Think Tank 2012 Live-Blog: Two-ism and the Image of God in Man (James Herrick)

Speaker: James Herrick (Professor of Communication, Hope College)

Session: Two-ism and the Image of God in Man

I want to talk about transhumanism. There are currently great technological efforts to change human nature.

The belief is that nothing is technologically impossible for us if we want it badly enough. When Dolly the sheep was cloned years ago, this became a reality for many. More recently (four years ago), biologists created the first synthetic life form. People are saying, “for the the first time, God has competition.” Scientists have produces hundreds of hybrid human embryos—human chimeras in which human DNA and animal DNA is merged.

There has been little concern about playing God in the biotech community. A few years ago, scientists scoffed at opponents: “There is nothing wrong with playing God… If scientists do not play God, who will?” Where do we draw lines limiting technology’s intrusion into life’s basic structures? What does it mean to contend for the Christian faith in our view of humanity?

We now have in our hands in what Lewis warned about in The Abolition of Man. Developments in technology are fueling aspirations for a transhuman/posthuman race. This is pseudo-religion. It is a new spiritual movement to bring about “the future of humanity”. Moreover, there will be little opposition; there will be widely accepted because it promotes the advance of mankind. The church of Jesus is seen as the enemy.

Scientists are challenging the basic assumption of a Two-ist Christian worldview. It is projected that by 2020, machines will be smarter than humans— self-aware and reflecting on their own purposes in existence. Kurzweil says that we will eventually have to merge biologically with our technology. He claims: “We will lose our biology, but not our humanity.”

The church has largely ignored this phenomenon. New technologies and methods are being created daily. The world’s fastest computer was 176k faster in 2007 than 1993. Kurzweil: “Though God may not now exist, perhaps he will in the future [us].”

Note the words of Paul: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”  – 2 Corinthians 10:3-4

To hold onto a Biblical view of humanity will not be easy in future decades. Robots are being programmed to copy human patterns and thinking. In One-ist thinking, humans are no longer a part of the natural system. They are beginning to consider human beings as merely information-holders. To them, we are no longer God’s image-bearers; instead, we are His rivals and need to merge with technology.

In addition to a body and a soul, there is something else being added to the “human equation” as our devices are becoming a part of us. One person said, “We are all cyborgs to some degree.” Our relationships with our machines will determine an ontological crisis on the horizon. Is living forever or as long as you’d like the same as eternal life? The first international Transhumanism conference was called “Living Forever”. We are creating increasingly intelligent computers and robots. Transhumanist George Hubert adamantly asserts: “We will create human artificial intelligence.” Another said: “It will be possible to build ‘gods’.” Excitement rises when they announce that “we are able to guide our own evolution.” The goal is to create a greater degree of control in our lives. Note: this is about control. I believe that transhuman/posthuman possibilities will be a central political issue for the 21st century.

Posthumans will be more morally enhanced. Kurzweil: history ends with a singularity. The new race will be physically and spiritually transformed. One scientist claimed we will find “salvation” in ourselves.

When we hear the term “narrative” we think of books and movies. Narratives larger than books and movies are at work to shape civilizations. The transhumanist vision promotes transhumanism as a grand utopian metanarrative. They see evolution as a deity that selects the living things worthy of survival. Evolution deifies a goal in mind: we are not that goal; there is something better (transhumanism). We not set to guide our evolution in order to find our “ultimate intelligence”. If these technologies succeed, our descendants will have minds differently than ours.

Regarding the narrative of progress, Bertrand Russell: “If man will grow to his full stature, what we will achieve is unimaginable.” The defining conviction of Western civilization: there is no limit to progress – all problems (including even spiritual problems) will be solved by our future. One man said, “There is no theoretical limit to man’s progress.”

There is also the superman narrative. H.G. Wells: “Man must go on conquesting about conquest.” Interest in the superman (superhuman) has been growing since the early 20th century. This narrative confuses the creation from the divine. The superman seeks to create, of itself, a god. The weak will suffer under this narrative. For example, genetic engineering is our attempt to be masters of our nature.

New technologies will also change how the worship. Evolution seeks to leave behind the step ladder of biology and move upward with technology. We are seeking deity in our own genetic structures. However, what defines our humanity will never change. We are created in the image of God. We are defined by the fact that we are created by a loving God and belong to Him; we do not belong to ourselves. The first mistake of believing that we could ascend to our own divinity got us in a lot of trouble in the first place.

It would do us well to remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

We are not alone but were bought by a price. Moreover, we do not belong to ourselves; we belong to God. This is a Two-ist worldview that puts limits on our technology and protects our status as image-bearers of God.