Educational Futurists and the Communication Revolution

Welcome to our seventh podcast of the school year. We hope to inspire, instruct and challenge you this year as educators whether you are teaching from home or a campus. Our goal is to equip anyone devoted to discipleship-based Christian education. I also want to remind you that while supplies last we will send you a free copies of my book, Disciplining this Generation for a Digital World, to anyone that sends us an email. I will have the details at the end of the podcast.

The last few podcasts we have been speaking about the concept that every educator is a futurist. Last week we spoke about the absolutely remarkable phenomenon of the Doubling of Computer power every two years. This exponential growth is altering everything about our culture and world. Thus, as Christian educators who want to prepare the next generation of world changers, we have to be aware of how these changes will affect the future lives of our disciples. The first and foremost change has been in the area of Communication. These changes are altering our human experience in how we relate to one another on every level. Here are just a few examples: 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online; there are 200 million registered users on MySpace making it bigger in population than the 5th largest country in the world; there are 31 billion searches on Google every month, this has increased from 2.7 in 2006; the first commercial text message was sent in 1992 today there are more than 6 billion text messages sent every day; as of last year more than 50% of 21-year-olds in North America have created content on the web and more than 70% of our 4 year olds have used a computer; the top 10 jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. I could go on and on with these type of observations about this revolution and how it is changing everything including how we educate and disciple our children. Probably the best way to put this in context for us is to look into the past and witness how changes in communication technology altered culture, government, freedoms and even made a place for the Gospel. Here is a bit of a history lesson from the audio version of my book Discipling this Generation for a Digital World. I am suggesting that the changes in communication are even more dramatic today than the Codex and the Moveable Type printing press. Here is my book:

The Church’s Earliest Gift of Technology

Around the time of Christ a new technology was emerging. It made its way into everyday culture by the late first century. Up until this point in human history mankind communicated primarily through word of mouth. Anything that needed to be written down for posterity’s sake was recorded on scrolls. These rolls of wax tablets and papyrus were very expensive and cumbersome. These scrolls were only found in wealthy schools, libraries, government offices and places of worship. You wouldn’t find any form of the written word in the homes of the common man, until the Codex. This new type of “information technology” had dramatic effects on the distribution of the scriptures in the early centuries of the church. Instead of hauling carts of scrolls, a person could simply bind it in a single book. The Codex was the first real book made of paper-thin animal skins and could be written on both sides of the parchment.

Historians, archeologists and especially textual critics are blessed with an amazing abundance of manuscript evidence of the Old and New Testaments from this period. The plethora of evidence exists because the early church adopted this new technology of the Codex. It became the primary means of distributing the Word of God. By the second century there were copies of the scriptures in nearly every house church.

Today there are 5,686 extant copies of the Greek New Testament dating from the second to the sixth century. There are only hundreds of copies of some of the most important books of that era or earlier; such as Homer’s Illiad, 643; Sophocles, 193; and our beloved Plato quoted earlier, 7. In addition, there are over 19,000 copies of the New Testament in the Syriac, Latin, Coptic and Aramaic languages bringing the total manuscript base to over 24,000 copies.

The young church was able to embrace and adapt to this new way of communication. Other religions, including Judaism, had too much invested in the older communication media. In some cases the scrolls themselves became holy relics. To change these would be sacrilegious. The new and upcoming Christian movement on the other hand, had no specific allegiance to the older medium. It was ready for the “new wine skin” of the codex and eventually changed the entire Roman world with it!

We All Want to Change the World

In 1370, an English scholar emerged with a vision to change Europe forever. This scholar wanted the same thing the internet has done. He wanted to get information to the masses that would enable them to make their own decisions regarding truth. This would give them the ability to touch the face of God without holding the hand of the educated priest.

His name was John Wycliffe and he was the first to translate the Bible from Latin into English. Perhaps his most famous statement was, “I believe that in the end truth will conquer.” His notoriety and scholarship was renown throughout all of Europe. His writings had a wide circulation and became the foundation for a pre-reformation to take place as far away as Bohemia (modern day Austria/Hungry).

The Christian History Institute writes:

“Wycliffe cared deeply for the poor and common folk and railed against the abuses of the Church. The Church owned over one-third of the land in England. Clergy were often illiterate and immoral. High offices in the church were bought or given out as political plums. But the problems went even deeper. Wycliffe, a devoted student of the Bible, saw that some of the doctrines of the church had departed from biblical moorings. Based on his study of the Scripture, he wrote and preached against the teachings about purgatory, the sale of indulgences, and the doctrine of transubstantiation.”

Wycliffe not only stepped on the religious toes of the Roman Catholic Church but also the power structures of European politics. He declared, “This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people.” He saw correctly that if the control of knowledge (in this case the Bible) could be given to the people then they would begin to challenge the powers that be and bring change. Unfortunately, Wycliffe was removed from his post as Chief Scholar of Oxford University and banished from preaching. He went to work on his translation of the scriptures which his followers would faithfully copy and distribute throughout England. His translations where confiscated and his followers were burned at the stake. The classic, Foxes Book of Martyrs by John Foxe, focuses much of its attention on the enormous sacrifices of these people.

What did Wycliffe lack? Why is he only know as the “Morning Star of the Reformation” and not the Father thereof, the title given to Martin Luther? Simply stated it was the Gutenberg printing press. Some historians would argue that Wycliffe would have made a better leader of the Reformation. His theology was far more temperate and it presented a strong balanced understanding of the role of the state. Regardless of this, Wycliffe’s time lacked the technology to mass produce his message and thus the religious and political authorities in his day successfully muffled his message and held the reformation back for another 150 years.

Moveable Type - The Catalyst for World Change

Somewhere in the poorer section of Mainz around 1400, Johann Gutenberg was born. His father was a blacksmith who specialized in minting gold coins. Johann would inherit the family trade but he would never shake his inclination toward invention.

Johann later moved to Strasburg where his family had stronger political connections. It was here that he found acceptance in the goldsmiths’ guild. It was in the company of such a highly technical group of men that he gained the knowledge and resources to begin his invention. Johann became one of the primary managers and technicians in the guild. It is here, undoubtedly, that he came across some of the challenges of printing. Printing was a very expensive process. Large metal plates were forged or wooden plates were carved to print a single page.

Johann’s idea was simple, if he could forge or carve each letter separately, and in enough abundance, he could reuse the type for various different print jobs. As he set out to build the press, he began to face serious personal problems. In 1437 he was sued for “breach of promise of marriage” by a young patrician girl. This failed betrothal eventually meant that Johann had to leave Strasburg and return to Mainz, leaving him penniless and unable to complete the final aspects of his project.

Gutenberg literally lived off the generosity of his extended family in order to keep working on the press. In 1450, he formed a partnership with Johann Fust and was able to put the finishing touches on his invention. With Fust’s backing Johann launched into the ambitious first print job – the “42-lined” printed version of the Latin Vulgate Bible.  This project took Johann nearly five years to complete which went well beyond the patience of his financial patron. When the project was finished Fust sued Johann and successfully obtained ownership of the press and all that had been printed to that date. Two years later Johann had to surrender the founts of type which he had developed two decades earlier. He died penniless ten years later as a ward of the church.

Johann Gutenberg had a vision of an effective way to communicate more efficiently. Like any inventor he was devoted to his creative idea. There is no doubt that he was also a faithful adherent to the Christianity of his day. He had no idea that his work would change the world and be considered the most important invention of the millennium. We can only speculate, had he foreseen the events which were about to tear his political and spiritual world apart, that he may not have devoted his life to such a dangerous instrument of change.

Thamus’ words could easily be spoken to Gutenberg: “Theuth, my paragon of inventors, the discoverer of an art is not the best judge of the good or harm which will accrue to those who practice it. So it is in this; you, who are the father of writing, have out of fondness for your off-spring attributed to it quite the opposite of its real function.” These words could also be spoken to today’s communication technology inventors. Do they have the foresight to know what their “off-spring” will bring to our world?

The Reformation

Gutenberg’s invention, like Theuth’s gift of writing, was not the actual instrument of change. But history teaches that any change in communication technology will facilitate a dramatic shift within the culture it is introduced. The technology itself is neutral but those who discover its value are not. The established order or authorities are always late in their discovery of the new technology. Nearly all bureaucracies are established to conserve the status-quo and are not able to handle change well.

The story of Gutenberg’s new technology would be incomplete without Martin Luther but the invention’s effects were not, in any way, limited to Luther’s reformation. No doubt, the Renaissance period of European history owes much of its cultural change to the printing press. The word “renaissance” comes from the Italian word “rinascita,” meaning rebirth. Though scholars argue about when, where and how the Renaissance started, they all agree that it is a “rebirth” of ancient classical ideas. This rebirth of classical learning and knowledge saw a broad distribution because of Gutenberg’s invention. By Luther’s day fellow contemporary scholars such as Erasmus and Ekk, became notable experts of classical literature.

No historian, secular or religious, will discount Martin Luther’s enormous contribution in reforming both the Church and western culture. These changes would have only been a minor theological skirmish in a distant German region without Gutenberg’s press.

Martin was a serious child brought up in a strict German home. His mother, who had many children to look after, was a harsh disciplinarian. Martin’s father was both a farmer and a miner and later became a very successful merchant. His father did well enough financially to send Martin to the University of Erfurt in the hope that he would become a lawyer. Martin received his first degree in Liberal Arts in 1502 and his Master’s degree three years later.

On the way home from his studies he was caught in a lightening storm. Frightened for his eternal soul he cried out to St. Anne for help. He would devote himself to Christian service as a monk if she would spare his life! To his father’s disgust and anger, Luther honored this solemn promise and joined the Augustinian order at the Black Monastery in Erfurt.

In 1507, Luther was ordained a priest and began rigorous studies in theology, returning again to the University of Erfurt. During his studies he came into contact with the ideas of the Humanists, whose principle spokesperson was Erasmus, and embraced their slogan “Ad Fontes!” – “Back to the Source!” For Luther this meant the study of the Bible in its original Hebrew and Greek languages.

Throughout the next decade of studies Luther became very disillusioned with the Catholic Church. He found himself at odds with his strict conscience and in desperate need for a sense of forgiveness. At one point he was sent to Rome on an errand for his monastery and used the trip to find his assurance in the great Christian city. What he found was a church system misguiding its followers with the false assurance of relics, rituals and indulgences.

He returned to “the source” in his studies: the scriptures and in 1512 became a doctor of theology. Shortly after this he was appointed as the professor of theology at Wittenberg University and installed as the priest over the city’s church. Luther began to question the teachings and practices of the Roman Church while he developed much of his reformation theology. Most notably, he began to understand that salvation and forgiveness are the free gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He saw and began to teach that no church, Pope or indulgence could add to or take from this reality in the life of the Christian.

In 1517, Pope Leo allowed the regional Archbishop to sell indulgences through the services of the Dominican monk, Johann Tetzel. The practice of buying indulgences replaced the need for confession and repentance. The purchasers of an indulgence would receive forgiveness for their sins, avoid purgatory and help their loved ones escape eternal judgment. When some of Luther’s congregation returned with indulgences in hand, he was enraged.

Luther had preached against this practice for years but now it had come to his hometown. He responded by writing a letter of protest, giving 95 Thesis (reasons) why the sale of indulgences was not an acceptable Christian practice. On October 31, he posted this letter on the church door in Wittenberg - a standard practice in this university town to begin discussion and debate on an issue.

Unknown to Luther, in the next few weeks, his 95 Thesis was distributed throughout the region. That night or the next day, two of Luther’s congregants took the document to a local printer. There they translated it from Latin to German and printed thousands of copies. In a short time all of Europe was aflame with the controversy. Thus began the Protestant Reformation.

Luther saw the tremendous impact of this technology. He began to print and distribute his remarkable teachings. For the next three years his teachings found the widest distribution of any author to date. Obviously, the Catholic Church had to act. On June 15 1520, Luther was officially told to recant his teachings through a Papal Bull of excommunication. Luther reacted in protest by burning the document which resulted in his complete excommunication by the Pope on January 3, 1521.

The Holy Roman Emperor, the King of Spain, gave Luther one more chance to recant his teachings at the Imperial Diet of Worms on April 2, 1521. Luther took this as an opportunity to defend his position. Instead he was asked, before the Emperor, to recant all of his teachings. He had to appear before the Emperor twice; each time he was clearly told to take back his teachings. Luther did not see any proof against his theses or views which would move him to recant:

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.”

At the Diet, a conspiracy was plotted to have Luther killed on his return home. He had traveled to Worms under the protection of his patron and powerful sovereign, Elector Friedrich the Wise of Saxon. Prince Friedrich caught news of this plan and intervened by having Luther whisked away by his own soldiers. He was taken to Friedrich’s castle in Wartburg where Luther was exiled for almost a year. The rest of Europe thought Luther to be dead.

While in exile Luther undertook the work of Bible translation. In this short time he translated the New Testament and much of the Old. He sought to bring the scripture to the people. His work was the first translation into a common language to be mass produced. Again the printing press became the primary agent for such prolific change. The Scriptures were now in the hands of the common man. It would only be a short fifteen years until another disciple of Luther, William Tyndale would translate the New Testament into English to be printed and distributed to all of England.

We will continue this next week as we talk about the Communication Revolution. We would love to hear from you and I deeply value your comments. If you would like us to mail you a free copy of my book simply send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and let us know what type of an educator you are, home schooler, classroom teacher, school administrator, or interested parent. Please let us know how you heard about the podcast and, of course, please include your mailing address. Thank you for listening and thank you for your commitment to discipleship-based Christian education.