Can AI Jesus atone for your sins?

Swiss Catholic Church this fall placed AI Jesus in the confessional to interact with visitors.

The installation was a two-month project on religion, technology and art, “Deus in Machina“, created at the University of Lucerne. The Latin title literally means “god from the car“; it refers to a plot device used in Greek and Roman plays that introduces a god to solve an impossible problem or conflict the characters face.

This hologram of Jesus Christ on the screen was captured by an artificial intelligence program. AI programming included theological textsand visitors were invited to ask questions of AI Jesus, who was viewed on a monitor behind a latticed screen.Users were advised not to publish any personal information and confirm that they knew they were interacting with the avatar at their own risk.

Some headlines stated that A.I. Jesus was actually engaged in the ritual act of hearing people confess their sins, but this was not the case, although A.I. Jesus didn’t really hear confessions, did he? specialist in the history of Christian worshipI was disturbed by the act of placing an AI project into the actual confession that parishioners used to use.

The confessional is a booth where Catholic priests hear parishioners confess their sins and grant them absolution, absolution for God’s sake. Always confession and penance occur in the human community it is the church. Human believers confess their sins to human priests or bishops.

Early history

The New Testament scriptures clearly emphasize the human, common context of admitting and repenting of sins.

In the Gospel of John, for example. Jesus speaks to his apostles saying“Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you retain, they are retained.” And in the letter of James: Christians are called to confess their sins to one another.

Churches in the earliest centuries encouraged public confession of more serious sins, such as fornication or idolatry. freed sinners and welcomed them back to the community.

From the third century, the process of absolution became more ritualistic. Most confessions of sins remained private, one-on-one with a priest or bishop. Sinners would express their sorrow individually through prayer and fasting.

However, some Christians who are guilty of some major crimes, such as murder, idolatry, apostasy, or sexual misconduct, treated very differently.

These sinners would do public penance as a group.Some were required to stand on the steps of the church and pray. Others could be admitted to worship, but were required to stand in the back or be dismissed until the scriptures were read. Penitents were expected to fast and pray, sometimes for years, before being ritually reconciled to the church community by the bishop.

Medieval developments

In the early Middle Ages, public penance fell into disuse, and more and more emphasis was placed on verbal confession of sins to an individual priest.

The concept Purgatory was also popular Western Christian spirituality. It was understood to be a stage of the afterlife where the souls of the deceased who died before confessing venial sins or did not complete penance would be purified by spiritual suffering before being admitted to heaven.

Living friends or family of the deceased were encouraged to pray and take private criminal actionssuch as giving alms: money or clothes – to the poor to reduce the time these souls have to spend in this intermediate state.

Other developments took place in the later Middle Ages. Based on the work of theologian Peter Lombard. penance was proclaimed a sacramentone of the main rites of the Catholic Church. In 1215 a new church document mandated this every Catholic goes to confession and receive communion at least once a year.

Priests who revealed the identity of any penitent were subject to severe punishments.Guidelines for Priests, in general called Handbooks for Confessorsenumerated the various kinds of sin and suggested the appropriate penance for each.

The first confessions

Until the 16th century, those who wanted to confess their sins had to arrange meeting places with their clergy, sometimes inside the local church when it was empty.

But the Catholic Council of Trent changed that. 14th session in 1551 appealed to repentance and confessionemphasizing the importance of private confession in ordained priests forgive in Christ’s name.

soon after Charles BorromeoThe Cardinal Archbishop of Milan placed the first confessions along the walls of his cathedral. These stalls were designed a a physical barrier between priest and penitent maintain anonymity and prevent other abuses such as sexual misconduct.

Similar denominations appeared in the Catholic Church in the following centuries; The main element was the shield or curtain between the confessor and the layman who knelt next to him. Later curtains or doors were added to increase privacy and ensure privacy.

Rites of Penance in Modern Times

In 1962 Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council. His first paper, published in December 1963, set new norms for promoting and reforming the Catholic liturgy.

Since 1975, Catholics have three forms of rite of penance and reconciliation. The first form structures private confession, while the second and third forms refer to groups of people with specific liturgical rites especially go to confession with one of the many priests present.

The third form can be used in special circumstances. when death threatens not having time for personal confession, like a natural disaster or epidemic. A general absolution is granted to those gathered, and the survivors later confess privately.

In addition, these reforms prompted the creation of a second place of confession. instead of being confined to the confession booth, Catholics now had the opportunity to confess their sins face-to-face with a priest.

To facilitate this, some Catholic communities added reconciliation room to their churches. Once inside the room, the penitent could choose anonymity by kneeling in front of the traditional screen or walk around the screen to a chair facing the priest.

Over the following decades, the Catholic experience of penance changed. Catholics went to confession less often or stopped altogether. Many parishes were left empty or used for storage began to appoint confessions only by appointment. Some priests may insist on face-to-face confession, while some penitents may prefer only the anonymous form. The anonymous form is preferredbecause the secrecy of the sacrament must be preserved.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II solve some of these problemsinsisting that parishes make every effort to appoint fixed times for confession. Pope Francis himself has been concerned reviving the sacrament of penance. In fact, he demonstrated its importance by appearing for confession, face-to-face, in the confessional in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Perhaps in the future, a program like AI Jesus could provide information, advice, guidance, and limited spiritual counseling to Catholics and interested inquirers around the clock. cannot truly forgive human sins.

Joan M. PiersProfessor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Holy Cross School

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