Transhumanism & the Resurrection Body
In this Monday's discussion we'll be considering Biblical responses to this short video from the BBC on transhumanism (It's 2 and a half minutes, from an 'explainer' series called The A to Z of isms)
THIS LINK HAS BEEN FIXED - IT NOW PLAYS THE CORRECT VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVmuU04-X5E&t=17s
Are there Biblical verses that might encourage us to embrace transhumanism - or are there verses that warn us against transhumanism?
FIRST
Please watch the video in advance of the discussion, and find Bible verses that you think are relevant to this issue as presented in the video. At the beginning of the discussion we'll spend no more than 10 minutes sharing the verses that we have found and briefly stating how we think they might apply to this topic.
SECOND
Then we will focus on one passage in relation to Transhumanism. Imagine we are in the future, technology has progressed in a way envisaged by the video: human beings have become healthier, smarter, longer lived, and they are about to become immortal by uploading their consciousness into machines. Now, ask yourself, how might the people of that day read this famous New Testament verse, in which Paul describes what he calls The Resurrection Body.
1 Corinthians 15: 35-58
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is[f] from heaven. 48 As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will[g] also bear the image of the one of heaven.
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
THIRD
Questions
- How might this passage be used to urge folk to embrace the transhumanist future?
- How might other folk use the same passage to argue against transhumanism?
- What do you think? Is there any crossover between beliefs about resurrection and transhumanism? Or do we need to keep the two ideas separate? What, if anything, does the bible have to say to us about transhumanism?
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