The cyborg Christ: Theological anthropology, Christology, and the posthuman

Recent shifts in Christian theological anthropology from substantive, essential interpretations of the imago dei and notions of the human enable an interdisciplinary dialogue with the concept of the posthuman. As a label for multiple future possibilities evoked by emerging technologies such as "NBIC" (nano-, bio-, information and communication) technologies, the posthuman is a plural and plastic concept which signals an interrogation of current notions of human nature as much as future possible constructions of the human. Currently, posthuman discourse crystallizes around two major posthuman constructions: Donna Haraway's feminist cyborg, and transhumanism's uploaded consciousness. These very different posthuman constructions invite different Christian theological responses.;Transhumanism's emphasis on rationality and disembodied consciousness as the defining aspect of human personhood is a deliberate continuation of Enlightenment philosophy and anthropology. Personhood, not humanity, is the relevant moral category, and personhood is defined in terms of rational capacities. This opens the door to considering a variety of possible posthuman, nonhuman and AI persons, but at the same time, ignores the importance of embodiment as constitutive for identity. Further, transhumanism's desire for transcendence of the biological and pursuit of immortality through technology actively denigrates biological existence as negative and in need of technological transformation, whether in the form of bodily improvements, artificial bodies, or uploading consciousnesses.;In contrast, the cyborg's anthropological starting point is the rejection of both Enlightenment anthropology and feminist identity essentialism. In the cyborg's transgression of categorical boundaries, both forms of anthropological essentialism are rejected, in favor of a partial, constructed, decentered identity. The cyborg's emphasis on material reality and embodied hybridity finds a theological counterpart in postcolonial, queer, feminist and disability theological anthropologies, which emphasize relationality, embodiment and hybridity.;Finally, reconstruction of theological anthropology in conversation with the posthuman leads to a reconsideration of Christology: what does it mean for God to become human, if humans become posthuman? A "cyborg Christology" rehabilitates the classically heretical notion of hybridity, but also offers an alternative construction of Christ's personal identity as fully human, fully God.