Body

Ontologically speaking, the body connotes the physical form of a living being: the organized matter through which a person acts, perceives, and relates to the world. Throughout much of Western religious history, the body has been treated as the lesser part of human nature, often conceptualized as a temporary prison or a burden from which the soul must escape. Mormon theology breaks sharply with this dualistic inheritance. It holds the body to be fundamentally good, necessary, and eternal; a vital component of the soul.

This conviction influences how Mormon transhumanists approach biotechnology, medicine, and the future of embodied life. If the body matters to God, then caring for it, healing it, and extending its capacities are not distractions from spiritual work. They are part of it.

Matter Made Sacred

Mormon theology explicitly rejects the dichotomy between spirit and flesh. Texts such as Doctrine and Covenants 88:15 declare that “the spirit and the body are the soul of man,” establishing that a “fulness of joy” is achieved through their union rather than their separation (D&C 93:33⁠–34). This paradigm extends to the nature of the divine, asserting that God possesses “a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” (D&C 130:22). Resurrection, in this account, is the restoration and glorification of the body, “raised in incorruption” (Alma 11:45), to die no more. The body is thus conceptualized not as a temporary vessel to be discarded in pursuit of divinity, but as a permanent attribute of the divine state.

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Just as the Lord, putting on the body, became a man, so also we men are both deified through his flesh, and henceforth inherit everlasting life.

”

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Athanasius

The Body as Unfinished Work

Though embodiment is eternally significant, the present body remains an unfinished project⁠—one that sickens, ages, and ultimately fails. Scripture envisions a form emancipated from these limits, and Mormon transhumanism reads that eschatological promise as an invitation to participate in its fulfillment. Medicine that cures, biotechnology that repairs, and eventual methods to transform the human condition become mechanisms of a resurrection that humanity actively helps to bring about. Striving to eliminate suffering and forestall death honors the sanctity of the body. The goal remains glorified embodiment, never disembodiment.

Hedcut illustration of The tradition’s ontological starting point is that the body is the “organized matter” through which a person engages the world, rather than a detachable shell awaiting escape. — The tradition’s ontological starting point is that the body is the “organized matter” through which a person engages the world, rather than a detachable shell awaiting escape.

Bodies Beyond the Familiar

Such an approach raises boundary questions theists have been grappling with for quite a while. If the human form is essential but perfectible, what expressions might a "redeemed" body ultimately take? Prosthetics, synthetic biology, and potential non-organic substrates press against traditional definitions of physical life. Here, the theology offers a framework of purpose rather than a strict morphological limit: whatever preserves human agency, fosters profound relationships, and enables joy remains true to the purpose of embodiment. The body is sacred because of what it makes possible⁠—communion with others and creative action within the cosmos. Any physical paradigm that advances those ends continues the trajectory that resurrection completes.