By Douglas Groothuis, PhD This essay takes up the ethics and significance of generative AI or large language models related to the humanities and generally excludes other kinds and uses of AI. I am not concerned with AI’s ability to sort vast amounts of technical data related to business or medicine or the military, important though these and other areas are. Nor will I consider catastrophic scenarios of AI takeover of life as we know it. Nevertheless, I hope the analysis and principles I...

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD When I refer to Schaeffer’s “Christian humanism,” I do not mean anything like secular humanism or the attempt to find truth and meaning by placing man at the center of the universe. Schaeffer rightly found this to be the source of all philosophical and cultural errors in the very good from which this quote is taken. But humanism can be Christian in the sense that Christians know that human beings have unique objective value because they are made in God’s image and...

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD By what standard should we evaluate moral issues? Is there a consistent way to make moral judgments that align with historic Judeo-Christian values and which are conducive to a flourishing America? What do the polls tell us about our basic moral beliefs? How might we respond in light of America’s 250th anniversary which is fast approaching? The highly-regarded Pew Research Center recently released a poll finding that sixty-three percent “of Americans have no moral...