AI Is Making Us Lazy: Oxford Mathematician John Lennox Warns Christians That ChatGPT Is the Latest Test of Whether We Will Still Think
Oxford emeritus mathematician and Christian apologist John Lennox has issued a sharp warning. "AI is making us lazy," he told a Christian Today interview published 26 May 2026. Outsourcing thinking, reasoning, and writing to large language models erodes the very faculty of mind that bears...
The Author of 2084 Says Outsourcing Cognition to AI Erodes the Image of God in Us as Pope Leo XIV's New Encyclical Demands Robust Legal Frameworks the Vatican Hopes Believers Actually Read
Oxford emeritus mathematician and Christian apologist John Lennox has issued a sharp warning. "AI is making us lazy," he told a Christian Today interview published 26 May 2026. Outsourcing thinking, reasoning, and writing to large language models erodes the very faculty of mind that bears the image of God.
Why John Lennox Sees a Spiritual Stake in How Christians Use AI
Lennox is no Luddite. He is a professor of mathematics who has spent decades engaging both the science and the theology of human knowledge. His 2020 book 2084 grappled with AI's implications for human dignity. His warning now is practical: when Christians let AI write their essays, summarise their reading, and draft their prayers, the muscle of reason atrophies.
The biblical command to love God with all the mind (Matthew 22:37) is not a metaphor. It requires the daily exercise of attention, memory, and reasoning that AI shortcuts away.
The Crusader's Opinion
Lennox is right. AI is a tool. Tools build muscle when used well and dissolve muscle when used to avoid work. Christians who use AI to compose their Bible studies or write their sermons are training themselves to be passive recipients of machine output rather than active disciples of the Word. Use AI to assist. Refuse to let it replace. The mind God gave you was meant to be exercised.
Take Action
- Read: John Lennox's book 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
- Pray: For wisdom in your own AI usage
- Memorise: Matthew 22:37 on loving God with all your mind
- Discuss: AI dependency with your small group
