From The Garden To The City

Ever wonder if technology is becoming too powerful in our daily lives? Besides noticing how people rarely meet face to face these days in light of access to social media sites and the benefits of instant messaging and text messaging, even the average phone call is almost becoming obsolete. So is technology really helping us or hurting us?

In the recent book, From The Garden to the City by John Dyer, he discusses the benefits of the redeeming and corrupting power of technology in our lives. From early childhood most of us older adults remember how we spent our time before the invention of the mobile phone and the computers. We spent our time out with friends, usually playing all kinds of games from hide and seek or using our imagination and pretending we lived in other worlds or times.

Now this generation doesn't have to pretend with the internet. They can play role playing games on line with users from all over the world, or even just by themselves. Hooked up to headphones, wireless devices and high speed internet, they can get lost in virtual worlds we could only dream of so long ago. So is this benefiting us or harming us?

"Technology in the last century has had more advances than in the last thousand years. Abe Lincoln and Abraham from the Bible have more in common than anyone born in the 1900's. They were both separated by some 3800 years. Abraham's father raised cattle, and Mr. Lincoln planted pumpkins. We spend most of our time indoors working at desks with little knowledge of the natural world. Both men attended small religious gatherings with people they knew from the surrounding areas. We drive several miles to sit in huge auditoriums and watch screens with thousands of people, many of whom are strangers. Their water supply and bathrooms were outside; ours are inside. They lived in small, one-bedroom dwellings lit by candles; we live in comparatively enormous homes equipped with electricity, phone, cable and Internet lines. They wrote letters and spoke in person; we write electronically and speak through devices. They weathered the seasons; we control the weather with air-conditioning. "(pg 21-22).

It all depends on the perspective in how it's being used, some people are waiting for the advancement of medical technology so we can live even longer if not forever, but God has a definitive time line. This world, will not, last forever despite what technology claims it can do.

I received this book compliments of Kregel Publishers for my honest review and LOVED seeing things from a completely different perspective in addition to what references the Bible makes in regards to technology. I think John's research into the areas of how far we have advanced in technology and some of the dangers that exist for people to use it for their personal gains is insightful and one every Christian should read. It even shows how some well-meaning uses of technology in the church can also have a destructive effect in how people view the services and the Bible as well. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to any parent who tells their kids to stop spending so much time texting!

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book, please click on the links below:

From The Garden To The City by John Dyer