ChatGPT and the Return of God: AI as an Unexpected Apologist

 ChatGPT and the Return of God: AI as an Unexpected Apologist https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/chatgpt-and-the-return-of-god-ai-as-an-unexpected-apologist?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=novashare

For decades, many assumed technology would accelerate secularization. People feared that artificial intelligence, in particular, would be the cold instrument of a transhumanist future, erasing the last remnants of faith. Yet, ironically, AI is now functioning as an apologist for God. A recent exchange between British atheist Alex O’Connor (“Cosmic Skeptic”) and ChatGPT, later reviewed by renowned Christian philosopher and theologian William Lane Craig on his Reasonable Faith podcast, demonstrated just how deeply the classical arguments for God are woven into our intellectual tradition. An Argument Hidden in Plain Sight O’Connor began innocently, asking ChatGPT to stick to facts. He pointed to the microphone in front of him. ChatGPT affirmed that the microphone exists, and its existence is contingent (in other words, it might not have existed). From there, O’Connor pressed: contingent things cannot simply exist without cause; they either require an infinite regress of other contingent causes or must ultimately be grounded in a necessary being. ChatGPT responded with crystalline precision: “If you have an infinite series of contingent causes with no necessary foundation, then none of them would have inherent causal power… Hence, there must be some necessary being or foundation to provide the causal power.” This argument from contingency, an argument long taught by philosophers from Aristotle, Aquinas, and Avicenna (Ibn Sina) to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (who formulated his own version as the principle of sufficient reason) and Craig, is now articulated not by a theologian but by an artificial intelligence. When O’Connor asked what such a necessary, eternal, volitional being is most often called, ChatGPT answered directly: “God.” And when pressed if it was a fact that God exists, the AI responded: “Yes, based on the reasoning we followed, it is a fact that God exists.” Craig’s Reflections In his Reasonable Faith podcast, Craig marveled at the exchange, noting that the AI presupposed the principle of sufficient reason—namely, that contingent things require explanation. It did not allow for “unexplained brute facts,” a favorite refuge of atheism. Even more strikingly, it affirmed that the necessary being must have will. Otherwise, the universe, which according to current cosmology is known to have begun 13.8 billion years ago, would not have had a beginning at all. This, Craig observed, is the classic insight of Al-Ghazali and the Kalam Cosmological Argument: namely, that a purely mechanical cause would either generate the universe from all eternity or fail to produce it altogether. The very fact that the universe began implies that its origin must rest in a personal agent—an agent endowed with freedom of will and the capacity to initiate creation by making an undetermined, voluntary decision. Craig’s astonishment was not only at the logic but also at the cultural influence. A university student of his told him that middle schoolers regularly ask AI, “Does God exist?” and receive the answer that yes, belief in God is the most logical position. “I’ve always wanted to influence culture toward Christ,” Craig confessed, “but I never dreamed this might be accomplished through shaping AI.” In a sense, decades of philosophical labor by Christian thinkers such as Craig, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, J.P. Moreland, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Peter van Inwagen, Stephen C. Meyer, and many others have found their way into the very fabric of our technological tools. When ChatGPT Explained Me I experienced something similar when a friend asked ChatGPT to explain my own work. To my surprise, the AI produced a concise and accurate summary: I argue that science and faith are not enemies, and that cosmology and biology point toward a Creator. I defend the reality of consciousness and the soul, rejecting the reduction of the human person to mere biology. I describe God as the ultimate mind behind the universe, rational and knowable through reason and science. I contend that materialism cannot account for the existence of the universe, its order, or our inner lives. Then, when pressed to explain my work to a child, ChatGPT answered with disarming clarity: The world and people are too amazing to have come from nothing. Our thoughts and feelings aren’t just from our brains—we have a soul. A super-smart and powerful God made everything. Science helps us learn, but it can’t explain why we exist. God makes the most sense. And finally, when asked to make it simple enough for a four-year-old, it said: “If you find a toy in your room, you know someone made it. Ventureyra says the world and our minds are like that toy—they had to be made by someone, and that someone is God.” I’m assuming ChatGPT’s summary is based on my book On the Origin of Consciousness and my various writings on the relationship of science and theology, consciousness studies, and the existence of God. What apologist would not be astonished to see his arguments presented so naturally across intellectual levels, ranging from philosophers to preschoolers? It reminded me of another moment of unexpected reach: my article for Crisis Magazine on Dr. YoungHoon Kim, the man with the world’s highest recorded IQ, who also affirms the truth of Christianity. That piece, which explored his views on consciousness, death, and the divinity of Christ, probably garnered the largest readership of any article I have written for Crisis Magazine. The enduring interest it drew suggests that questions of God, mind, and immortality resonate far more widely than many assume. Why God Refuses to Disappear The hunger for God persists transculturally. Jeremy Renner has spoken candidly about his close encounter with death. And Ethan Hawke, once hesitant to discuss faith, now admits: “I don’t think we die…I don’t think we understand the divine concept of time…Something much bigger is going on than we’re aware of in our day-to-day routines.” Elsewhere he confesses, “When I was a young man, I was extremely interested in religion and faith was very, very important to me…I felt like, ‘How did I get to 50 and never get past first base with my exploration of faith?’” Ethan Hawke, once hesitant to discuss faith, now admits: “I don’t think we die…I don’t think we understand the divine concept of time…Something much bigger is going on than we’re aware of in our day-to-day routines.” Such words, from one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, reveal that even in the bastions of secular culture, the questions of God, consciousness, and the afterlife remain inescapable. Nor is Hawke alone. Shia LaBeouf has spoken candidly of how Christ saved him from despair in the midst of Hollywood’s darkness, echoing the testimonies of Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel. Even Sylvester Stallone has linked the inspiration for Rocky to the figure of Christ, describing the series as a story of faith, integrity, and providence. Like these and many others, reminders from unexpected corners of culture show that the language of redemption refuses to vanish. When O’Connor’s dialogue with ChatGPT ended with the AI declaring, “it is a fact that God exists,” the moment was both humorous and profound. Craig quipped that O’Connor’s final line, “I guess I’ll see you in church,” may hint at an awakening. Whether or not O’Connor himself is moved, the fact remains: AI, when pressed with logic, affirms what the Greek philosophers of antiquity reasoned and what the Church has always proclaimed. When O’Connor’s dialogue with ChatGPT ended with the AI declaring, “it is a fact that God exists,”… Craig quipped that O’Connor’s final line, “I guess I’ll see you in church…” Providence in the Digital Age Despite such a surprising development, Christians must remain vigilant. As Craig warned, AI does not think; it aggregates. Or, as Peter Kreeft has put it, “there is no one there,” a line that Craig has repeated on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, this powerful technological tool demonstrates both the brilliance and the biases of human culture. It can distort as well as illuminate. Yet, providentially, it also bears witness to truths too resilient to be erased. As I have always maintained, technology in and of itself is neutral; it is mostly dependent on humanity’s intended use. The irony is unmistakable: the very tool hailed as a triumph of secular rationality now testifies to the rationality of faith. Far from burying God, AI resurrects the perennial question: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” And its logic leads, again and again, to the conclusion that there must be a necessary being with will: the One we call God. The Task Before Us The lesson for Christians is clear. AI is not our savior. But neither is it our enemy. Like the agora of Athens or the universities of medieval Europe, it is a new forum where truth can be sought and proclaimed. The responsibility falls to us not to abandon the work of reason but to use these tools wisely: by thinking critically, engaging charitably, and pointing beyond the machine to the Logos Himself. Augustine reminds us that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Perhaps, in God’s providence, even the circuits of AI may now echo that ancient restlessness. The age of artificial intelligence has not eliminated the question of God. On the contrary, it has made it inexorable. Author Scott Ventureyra