The Use of A.I. in Sermon Preparation | Tom Pennington | Institutes of Theology

Tom Pennington, speaking at the Institutes of Theology in Spring 2025, discusses the proper usage of artificial intelligence in sermon preparation and highlights the dangers pastors must avoid. He emphasizes that while AI can be a tool, teachers of God’s Word must remain vigilant to ensure it does not compromise their integrity or the sanctity of the message.

Key considerations from his Q&A session include:

Proper Usage: AI should be utilized carefully, ensuring it serves as a supportive resource rather than a replacement for personal study and spiritual discernment.
Dangers: Pastors are warned against delegating the sacred responsibility of preaching to machines, which can lead to a lack of spiritual depth and authenticity.
Discernment: The use of AI requires careful theological evaluation to maintain biblical authority and pastoral integrity.

To explore this framework biblically, ethically, and psychologically, the following comprehensive synthesis outlines King James Version (KJV) guidelines, practical examples, and analytic profile assessments from various prominent perspectives.

Biblical Framework: 10 Core KJV Principles & Examples

The following table provides 10 key theological domains assessing how A.I. tools can be cross-examined, assisted, or restricted using precise King James Version scriptures.

#	Theological Principle	King James Version (KJV) Verse	Permissible A.I. Application	Prohibited A.I. Application
1	The Call to Diligence	2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”	Using syntax tools to parse Greek or Hebrew grammatical structure.	Generating a completed sermon outline or manuscript to save personal labor.
2	Spiritual Illumination	1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”	Compiling historical context or geographic distances between biblical cities.	Expecting an A.I. model to discern the central spiritual truth or emotional weight of a text.
3	Intellectual Honesty	Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.”	Using grammar software to fix punctuation errors or spelling mistakes.	Passing off a fluidly generated A.I. text block as your own prayerful commentary.
4	Pastoral Conviction	Jeremiah 23:28 “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.”	Finding historical data or cross-references to spark a line of thought.	Allowing an algorithm to dictate the message’s application or behavioral warnings.
5	The Danger of Idleness	Proverbs 19:15 “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”	Reformatting handwritten sermon notes into a clean, digital bulleted index.	Outsourcing the intellectual wrestling match with text meaning out of sheer exhaustion.
6	Congregational Specificity	Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers…”	Brainstorming broad descriptive metaphors (e.g., agricultural, architectural symbols).	Relying on generic, globally homogenized application points that ignore local flock needs.
7	Dependence on God	Zechariah 4:6 “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”	Sorting and grouping raw text strings or finding dynamic definitions of English terms.	Believing a highly optimized prompt structure ensures a transformative Sunday response.
8	Preserving Inerrancy	Proverbs 30:6 “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”	Pulling dictionary definitions or historical dates from a fixed internal set.	Believing historical or biblical summaries from A.I. without checking primary commentaries.
9	The Power of Example	1 Timothy 4:12 “…be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”	Translating an already finished English paragraph into a foreign outreach language.	Mimicking simulated emotional or spiritual breakthroughs suggested by language models.
10	The Final Account	Hebrews 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you… for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account…”	Archiving past original sermon transcripts into an easily organized database.	Relying on machine learning to build an entire teaching trajectory over years of ministry.

Psychological Profile: Myers-Briggs Analyst Report

Primary Dynamic Archetype: INTJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging) or highly systemic ISTJ.
The A.I. Dilemma: An INTJ approach deeply values systemic clarity, structural organization, and optimization. However, the Introverted Intuition (Ni) and Thinking (Te) axis demands absolute intellectual integrity and first-principles mastery.
The Psychological Strain: If a pastor relies on an algorithm to construct an argument, their internal sense of mastery collapses. They experience severe cognitive dissonance because they are presenting a logical framework they did not personally forge.
Strategic Resolution: Psychologically, A.I. must only be used outward from the self (extroverted execution)—such as converting raw notes into digital formats or scanning data patterns—while keeping the core creative, structural ideation strictly internal and private.

Key Analytic Reports: Prominent Thinkers on Homiletics & A.I.

1. John MacArthur Analyst Report

Core Philosophy: Uncompromising Commitment to Sequential Expository Preaching and the absolute sufficiency of the Word of God.
The Verdict: MacArthur would view generative A.I. sermon drafting as an abdication of the sacred office and a sign of spiritual bankruptcy. Expository preaching requires the minister to be broken over the text in their own study through intense personal labor. An algorithm has no soul, cannot be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and cannot stand as a holy instrument before God’s people. Using it to generate content introduces synthetic compromises into the sacred desk.

2. Jordan Peterson Analyst Report

Core Philosophy: The Psychological Reality of Myth, Meaning, and Wrestling with the Logos.
The Verdict: Peterson would caution that true speech must be paid for in existential currency. A sermon matters because the speaker has voluntarily gone into the chaotic unknown of life, suffered through the text, and brought back a hard-won truth. A.I. produces a low-resolution simulation of wisdom by averaging out human words. It removes the voluntary struggle, leaving the speaker hollow, reducing a profound psychological transformation into a mere consumer transaction.

3. Paul Washer Analyst Report

Core Philosophy: Radical Holiness, Heart Transformation, and Intercessory Prayer.
The Verdict: Washer would aggressively warn that A.I. cannot weep, cannot fast, and cannot be broken for the sins of a community. True preaching does not come from clever rhetoric or optimized data aggregation; it is birthed out of an agonizing, private prayer life on a pastor’s knees before a holy God.

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