Seeking Eternal Life Through Technology

Some scientists are feverishly seeking eternal life through technology. One avenue is GENETICS. Google has funded a company called Calico (California Life Company) to cure old age. Larry Page, founder of Google, believes that there is no need for humans to start dying once they hit their 80s (“Larry Page Lists 5 Things That Google Will Conquer,” Business Insider, May1 5, 2014). Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle and the fifth-richest person in the world, says, “Death makes me very angry,” so he created the Ellison Foundation to find a way to cheat death. Venture capitalist Paul Glenn helps fund the Methuselah Foundation, which claims that “the first person to live to be 1,000 years old is certainly alive today.” Another approach is AVATARS. The goal is to “back up” the individual’s genetic information onto computers and “download it into bionic avatars.” This is the approach of Russian multimillionaire Dmitry Itskov and his 2045 Initiative. He intends to “help humans achieve physical immortality within the next three decades.” Another approach is CRYONICS, which involves deep freezing the body in the hope that future scientific advances will enable the resurrection of the dead. “Once the preserve of celebrities and multimillionaires, cryonics is now gaining traction among the broader public. Three senior staff a Oxford University have signed up to have their bodies frozen” (“How Google’s Calico aims to fight aging and ‘solve death,’” CNN, Oct. 3, 2013). Another approach to gain eternal life through technology is TRANSHUMANISM. The objective is to merge man’s mind and body with technology that would give him superhuman powers and longevity. “Transhumanists envision a day when technology will allow humanity to become so advanced that sickness, disease, poverty and war will essentially be eradicated” (“Transhumanists: Superhuman Powers and Life Extension,” End of the American Dream, May 13, 2014). Elements of transhumanism include organ transplants, nanobots, and bionic limbs. Transhumanist Ray Kurzweil takes 150 vitamin supplements a day “in an attempt to extend his life until more advanced life extension technologies can be developed.” Time will prove that eternal life through technology is a pipe dream. The Bible summarizes the issue of death and eternal life in one verse, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). If all of the world’s resources could be focused on solving the issue of death, the project would fail. Man is not a mere genetic machine that can be made into a cyborg or reproduced as an avatar; he is a living soul made in God’s image. Further, he is a fallen soul who has rebelled against his loving Creator God, and the result is death, both physical and eternal. In His great mercy, God has purchased salvation for sinners at the expense of Christ’s death and shed blood. Those who repent and trust the resurrected Christ as Lord and Saviour are given the gift of eternal life. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

(Friday Church News Notes, May 23, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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