“Where, O Death, Is Your Sting?”: The Resurrected Body, Its Cyborgnetic Future and the Advent of Christian Transhumanism

Abstract

The 21st century’s robotic revolution will have massive effects on human societies. Neuroscientists have experimented with the idea of preserving the brain after death through vitrifixation in the hopes of uploading the minds of individuals into the cloud or cyborgnetic bodies. However, the likelihood of duplicating the 86 billion neurons in the human connectome is remote. Yet neuroscientists have had some success in connecting brain cells to robots, which echoes the philosophical question of “Brains in a Vat.” This article addresses the consequences of such a development for Christianity. Since Christianity is predicated on resurrection and life everlasting, the transhumanist vision of connecting the human brain to cyborgnetic bodies, particularly if it becomes popular, poses a serious challenge. This article suggests a way in which Christianity may be able to incorporate that vision into Christian theology, leading to the advent of Christian transhumanism.

Marginalization and Transcendence in Transhumanism and Minjung Theology

“…For example, Cole-Turner (2011) assembled a cadre of Christian theologians with an interest in the intersections. Other theologians have sought even more substantive connections between transhumanism and Christianity, such as McBride (2022), who sees the possibility of Christian resurrection in cyborg immortality.…”