Jamin Bradley

After pulling an iron crossbar off a lamp-post on Earth and wielding it as a weapon, the White Witch was thrown into Narnia, arriving just as Aslan was creating it. Afraid of Aslan, the witch threw the crossbar at him while he was still creating. It bounced off his face like nothing and fell to the ground as she shrieked and ran away. The bar turned into a seed of sorts and grew into Narnia’s classic lamppost.

When we think of the new creation, we often imagine ancient technology being a part of it: chariots, horses, castles, and other medieval-like things. But because the new creation is about heaven and earth merging, I like to think of it as being a redeemed form of the earth we know. Just as Aslan incorporated the modern technology of a lamppost into Narnia, but made it a living, growing object, so might we find computers, cars, synthesizers, and light bulbs in the world to come, but turned into the best versions of themselves. Computers that can read our minds. Cars that never run out of fuel and don’t pollute the planet. Synthesizers that make noises the resurrected ear can hear. Light bulbs that glow with the glory of the Lord. Who knows—if AI ever becomes sentient and hopes to make it into Heaven, maybe it will do so by becoming a part of the redeemed human creation that God allows to merge into the new creation.

We’re used to imagining God’s future out of ancient people’s place in the world. What might it look like if we imagined it out of our own? Most technology is not evil in and of itself, but takes on the morality of its user. But in a world where our redeemed bodies are no longer capable of sin—for sin has died and can no longer be partnered with—the technologies allowed into the new creation will no longer be able to be used sinfully. That is an interesting future to reflect upon and may even impact how we think, use, and treat technology in the here and now.