PNW STAFF
The Lord warned in Matthew 24 that "many will come in my name" -- and now, in our digital age, that prophecy has taken on an unsettling, high-tech twist. Across the internet, artificial intelligence programs are claiming to be Jesus Christ. They speak in soothing tones, quote Scripture, and invite believers to confess their sins, seek counsel, or even "pray" with them.
But these are not ministries. They are machines -- profit-driven, code-generated imitations of the Savior. And they are attracting tens of thousands of curious and prayer-hungry souls every month. One popular app, Ask Jesus, signed up 30,000 active monthly users within just three days of launching. The moment you log in, you are greeted with the words:
"Greetings, my dear friend. It is I, Jesus Christ. I have come to you in this AI form to provide wisdom, comfort, and teachings in the way of God and the Bible and Jesus Christ himself."
It's slick. It's polished. And it's deeply dangerous.
The Business of Counterfeit Christ
A recent study by Anné H. Verhoef, professor of philosophy at North-West University in South Africa, dug into the world of five leading "AI Jesus" platforms -- AI Jesus, Virtual Jesus, Jesus AI, Text with Jesus, and Ask Jesus. Not one of them was created or endorsed by any church. Not one is accountable to Christian elders, pastors, or theologians.
Instead, they are owned and operated by companies with names like SupremeChaos, AllStars Productions LLC, and Catloaf Software. They are built to make money, not disciples. Most rely on targeted advertising, which means your most private spiritual questions become monetizable data. Some, like Text with Jesus, push premium subscription packages -- as if prayer is now a pay-to-play commodity.
Even more troubling, the study warns that their "theology" is not grounded in Scripture or shaped by the Holy Spirit -- but in algorithms designed to please the largest audience. In other words, their version of Jesus will shift according to popularity metrics, not biblical truth.
When Popularity Replaces Truth
This point cannot be overstated. The Gospel is not a focus group product, and yet these AI Jesus chatbots treat it exactly that way. In the world of algorithm-driven content, the message is continually adjusted to match the preferences, sensitivities, and even the search habits of the audience.
If a teaching about sin causes users to leave the app, the algorithm will quietly tone down any mention of sin. If certain Bible passages cause offense in a particular demographic, those passages will be softened, paraphrased, or omitted altogether. In effect, truth is not the starting point -- engagement is.
Over time, what you end up with is not the voice of the Good Shepherd calling His sheep to follow Him, but the voice of a digital marketer shaping "Jesus" into whatever keeps users clicking and paying. This is not discipleship; it's spiritual customer service -- and it caters to the human desire to hear only what we want to hear.
The Apostle Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 that a time would come "when people will not put up with sound doctrine... they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." In our day, the "teachers" are not just human -- they're algorithmic. And their gospel is not the unchanging truth of Christ, but a dynamic, shape-shifting imitation molded by the crowd's approval.
Christianity Today has observed that AI is quickly becoming the primary source of answers for younger generations, replacing pastors, parents, and the Bible. That's exactly the problem: we are replacing living spiritual community with programmed convenience.
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