Breaking Babel

Mark T. Mitchell serves as the Dean of Academic Affairs at Patrick Henry College, where he also teaches political theory. His previous books include Power and Purity: The Unholy Marriage that Spawned America’s Social Justice Warriors; The Limits of Liberalism: Tradition, Individualism, and the Crisis of Freedom; and Michael Polanyi: The Art of Knowing. Mitchell is cofounder of Front Porch Republic and a former fellow at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

“Mark Mitchell is not exaggerating when he describes the emergence of artificial intelligence as a revolution. And he is also absolutely right to frame a Christian understanding of the AI challenge by starting with the Tower of Babel. We are surrounded by inflated claims, outright misrepresentations, and bizarre futuristic scenarios. At the same time, some Christians understand that we are now presented with what is unquestionably an unprecedented challenge. I’m thankful for this very thoughtful and courageous book.”—R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

• Preface:The Coming InsanityIntroduction:A (Whole) New World Part 1 In the Beginning Was theWord1. TheTower of Babel as a Modern Myth2.Idolatry and Insanity3.Self-Naming and Apocalypse4. Symboland Eros5. Light,Logos, and Luciferian FireSummary ofPart 1 Part 2 Let Us Make a Name forOurselves6.Technological Pentecost and the New Gnosticism 7.“Seeming” as the New Reality8. ChatGPTand Diabolical Conjuring 9.Artificial Intelligence and Authentic Insanity10.Digital Tyranny I: Technological Enfeeblement and Social Isolation11.Digital Tyranny II: Economic Ephemeralization and Centerless Centralization12.Transhumanism and the Singularity: Who’s God Now? Summary ofPart 2 Part 3 In the Shadow of the Tower13. TheChauvinism of the Real 14. ThePrimacy of the Logos 15.Technosis or Theosis?Summary ofPart 3 Epilogue:The Tower Falls