Questions for Our Times
The world is very different from the way it was 150 years ago. Over the last century and a half, humanity has witnessed more innovation and change than in all the years of human history that came before.
Over the past 150 years, there have been countless innovations that have profoundly shaped our world.
Inventions such as the telephone, radio, television, and the internet have transformed how we communicate and share information across the globe.
Transportation has improved. We now travel by high-speed trains, automobiles, and airplanes. We have even built rockets for space exploration.
The invention of the computer and subsequent development of smartphones has changed the way we shop, learn, work, communicate, and entertain ourselves.
Advances in medicine, including vaccines, antibiotics, surgical techniques, and medical imaging technologies, have extended the human lifespan and improved our quality of life.
Developments in financial technologies, including electronic banking, credit cards, and cryptocurrencies, have transformed the way we conduct financial transactions and manage wealth.
We have only scratched the surface, highlighting the progress humanity has made in science, technology, and industry.
Naturally, along with the rapidly changing environment come fears about where new technology may be leading us. In David McCullough’s biography of the Wright Brothers, he discusses the wariness expressed by some over the popularity of bicycles in the nineteenth century:
Bicycles were proclaimed morally hazardous. Until now children and youth were unable to stray very far from home on foot. Now, one magazine warned, fifteen minutes could put them miles away. Because of bicycles, it was said, young people were not spending the time they should with books, and more seriously that suburban and country tours on bicycles were “not infrequently accompanied by seductions.” (p. 22)
How times have changed! Instead of worrying about bicycles, parents show concern over how much screen time their children are getting. They'd love for them to trade their smartphones in for a ride through the country, all the “seductions” notwithstanding.
Despite all the changes through the years, Solomon’s words ring true: “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9). Technology may change, but God remains the same, as do we. We are not much different from our forebears. The church dealt with the same basic problems in the Apostolic age that we wrestle with today. If we traded places with first century Christians, we'd find ourselves dealing with similar struggles.
That's why the Bible remains fresh and relevant. The writer of Hebrews calls it “living” (Hebrews 4:12). Peter says it is “living and abiding” (1 Peter 1:23). Paul says all Scripture is “breathed out by God” making us “competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
For this reason, we can still turn to the Bible for answers to questions related to the present age. The technology may change, but the truth in God’s word still contains the wisdom we need to successfully live today, and any day.
