Evolutionary biologist Julius Huxley first coined the term transhumanism in an essay in 1957, stating that
The human species can, if it wishes, transcend itself—not just sporadically, an individual here in one way, an individual there in another way, but in its entirety, as humanity. We need a name for this new belief. Perhaps transhumanism will serve: man remaining man, but transcending himself, by realizing new possibilities of and for his human nature.[1]
1. J. Huxley, New bottles for New Wine, Chatto and Windus (London), 1957, p17.
The transhumanist movement emerged at the end of the last century, united around the philosophy that humankind can be enhanced, in lifespan and intelligence, beyond our human limitations through science and technology. The philosopher and futurist Max More defined the philosophy in an essay in 1990:
Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values.[2]
2. M. More, Transhumanism: Towards a Futurist Philosophy, 1990, retrieved on 3 September 2020.
This philosophy is an extension of humanism and posits that humans could eventually become transformed, so-called posthuman entities with superior intellect and lifespan to humans. These Posthumans could become resistant to diseases and aging, perhaps through advances in nanotechnology and genetic engineering, or they could exist as uploaded and synthetic entities. Other visions of this posthuman future include the enhancement of humans by a combination of technologies such as AI, robotics, and genetic engineering. Transhumanism is the intermediate state between our current limitations and the posthuman dream. Foundational to the transhumanist philosophy is the belief that humans and other species are evolving and that the condition of humanity can be changed over time through our own interventions.
Historian and futurologist Yuval Harari writes that ‘homo sapiens is likely to upgrade itself, step by step’[3] and predicts that having substantially solved the problems of war, disease and food, ‘humankind is likely to aim for immortality, bliss and divinity’ in the twenty-first century. He does admit that this may not be achieved, but that it will be the collective aspiration, rather than the desire, of every individual.[4] Putting it another way, it could be described as a quest for superintelligence, super-longevity, and super-happiness. For transhumanists, death is merely a technical glitch that can be solved.
3. Y. N. Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (London: Harvill Secker, 2016), 56.
4. Y. N. Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (London: Harvill Secker, 2016), 64.
In the process of solving the problem of aging and ultimately becoming immortal, superintelligent and super-happy, humans thus become deity, the Homo Deus Harari speaks of. There is nothing new in this quest. The problem of humankind from the beginning was that Adam wanted moral autonomy, desiring to become like God rather than serve him. We know where that got us, and seeking to develop technology that will release us from the bonds of death will not only lead to disaster, but it is also a fool’s errand. Death will not be overcome by humans, because Jesus has already done that, and he alone provides a remedy whereby we may live forever with our creator. Yet, many who do not believe in God are caught up in the allure of immortality that AI and other technologies offer—and even beyond that, the allure of possibly becoming gods, outshining or upgrading humanity as we know it.
These are powerful forces, although not everyone will agree to or even desire this future, as Harari points out, it could become a generally accepted aspiration of society.
Some, who call themselves Christian Transhumanists, have been sucked in to the ideology. They confuse the rightful stewarding of technology that God gifts us to create with using it to transform humanity this side of heaven. Death is regarded by them as something to be overcome, rather than something to be accepted as an inevitable consequence of the Fall. However, redemption from sin’s curse is in Christ alone, not in Christ plus technology.
Only a biblically grounded anthropology with clarity about our future can withstand these forces. In this article, I hope to encourage and educate Christians towards these ends.
Engineering Transcendence
Recent breakthroughs in technology spanning genetic engineering, cryogenics, nanotechnology, exoskeletons, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have provided a spur to the claim that science and technology will solve man’s problems and lead to superhumans. Computer Scientist and futurologist Ray Kurzweil, in his book The Age of the Spiritual Machine, predicted that machines will overtake human intelligence—even having emotional and spiritual experiences—and will appear to have free will. He also predicts reaching a “singularity” in 2045, a point when we will multiply our effective intelligence a billion-fold by merging with the intelligence that we have created. Billionaire entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Larry Page, co-founder of Google, have invested in life science and biotech companies to slow down or reverse aging and disease.
Elon Musk is a poster child of the transhumanist dream with his investments in Neuralink. Neuralink has already developed human brain implant technology to eventually fuse the brain with computers. An early application has a brain implant that allows severely paralyzed patients to communicate with a computer by their thoughts.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT), has raised billions of dollars in the quest to achieve Artificial General Intelligence, a capability he believes will be able to carry out most of the tasks that a human can do, eventually even surpassing human capabilities. Why would one embark on such a quest unless they believed in enhancing and transforming human capability?
In a less futuristic way, several AI-based applications seek to provide a virtual immortality. They bring dead people to life by simulating 2D versions of them, having been trained on pictures and other digital artifacts, such as their blog posts, writings, music, or art that the person has created in their lifetime. Some find these eerily comforting as they deal with grief and seemingly provide an opportunity to live on after death through simulations of their thinking and creative acts.
The impact of such technology here and now is brushed aside by its influential leaders who have successfully persuaded governments to focus on dealing with the claimed existential threats from advanced, Frontier AI. Several Safety Institutes have been set up around the world as a result of this influence, with only the European Union (as of early 2025) creating legislation that attempts to protect humanity from clear and present dangers of AI development and deployment.
Denying the Fall
At Transhumanism’s heart is a denial of both the fall and the consequences of this sin that caused disease, suffering, and ultimately death. God ordained this for humanity when Adam and Eve disobeyed His command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.[5] The transhumanist agenda seeks to deal with these consequences by transforming humanity with technology.
5. See Genesis 2:17, 3:6.
Whilst technology can bring enormous benefits to humanity in mitigating some of these consequences, whether cataract surgery, antibiotics, assisting in drug discovery or even genetically engineered cancer therapies, it cannot ultimately save us from the consequences of sin—only Christ can do that. Christians look forward to the ultimate redemption of the decaying world and our corrupted human flesh in Christ’s second coming.
When we reach beyond therapy for our disease-ridden and aging bodies to technologies that will enhance the human brain or change our bodies, we embark on a dangerous pathway that will lead to a dumbing-down of humanity and denial of what God created to be.
Current developments in Virtual Reality, and Generative AI that can simulate real people, write stories, or create a piece of art or music, also pose a huge epistemological challenge for humanity. What is real and true, and how can we know? This is not just about written facts, but also images of location and people. It ultimately gives rise to the question, am I real?
From a Christian perspective, there is no posthuman cyborg; humans were created by God. Whilst sin has corrupted what God made, there is still a pale reflection of God in us, whether believer or unbeliever. It is this that defines what it means to be human: to be creative, value embodied human relationships and storytelling, see dignity in work, and have freedom to choose and to love.[6]
6. For a fuller discussion of this, see Jeremy Peckham, Masters or Slaves: AI and the Future of Humanity, IVP (London), 2021.
Unfortunately, in our post-Christian world, many people don’t know what it means to be human, and the rapid encroachment of AI technology that simulates human behavior further questions our identity. Are our bodies decaying ‘meat?’ Are our brains just biological computers that can be replicated—and even surpassed—by software algorithms running on silicon? Or is there more to us than that?
Christians have long held on to the tradition of a body-soul duality with the mind being more than just a physical brain composed of billions of interconnected neurons. For Christians, the soul is metaphysical and therefore can never be replicated in a computer. Even many neuroscientists see the mind as much more than the brain and being something that we do not fully understand. Perhaps the most conclusive underpinning of this body-soul duality lies in Jesus’s statement to the thief on the cross “today you will be with me in paradise,” yet clearly his body died on the cross and remained in the tomb until resurrected.
The True Homo Deus
The quest to upgrade homo sapiens, to become immortal, and in so doing to become a god—a Homo Deus—fails to recognize a man who already is Homo Deus: our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was in the bosom of the Father from all eternity (John 1:18). He is perfect, and with all power and authority, he upholds the world by his power and might. Yet this perfect Son of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Though he was perfect and truly God, he did not count this equality with God (John 5:18) something to be grasped, but became obedient to death, even death on a cross for our sake.[7]
7. See Philippians 2:6–8.
Jesus’s death was precisely to deal with our limitations brought about by sin. They are not dealt with through a slow process of supposed evolution that has not yet reached its potential. Death is a result of the fall, and our desire to become like God without obedience to him is no less than to want to become gods (Gen. 3:5). Jesus deals with the problem of death once and for all time in his death as a punishment for our sins and rebellion against God. It’s only by facing up to our sins, confessing them
before God, and accepting Jesus into our lives that we can be rescued from the penalty of death.
To see technology in all its forms as a savior—whether AI or genetic engineering—is to deify technology and displace God from his rightful place in our thinking. This is no less than modern idolatry, and we must beware that we are not unwittingly sucked into it. The transhuman project is nothing short of an attempt at human transcendence by those who have rejected the transcendent God who created us in his likeness.
God’s mission is to restore creation to its original purpose of bringing all glory to himself, and thereby to enable all creation to enjoy the fullness of blessings that he desires for it. This is the only way that we will ultimately enjoy human flourishing. God battles against all forms of idolatry and calls us to join him in that conflict.
The True Homo Deus is the only way to immortality, but he requires that we die to self and pass through death into eternal life with him. These are well-known Christian realities that we must cling to. We must lovingly proclaim these realities to a lost world that seeks immortality through its own endeavors and technologies.
