Is "Knowing" More Than Neural Networks? Christianity, Scientism, & AI | Dr. Ian Hutchinson

How do we really know anything — and can an AI "know" at all?

In the third annual Dallas A. Willard Lecture, MIT physicist Ian Hutchinson takes on scientism, the belief that natural science is the only route to real knowledge, and asks what it means for Christian faith in an age of artificial intelligence. Drawing on three kinds of knowing (knowing that, knowing how, and knowing someone), Hutchinson argues that scientism is an intellectual mistake, that the "science vs. religion" conflict story is a myth, and that large language models simulate thought rather than possess it. His conclusion: the image of God lies not in raw intelligence but in our calling to know and love God, and love is more than neural networks.

Following the lecture, philosopher and epistemologist Tony Bolos, Director of New College Madison, offers a response on justification, Plato's Meno and Euthyphro, and why we can know things (like love) that we cannot fully define.

Ian Hutchinson is Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, an internationally recognized plasma and fusion physicist, and author of "Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?" He has spoken widely on science and Christianity with the Veritas Forum, InterVarsity, BioLogos, and the American Scientific Affiliation.

In this lecture:

· Three kinds of knowing: propositions, skills, and acquaintance

· What makes natural science reliable, and where its methods stop

· Scientism and positivism, from Comte to Russell, Monod, and Dawkins

· Why the "conflict" between science and Christianity is a historical myth

· Reading Genesis and the "two books" of Scripture and nature

· Can AI know facts? Can it know how to do things?

· How large language models work, and why agentic AI calls for regulation

· Artificial intelligence and the image of God

· Love as the highest form of knowing

Recorded October 16, 2026, at Upper House in Madison, Wisconsin. The Dallas A. Willard Lecture is presented by the Lumen Center, a ministry of the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation, and is generously supported by Fieldstead and Co.

Learn more: https://slbf.org

Event page: https://subspla.sh/jbfyxxd