Misapplied Charges of Hubris

The World Informer blog characterizes Transhumanism as “The Last Temptation of Mankind”. The appeal, of course, is to hubris in the will to use technology to extend human capabilities. To say the least, there is a great deal of irony in these sorts of attacks on Transhumanism.

To begin with, the blogger is advocating his perspective via blogging software on the Internet, which empowers him to reach many orders of magnitude more persons with his message than he would otherwise be capable of reaching through his unenhanced capabilities.

Beyond that, he claims to be worshiping a God that behaves exactly as he characterizes Satan: challenging authority over others’ creations. And he characterizes Satan as offering others authority over their respective creations, exactly as Christ is portrayed in the Bible. It appears to me that he has his understandings of Christ and Satan mixed up.

Satan

Here is how the Bible characterizes Satan:

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4)

Christ

Here is how the Bible characterizes Christ:

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8: 16-17)

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” (Philippians 2: 5-6)

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1: 26-27)

Comparison

The charge of hubris is appropriately applied to persons that seek to raise themselves exclusively. It is not appropriately applied to persons that seek to raise us together. Perhaps both the first and the last temptation of humanity is to confuse Christ with Satan.