Sublime Esthetic
The sublime esthetic on this site is an evolved perception, sometimes called the Holy Spirit or Light of Christ, that resonates through persons and communities to guide ethics and action. Lincoln presents it as holistic and shared, connecting beauty, unity, meaning, and the provocation to create good truths. His articles relate the esthetic to scripture, Mormon life extension, postsecular faith, and becoming co-creators in a divine narrative. The topic lists articles relevant to what is true and good in human transformation.
This is a list of articles that Lincoln Cannon has written about the sublime esthetic. A full archive of all articles that Lincoln has published since 2005 is also available. You may also search for articles and other content that's available on any of Lincoln's websites.
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The Eternal Dance
My youngest son, Alexander, married this week with his best friend, Megan. All of the events, the temple sealing and ring ceremony and reception, were beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed participating and watching them happily ritualize their relationship – with each other and our community. Megan and Alexander asked me to ... -
From Atheism to Religious Transhumanism
As popularly understood, Transhumanism is deeply entangled with narratives of atheism. While secular Transhumanists champion radical transformation, they tend to lack the rich esthetic grounding that many inherit or receive from religion. Religious Transhumanism, and particularly Mormon Transhumanism, provides a compelling alternative, syncretizing contemporary science and emerging technological trends with ... -
What Is True and Good?
Consequent to discussion about epistemology at a meetup of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, a friend asked me to remind her of my definitions of “truth” and “good.” This article will serve that purpose. It will also provide a brief account of esthetics. I use the concepts associated with these words, ... -
Faithful Mormon Transhumanism
A friend is exploring Mormon Transhumanism. He finds it “mind-expanding” and “faith promoting,” and even an “honest, authentic, and unexpectedly practical approach to religion.” But he’s also tentative about it, mostly because his “desire to remain in the mainstream of the Church is strong.” And he wonders whether and how ... -
8 Keys to Transformative Scriptural Understanding
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved scripture. My parents used scripture to teach me to read. As a child and teenager, I read both the Bible and all the Mormon scriptures – large portions of them countless times. And, although less thoroughly, I read scripture from ... -
Eternal Christ
In that day, when all the world is taxed and pregnant with prophecy, babies who will be Christ are born. Sublime messengers herald the good news to those who kept watch during the night. And they spread the word. Some wonder and ponder in their hearts. Many are troubled. Children ... -
Just as We Have, They Received the Holy Gift
Imagine our surprise. Peter has finished preaching. We love him. We follow him despite the risks. After all, he teaches fulfillment of the Law in Messiah. He reveres the Law. He lives it. He still epitomizes all that was most grounding, meaningful, and purposeful in our lives before Messiah. And ... -
Mormon Life Extension, Desecration or Glorification?
Pew Research recently published some brief summaries of religious leaders’ views on radical life extension, in conjunction with the results of a study on Americans’ views on radical life extension. The summaries included one positioned to represent Mormonism (and particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is ... -
Post-Secularism and the Resurrecting God
God is dead, proclaimed Nietzsche. He was right and wrong. Following their God, traditional forms of religion have been dying, particularly in many technologically advanced, specialized, and prosperous countries. Consequently, many have embraced the secularization hypothesis: religion itself is dying. That hypothesis, however, now embraced less by experts than by ... -
Becoming God Can Be Cruel and Irrational
“God is cruel,” says Hank Pellissier, managing director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology. Here are my thoughts in response. Hank, there’s considerable irony in your post. The charge that theism is illogical presents significant practical and logical challenges for a Transhumanist. You trust in humanity’s posthuman potential. ... -
What Are You Creating, Heaven or Hell?
Each morning as I merge on to the freeway to commute to work, I pass a billboard that asks me, “Where are you going? Heaven or Hell.” That’s so completely the wrong question, and the religious fundamentalism that provokes funding of these billboards is so completely evil. Yes. You read ... -
The Holy Spirit is an Esthetic
The Holy Spirit is an esthetic that emerges from our environment through our anatomy and into us as individuals and communities. As we resonate with it, it informs our ethics, which in turn directs our works as we seek to shape the world. Faith, trust in, and will toward this ...