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Chesterton Perspectives brings you:
Why You Should Say No to Digital Technology: A Theological Case for Techno-Pessimism
A conversation with Brad East, Associate Professor of Theology at Abilene Christian University
October 27th, 2025
7:30 pm EST in person at 111 The Knoll Rd
7:45 pm EST via Zoom
It happens almost every year, if not every quarter: a new technology drops, a celebration ensues, and the public begins to consume, exchanging models now passé for the next iteration that has cleaned up the spoils and spots plaguing the old. Each innovation comes with its promises of progress and advance: more speed, more intelligence, more connectivity, more immersion, more time for pleasure, more escape from the wreckage in the world.
There is so much preoccupation with what could be that we rarely stop and wonder whether it should be. What if digital technologies, and the accelerationist impulse underlying their development, aren’t good for human beings? What does human flourishing realistically look like? Does technology advance this flourishing? How do these questions weigh on the technology industry in our fast-paced, advancement driven world?
And so it is worth pausing to wonder: Is digital technology good for human beings and communities? What are humans made for? What is the goal of immersion in technology, and how far does it square with the goal of human life?
These are some of the questions we will explore as we welcome public theologian and tech-critic, Brad East (PhD, Yale University). Brad is an associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. He has authored four books, and his most recent book on technology is soon to be released.
Brad East; Associate Professor of Theology at Abilene Christian University
Brad East (PhD, Yale University) is an associate professor of theology in the College of Biblical Studies at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. He is the editor of Robert Jenson’s The Triune Story: Collected Essays on Scripture (Oxford University Press, 2019) and the author of four books: The Doctrine of Scripture (Cascade, 2021), The Church’s Book: Theology of Scripture in Ecclesial Context (Eerdmans, 2022), The Church: A Guide to the People of God (Lexham, 2024), and Letters to a Future Saint: Foundations of Faith for the Spiritually Hungry (Eerdmans, 2024). His articles have been published in Modern Theology, International Journal of Systematic Theology, Scottish Journal of Theology, Journal of Theological Interpretation, Anglican Theological Review, Pro Ecclesia, Political Theology, Religions, Restoration Quarterly, and The Other Journal; his essays and reviews have appeared in The Christian Century, Christianity Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Comment, Commonweal, First Things, Front Porch Republic, The Hedgehog Review, The Lamp, Living Church, Los Angeles Review of Books, Marginalia Review of Books, Mere Orthodoxy, Mockingbird, The New Atlantis, Plough, The Point, The Public Discourse, and Sapientia.
