Date & Time
About This Event
Artificial Intelligence and Christian Theology
Pentecost Intensive
Jonathan Barlow
September 10 – 12, 2026
Course Description.
The topic of artificial intelligence, previously a locus of philosophical speculation and fodder for science fiction, has moved to the center of contemporary debate about what it means to be human. The post-Christian West, having conceived of humans primarily as homo sapiens now faces a formidable cognitive rival in highly capable AI. Optimistic tech barons now marshal massive computational engines, poised even to revive nuclear power, in the quest to build machines whose intelligence is measured on a scale that runs beyond humans toward a theoretical “superintelligence.” Recent successes in AI have revived the secular soteriology of transhumanism and raised doubts about the enduring need for human labor. In a time when many anxiously ask, “What are humans for?”, the church has a fresh opportunity to exercise reasonableness, gratitude, and hope in the face of epochal change. In this Theopolis Institute course, we will learn to situate AI wisely within Scripture’s story of creation, fall, and redemption. Designed for pastors, teachers, and laypeople, the course will consider contemporary AI through the lens of Christian theology, with particular focus on creation, language, theological anthropology, theology proper, ethics, idolatry, and eschatology.
About the Instructor
Jonathan Barlow is Associate Director of the Data Science Academic Institute and an assistant teaching professor at Mississippi State University. Previously, Barlow was Associate Director for Software Architecture and Development at NSPARC, a data science and digital government research center. Barlow received his Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University and his Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary. He serves as a PCA ruling elder at Grace Presbyterian Church in Starkville, Mississippi.
Location: Third Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL, 617 22nd St. S.
Cost.
$250 (15% discount available for Theopolis partners)
$125 Student Rate (high school & college students)
*Includes dinner/feast at Leithart home “Beth Elim” on Friday evening
Course Schedule.
Thursday Sept. 10
6 pm Vespers
6:30 – 8:30 pm Lecture 1: Orientation to AI and the Theology of Technology
Friday Sept. 11
8 am Breakfast (provided by Theopolis)
8:30 am Matins
9 am Lecture 2: Language: Creation, Intelligence, and Creativity
10:30 am Lecture 3: Theological Anthropology: Man, the Image of God; AI, the Image of Man
Noon Sext
12:15 pm Lunch break (on your own)
2 pm Lecture 4: Ethics of AI Training and Use
3:30 pm Psalm chant practice
4:30 pm Vespers
6 pm Feast at Beth Elim, Gardendale
Saturday Sept. 12
8 am Breakfast (provided by Theopolis)
8:30 am Matins
9 am Lecture 5: Idolatry and Oracular AI
10:30 am Lecture 6: Soul-Making and the Eschatology of AI
Noon Sext
12:15 pm Dismissal
About This Event
Artificial Intelligence and Christian Theology
Pentecost Intensive
Jonathan Barlow
September 10 – 12, 2026
Course Description.
The topic of artificial intelligence, previously a locus of philosophical speculation and fodder for science fiction, has moved to the center of contemporary debate about what it means to be human. The post-Christian West, having conceived of humans primarily as homo sapiens now faces a formidable cognitive rival in highly capable AI. Optimistic tech barons now marshal massive computational engines, poised even to revive nuclear power, in the quest to build machines whose intelligence is measured on a scale that runs beyond humans toward a theoretical “superintelligence.” Recent successes in AI have revived the secular soteriology of transhumanism and raised doubts about the enduring need for human labor. In a time when many anxiously ask, “What are humans for?”, the church has a fresh opportunity to exercise reasonableness, gratitude, and hope in the face of epochal change. In this Theopolis Institute course, we will learn to situate AI wisely within Scripture’s story of creation, fall, and redemption. Designed for pastors, teachers, and laypeople, the course will consider contemporary AI through the lens of Christian theology, with particular focus on creation, language, theological anthropology, theology proper, ethics, idolatry, and eschatology.
About the Instructor
Jonathan Barlow is Associate Director of the Data Science Academic Institute and an assistant teaching professor at Mississippi State University. Previously, Barlow was Associate Director for Software Architecture and Development at NSPARC, a data science and digital government research center. Barlow received his Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University and his Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary. He serves as a PCA ruling elder at Grace Presbyterian Church in Starkville, Mississippi.
Location: Third Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL, 617 22nd St. S.
Cost.
$250 (15% discount available for Theopolis partners)
$125 Student Rate (high school & college students)
*Includes dinner/feast at Leithart home “Beth Elim” on Friday evening
Course Schedule.
Thursday Sept. 10
6 pm Vespers
6:30 – 8:30 pm Lecture 1: Orientation to AI and the Theology of Technology
Friday Sept. 11
8 am Breakfast (provided by Theopolis)
8:30 am Matins
9 am Lecture 2: Language: Creation, Intelligence, and Creativity
10:30 am Lecture 3: Theological Anthropology: Man, the Image of God; AI, the Image of Man
Noon Sext
12:15 pm Lunch break (on your own)
2 pm Lecture 4: Ethics of AI Training and Use
3:30 pm Psalm chant practice
4:30 pm Vespers
6 pm Feast at Beth Elim, Gardendale
Saturday Sept. 12
8 am Breakfast (provided by Theopolis)
8:30 am Matins
9 am Lecture 5: Idolatry and Oracular AI
10:30 am Lecture 6: Soul-Making and the Eschatology of AI
Noon Sext
12:15 pm Dismissal
Getting There
Third Presbyterian Church
617 22nd St. S.
Birmingham, 35233
United States