This weekend, Christians world wide might be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and rejoicing within the hope of the resurrection. It's not the one time we rejoice it. When the early church moved its day of worship from the Sabbath to Sunday, the Lord's Day, every Sunday grew to become a memorial and reminder of the resurrection. They rejoice not solely Jesus' defeat of loss of life, however the hope, because the Apostles' Creed states, “the resurrection of the physique and everlasting life.”
However there may be another imaginative and prescient of immortality that has captivated many, together with some Silicon Valley tech billionaires who’re spending big sums of cash to reverse growing old and even treatment loss of life. Individuals like Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Invoice Gates (Microsoft), Peter Theile (PayPal), Sam Altman (OpenAI) and others are investing massive cash in longevity companies. This contains funding for a lot of new biotech corporations, breakthrough prizes for scientists who uncover methods to increase life, in addition to different tasks to cease or gradual the growing old course of and “remedy loss of life”.
On this seek for a brand new fountain of youth, a wide range of avenues are being explored – every thing from parabiosis (the blood transfusion of younger folks into older veins) to stem cell remedy, telomere extension and nanotechnology. Transhumanists are even attempting to determine methods to protect the mind by importing the thoughts into a pc or freezing the mind after an individual dies with the hope of sooner or later bringing them again to life.
The literature selling this new quest for self-manipulated immortality generally makes daring predictions as fantastical as Christians attempting to foretell the date of Christ's return. They are going to declare that we are going to obtain immortality a method or one other by 2030, 2045 or 2050!
You could be stunned to be taught that these man-made makes an attempt at organic immortality share some commonalities with the Christian imaginative and prescient. Each visions, for instance, regard loss of life as an enemy. Each present a want for everlasting life. Each are enthusiastic about good habits that enhance their well being. Most Christians haven’t any drawback with slowing down the growing old course of and growing life expectancy. Actually, they’re grateful for the event of antibiotics, higher hygiene, and the defeat of once-deadly ailments, all of which have elevated our common lifespan.
Nonetheless, we must always not overlook the huge variations between the technological imaginative and prescient of immortality and the resurrection hope of Easter.
Christians declare that our drawback is larger than growing old or human loss of life. A big extension of life or the defeat of human loss of life (if that had been potential) wouldn’t remedy the issue of life in a fallen world. It will not treatment the sin that drives the wars of the nations, it will not remedy the anticipated demise of our favourite star (the solar). Our drawback is larger than growing old and human loss of life. Our scientific fixes aren't large enough as a result of we're not the one ones sporting out. Within the New Testomony guide of Romans, Paul says: “All creation groans and waits for its day of redemption. He says that loss of life got here as a judgment for human sin, and this curse unfold to all of creation.
If know-how allowed you to reside eternally, even 150 years, would you even wish to reside that lengthy in a damaged world nonetheless suffering from sin? There would nonetheless be struggling and distress. Issues would nonetheless put on out — dental crowns final 5 to fifteen years. What number of visits to the dentist are you able to final? Solely half of knee replacements last more than 15-20 years. What number of knee surgical procedures would you want?
Such scientific discoveries wouldn’t give us a solution to the that means of life. If life has no that means, why reside one other 50 years, not to mention 100, not to mention eternally? To search out the that means of life, we should look past science. Everlasting life with out that means could be hell.
After which there may be the issue of who will profit from these costly life-extending applied sciences. Even in our current day, there is a matter of justice with issues like clear water and antibiotics. If tech billionaires achieve these life-extending companies, how many individuals might afford this therapy? The hole between the elite haves and have-nots would undoubtedly widen.
Look, I'm not dismissing the science of longevity. I’m saying that whereas science and utilized science is a superb blessing, it additionally has its limits. There are issues science can not repair.
This new imaginative and prescient of immortality is finally a secular try at self-salvation by way of human manipulation. It’s pushed by conceitedness, not in contrast to the builders of the Tower of Babel. He seems to science and know-how because the savior of the world. This exhibits a misplaced hope that may fail.
This Easter I used to be reminded that the Christian imaginative and prescient is way grander. The gospel of Jesus Christ presents not simply extra years, however hope and that means, not simply an extension of this life, however a solution to human sin and the brokenness of this world; not solely the immortality of our our bodies, however the promise of a brand new heaven and earth. That is what we might be celebrating this Resurrection Sunday.
Dr. Donald Sweeting serves as chancellor of Colorado Christian College.