Kerby Anderson

Over the last few years, we have heard more pundits and futurists talk about transhumanism. It is an intellectual and cultural movement that seeks to transform the human condition. The leaders of this movement want to use the developing technologies to eliminate aging and enhance human potential.

Two primary ways they want to do this is through genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. They want to genetically create “the new man,” and they want to use technology to merge humans with machines. My previous booklets on A Biblical Point of View on Genetic Engineering and A Biblical Point of View on Artificial Intelligence can provide some helpful background.

One part of the equation concerns technology. The leaders of transhumanism believe we are on the cusp of a technological threshold in both artificial intelligence and human-machine technology.

The leaders of transhumanism also see genetic engineering as a tool to be used to speed up the process of evolution. We can use genetics to enhance and improve humans. If we believe that humans are merely the product of the undirected forces of evolution, then certainly intelligent scientists can “improve on nature.”

Evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley looked forward to the day in which scientists could fill the “position of business manager for the cosmic process of evolution.” Transhumanists believe that possibility is within our grasp. One proponent explained that transhumanism is “humanity taking control of its evolutionary destiny.”

But if humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), then we can and should use genetic technology to treat and cure the physical effects of the Fall (Genesis 3). That does not mean we should usurp the role of the Creator and breed a superhuman race.