What is Transhumanism? Expand Your Knowledge and Leadership Influence

What is Transhumanism? Expand Your Knowledge and Leadership Influence

What in the world is Transhumanism?  How does it relate to the leadership development, mentoring, and coaching we do with up-and-coming leaders?

We’re in a 500-year shift — where AI is redefining truth, work, ethics, and human identity.

We are living in a time that demands unprecedented levels of Wisdom, Insight, Knowledge, and Discernment (W.I.N.D.). Yet, many of us are unaware of these vast changes and choose not to get engaged with cultural issues.

In Scripture, elders were not invisible — they were indispensable. They shaped policy, delivered justice, mentored the next generation, and preserved divine wisdom in turbulent times. Today, we need that same courage — elders who aren’t content to “just love the grandkids,” but rise up to lead them through disorienting technological and moral terrain.

I often wonder, What if the next great spiritual awakening comes from leaders who refuse to disappear?

Thus, I’m grateful for Jim Garlow’s chapter in Transhumanism in his book, Reversed: From Culturally Woke to Biblically Awake.

At the beginning of Part 1, A Biblical Understanding of the Shaking, Jim says, “How the erosion of Judeo-Christian values and rise of relativism in the United States has ushered in a ‘Brave New World’ of cultural chaos, wokeism, and secularism.”

Part IV is A Biblical Response to Technology – How God’s people can educate themselves and protect their families and loved ones from the darker side of technology, and how to harness new technologies and digital advances for the Kingdom of God. (pg 407)

Thanks, Jim!

CHAPTER 52: TRANSHUMANISM

Transhumanism is the use of science and technology to speed up the “evolution” of humans beyond their current physical and mental abilities to become far more advanced creatures. But, it’s not just superhuman abilities that are envisioned, like the Superman and Spiderman figures we all grew up with. It includes the goal of overcoming any and all physical limitations, disease, and, most importantly, even death itself.

Trying to improve the human condition is as old as time. From eating well and exercising to cosmetic surgery and human growth hormones, people have tried to reverse the effects of aging and maintain youthfulness since antiquity. The Greek goddess Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and the wife of Hercules, served as the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, and had the gift of restoring youth to mortals.¹ Hebe’s counterpart among the Roman pantheon of gods is Juventas, from which we get our word “juvenile.”

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In recent times, non-biblical worldviews have justified the use of eugenics, forced sterilizations, selective abortions, and euthanasia for those with a “lower quality of life” to cull “undesirable” people from the gene pool and prevent them from ever reproducing. The Nazis are most infamously known for sterilizing several hundred thousand people, which then led to greater antisemitic horrors of euthanasia and eventually the death camps.

However, other nations were guilty as well, as eugenics blossomed in popularity around the turn of the 20th century. For example, between 1930 and 1970, the nation of Sweden sterilized some 60,000 people—mostly women—in an effort to reduce the number of children born with genetic diseases and disorders.² These secular, dehumanizing atrocities were an attempt to proactively perfect the human species, to supposedly make us less vulnerable to human disabilities or disease.

STRIVING FOR PERFECTION AND ETERNALITY

With the advent of genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, artificial muscles and organs, genetically grown “spare” body parts, brain-computer interfaces, and even futuristic “uploading” of a person’s mental state to a digital computer, the future appears unlimited in creating new forms of humans that would soon become unrecognizable. Some people have already gone as far as having their brain—or even their whole body—frozen (through cryogenics) to prevent physical decay until some hoped-for miraculous, future medical breakthrough that allows them to be “brought back” to life and cured of whatever they were suffering from.

In 1967, a clinical psychologist named James Bedford was the first person to be cryogenically frozen. His body—along with some 200 other brains and complete bodies—lies in sub-freezing temperatures at a facility run by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. For a mere $200,000 you too can be put in deep freeze in hopes that someday a cure or remedy will be found for whatever killed you.³

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The lure of eternal life—read: the desire to become like a god—is, indeed, as old as humanity. Remember what the serpent said to Eve? Surely she “would not die” if she ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:4). But after the Fall, God mandated that each man and woman shall die only once. Paul sums it up well:

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
— Hebrews 9:27–28

To be clear, there is no “medical resurrection” after being cryogenically frozen. That is because once the body dies, the spirit—that eternal part of us—departs. But transhumanism attempts to circumvent what God has neither sanctioned nor mandated: the ability to live eternally without the need for Him. Do you see the parallels today with what Eve fell prey to in the Garden? The serpent’s deceptive tactics haven’t changed—just the science and sophistication of technology.

Not only is this new wave of optimism gaining more attention and massive research funding, but it is being touted as a potential remedy to virtually all of mankind’s current suffering. In fact, to improve on human biology is not only seen as compassionate, but virtually inevitable as scientists take on the noble role of “co-creator” in designing humans without the supposed flaws made originally by God.

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THE ULTIMATE PROBLEM: THE “HEART” OF A PERSON

It’s one thing to replace damaged arms and legs with prosthetics to recover what may have been lost in an accident or in combat. That is both wonderful and noble. It’s quite another to artificially create a new human 2.0. As enticing as this is, it is ultimately fatally flawed because the heart of a person is not changed. By that, I’m not talking about the organ that pumps blood. I’m talking about the essence of our very being, our understanding, our wisdom, our basic emotional and spiritual makeup (Proverbs 27:19). Repeating, I am not referring to the physical organ, but rather the very “core,” the “epicenter” of a person.

Since the Fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1–19), the nature of every human heart is sinful and prone to wickedness (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10–18). We may be able to grow (or blend) new and exotic capabilities into our body or integrate vast amounts of information, knowledge, or even artificial intelligence into our brain with implants or wireless interfaces, but our very essence of being human will not change unless the heart is transformed. Scripture describes that level of transformation as being “born again” (John 3:1–16). Without a fundamental change in the condition of the human heart (Romans 12:2), what could possibly restrain new, superhuman abilities from being used for ungodly purposes?

THE INEVITABILITY OF DEATH

A second fatal flaw to creating a human 2.0 is the belief that mankind is physically perfectible and that the “sting of death” can be overcome by technology alone. God’s curse on the Creation after Adam and Eve’s sin included the inevitability of physical death for every living thing on the earth. Since this is the judgment of Almighty God on all of mankind, it cannot be reversed by man’s efforts, no matter how creative he is.

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It’s one thing to develop modern medicines and medical technology to minimize a person’s suffering and even prolong their life. But God’s Word is clear (and to repeat): He has appointed man to live once, then face physical death and judgment (Hebrews 9:27). While medical advancements in history have increased the average life expectancy of a person by a few decades, they have not appreciably extended the life span (maximum age achievable) of the human species. This list of average life expectancies across the centuries illuminates the cumulative impact of variables such as science, diet, reduced infant mortality, and medicine:

• Ancient Rome – 20–33 years of age
• Middle Ages – 30–35
• 18th Century American Colonies – 28
• 1900 World Average – 31–32
• 1950 World Average – 45–48
• 2020 World Average – 72.6–73.25⁴

Can the average life expectancy keep increasing to some as-yet undetermined—and ever-increasing—number? Psalm 90:10 states that man may live 70 or 80 years if they have the strength. Perhaps with future medical discoveries, our great-great-grandchildren will all be able to live to the far extreme life span of 120 years that only a very rare number of people attain. But still, the unavoidable fact is that though death may be delayed for a few people by several decades—my mother passed away while I was writing this book, at age 102—it cannot be avoided. Death will eventually come.

The bottom line: 100% of all humans die. That has always been the ratio. And it will continue to be until the Lord returns.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

It’s one thing to have compassion to alleviate suffering in the world. It’s quite another to replace our bodies with machines or genetically manipulated tissue, organs, muscles, etc. If “enhancements” can be made that are thought to speed up evolution to some higher, more perfect state of being, is this just a noble endeavor that only yields benefits, or is there a dark side to it?

Remember the old Star Trek nemesis called the Borg? They were cyborg organisms linked together in the form of a collective mind or hive. The fusion of technology and human components to create a super-being in that TV and film series foreshadows where transhuman concepts are leading. But because modern transhumanist thought is cloaked in noble intent, what could possibly go wrong?

First, think about super-soldiers, who would be permanently endowed military personnel with superhuman abilities in warfare, but with no practical purpose in civilian contexts. What about sports and the irresistible urge to create athletes with “features” specifically designed for each type of sporting event to maximize the opportunity to win? Or what about super-genius intellects, new gender types, or designer babies that are born in any color, shape, size, or personality desired by a parent?

Soon, different classes of humans—different species?—would begin to emerge, created either overtly for seemingly benign purposes or covertly by bad actors to accomplish nefarious purposes. Social classes would eventually come into existence based on their financial or political abilities to transform, leaving much of humanity behind. Quickly, the very concept of what it means to be human would become obscure and arbitrary, with inevitable “mistakes” during experimentation just becoming collateral, expendable waste that is discarded for the greater good.
Is this really God’s intention for the human race?

THE PROVISION FOR PERFECTION

I met political strategist and media executive Steve Bannon once. I thought we might exchange some pleasantries. We did not. Without saying, “Hi, where are you from?” he plunged into a conversation about ideas and concepts. He showed me the tall stack of 800-page books he was reading and then, without warning, asked, “Do you know what all of these people (and here he inserted the names of some of the most famous transhumanism-affirming globalists) want?” Apparently, I paused a bit too long, so he answered, “They all want eternal life.” I was taken aback by the aphoristic nature of his summation. But he was correct.

They want eternal life.

Why did I not see it before? What is tragic is that transhumanists seem not to know that through Jesus Christ, they could have it! Isn’t it a bit ironic that the very thing that technological futurists want to achieve by their creative genius—perfected human beings that will never experience death—is actually freely offered by the Gospel, and has been for two millennia? The redemptive message of faith in Jesus Christ being one’s Lord and Savior is that when a person passes from this life, they will gain a glorified, perfect body (1 Corinthians 15:50–56) for eternity (John 3:16).

Again, we see how Satan’s tricks never change. Is it any surprise that the devil attempts to deceive generation after generation and steer them away from the most beautiful thing God ever offered humanity: eternal life through Jesus Christ? Instead, he dangles the carrot of eternality apart from Jesus—a lie from the pit of hell.
The sinful nature of mankind is irreparable without the direct intervention of God (2 Corinthians 5:17). Mankind can dream about quickly “evolving” humanity and permanently overcoming death through scientific achievement, but this is no more than chasing fantasies (Proverbs 12:11). Alleviating suffering is noble (Matthew 5:3–5, 36) and upholds the intrinsic dignity of the image of God in every human being (Genesis 1:27), but “perfecting” the imperfectible without relying on the hand of God is destined to create even more destruction and suffering.

VIGILANCE IS REQUIRED

With such immense implications for the future of humanity, government regulation alone can’t be expected to adequately prevent irreversible and devastating consequences. Public exposure of the dehumanizing and moral consequences of many of the proposed transhuman technologies is critical to safeguarding the sanctity of life and the preservation of what it means to be human in the sight of God (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 8:4–5; Ecclesiastes 12:1–7).

Public debate and aggressive reporting on any permanent, other than remedial, changes to the nature of humans must be encouraged at every turn. Christians, specifically, have the unique opportunity to defend the intrinsic image of God that every person⁵ has been given and to warn against scientists playing their perceived role of God in designing what they think will be a “new and improved” version of ourselves.

If we don’t, who will?  

You can read another article from Reversed: From Culturally Woke to Biblically Awake  HERE