Kerby Anderson
As we enter this new year, we will be hearing more about the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The First Industrial Revolution occurred in the 18th century. The Second Industrial Revolution began in the 19th century with the development of oil, electricity, and steel. The Third Industrial Revolution has been the digital era of computers and the internet.
The World Economic Forum claims that the Fourth Industrial Revolution “represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work, and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances commensurate with those of the first, second, and third industrial revolutions.”
Glen Beck, in his book Dark Future, argues this revolution will change our world: “In the coming years, advancements in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain technologies, bioengineering, automation, the metaverse, and countless other areas will change the human race in unprecedented ways.”
This changing reality raises an important question, says Beck, “The question is not whether life is going to change; that unstoppable freight train has already left the station. The real question—the most important one of this century—is, Will the emerging technological revolution improve life and make mankind freer, or will it enslave, impoverish, or perhaps even destroy it?”
These social and technological changes are coming, and Christians need to be educated about these topics and apply biblical principles to analyze them. That is why over the last year I have been writing booklets on topics like the great reset, social media, digital surveillance, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering. We need to think biblically about these topics, especially during this election year.