From the Editor. It is a tragic irony that the very technologies that were supposed to bring people together have cultivated an epidemic of loneliness. The many forces of our technological society have grossly underestimated the superiority of human intelligence and are thus robbing us of the human presence we cannot live without. For the past year and a half I have been researching so-called “artificial intelligence.” I shall begin with an introduction to artificial intelligence with a brief history and a comparison with human intelligence. “Going Peopleless Underestimates the Unique Superiority of Human Intelligence, Part 1” will be followed by Parts 2 and 3, covering the application of Part 1 in terms of benefits and liabilities.

Danny Olinger continues the series “Jesus, Stab Me in the Heart! Flannery O’Connor at 100” with an analysis of the O’Connor short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Each month he will be reflecting on a sample of O’Connor’s short stories (I recommend O’Connor: Collected Works, The Library of America, 1988). O’Connor is unique among the greatest fiction writers of the twentieth century. “O’Connor’s one overarching theme is Jesus Christ and the scandal of the Christian religion.”

John Muether reviews The Great De-Churching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham. While the analysis is helpful, Muether disagrees with their definition of exile and observes that the five categories of dechurching do not fully account for growth in conservative confessional communions. He also intimates that where evangelical churches are declining it may be due to their embrace of the broadening church that led to the decline of twentieth-century liberal churches.

Charles Wingard reviews The Hobbit Encyclopedia, which looks like a great new resource for Tolkien fans, especially his seminal fantasy The Hobbit. It is also a beautifully published hardcover. Its illustrations and typography are excellent.

I review an intriguing new biography of the Polish poet and émigré, and one of the West’s greatest poets, On Czesław Miłosz by holocaust survivor Eva Hoffman. This is the best brief introduction to the man and his poetry.

Our poem this month, “The World Is Covered,” was written as a reflection on the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 220,000 people across fourteen countries. In the same year, Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004), died in August. His great sensitivity toward human suffering developed through personal experience during the twentieth-century chaos of war in Europe. Much of his poetry poignantly reflects the agony of this human plight, with occasional flashes of Christian hope. My poem is a tribute to him.

The cover this month pictures a small rural cemetery, the “Stone Cemetery” in Bridgeton, Maine. It was begun in 1839 by the Stone family. It is in a hauntingly beautiful place, especially in winter.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “MEDIA ECOLOGY, POETRY”
https://opc.org/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• “Avoiding the Tyranny of the Attention Racket” (T. David Gordon) 31 (2022): 141–44.
• “Dumb and Dangerous” (T. David Gordon) 31 (2022): 125–30.
• “Face-to-Face: The Importance of Personal Presence in Ministry and Life” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 21 (2012):20–26.
• “Beautiful Truth” (Gregory E. Reynolds) 24 (2015): 6–7.
• “The Power of Poetry for Preaching and Enjoyment” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 30 (2021): 20–25.
• “The Rhythms of the Christian Life in Bible Reading, Prayer, and Poetry” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 22 (2013):109–11.
• “Your Personal Odyssey in Stereo” (Mark A. Green) 30 (2021): 81–82.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.