April 10, 2026

This edition is sponsored by Cru

weekend read

It’s still fairly obvious, for now, when a piece of writing has been pushed through an artificial intelligence program. Maybe a writer is just “checking” the work for clarity, or they are relying on a chatbot to generate much of the content. Either way, using AI for those purposes leads to a distinctive emptiness to the words—a lot of babble without much substance—framed with half-coherent descriptions and short, formulaic sentences.

This week at Christianity Today, Nadya Williams writes about writing, and why relying on AI to do it is an unhealthy impulse, particularly for the church.

“Whether they hope to produce novels, poetry, or essays, many people who write using AI want what writers have always wanted: to take perfectly ordinary words and turn them into something extraordinary,” Williams says. “This desire is good, but as with so many good and godly human desires after the Fall, the means by which we seek to fulfill it can become disordered.”

Using AI for writing is usually deceptive, can lead to plagiarism, and often makes our work just plain worse. It also undercuts our own development: “A chatbot can write unlimited essays for you, but it cannot develop moral or aesthetic intuitions for you, because that requires the labor of your own mind and training of your own habits,” Williams writes. She continues,

As Christians, we are called to love God with all our soul, heart, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27). Using AI to write robs us of opportunities to fulfill this commandment. With enough use over enough time, it will reduce our capacity to read the Bible, to reflect on it, and to teach and preach it to others.

Read her whole piece here. And if you wondered, CT has shared its AI use guidelines for writers here.

To Write Well Is Human

paid content

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Join Russell Moore and Karen Swallow Prior on April 15 at 1:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time for a discussion of Karen’s latest CT article on infertility, childlessness, and Christian identity. Members must register to attend. Not a member? Get 25% off your first year and unlock event access.

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weekend listen

Dr. Bernice King, CEO of The King Center and daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., joined The Just Life this week to discuss nonviolence and social change with Benjamin Watson.

“You just can’t willy-nilly your way through this,” she said of protesting modern injustice in the United States. “We need to give guidance to that and context. … What we are faced with is very organized. It was planned over years.” | Listen here.

Dr. Bernice King: The Truth About Nonviolence

editors’ picks

Elizabeth Kaye, design artist: My mom got me a cookbook called Salt Fat Acid Heat for my birthday. It has a few recipes, but it’s mainly a sit-down kind of read, and it’s amazing if you want to become a more intuitive cook who understands how flavors work together. I’ve never loved cooking because I didn’t feel like it made sense to me, but this book has completely changed that! It also has the cutest hand-drawn illustrations, so I love it as a designer too.

Angela Fulton, international editor: Currently loving the second season of the One Piece live-action series. I’ve never seen the anime but still love how the show leans into the cartoonishness, the silliness, and the fun of a magical pirate adventure, all rooted in friendship.

Haleluya Hadero, Black church editor: Itohkyuemon is a great matcha brand. For a cheaper alternative, try ITO EN.

prayers of the people

For displaced Ukrainians and the people helping them resettle.
For the Iranian church amid war and uncertainty.
For leaders and churches considering arguments for and against the death penalty.

Are Christians Rude Dinner Guests?

This piece was adapted from CT’s books newsletter. Subscribe here. Amar D. Peterman, Becoming Neighbors (Eerdmans, 2026) The driving idea of Amar D. Peterman’s book is that, for too long, Christians…

The Bible Doesn’t Justify War Crimes

This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. As of my writing this, the United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week cease-fire. Earlier this week, the president posted…

Two States Test a New Pro-Life Law

Nearly two out of every three abortions in America today use pills. These “chemical abortions,” as they are often called, are especially popular in states that prohibit abortion clinics. Last month the Guttmacher…

How Can You Live with Yourself After Doing Evil?

What’s wrong with the world? It seems literally impossible to say. Instead, I find myself wildly gesturing, throwing my hands around to indicate anything and everything. Skyrocketing debt, declining wages,…

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IN THE MAGAZINE

In this issue of Christianity Today and in this season of the Christian year, we explore the bookends of life: birth and death. You’ll read Karen Swallow Prior’s essay on childlessness and Kara Bettis Carvalho’s overview of reproductive technologies. Haleluya Hadero reports on artificially intelligent griefbots, and Kristy Etheridge discusses physician-assisted suicide. There is much work to be done to promote life. We talk with Fleming Rutledge about the Crucifixion, knowing that while suffering lasts for a season, Jesus has triumphed over death through his death. This Lenten and Easter season, may these words be a companion as you consider how you might bring life in the spaces you inhabit.

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The Weekend 04/11/26