Introduction
We have no idea what role technology will play in eschatological events. Still, that has not stopped some from speculating about technology’s role of ushering in certain aspects of the end times. For example, on an episode of Tipping Point, Scott Townsend suggests that the Beast’s system would likely need some sort of superintelligence to implement the oppressive economic system described in Revelation 13. The difficulty with this perspective is that it tends to blunt the message John’s revelation delivers to his original audience.
It seems likely, for instance, that Christians living in the Roman empire were already beginning to experience economic pressures due to the incorporation of pagan worship practices in trade guilds and the broader social situations that would create challenges for Christians unwilling to participate in idolatry. As New Testament scholar David DeSilva suggests, Christians were under pressure to compromise their Chrisitan convictions by conforming to Roman norms through the practices of the imperial cult and “the ever-present economic pressure of the trade guilds.” While technology might amplify such pressures, it is not the root cause or even the most immediate danger.
Consider the way technology amplifies issues related to privacy. There are good reasons to be concerned about privacy and cybersecurity; however, the Christian faith is always to be practiced publicly even if it is not digitally recorded. Christians cannot escape being Christian–we can’t hide the fact that we believe in Jesus Christ. To do so is to abandon our “first love” (Rev 2:4) and, like the church in Ephesus, isolate ourselves from the world rather than proclaiming the good news to it. Technology may make it easier for lists to be compiled, but Christians should always be conspicuous as we live out our faith without compromise in a fallen world. Being strange in the right ways won’t go unnoticed. with
Does this mean we should not be cautious in our use of technology? Not at all. As Marshall McLuhan has argued, technologies of all sorts (1) enhance or extend human capabilities, (2) make previous systems, methods, and technologies obsolete, (3) bring back certain elements from the past, and (4) create unintended consequences when taken to an extreme. As such, all technologies–understood broadly to include any tool, method, or technique that extends human capabilities–have the same potential for good and evil as the human beings of which they are an extension.
At the same time, we should not assume that eliminating technology, particularly digital technologies or artificial intelligence, will eliminate the problem or even reduce the intensity of the problem. The friction between the Christian community’s holy living and the world will eventually reach a point at which the Christians will feel the heat. That, it would seem, is inevitable. Technology may play a role, but Christians need to avoid eschatological speculations about a techno-dystopia to the extent that such speculation diminishes our focus on and commitment to discipleship. We need to be ferreting out false and deceptive teachings, as well as developing an unwavering faith that makes us willing to suffer before we would ever surrender our Christian convictions. We need to develop the resolve to withstand the deceptive words and social pressures that would tempt us to substitute Christ for comfort.
How Christians Shouldn’t Think about Technology
On February 25, 2025, Kristian Gkolomeev broke the world record in the 50-meter freestyle as part of a time trial sponsored by the Enhanced Games. The Enhanced Games claim to be “pioneering a new era in athletic competition that embraces scientific advancements to push the boundaries of human performance.” The Enhanced Games will host their inaugural event in Las Vegas over Memorial Day Weekend of 2026. Athletes who have utilized a medically supervised performance-enhancing drug protocol will compete in various swimming, track, and weightlifting events.
If you think that any world records broken by enhanced athletes should include an asterisk or that the whole concept of the Enhanced Games is wrongheaded, you may not be ready to embrace transhumanism fully. Even so, the Enhanced Games is just one example of a transhumanist-style philosophy applied to human endeavors. While we might find fault with this particular application or, for instance, to “upgrades” to the human body via various technological implants, the underlying assumptions of transhumanism, particularly of so-called Christian transhumanism can be alluring (For more on transhumanism listen to “How Should Christians Think about Transhumanism”). Consider the following:
- “Humans can and should use science and technology to improve the human condition and the world. Science and technology can participate in God’s mission to renew the world. This refers not just to physical and cognitive enhancement, but also spiritual and moral enhancement. Whilst enhancing humans comes with great risks, if managed well, we should welcome enhanced humanity, so long as we reflect the glory of God and fulfil our vocation to Christlikeness.” - Caleb Strom, “A Christian Transhumanist Confession”
- “In Christianity, our transformation is fueled by God. In transhumanism, we desire to transform ourselves. But to put these in contrast is to misunderstand them both. Grace is not the thing that removes our ability to act, certainly not the thing that forbids action. Grace is the thing which enables us, which empowers us to do what is needed. We all live by grace. You and I are only here by virtue of the free gifts bestowed on us by generations of ancestors. Our very survival depends on the infrastructure built by successive civilizations, each one building on the one before.” - Micah Redding, “Christianity is Transhumanism”
- “We believe that God’s mission involves the transformation and renewal of creation, including humanity, and that we are called by Christ to participate in that mission: working against illness, hunger, oppression, injustice, and death.” - Christian Transhumanist Association (CTA), “The Christian Transhumanist Affirmation”
Aspects of each of these statements can seem relatively innocuous. For instance, who could be against “broadening human potential” or even “humans can and should use science and technology to improve the human condition and the world”? Why couldn’t we affirm, along with the CTA, Christian participation in working against “illness, hunger, oppression, injustice, and death”?
While I remain open-minded about the use of technology in various sectors (e.g., healthcare, business, etc.), the transhumanist philosophy is incompatible with Christian theology for at least three reasons.
First, it is built on faulty assumptions. Human limitations are not an invitation to innovation or self-transformation. They are to drive us back to dependence on God. We are surely right to emulate Christ's healing ministry and use technology to cope with the challenges of a fallen world. Yet, to assume that we can overcome our biological limitations—many, if not all, of which are consequences of the fall—runs counter to the biblical narrative.
Second, the CTA’s assertion that science and technology are expressions of our being made in God’s image requires nuance (see statement 3 in “The Christian Transhumanist Affirmation,” as well as Article VIII: Technology in Strom’s “A Christian Transhumanist Confession”). For instance, humans do not use tools–unless one wishes to count the use of language as a technology in Adam’s naming of the animals (Gen 2:19-20)--prior to the fall even though they are called to serve God in the Garden to which the later tabernacle and temple gesture. Consider, for example, that abad and samar (‘“to work and keep”) in Genesis 2:15 are found together again in Numbers 3:7-8, 8:26, and 1 Chronicles 23:32. The priestly service in the Garden of Eden differed from the toil described after the fall (Gen 3:17-19).
Arguably, the first human “technology,” the fig leaves fashioned into coverings, has little to do with participating in God’s mission or reflecting God’s image. The technology was a response to the fall. While we cannot assume that all technology is evil, we should be careful in suggesting that human creativity and the technology produced through it are reflective of our being made in God’s image. As I’ve discussed in “Unrestrained and Unguided,” human capacity can easily lead humans to deny or distort God. At best, we may say that technology continues to be a response to the fall. At times, technology provides a means of lessening the pain of our toil–at least temporarily–even though it can never solve the underlying problem that produced our toil in the first place.
Finally, transhumanist commitments to technology lead them to adopt speculative and/or heretical positions. For instance, Strom suggests, “Although God will continue to have image-bearers and co-creators, the image-bearers may or may not be biological Homo sapiens. They may be a species that evolved from or was created by humans with the capacity to bear God’s image.” The image of God is, in part, a filial term denoting a sort of familial relation. Humans are made in God’s image (Gen 1:26-27), but they also pass on their own image to their progeny (Gen 5:3). Being made in God’s image also reflects an order of authority. God creates humanity as his vice regents to enact his rule on the earth. To suggest that humans could reproduce the image of God in other creatures assumes the delegation or extension of that vice regency to others who God has not determined. In this instance, transhumanism’s tendency toward self-determination or “self-transformation” ends up revising God’s order.
Transhumanism as a philosophy cannot be integrated with Christianity because transhumanism is to be governed by God’s word. It should be subject to Christian doctrine rather than serving as a supplement to it. Transhumanism’s emphasis on self-transformation and overcoming human limitations also assumes that human limitations need to be overcome rather than accepting those limitations as an invitation to live in dependence on God. As we move toward the end, our willingness to accept our limitations as opportunities to depend on God and allow his strength to be demonstrated through our weakness will be crucial to our witness as believers (2 Cor 12:9-10).
Technology and the End
Recent technological advancements are challenging to understand. As artificial intelligence and augmented reality become more mainstream, Christians will want to consider when (or if) such technologies can help us live under the authority of Christ. How might a given technology conform us more closely to the image of Christ or assist us in proclaiming the gospel? How might it hinder us from doing so? To make these determinations, we must understand (a) what it means to be human and (b) how our interactions with the world, other humans, ideas, etc., influence our humanity.
As we consider the current technological environment and speculate about the challenges those technologies may bring in the future, we should not lose sight of the underlying problems that have been and will always be present: (1) deceptive stories and false teachings that promote distorted views of God or deny his existence altogether, (2) coordinated pressure that pushes Christians to compromise their convictions to avoid negative social or political consequences, and (3) seductive relationships that offer Christians the possibility of conforming the world to their own image under the banner of God’s word.
Technology may factor into the end times–it may not. We may see specific patterns that technology tends to intensify, but the underlying patterns remain the same. As such, the basic solution is also the same: discipleship. There is no reason to think that Christians can avoid the end God has proclaimed. We are not called to prevent the end times but to endure despite them. We can be informed about the day's technologies, but we cannot allow technology to shift our focus away from discipleship. To do so is to engage in speculation that will not help us endure the challenges that we face in the present and will face in the future.
Conclusion
Christians are right to be leery of technology. Embracing technology, especially to the extent that transhumanists do, can be problematic. Technology can distract us from discipleship; however, there are other distractions. We can also become distracted by the quest for signs of the end. Rather than recognizing that the patterns described in Revelation will consistently recur in one form or another until God makes the new heavens and the new earth, Christians too often engage in speculation about the end times and how they may be playing out today. Unfortunately, mapping current events onto Revelation is, at best, difficult and, at worst, misleading.
As Christians, we must be diligent to avoid false teachings, avoid compromise, and ensure that we do not become seduced by worldly comforts or worldly power. Instead, like the church in Philadelphia, we may be known as those with “little power” who “have kept my [Christ’s] word and have not denied my [Christ’s] name” (Rev 3:8). We won’t do that by identifying the technologies that may or may not be involved in ushering in the end. We will do that by learning to live under the authority of Christ as we work out our faith with fear and trembling.
