Book Review: From the Garden to the City by John Dyer

"I'm attached to my phone."  "I spend way too much time on the computer."  "Just text me."  "Facebook me."  "Love my Ipod.  I have music at my fingertips all the time."  "My husband and I sit in the same room on the same couch and we IM each other."  I can honestly say that I've heard someone say one of these comments or I myself have been guilty of these thoughts.  For a while, I have thought a lot about technology and the fact that it is good and I like it.  However, with all of these new things coming out, I find myself adapting and becoming more reliant on technology.  At times, I get lost in blogs because I want to know more about these people who write them, whether they are my friends or blogs that I just enjoy reading or gathering information from.

John Dyer talks about how technology can affect our relationship with God.  He talks about how technology is great at making large groups of people do things that they probably wouldn't do as individuals.  He warns about social networking and how powerful it can be in our lives.  I think many of us can attest to that.  I mean, I (and many of my friends) have had to cut down on computer time because it was eating away into their productive time.  I know you've heard people say that they are addicted to Facebook.  Dyer brings awareness about how social networking changes our culture, whether good or bad.

I enjoyed the chapter where he discusses how God can operate both through and against technology if He so chooses.  It was a good reminder that technology can have the tendency to rob us of our precious time that God intended for us to use in a different way.  This sometimes happens without us knowing it.  He shares that the nature of technology is to transform.  Think about it.  That's usually a sales pitch..."it'll transform the way you spend your time."  "It'll make you more productive."  "It'll change your life."  The question is: How will we let it transform us?  Will we let it control us or will we control it?  What kind of limits do we need to set for ourselves?  When does technology become a problem?

I never thought about technology in relationship to the Bible and God before.  I enjoyed the correlations Dyer made and thought that it was very interesting.  If you want to understand this correlation more, check out this book.

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I received this book free rom Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.