Earthen Vessels in The Age of AI: Human Fragility and Divine Power in 2 Corinthians 4:7

John Marlin; Agus Susilo Witrasno

doi:10.33856/kerugma.v9i2.685

Authors

John Marlin Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Diakonos, Banyumas
Agus Susilo Witrasno Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Diakonos, Banyumas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33856/kerugma.v9i2.685

Keywords:

2 Corinthians 4:7; theological anthropology; artificial intelligence; human weakness; clay jar

Abstract

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) poses new challenges to our understanding of human nature and human wholeness. The capacity of AI to process information, generate knowledge and increase work efficiency establishes standards of efficiency, productivity and capability against which human beings increasingly measure themselves, fostering a tendency to regard human limitation as a deficiency that technology ought to overcome and thereby diminishing human worth. This article reexamines the meaning of “human weakness” through the metaphor thesauron en ostrakinois skeuesin (“treasure in jars of clay”) in 2 Corinthians 4:7, in which the clay jar signifies the fragility and mortality of human existence, including its bodily dimension made explicit in 4:10-11. The study employs a qualitative design in two stages: a grammatical and literary exegesis of the whole expression within the context of 2 Corinthians 4:6-12, followed by a dialogue between these exegetical findings and literature on suffering, theological anthropology, human relationality and digital technology, which frames the AI context. The analysis shows that the metaphor contrasts the fragility of the human vessel with the surpassing power of God, the source of the treasure it carries; read with 4:10-11, this fragile vessel is where the life of Jesus is manifested, marking the human being as a “living entity.” This perspective offers a critique of AI-driven standards of perfection, under which speed, accuracy and uninterrupted productivity become implicit measures of human dignity and limitation is treated as failure. The article concludes that 2 Corinthians 4:7 provides a foundation for a theological anthropology that understands human fragility in its dependence upon the power of God, so that human worth is not determined by technological capability. Because the fragile vessel exists for the sake of others (2 Cor. 4:12, 15), this dependence also opens human beings to relationships of mutual support.

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