# A Transhumanist Interpretation of the Gospel

Carl Youngblood argues the Gospel is inherently transhumanist—elevating humanity toward Christlike immortality and eternal progression without conflict with naturalism.

At the core of Mormonism is the Gospel of Christ, which is essentially a transhumanist undertaking―something designed to elevate humanity and help it to achieve the measure of its creation, which is ultimately to become like Christ, the prototypical human (or superhuman) ideal, or whatever is good definitionally—our understanding of which is itself progressing.
Faith is a critical prerequisite. In order to achieve our superhuman potential, we must believe in the possibility of improvement and the value of doing so, both as individuals and as communities. It is not only important for us to believe in our own capacity for improvement; we must also believe that others have gone before us. This is not merely a test of loyalty; our belief in the existence of other more advanced civilizations strongly and directly impacts our own likelihood of achieving posthumanity.While belief in the existence of such “divine” communities is crucial, the astute will recognize that such arguments are insufficient grounds for worship in the traditional sense. “Let’s assume,” one might respond, “that we are not the most advanced civilization ever to exist—that advanced beings are out there that would qualify as gods to you and me, perhaps that even shaped the processes that formed our world or universe. What evidence do we have that they care about us at all, and what grounds would we have for worshipping them or for them to desire such worship?”If worship is merely telling someone how great they are all the time, the question is certainly valid. But if we understand worship as a sense of profound awe and a strong desire to emulate the goodness we observe in our superiors, then the very existence of such beings is sufficient grounds for worship, and it takes place whenever we try to follow in their footsteps. Assuming they possess the qualities that humans value to a transcendent degree, such beings would necessarily have compassion on other progressing intelligences (even more so their own creations) and would also desire to commune with them to the extent such communion is possible and beneficial.Undertaking such emulation is a harrowing process that is fraught with struggles and setbacks, one in which we are in need of constant repentance—course corrections that we make as individuals, communities and civilizations in response to the feedback mechanisms we experience in our individual lives and in the broader macroscopic trends we observe at all levels of our existence. If we do not procrastinate our repentance to the point of extinction, we are given the opportunity to gain wisdom, learning from our sins and mistakes to choose more sustainable paths in the future—paths that lead to human flourishing.Throughout this process we are in constant need of Christ’s grace, which flows to us from his body, or the divine community, which is comprised of all those who have followed the path of the Messiah or anointed one, of which Jesus was our chief exemplar. We can think of