Apps like Text With Jesus<\/b><\/a> and Bible.ai<\/b><\/a> are at the center of what some are calling a \u201cdigital awakening.\u201d Their promise: a direct line to biblical figures through AI-powered conversations.<\/p>\n Pastor Leofric Thomas of Open Arms Community Church<\/b><\/a> in Jacksonville tested the technology himself.<\/p>\n Pastor Leofric Thomas of Open Arms Community Church Pastor Leofric Thomas of Open Arms Community Church <\/p>\n \u201cI logged into Mary, and she said peace be with me. How may I help you today?\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: <\/b>AI, Wrong Guy: Investigating the use and dangers of artificial intelligence in Jacksonville policing<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n The apps allow users to send messages to AI-generated versions of Jesus, Mary, Paul, and other biblical figures. This feature has quickly gained attention for its novelty and potential impact on spiritual life.<\/p>\n Inside his congregation, Pastor Thomas emphasizes that communication with God traditionally begins through prayer, worship, and Scripture. But now, instead of kneeling, some people are turning to their phones, hoping an app can offer spiritual answers.<\/p>\n \u201cAI is artificial, it\u2019s not real. It\u2019s not reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n RELATED: <\/b>Action News Jax Investigates: People turning to artificial intelligence for mental health support<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Thomas believes the technology raises serious concerns about authenticity and emotional understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd persons will have to be very careful of a computer-generated emotion rather than someone who can actually feel your empathy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n To test the app\u2019s emotional responsiveness, he told it he was sick, using a first name to personalize the exchange.<\/p>\n \u201cI said I\u2019m sick and he says, \u2018I\u2019m sorry Nicholas, my heart is with you in this sickness.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n Thomas fears the interactions could mislead users about what genuine spiritual guidance looks like.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has to be real, it has to be soulish, it has to have an object, and the object of our faith is God and the conduit to God is Jesus Christ,\u201d he said<\/p>\n He worries these apps could become substitutes for real church communities or, worse, shortcuts that replace the Bible with AI-generated advice.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n Thomas also notes that the apps may appeal especially to nonbelievers or those exploring spirituality for the first time, a concern growing alongside national trends. Nearly 30% of Americans now say they have no religious affiliation, according to the Pew Research Center.<\/p>\n As AI technology continues to expand into nearly every aspect of modern life, faith leaders like Thomas are urging caution.<\/p>\n \u201cTruth we know is in God,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A growing wave of faith-based artificial intelligence apps is attracting both curious believers and skeptics,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":425045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[7320,5229,198036,7323,3188,723,7324,7310,7327,7325,198037,7326,198035,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7322,7321],"class_list":{"0":"post-425044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-bible-ai","11":"tag-cbs47","12":"tag-fl","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-fox30","15":"tag-jacksonville","16":"tag-jacksonville-fl","17":"tag-northeast-florida","18":"tag-open-arms-community-church","19":"tag-southeast-georgia","20":"tag-text-with-jesus","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa","27":"tag-wfox","28":"tag-wjax"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115663634091154022","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Pastor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/cmg\/5DQY65ZXPZERXFPT4WMOZ2CY6M.png\")
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