Christian's do not appear to be heavily involved with the debate of cognitive enhancement, although a document has been prepared by the Conference of European Churches about the discussion of human enhancement to give us a perspective of what some Christian's could think.
The overall contention of their debate is that enhancement is not to be encouraged. The summary of the theological discussion says:
'In so far as it seeks a kind of technological salvation without God, the transhumanist project is, in our terms, quasi-religious. It could be understood as just a new version of an old sin - the age-old human aspiration to do without God. It might indeed be the ultimate Tower of Babel project, a form of hubris, as a rebellion against the human condition as such, presuming that we know better than the creator how we should be. It makes the wrong diagnosis on both what is goal of humans and what is wrong with us, and comes up with false solutions.
But does that imply the rejection of any form of human enhancement? Given humans made in God’s image will always seek to find out and to use what they find, we would not say in principle “No, never!” But if it comes to claims to enhance human functions and capacities, we would want to ask some very searching questions, which often preclude going ahead. '
In what I can decipher, I would say that this is saying that human/cognitive enhancement can give research or the want of knowledge a form of idolatry - which, for Christians, is against one of the major biblical rules of putting God before all. They give the example of the tower of Babel - humans trying so hard to reach the heavens, trying to be more godly than they were created to be. Cognitive enhancement can be like that, trying to exceed who we were created to be. If we are made in God's image, and since He 'knit [us] together in [our] mothers womb' (Psalm 139:13), enhancing ourselves would be like trying to make ourselves better than God made us, and trying to be God is a big no-no for Christians. God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden for trying to be as knowledgeable as Him, (the fruit of knowledge).
The overall contention of their debate is that enhancement is not to be encouraged. The summary of the theological discussion says:
'In so far as it seeks a kind of technological salvation without God, the transhumanist project is, in our terms, quasi-religious. It could be understood as just a new version of an old sin - the age-old human aspiration to do without God. It might indeed be the ultimate Tower of Babel project, a form of hubris, as a rebellion against the human condition as such, presuming that we know better than the creator how we should be. It makes the wrong diagnosis on both what is goal of humans and what is wrong with us, and comes up with false solutions.
But does that imply the rejection of any form of human enhancement? Given humans made in God’s image will always seek to find out and to use what they find, we would not say in principle “No, never!” But if it comes to claims to enhance human functions and capacities, we would want to ask some very searching questions, which often preclude going ahead. '
In what I can decipher, I would say that this is saying that human/cognitive enhancement can give research or the want of knowledge a form of idolatry - which, for Christians, is against one of the major biblical rules of putting God before all. They give the example of the tower of Babel - humans trying so hard to reach the heavens, trying to be more godly than they were created to be. Cognitive enhancement can be like that, trying to exceed who we were created to be. If we are made in God's image, and since He 'knit [us] together in [our] mothers womb' (Psalm 139:13), enhancing ourselves would be like trying to make ourselves better than God made us, and trying to be God is a big no-no for Christians. God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden for trying to be as knowledgeable as Him, (the fruit of knowledge).
Source: Working Group on Bioethics and BIotechnology. "Human Enhancement - A discussion document." Congerence of European Churches. July 2009. http://www.ceceurope.org/fileadmin/filer/csc/Ethics_Biotechnology/Human_enhancement_final_March_10.pdf
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