From Eden to enhancement
One of the most alarming aspects of modern Christianity is the refusal by Pastors and Christians to read the Book of Revelation. Many excuses have been given, but none which hold any weight. Yet, Revelation 1:3 says this: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. One of the many blessings that we receive from reading and believing this Book is the description the eternal future of the believer, found in Revelation 21:4: And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Because we all experience pain, sickness, disease and sorrow, the promise of a future time when those things are no more is of great comfort to the soul.
There is a great scene in Matthew chapter 15 where Jesus ministers to the sick in the region of the Decapolis, in Gentile territory. Verses 29 and 30 records it as follows: Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Those final few words, “and they glorified the God of Israel” are especially touching due to the fact they highlight a stark difference between the response of the Jewish leaders and the response of the Gentiles. In Matthew 12:22, Jesus is shown to heal a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. On that occasion, the Pharisees accused Him of being in league with Satan. Yet, in Matthew 15, the Gentiles glorified Israel’s God.
In our modern day, many marvel at the advancement in science and place their trust in it instead of The Great Physician. Certainly, we must praise God that He has gifted many people to invent and implement technologies and programs that aid people suffering from debilitating illness, chronic conditions and lifetime disability, but not at the expense of ignoring God completely. Yet, technology is currently being developed which hopes to mimic the healing power of Christ, all the while remaining in rebellion against Him.
In our modern age, many people are focused on a company known as Neuralink. Utilising a brain-computer interface, it aims to allow people to control a computer or smartphone remotely with only their mind. But the goals of Neuralink and others are much grander. For instance, consider a company by the name of Synchron. According to their website, “Our vision is to restore lives by deciphering the neural code of the brain”. There is also another company known as Blackrock Neurotech. Their stated goals go even further and they claim, “We are engineering the future of neurotech, with a simple mission: we want people with neurological disorders to walk, talk, see, hear and feel again.” Now you might be tempted to believe this technology is recent, but the first such instance of an implantable brain-computer interface was completed in 2004. The recipient was Matt Nagle, a C3 tetraplegic who was paralysed from the neck down after being stabbed.
Not surprisingly, the secretive US-government agency DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is also involved. Of key interest is their “RAM” program (Restoring Active Memory). According to their website: “The RAM program aims to develop and test a wireless, fully implantable and neural-interface medical device for human clinical use. The device would facilitate the formation of new memories and retrieval of existing ones in individuals who have lost these capacities as a result of traumatic brain injury or neurological disease.” Although many would have in mind the restoration of memory for those who suffer traumatic brain injury, what if unscrupulous people use readily available brain-computer interface systems to read and rewrite our minds? It is an alarming prospect and one which grows closer every day. No doubt many will raise ethical concerns, but manufacturers often shield themselves from public criticism by claiming that their work is benevolent. After all, who doesn’t want the lame to walk, the blind to see and the brain injured to recover all their memories? But don’t be fooled, the people behind this technology don’t want to stop at healing, they ultimately want enhancement as they move to a future where there will truly be a fusion between man and the digital world.
In 2015, Peter Thiel (billionaire entrepreneur) wrote this: “Science and technology are natural allies to this Judeo-Western optimism, especially if we remain open to an eschatological frame in which God works through us in building the kingdom of heaven today, here on Earth – in which the kingdom of heaven is both a future reality and something partially achievable in the present.” Essentially, what Thiel is expounding is a view that we must be elevated to godlike status in order to be co-creators in improving the world and bringing heaven to earth through scientific endeavour.
The problem for mankind is that while Thiel and others like him are claiming it is absolutely necessary to enhance all human beings for our own good, they are essentially convincing each of us to be hardwired for control. So whilst we are led to believe we currently have control over various devices (smartphones, tablets etc), and the digital space we choose to interact with, the reality is that it is the elites who invent, manufacture and deploy those devices that also police the digital space and this will only become worse for humanity if everybody chooses to implant devices into their body. At that point, they will most certainly have total control.
Current efforts to advance the human condition are clearly not leading to heaven on earth. They are leading to the system we know as “the Beast System” which will be led by the Antichrist. Unlike Jesus, the Antichrist does not come to heal but to destroy. Zechariah 11:15-16: And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.