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Trying to Live Forever? Christian Views on and Responses to Radical Life Extension

June 22, 2019

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From companies such as Google’s Calico to shows like Netflix’s Altered Carbon, modern society has become enamored with the idea of extending life beyond its current limits. As Christians, though, we experience an odd tension. On the one hand, death is viewed as the enemy, a force that, though conquered by Christ at his resurrection, is one to which we still succumb, and thus one to be fought. On the other hand, death is seen as an inherent part of being an embodied creature, the final step in the journey of life and necessary for bringing us into full communion with our God and creator. Added to this tension is the reality that many of the modern efforts at radical life extension (RLE) are led by self-described transhumanists hoping to overcome the bonds of their humanity, an effort that strikes many Christians as inherently wrong, even if they cannot articulate exactly why. These various tensions make RLE a controversial topic, with some Christians giving cautious support while others recommend rejecting it. The purpose of this paper is not to provide definitive solutions to the problems surrounding RLE, but to survey recent responses on this issue from leading Christian theologians and bioethicists. I then propose to compare these responses, determining what points of commonality they share, as well as where they differ in their conclusions. Finally, I wish to raise some questions that I have not seen discussed in the literature, especially regarding a Christian response in light of eschatology.

Keywords:
Extending life; Transhumanism