Going Beyond or Violating Human Nature?
Herman Bavinck’s Theology of Creation as a Theological Response to Radical Transhumanism
Keywords:
Bavinck, Creatio ex Nihilio, Imago Dei, Telos, Transhumanisme Radikal, Teologi PenciptaanAbstract
Radical transhumanism claims that human nature is an unfinished project that must be reengineered through technology, thereby challenging Christian theological anthropology on ontological and anthropological levels. This article aims to construct a theological response to radical transhumanism based on Herman Bavinck’s theology of creation. Using qualitative literature review and textual analysis, this study examines Bavinck’s primary works alongside transhumanist literature. The findings indicate that three of Bavinck’s fundamental concepts—creatio ex nihilo, imago Dei, and the human telos—directly challenge the foundational assumptions of transhumanism. Human dependence on God is a normative and dignified ontological condition, not an inferior condition to be transcended; the body is an integral part of the imago Dei; and the fullness of human existence can only be fulfilled through divine grace, not technological engineering. This article contributes by extending Bavinck’s dogmatics into the context of contemporary biotechnology. Unlike prior studies that engage transhumanism primarily at the level of applied ethics or eschatology, this article offers a response grounded in theology of creation and anthropology as its foundational layer, thereby providing a more structurally prior theological critique of transhumanism’s core assumptions.
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