Endorsements

Andy Crouch

It's odd that most of us spend our days immersed in and preoccupied with technology, yet also take its most important features entirely for granted. This book is full of jewels of observation that will help you see technology, the Bible, and your own life afresh. It's frequently funny, surprisingly moving, and consistently smart--a great guide for those who want to begin thinking about how technology shapes us and how we can live faithfully with it.

Andy Crouchauthor, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative, wickedly brilliant and insanely nice
Albert Borgmann

John is the unusual person who is as expert in information technology as he is familiar with the Bible, and he is even more unusual in being able to move to and fro with ease and come up with striking and helpful insights. His voice, though gentle, speaks with authority.

Albert Borgmannauthor of Real American Ethics, giant in philosophy of technology
Tim Challies

We all have a great deal of experience with technology, but few of us have sought to think about technology in a distinctly Christian way. This is one reason I commend John Dyer's From the Garden to the City. As comfortable with theology as he is with technology, Dyer is a steady guide to the digital world we find ourselves in.

Tim Challiesauthor The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion, the grandaddy of Christian bloggers
Darrell L. Bock

Technology is almost omnipresent these days whether we like it or not. So what do we do with this thing that is impacting people everywhere? Very few Christians think a lot about this, but John Dyer has. From the Garden to the City is more than a trip through the digital world; it is a tour of discovery about a growing part of our lives. Read and discover what technology is and can be.

Darrell L. Bockprofessor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, author Jesus According to Scripture, on TV more than Regis
John Saddington

John has created a superbly crafted theological framework for both the layperson and technology-enthusiast so that they can engage technology wisely, rejoicing in the redeeming properties as well as being cautious with the corruptive. John balances both the contemporary challenges that newer devices create with timeless historical models from the Scriptures. Thanks John for giving this fast-paced generation something worthy enough to cause us to pause, re-align, and re-program our thinking for not only ourselves but all those that we impact in our relationships, businesses, and ministries. I will never look at my iPhone the same way again and I’m better person for it - and you will be too.

John SaddingtonProfessional Blogger, TentBlogger.com, always breaking the internet
Andy McQuitty

It’s a unique perspective that combines the heart of a theologian with the brain of a high tech expert, but that’s what you get with John Dyer. And speaking as a pastor, I believe that’s what you need as well if you share in any sort of spiritual leadership. Our cause is to live and communicate the good news as deeply and as broadly as we can using all the tools at our disposal, especially and including high tech tools. But as John shows, we must be wise in the use of technology lest we and our cause change to serve it and not the other way around. From the Garden to the City offers Biblical, profound, and practical insights as to how we can do just that.

Dr. Andy McQuittysenior pastor Irving Bible Church, (a.k.a., “Semicolon”)
Matthew Lee Anderson

There are few guides through the sometimes uneasy relationship between technology and Christianity that I would more highly commend than John Dyer. In this book, he walks us through difficult concepts in ways that are eminently accessible. Never hysterical but appropriately critical, From the Garden to the City provides an important and timely framework for churches and leaders to think through how they can use technology without technology using them.

Matthew Lee Andersonwriter and author of Earthen Vessels, head of a class of young Christian intellectuals
Jack Clayton Swearengen

Dyer does a magnificent job—the best that I have seen—of explaining to the Christian community how and why technology cannot be morally neutral. He crafts his arguments carefully, using examples from his field of information and computer technology. But the principles he extracts are quite general and include fresh insights into the role of technology in culture and matters of the spirit.

Jack Clayton Swearengennuclear weapon scientist, Emeritus Professor of Engineering, and author of Beyond Paradise: Technology and the Kingdom of God, can actually disarm nuclear weapons
David Gordon

Dyer’s viewpoint is self-consciously Christian without being reactionary, tech-savvy without being naive, and well-considered without being pedantic. At a moment in history when our tools are being developed at a rate faster than our capacity to evaluate their impact, we need reliable guides to help us to understand them well, so that we can use them thoughtfully and intentionally. John Dyer is such a guide; and this insightful volume dodges none of the difficult questions, while retaining a balanced and judicious consideration of those areas that do not yet enjoy universal consensus.

T. David GordonProfessor of Religion and Greek, Grove City College, can read, but cannot count
Bob Lepine

Slow down for a minute, be still and ponder what John Dyer is addressing in this helpful book. Technology is undeniably reshaping how we communicate, relate to and ultimately love one another. If you’ve ever texted, tweeted or sent an email to someone who was sitting right next to you at the time, you’re affected. It’s time for you to read From The Garden to the City.

Bob LepineCo-Host, FamilyLife Today, the best next door neighbor I ever had

From the Back Cover

Technology—from the first stone tool to the latest smartphone—has changed our daily routine, the way we communicate, and even how we encounter God. We often laud the benefits of technology (increased quality of life, faster ways to spread the gospel) or bemoan the detriments of technology (decreased attention spans, reduced interpersonal contact), but fail to properly address its transformative power. Where does technology fit into the larger Biblical story?

From the Garden to the City deconstructs the concept of technology and examines it through the lens of Scripture. Studying Bible passages and insights from the best thinkers on technology, theology, and culture, John Dyer shows how technology left unexamined can enslave us rather than honor God and fulfill his plan for us. With helpful observations and practical application, Dyer issues an urgent challenge to live faithfully in this technology-saturated world.

About the Author

John Dyer

John Dyer (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) has been a web developer for more than ten years, building tools for Apple, Microsoft, Harley Davidson, and the Department of Defense. He currently serves as the Director of Web Development for Dallas Theological Seminary and lives near Dallas, Texas, with his wife, Amber, and two children, Benjamin and Rebecca. He has written on technology and faith for Christianity Today and Collide Magazine. From the Garden to the City is his first book. You can find out more about his coding and writing at http://j.hn/.