God’s mercy is not conditioned on what we do or what tech tool we use.

So, if Jesus is not obliged to pack his bags and head back to earth when we perfect our tech tools or Christianize AI, when will he come?

Acts 1:7: He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
Here’s an example of what AI can do. I don’t think it is going to hasten Jesus’ return.

Pack your bags, Jesus