New Church Life September/October 2017 | Page 111

  transhumanism But forget Darwinism, a new, improved plan for divesting ourselves of our humanity is on the horizon. While Darwinism reduces the status of humans to that of animals (ones whose brains have evolved further than those of other species, but essentially no different), transhumanism envisions downloading people’s knowledge (and consciousness, although just what consciousness is remains a mystery) onto computers, thus create a new super race of human-machine hybrids. So here we are, trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea! (WEO) spaced out in heaven The concept of no space and time in the spiritual world is challenging in this world, where everything is measured by time and distance. But we do get glimpses of what the other world must be like. We read about angels moving from one place to another who “get there more quickly if they are eager and more slowly if they are not.” Well, we’ve all been experienced that, like a young boy dragging himself to school – or romping to a playground. “The path itself is lengthened or shortened depending on the desire, even though it is the same path. We can see from all this that distance and space itself depend wholly on the inner state of angels; and since this is the case, no notion of space can enter into their minds even though they have space just the way we do in our world.” (Heaven and Hell 195) Well, here’s a question: how do you play golf in heaven? Every shot demands a certain club for a certain distance. Might a hole look like a 180-yard par three in my state, but a longer par four for a partner in a different state? Which club do I use? Hmmm. Well, I have a club in my bag called a “Heaven Wood.” Maybe that’s all I’ll need. (BMH) 465