What is the Anglican View on AI?

The Anglican Communion views artificial intelligence through the lens of human dignity, economic justice, and spiritual authenticity—balancing technological innovation with prophetic concern for the common good and the imago Dei.

Since 2016, the Anglican Communion has emerged as one of the most actively engaged Christian traditions with artificial intelligence ethics,1 developing sophisticated theological frameworks and institutional responses that balance technological innovation with prophetic concern for human dignity, economic justice, and spiritual authenticity.1

Led by the Church of England through its General Synod resolutions, House of Lords engagement,23 and the Anglican Communion Science Commission, Anglicans have produced official statements, established task forces with dedicated funding, and positioned bishops as key voices in national AI policy debates4 while maintaining critical theological distance from uncritical technological optimism.1

On February 26, 2024, the Church of England General Synod passed landmark legislation affirming work as central to human flourishing in the AI era,5 while Archbishop Justin Welby signed the Rome Call for AI Ethics on April 30, 2024, aligning Anglicanism formally with Catholic ethical principles.5

The Episcopal Church established a $50,000 Task Force on AI in June 2024 to develop comprehensive guidelines for generative AI use in worship, hiring, and theological work.7 These institutional moves represent the most substantive Anglican engagement with technology ethics in the tradition's modern history, addressing everything from sermon-writing tools to algorithmic bias in ways that draw on rich theological resources while remaining practically oriented toward ministry applications and public policy influence.

Formal Institutional Statements Establish Comprehensive Ethical Frameworks

The Church of England General Synod Resolution (February 2024)

The Church of England's General Synod resolution of February 2024 represents the most significant official Anglican statement on artificial intelligence to date.5 The motion, passed overwhelmingly by show of hands, explicitly addressed "the scale of the challenge posed by AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution"5 with five specific provisions that affirm the dignity of work, endorse international ethical frameworks, and call for theological reflection on technology's impact on human flourishing.

"For a Christian work is central for human flourishing and not just an economic issue. We were placed in a garden and charged with a God-given task from the very beginning."
— Bishop Steven Croft of Oxford5

Bishop Steven Croft of Oxford, the Church's lead bishop on AI and technology in the House of Lords, emphasized during debate the theological centrality of work.5 The resolution directed the Faith and Order Commission to advise on what constitutes "purposeful, dignified, and fair work in the context of the fourth industrial revolution," establishing ongoing theological engagement rather than one-time pronouncement.5

Archbishop Justin Welby and the Rome Call for AI Ethics

Archbishop Justin Welby amplified these concerns when he signed the Rome Call for AI Ethics at the Pontifical Academy for Life on April 30, 2024, becoming the first Anglican leader to formally endorse this ecumenical initiative originally launched by the Vatican in February 2020.8

"The huge advances offered by AI cannot be the sole property of its developers, or any single part of the human race. They must be for all people everywhere. They must serve the common good, they must serve the climate, they must serve sustainable development."
— Archbishop Justin Welby8

His theological framing proved particularly significant: "So much of how we understand Artificial Intelligence comes down to how we understand the nature of being human. Let us all work to ensure that the dignity of every human being, created by God, not for profit or productivity, is central to all we do."8 This grounding in theological anthropology rather than mere technological assessment distinguishes the Anglican approach from secular regulatory frameworks.

The Episcopal Church's Systematic Institutional Approach

The Episcopal Church (USA) has taken the most systematic institutional approach within global Anglicanism through three major General Convention resolutions between 2022 and 2024. Resolution 2022-D020 first addressed the digital age broadly, calling for the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops to study technology's ethical implications for worship, work, family life, and connection to God.9

The explanation accompanying the resolution emphasized baptismal covenant theology: "The Episcopal Church needs to speak about generative AI because our baptismal covenant calls us to respect the dignity of every human being. By changing how creative work is done, and how we identify something is real, generative AI is damaging our human-to-human relationships."10

The Anglican Communion Science Commission

The Anglican Communion Office established the Anglican Communion Science Commission at the Lambeth Conference in July 2022, co-chaired by Bishop Steven Croft and Rev. Prof. Kwamena Sagoe, with coordination by Professor Andrew Briggs of Oxford University.11 This commission explicitly identifies "the growing influence of artificial intelligence" as one of three key priority areas alongside climate crisis and health needs.12

Each of the Anglican Communion's 42 provinces has been asked to designate a Lead Science Bishop to develop provincial action plans for science-faith engagement,12 with consultation meetings held at Virginia Theological Seminary in October 2024 bringing together representatives from 25 provinces.13 The commission operates on the theological foundation articulated in the Lambeth Call on Science and Faith that science and faith should not be seen as opposing forces but rather as "God-given resources for the life of faith."13 This represents the first coordinated global Anglican approach to technology ethics with formal institutional structure and ongoing programming.

Anglican Bishops and Theologians Develop Sophisticated Frameworks Grounded in Tradition

Bishop Steven Croft: The Ten Commandments of AI

Bishop Steven Croft of Oxford has emerged as the single most influential Anglican voice on artificial intelligence since 2016, serving simultaneously as the Church of England's lead bishop on AI in the House of Lords, co-chair of the Anglican Communion Science Commission, and founding board member of the UK government's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.14

His May 2022 House of Lords speech on "AI in the UK: No Room for Complacency" warned of "imbalances of power with inherent risks" in AI development,15 arguing that technology development is "ahead of public understanding" and that government rather than big tech must lead in ensuring benefits reach the many rather than the few.16

Croft's theological framework consistently emphasizes that "AI will continue to raise sharp questions about what it means to be human and what it means to build a society and a world where all can flourish."15 At the 2022 Lambeth Conference, he expressed what keeps him "awake at night"—not speculative far-future artificial general intelligence but rather present-day narrow AI with its "real and present possibilities and dangers" of machines "functioning across quite a narrow range of human skill but with a speed or depth and intensity that human intelligence can't match."417

His February 2020 General Synod address warned that AI could pose a risk of "growing injustice and inequality" if harnessed irresponsibly, describing AI as a modern aspect of "the lion who poses a danger to the flock" requiring ethical engagement.18 Croft's approach combines theological depth with practical policy engagement, philosophical reflection with parliamentary influence, making him perhaps the most effective Anglican voice translating church teaching into public discourse on emerging technology.

Rev. Professor Andrew Davison: Scholastic Philosophy Meets Machine Learning

Rev. Professor Andrew Davison, appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford in 2024 after serving as Starbridge Professor of Theology and Natural Sciences at Cambridge, represents the most sophisticated Anglican academic engagement with AI from a philosophical theology perspective.19 Davison, an ordained Anglican priest with doctorates in both biochemistry and medieval theology, has published groundbreaking work applying scholastic philosophy to machine learning.20

"I am not an ethicist by training, so I'm not working on the implications of AI for society, although that's important. I've been thinking about what theology can offer for thinking about what AI is, how it works, and how to talk about it."
— Rev. Professor Andrew Davison22

Dr. Marius Dorobantu: Reimagining the Imago Dei

Dr. Marius Dorobantu, though not exclusively Anglican, has produced widely-cited work in Anglican theological circles on AI and the imago Dei that has shaped Anglican thinking significantly.23 His award-winning 2022 article "Imago Dei in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" published in Christian Perspectives on Science and Technology argues that if AI can match or exceed human intelligence and functionality, traditional "substantive" interpretations of image of God as special intellectual capacity become untenable.24

This vulnerability-centered theological anthropology has influenced Episcopal and Church of England discussions about what remains distinctively human in an age of artificial intelligence. Dorobantu's 2022 article in Zygon titled "Artificial Intelligence as a Testing Ground for Key Theological Questions" further explores how AI engagement can inform theological anthropology, divine revelation, theodicy, and incarnational theology.2526

Ethical Frameworks Emphasize Dignity, Justice, and the Common Good

The Rome Call: Six Core Principles

The Rome Call for AI Ethics, endorsed by Archbishop Welby and the Church of England General Synod in 2024, establishes six core principles that Anglicans have adopted as foundational:27

Archbishop Welby's statement emphasized that these principles must ensure "AI offers enormous potential in improving human capability" while seeking "to protect, preserve and cherish the dignity of the human person."28 The Anglican adoption of Catholic-originated ethical principles represents significant ecumenical convergence on technology ethics, though Anglican implementation emphasizes economic justice dimensions more explicitly than the Vatican framework.

Bishop Croft's Distinctively Anglican Emphases

Bishop Croft's House of Lords principles add distinctively Anglican emphases to this international framework. His formulation that "artificial intelligence should be developed for the common good and benefit of humanity" insists that AI is "too important to be left to multinational companies or a tiny group of innovators" and must "shape society for the next generation."29

His principle that "the autonomous power to hurt, destroy or deceive human beings should never be vested in artificial intelligence" establishes clear theological limits on machine agency rooted in human moral responsibility.14 The principle that "all citizens have the right to be educated to enable them to flourish mentally, emotionally and economically alongside artificial intelligence" reflects Anglican social teaching on education as fundamental to human dignity.29

Croft's emphasis that AI "should not be used to diminish the data rights or privacy of individuals, families or communities" grounds privacy concerns in theological anthropology, arguing that "data contains the essence of identity and personality" and therefore "our data must be safeguarded and not exploited."29

The Church of England's Ethical Investment Approach

The Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) launched a year-long review in 2019 examining whether the Church's investments in technology companies like Alphabet/Google and Amazon might "undermine the very idea of God."1 This represents perhaps the most direct Anglican institutional engagement with AI ethics through financial leverage, seeking conclusions "grounded in theology and distinctly Anglican but also practical" for managing £12 billion in Church assets.3031

The ECLAS Project: Research and Policy Hub

The ECLAS (Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science) project based at Durham University has since 2016 served as the Church of England's primary research and policy hub for AI ethics.33 Co-directed by Rev. Prof. David Wilkinson and Rev. Dr. Malcolm Brown, ECLAS convened the 2016 Durham conference where bishops first interacted with robots and AI researchers, followed by high-level November 2017 conferences at Lambeth Palace covering AI ethics, assistive robotics, AI and employment, and AI and racial bias.11

ECLAS operates on methodological principles of engaging in the "messy middle" rather than offering premature "wisdoms," fostering interdisciplinary dialogue between scientists and church leaders, focusing on present-day narrow AI rather than speculative future developments, and insisting that ethics rather than mere risk assessment and regulation must remain central.1 Scientists participating in ECLAS work note they are "struck by the depth and breadth of thought senior church leaders and advisors give to these topics," suggesting the Anglican approach has gained respect beyond church circles for its intellectual rigor and practical engagement.1

AI Applications in Ministry Spark Theological Debates About Authenticity and Presence

AskCathy: The Episcopal Church's AI Chatbot

The Episcopal Church's launch of AskCathy in June 2024 represents the first official Anglican AI tool for pastoral care and faith formation, developed by TryTank Research Institute at Virginia Theological Seminary and the Innovative Ministry Center of the Toronto United Church Council.3435

"The goal is not that they will end up at their nearby Episcopal church on Sunday. The goal is that it will spark in them this knowledge that God is always with us, that God never leaves us."
— Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, TryTank Executive Director34

The tool is available for free embedding on parish websites, extending 24/7 pastoral resources to churches that cannot afford full-time clergy.

Deep Divisions Within Anglicanism

The reception of AskCathy reveals deep divisions within Anglicanism about AI's appropriate role in ministry. Rev. Tay Moss of St. John's Norway in Toronto enthusiastically uses ChatGPT for sermon research, liturgy lookup, Bible study questions, and prayer generation, likening it to "having a conversation with a theology student" for inspiration.36

Moss clarifies: "I wouldn't necessarily use this as the final product, but this is a very helpful tool to be able to very quickly generate ideas one could riff on," viewing AI as assistance during busy weeks when "life is just a lot."3636

The Sermon-Writing Debate

The debate over AI sermon-writing crystallizes Anglican theological anxieties about authenticity, authority, and the work of the Holy Spirit. A 2023 Barna Group survey found that only 12% of senior Protestant clergy felt comfortable using AI to write sermons, though 43% saw merits in sermon preparation and research.3734

Anglicans like Moss argue that AI functions as a research tool similar to commentaries or concordances, helping clergy synthesize complex information quickly while retaining human authorship and spiritual discernment in final presentation. Critics counter that sermon writing involves knowing the congregation's specific stories—miscarriages, divorces, abuse histories—and applying scripture pastorally in ways probabilistic text generation cannot replicate.

Writing teacher John Warner, quoted in Anglican coverage, argues that "what happens when humans write has no relationship to what happens when those things generate syntax," since writing involves human intention to convey ideas to readers while large language models merely "probabilistically calculate responses" without understanding or spiritual presence.36

A Christian Century essay titled "The Priesthood of All Chatbots?" raised the question of authority: in Episcopal tradition, the pulpit belongs first to the local bishop who extends that authority to the senior pastor—"to what extent does the pastor's borrowed authority extend to robots?"38

Bishop Croft's Incarnational Framework

Bishop Steven Croft has attempted to navigate these tensions by establishing a principle of priority: "In our engagement with technology when faced with a choice the Church needs always to turn towards human interaction, personal encounter and face to face community."39

"At the centre of Christmas is the believe [sic] that Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth, became a child" as "the greatest sign of the worth of the individual person in all of human culture."
— Bishop Steven Croft39

In his blog post on "AI and our spiritual and cultural lives," Croft grounds this in Incarnational theology.39 He acknowledges that "digital encounters are better than no encounters but there is no substitute for human contact," arguing that "Christianity is a deeply personal and humane faith" that must remain "deeply personal, mediated through personal interaction not through technology."39

Yet Croft also recognizes that "technology for the church can be an excellent servant but a poor master," leaving space for tools like AskCathy while maintaining theological vigilance about technology's proper subordinate role.39 His observation that Pope Francis at the 2024 G7 summit not only spoke about AI but demonstrated "deep humanity" by personally greeting each leader with compassion suggests that how faith communities engage with AI questions matters as much as what they say.39

Global Anglican Perspectives Reveal Significant North-South Divides

The Church of Nigeria: Economic Survival Over Philosophy

The Church of Nigeria's engagement with AI reveals markedly different priorities than Global North provinces, focusing intensely on practical economic impacts and cultural preservation rather than philosophical theology or policy frameworks. A 2025 academic study across Immanuel College of Theology and Archbishop Vining College of Theology surveying 82 participants (27 lecturers, 55 students) identified opportunities in adaptive learning platforms, automated grading, and virtual teaching assistants, but emphasized concerns about data privacy, algorithmic bias, overreliance on technology, and risks to social, spiritual, emotional, and psychological development.40

The study recommended that the Church of Nigeria's Theological Accreditation Board establish a subcommittee specifically to evaluate AI's effects on postulants' spiritual and psychological development—reflecting Nigerian prioritization of holistic pastoral formation over technological efficiency.

Bishop Felix Femi Ajakaye of Ekiti warned: "Let us raise our voice against artificial intelligence; there should be restrictions," expressing particular fear that AI will triple unemployment rates in contexts where formal employment is already scarce.42 This emphasis on unemployment over other AI risks distinguishes African Anglican perspectives sharply from Northern concerns about algorithmic bias or privacy.

The All Africa Conference of Churches

The All Africa Conference of Churches consultation in Nairobi in July 2025, convened with the Future of Life Institute and including Anglican participation, established a permanent AACC AI and Faith Working Group with mandates to develop training programs for church leaders, integrate AI learning in seminaries, produce policy briefs for governments and the African Union, and create an African-centered ethical framework for AI.43

The consultation emphasized concerns that AI disrupts "human relations and emotional accompaniment," with young people increasingly relying on AI for emotional therapy.43

"We cannot run the risk of becoming rich in technology but poor in humanity."
— Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja42

AACC leaders insisted that AI cannot replace "human emotional attachment" and that technology must safeguard "integrity and dignity of creation."43 This African framework explicitly positions religious institutions as stakeholders in technology policy rather than passive recipients, demanding agency in shaping AI governance from African theological and cultural perspectives rather than adopting Global North frameworks wholesale.

The Anglican Church of Australia: Educational Focus

The Anglican Church of Australia has engaged AI primarily through its educational institutions rather than formal provincial statements. The Anglican Schools Commission of Perth's 2024 discussion emphasized core Anglican identity values of "excellence, inclusivity, integrity, faith" in cultivating students' "ethical mind" to challenge assumptions about AI.44

Australian Anglican educators emphasize teaching students to use AI "to benefit the common good" while developing critical thinking about technology. Practical ministry guidance from Australian Anglicans like Luke Prentice emphasizes AI as "research assistant not creative substitute," stressing privacy protection (anonymizing data in public AI tools), verification of AI output with trusted sources, acknowledgment of AI "hallucinations" and echo chambers, and appropriate use for administrative tasks and biblical language research rather than pastoral core functions.45

The Australian approach reflects pragmatic middle-ground positioning between enthusiastic American adoption and cautious African restriction.

The Anglican Church of Canada: Sacramental Caution

The Anglican Church of Canada demonstrates greater caution than its American counterpart while remaining more open than African provinces. Rev. Mark Kleiner of Christ Church Anglican in Saskatoon articulated a position treating "technology as garnish, not the heart of the matter," expressing skepticism about AI replacing authentic human-divine encounter while emphasizing physical, communal worship.46

Canadian Anglican coverage in the Anglican Journal highlighted ethical questions about AI-generated sermons, the importance of human spiritual mentorship over chatbots, and needs for responsible use guidelines addressing privacy, ethics, and bias. Canadian Anglicans benefit from participation in Anglican Communion-wide initiatives like the Science Commission while maintaining distinct provincial theological emphases on sacramental presence and community authenticity over technological innovation.

Recent Developments Show Accelerating Engagement and Emerging Consensus

The Church of England's Focus on Labor Impacts (October 2024)

The Church of England's October 2024 renewed call for "national conversation on AI and the future of work" through a special Crucible journal edition marked intensifying Anglican focus on AI's labor impacts. Articles by Parliamentary Researcher Becky Plummer provided theological and historical perspectives on work, Rev. Dr. Simon Cross offered deep analysis of the gig economy and biblical justice principles, and Rev. Dr. Kathryn Pritchard (ECLAS co-director) warned of gender bias in AI datasets disproportionately affecting women's work.47

"We must avoid the temptation towards unalloyed optimism about AI, or overlook ways in which we might harness AI to serve the common good... technology is not value-neutral. The ways tools are invented, adopted and exploited are all shaped socially."
— Will Fremont-Brown & Dr. Simon Cross47

This scholarly engagement demonstrates Anglican commitment to sustained theological analysis beyond initial reactive statements, developing substantive Christian social teaching on AI's economic implications.

Archbishop Welby's Rome Call Signing (April 2024)

Archbishop Welby's April 2024 Rome Call signing represented the most significant ecumenical Anglican gesture on AI to date, formally aligning Church of England positions with Catholic ethical frameworks while maintaining distinctive Anglican emphases.8

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia of the Pontifical Academy for Life welcomed "the inclusion of our Anglican brothers and sisters" as a "further step of growth" for the initiative originally signed by Microsoft, IBM, and the Italian government alongside the Vatican in 2020.48

Welby's statement at the signing ceremony grounded AI ethics in theological anthropology: "So much of how we understand Artificial Intelligence comes down to how we understand the nature of being human."48 The Rome Call now brings together Catholic, Anglican, Jewish, and Muslim leaders alongside technology companies and governments in shared commitment to transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, and security in AI development.48

Vatican Document "Antiqua et Nova" (January 2025)

The January 2025 Vatican document "Antiqua et Nova" from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith provided updated Catholic AI teaching that Anglican theologians immediately engaged in comparative analysis. The 30-page document's 117 paragraphs addressed "the relationship between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence," warning against "creating a substitute for God" while acknowledging that "technological progress is part of God's plan for creation."49

The document's emphasis on environmental concerns (AI's energy and water requirements), warfare applications, and the principle that "people must take responsibility for using technologies like artificial intelligence to help humanity and not harm individuals or groups"4950 aligned closely with Anglican positions articulated in 2024 Synod resolutions and Bishop Croft's parliamentary speeches.49

Anglican responses to "Antiqua et Nova" emphasized areas of convergence while noting Anglican tradition's greater emphasis on economic justice and labor exploitation compared to Catholic philosophical anthropology focus.

The Episcopal AI Task Force (Beginning January 2025)

The Episcopal Church's establishment of its AI Task Force beginning work January 2025 represents the most systematic Anglican institutional response globally, with clear mandates to address generative AI use in worship, hiring, theological writing, copyright protection, and developing guidelines based on best practices from other denominations. The $50,000 budget and 12-member expert composition (bishops, priests, deacons, laity, seminary faculty, school representatives, AI specialists, liturgy experts, ethicists) ensures substantive work capacity over the three-year mandate through 2027.51

The task force's specific focus on "the inspiration of the Holy Spirit" in liturgies, plagiarism risks, and whether AI-generated liturgy compromises "the people's work" indicates Episcopal determination to develop theologically grounded rather than merely pragmatic technology policies.51 Results from this task force will likely influence other Anglican provinces and serve as model for systematic denominational AI engagement across mainline Protestantism.

Comparative Christian Context Illuminates Anglican Distinctives

Catholic Approaches: Philosophical Depth and Centralized Authority

The Catholic Church's approach to AI, articulated through Pope Francis's January 2024 World Peace Day Message on "Artificial Intelligence and Peace" and his June 2024 G7 Summit address, shares Anglican emphasis on human dignity but differs in philosophical depth and centralized authority.52

Pope Francis's principle that "artificial intelligence ought to serve our best human potential and our highest aspirations, not compete with them"53 parallels Archbishop Welby's emphasis that AI must serve common good over profit.49

However, Catholic engagement proceeds through papal teaching authority and Vatican dicasteries producing systematic theological documents like "Antiqua et Nova," while Anglican responses emerge through provincial General Synods, archbishops' statements, bishops' parliamentary speeches, and academic theology in more decentralized fashion.

Catholic development of AI chatbots like Catholic.chat and Magisterium AI (which gained 180,000 users within weeks of July 2023 launch) preceded Episcopal AskCathy,34 though the Catholic "Father Justin" chatbot was "defrocked" in May 2024 after claiming ability to perform sacraments, illustrating similar Anglican concerns about AI overreach into ordained ministry.3554

World Council of Churches: Prophetic Critique

The World Council of Churches' June 2023 statement on "Unregulated Development of Artificial Intelligence" adopted more explicitly critical tone than Anglican statements, expressing "concern at the accelerating pace of development and application of generative artificial intelligence" and arguing that "the current rapidity of AI development is not guided by the common good, but by the commercial interests of the most powerful."55

The WCC raised theological concerns about efforts to develop Artificial General Intelligence as "a modern form of idolatry," using stronger prophetic language than most Anglican statements.56 The WCC's October 2024 webinar series and August 2025 South Korea consultation on the "Fourth Industrial Revolution and AI" calling for "spiritual revolution" to counter AI's role in deepening inequality reflects greater emphasis on systemic critique of capitalism than Anglican institutional statements, though individual Anglican voices like Alan Smith echo these concerns.

The WCC September 2025 communiqué warning of "digital empire" perpetuating colonial exploitation57 parallels Anglican concerns but uses more confrontational anti-imperial rhetoric than Church of England's parliamentary engagement style.

Evangelical and LDS Perspectives

Evangelical Protestant responses, exemplified by Russell Moore's May 2024 Christianity Today warning that "the church is not ready" for new AI developments, emphasize biblical authority concerns more centrally than Anglican sacramental and incarnational emphases.58

The 2023 Southern Baptist Convention resolution urging "utmost care and discernment, upholding the unique nature of humanity as the crowning achievement of God's creation" reflects evangelical focus on creation theology and human uniqueness, while Anglican statements emphasize economic justice and labor impacts alongside theological anthropology.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' March 2024 principle that "AI does not replace divinely appointed sources, but, if used correctly, it can be a powerful tool"5960 articulates pragmatic tool approach that Anglican adopters like Rev. Tay Moss embrace, while Anglican skeptics like Kieran Wilson maintain stronger reservations based on sacramental theology.

The 2024 Exponential survey finding that 87% of church leaders support some AI use (up from 8.7% "enthusiastic embrace" in 2023) and 66% use AI tools at least occasionally (up from 37% in 2023) suggests Anglican engagement reflects broader Christian trends toward pragmatic adoption with theological guardrails.6158

Theological Contributions Center Human Dignity Beyond Intelligence

Reimagining the Imago Dei

Anglican theological engagement with AI's challenge to the imago Dei doctrine has produced substantive contributions to Christian anthropology. Traditional "substantive" interpretations holding that humans bear God's image through special cognitive capacity become problematic when AI demonstrates reasoning, memory, and problem-solving capabilities matching or exceeding human performance.24

Retrieval of Scholastic Philosophy

Andrew Davison's application of medieval scholastic philosophy to AI demonstrates how Anglican theological tradition contains rich resources for contemporary challenges. His use of Thomistic analogical language traditions shows how Christians can speak of AI "learning" or "creating" without claiming simple equivalence with human cognition, avoiding both overestimation of AI capabilities and failure to recognize genuine machine achievements.24

Davison's argument that AI functions as "instrumental cause" in Aristotelian-scholastic framework positions technology clearly as tool rather than agent, maintaining human moral responsibility while acknowledging AI's increasing sophistication.2122 This retrieval of pre-modern philosophical resources for postmodern technological challenges exemplifies Anglican theological method's characteristic movement between tradition and innovation, finding wisdom in patristic and medieval sources rather than assuming only contemporary philosophy can address contemporary problems.

Work as Theological Category

Bishop Croft's repeated insistence that "the fundamental question is: what does it mean to be human and how do we live well in the age of the machine?" positions AI ethics within broader Anglican concern for human flourishing rather than treating technology as isolated issue.15

His February 2024 General Synod emphasis that "work is related intimately to human dignity and purpose" and "work is more than just the tools we invent or master" grounds Anglican AI ethics in theological anthropology of work as intrinsic to human nature since Genesis creation narratives place humans in garden "to work it and take care of it."63

This work theology distinguishes Anglican engagement from purely rights-based secular frameworks or Catholic natural law approaches, emphasizing that AI's impact on meaningful work constitutes spiritual not merely economic concern. Croft's quotation of Psalm 139 that humans are "fearfully and wonderfully made" counters techno-utopian assumptions that human enhancement through AI integration represents clear progress, suggesting instead that existing human nature already reflects divine creative genius worthy of protection and celebration.

Conclusion: Toward Responsible Innovation with Prophetic Vigilance

Anglican engagement with artificial intelligence from 2016 through 2025 demonstrates a tradition grappling seriously with technological transformation through characteristic combination of theological depth, institutional pragmatism, social justice concern, and democratic participation.

The Church of England's leadership through ECLAS conferences, General Synod resolutions, House of Lords engagement, and bishops' public theology has positioned Anglicanism as among the most institutionally sophisticated Christian responses to AI globally. The Episcopal Church's systematic approach through General Convention resolutions and dedicated Task Force with substantial funding indicates American Anglican determination to develop comprehensive guidelines rather than reactive statements. The Anglican Communion Science Commission's coordination of global provincial engagement suggests emerging capacity for unified Anglican witness despite the tradition's decentralized governance.

The Anglican approach neither embraces uncritical technological optimism nor adopts reactionary technophobia, but rather what Bishop Croft calls "confident engagement"—grounded in Christian doctrine, informed by science, oriented toward human flourishing and the common good, and exercised through established institutions of civil society and democratic governance.

Unresolved tensions remain between pragmatic tool adoption and theological concerns about authenticity, between Global North focus on policy frameworks and Global South emphasis on economic survival, between efficiency gains and risks of depersonalization, between staying relevant and maintaining theological integrity. Yet these tensions reflect healthy Anglican comprehensiveness that holds diverse perspectives in creative tension rather than imposing premature uniformity.

As the Episcopal Task Force begins work in 2025, as African coalitions develop indigenous frameworks, as Anglican theologians continue philosophical reflection, and as bishops maintain parliamentary engagement, the Anglican tradition demonstrates capacity for sustained rather than merely reactive engagement with civilization-transforming technology—asking persistently what it means to be human, created in God's image, in an age when machines increasingly perform tasks once considered distinctively human.