9. Prophets of technology, or prophets of GOD?
If we read the lifestyles of some people who have made great contributions to technology, but whose religious statuses have not been as pronounced as their contributions to technology, would we say such people were servants of technology or material pursuits? Also, if certain people have been able to foresee future technologies before they were produced to help mankind, would we say that such people are prophets of technology, or prophets of GOD?
Before we go further, let’s take a brief look at a part of the lives of 2 great people who are worthy of mention: Leonardo da Vinci, and Jules Verne—not to mention Nostradamus and many others who were more religiously inclined. For the average person, predicting what would happen in one or two years is a difficult task; imagine how much more difficult it can be to predict what would happen in a century from today.
Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne left behind evidence suggesting that regardless of the challenges faced by scientists, researchers, and our world as a whole, people who have love for humanity could also have the power to divine technologies that would alter the fate of humanity in the near and distant future.
If anybody has the welfare of humanity in their heart but doesn’t preach GOD or religion the way we think they ought to, would we be right to say they are not messengers of GOD? Also, if anybody can divine the future, even though they can’t divine the so-called “things of GOD”, would we be right to say they are not prophets of God?
Usually, wherever the word “prophet” is pronounced, even if jokingly, there is often a sense of GOD-related fear and reverence attached to it. The word “prophet” has various definitions, but generally speaking, most people believe a prophet is sent by GOD (or a divine being), and for spiritual reasons rather than material or technological ones.
Leonardo da Vinci was a scientist, painter, thinker, and a great visionary. During the late part of the fifteenth century (around the 1400s), he drew clear, well-detailed, and beautiful diagrams of technologies and machines that would fly in the skies 500 years ahead of the time, and they were actually invented.
His drawings included helicopters, airplanes, parachutes, etc. As many of us will agree today, it’s possible that the flying machines da Vinci drew could have been constructed and made to fly during his generation—about 600 years ago.
Another astonishing fact is that during the 1950s, a manuscript was discovered: it contained a sketch for a warrior automaton (machines with movable parts; they were programmed to carry out complex tasks) wearing a German-Italian armor; it could sit up and move its arms, neck, and jaw. This too, like many other of his sketches, was subsequently built and worked. Many other works reveal that da Vinci was always forward-thinking—a major attribute of anyone who has enough faith to divine the future and foresee the transformation of ideas into reality.
Like Leonardo, Jules Verne could visualize the future, especially after interacting with some highly advanced and forward-thinking individuals of his time. In 1863, Verne—who was in reality, a great novelist—put pen to paper and wrote a prophetic novel called “Paris in the Twentieth Century”. In the novel, he forecasted what would happen in the coming century.
Unfortunately, the novel got missing, but was found when his great-grandson came across it accidentally—after it had been lying in a safe for almost 130 years; when he realized that he had found treasure, he arranged for it to be published in 1994 and it became a best-seller.
Verne predicted that in 1960 Paris would have TVs, air- conditioners, elevators, glass skyscrapers, fax machines, high- speed trains, gasoline-powered automobiles, fax machines, and even something resembling the internet.
In fact, with uncanny accuracy, Verne predicted most of the technologies in modern-day Paris. Many people have come to understand that his predictions were not a fluke because in 1865 (about 2 years after 1863) he made another stunning prediction in which he gave precise details of a space mission that would send astronauts to the moon—more than 100 years before 1969 when it actually happened.
How possible was it for Jules to make accurate predictions 100 years before the time they actually occurred in the future? Although we might not be able to answer that question, one thing is quite clear: Verne saw a very clear image of how science and technology would change civilization in the future, and produce marvelous works—and he was spot-on in doing so!
Were they prophets of technology, or prophets of GOD?
With the great and valuable amount of information we have regarding the prophetic insights of Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne, we would like to ask: is it possible to predict technological feats or world events that would occur in 2100, 2200, and thereafter? And most importantly, were da Vinci and Jules prophets of technology, or prophets of GOD?
Following the practices of da Vinci and Jules—penning ideas in the form of words and sketches—we believe that most of the world’s current leading scientists could have the prophetic ability to foresee future prototypes of technologies in their minds and see other brilliant ideas that would reshape our world and the future. In a way, the future is already here!