Theosis
Theosis on this site is the ancient and enduring idea that humanity can and should become God, united in God, or like God. Scriptures, including the Bible and the Book of Mormon, teach theosis along with early and modern Christian traditions of exaltation and divinization. Lincoln's articles link theosis to communities becoming like God, decentralization of Godhood, and resurrecting gods in human creations. The topic lists articles relevant to theosis, including defenses of theosis and connections to Transhumanist trust in posthuman potential.
This is a list of articles that Lincoln Cannon has written about theosis. 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 Urgency of Superintelligent Communion
The single most under-appreciated idea in Mormon Transhumanism is that theosis is communal, not individual – and that this distinction is not a theological nicety but an existential imperative. When Lorenzo Snow distilled our theological tradition into his famous couplet, most hearers fixated on the individual trajectory: I become like ... -
Most Theologians Misunderstand Theosis
Most theologians misunderstand theosis. They insist on a perpetual distinction that the doctrine doesn’t entail, and that undermines its potency. Humanity shall not remain ontologically distinct from the Creator, except insofar as ontological distinctions persist within the Creator. Some would respond that theosis, as generally expressed in Christian tradition, doesn’t ... -
God Starts with Your Imagination of the Future
When we imagine better minds and bodies, better relationships, and a better world, we imagine God. When we trust in and work toward such, we have the most important kind of faith. It’s the kind that becomes God. Then we’ll know that God exists, whether or not we know that ... -
Decentralization of God
In the Apocalypse, we read that Christ offers us a crown, and invites us to sit together on the throne of God. We read that Christ would make us kings to God. These iron age signs and tokens of governance, Christ would decentralize. If we’re able to imagine that, we’re ... -
Return of Christ
This is an edited transcript of my presentation at the 2018 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. I talked about the Return of Christ. I touched on how it relates to Transhumanism. But my focus was on some foundational theology that leads to what I believe is a more robust ... -
Jesus Invites All to the Titles and Roles of Christ
Jesus has many titles and corresponding roles, most notably Christ. The English word, “christ,” comes from the Greek word, “kristos,” which has the same meaning as the Hebrew word, “messiah.” A christ or messiah is literally an anointed person, or figuratively someone set apart with a special purpose. We use ... -
Resurrecting Our Gods in Our Creations
Four weeks ago, Spencer (my oldest son) left home to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years in Montreal, Canada. The rest of my family and I miss him, and we also support him. Dorothee (my wife) and I served as ... -
God is Superintelligent Posthumanity
I often position Mormon theology in terms of “superintelligent posthumanity.” This provides a bridge of understanding between Transhumanism and Mormonism. It can also provide a bridge of understanding between Transhumanism and broader Christianity, insofar as Mormonism illustrates an interpretive approach to Christian authoritative tradition. Recently, after reading one of my ... -
Mormon Ontology of God and Synthesis in Superhumanity
Stop a Mormon on the street, and ask her to describe God. She might say something like, “God is our Heavenly Father, an embodied glorified being, who created our world and loves us immeasurably.” That’s an accurate account of Mormon theology, so far as it goes. And yet there’s more ... -
Communities Become Like God
The Mormon doctrine of theosis (or deification) is, so far as this Mormon is concerned, the most profound and beautiful idea in the religion. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by far the largest Mormon denomination and the one of which I’m a member, recently published to its ... -
Transhumanist Godhead
“Why does the Holy Ghost not have a body?” Someone raised this question in my son’s class during church meetings. And the instructor asked the students to think about it at home during the week. Some of us are repulsed by such questions, either because we consider all theology to ... -
The Real Religious Hubris Is Not Theosis
Transhumanists have been charged with hubris: the arrogance of playing God. As the argument goes, our aspirations are beyond moral bounds. Our trust in human ability is unwarranted and dangerous. And we may even risk the wrath of some God that would punish us to rectify our attitude and put ...