I’d Be Back in the 1980s

I bought an Amstrad PCW 9512 back around 1991 and my first proper PC in 1996. Then, in 1998, I did a Graduate Diploma in Computing and from that point all my employment related to computers. I used my first PC back in 1984 in a mathematics module at teacher training college. Back then, I didn’t see much point in computers, but nowadays they’re central to my life.

And when I was in full-time Christian work in the 1990s, I used to use computers on a daily basis for producing Christian literature, sermon preparation, essays, newsletters etc. Then, there’s all the leisure activities, such as games, YouTube, Facebook, instant messaging, Spotify, virtual reality etc.

If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I’m a nostalgic person. Just this week I visited the building that was my old school 50 years ago in Cork. I often fantasize about going back in time. I have a tendency to despise the 21st Century – but one exception is computers. I think of the old days using typewriters with Typex for mistakes 😀. I don’t know how I managed to write essays without computers. Maybe I’d write them in longhand and only carefully transfer them to the typewriter after the final draft. I wrote my first Christian tract in 1981 for distribution in Cork. I remember a friend and I distributing them in Fitzgerald’s park during a concert. Again, I can’t remember the details of their production. I don’t think I even had a typewriter in 1981. Maybe I just did them in longhand and handed them off to a local printer.

Anyway, I think I probably could manage without computers. It would feel like going back to the 1980s. I sometimes think that it would be fun to go a whole week without using them.

From a Christian perspective, what I love about computers, especially the web, is how easy it is to find good resources. Cynical or suspicious people often highlight the fact that they’re all sorts of crazy things on the web. But, for example, if I ask Microsoft Copilot some question about a puzzling Bible verse or some theological issue, it generally gives me an intelligent answer. I wouldn’t put 100% trust in it, but I wouldn’t put 100% trust in a book or sermon either. And supposing that I lived in a region where people would murder you for leaving the majority religion, nowadays, I could learn all about the Christian faith, or any other faith, without people feeling that I was betraying broader society.

Maybe this is naive because I do hear about regions that control what you look at on the web or what you have on your smartphone. But my hope for the future will be that religion will cease to be such a tribal thing, or a stick to beat people with. When John Lennon sang “Imagine no religion”, I don’t think that he was getting at religion as such. He was seeing the wars where each side would identify with a different religion. I think of the words of Jesus to the woman at the well:

John 4:21-23
 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

I wouldn’t like to lose the public aspect of religion completely. For example, I’m an evangelical Christian. I left the Roman Catholic Church back in 1980. But when I visit my hometown, Cork, I like to see all the old Roman Catholic and Protestant church buildings around the city. Maybe some evangelicals would be pleased to see them all demolished and turned into apartment complexes 😀. I’m still reading my “Hot Protestants” book, which gives the history of the Puritans, the most radical of the reformers in England. I’m very aligned to them theologically, but what I dislike about them, and about so much of religion is when people use social pressure or even violence to control people’s religious outlook. Surely whatever religion you are, it’s better to simply put the message out there and trust God to touch people. Only thing is, back then, whoever was in power would be prone to persecute those who differed from them, so maybe that’s why each faction sought to gain power. But maybe the web will eventually help to stop all that.

One other thing that would change if I didn’t have a computer is that I would finally get to read all the books that line my bookshelves and that are stored in the attic. And maybe I’d become bored and have a greater need to socialize and travel. But I’m grateful for the time and place in which I was born. If someone offered to randomly swop me with the life of some other person who existed in some other time and place, I’d say a very definite no.

Once you get into your 60s, you begin to wonder how much time you have left. If I go soon, I wonder what other marvels I might be missing out on. Of course, heaven will be much more marvelous. But back in my youth, I never anticipated anything like mp3s, smartphones, YouTube, Spotify, or Facebook. If I did think about the future, I thought in terms of flying cars, robots, or holidays on the moon. Even back in the 1990s, I didn’t anticipate smartphones or mp3s. So, is there anything new or revolutionary going to happen in the next 20 years? I can see virtual reality improving and IT in general improving, but will anything unanticipated become part of our daily lives? I dunno 😧.

I always like to end with a Bible verse and a couple of hymns. I’m going to end with a puzzling verse

Col 1:23
²³ ….This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Just to give you an example of how Micosoft Copilot assists me, here’s what I asked it, and here’s what it answered:

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Why did Paul say that the gospel had been proclaimed to every creature under heaven in Colossians when the gospel hadn’t spread to all nations at that stage?

Great question—Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:23 that the gospel “has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven” can seem puzzling, especially since the gospel hadn’t literally reached every corner of the globe at that time. But scholars and commentators offer several insights to clarify his meaning:

📖 Contextual and Theological Interpretations

• Figurative Language: Paul often used hyperbole or Hebraic expressions to emphasize spiritual truths. “Every creature under heaven” is likely a figure of speech meaning the gospel had reached all types of people—Jews and Gentiles alike—not every individual.
• Universal Scope: Paul was stressing the universal availability of the gospel. It was no longer confined to Israel but was now open to all humanity, fulfilling prophecies like Isaiah 49:6 and aligning with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).
• Roman World Reach: By the mid-first century, the gospel had spread widely across the Roman Empire, which was considered the “known world” at the time. Paul may have been referring to this expansive reach as a symbolic fulfillment of global proclamation.
• Missional Urgency: Paul’s language also serves to motivate believers. By declaring the gospel’s reach, he was encouraging the church to continue spreading the message with boldness and urgency.
• Spiritual Reality: Some theologians interpret this as a spiritual truth—that the gospel, through Christ’s death and resurrection, had cosmic significance and was available to all creation, even if not yet physically preached to every person.

In short, Paul wasn’t claiming that every person had heard the gospel, but that its message was now universally accessible, breaking cultural and geographic barriers. It’s a declaration of scope, not a census of coverage.

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Notice that Microsoft Copilot told me that I asked a great question. So, it thinks I’m great 😀. And sometimes it throws up a checkbox asking me to confirm that I’m human. So maybe it thinks that I’m so great that I’m not even human 😀. Or maybe it’s just a spam filter ☹️.