Dear friends and partners in the ministry,
We hope, and pray, that this first newsletter of the, still new year, 2017, finds you well!
The past month has been relatively quiet here in France. With the Christmas break, Yannick's teaching has been minimal. Moreover, the students are on their one-month internship. This allows for more writing and reasearch time. It also gives us a more flexible schedule. In the meantime, Erin is busy working on her French with a tutor and helping the church with their "Explorer" Bible school for kids 8-12 yo. It's a lot of work, and a lot of French!
Please know that you are in our prayers. Do not hesitate to let us know how we can pray for you.
Blessings in Christ,
Yannick and Erin
The challenge of transhumanism
In the past few years, I have read and researched the cultural and scientific movement called transhumanism. Ten years ago, not many people were aware of it. But now, in the 2010s, transhumanism has achieved a high level of media coverage. Popular attention has been raised by popular books, like Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near, and by movies building on contemporary scientific predictions made by the prophets of transhumanism. The 2014 movie, Transcendence, is a good example of the hopes and promises of transhumanism. In this movie, a scientist's personality is "downloaded" in a computer network.
This, transcending death, is one of the main goals of transhumanism. And it is an apologetic challenge. Why? Transhumanism, like most of our cultural and religious traditions, is a worldview. It has something to say about the world, the nature of humanity, and our future. For example, transhumanism affirms the radical evolutionary nature of man, but an evolution that we could guide through our technology. Since there is no "one" human nature, our bodies and our minds can be modified at will.
Of course, this worldview reduces human nature to matter and information. And that is where the apologetic challenges lies. This is where the biblical teaching on the image of God and the incarnation can bring true hope to a worldview on the quest for "material transcendence"... which is in itself a contradiction!
Prayer update
† continue to pray for us here in France. For Yannick's teaching, for Erin's French learning, and for our life in this mission field that is France.
† please pray that I would be able to finish my upcoming book on transhumanism. With the semester starting again February 14th, it will be a challenge to find time to finish writing.
† pray for Yannick's health. His back has been bothering him the past weeks and often finds himself in pain.
† pray for our students' internships. It is a privileged time during which they can see, first hand, what is involved in the Christian ministry. Please pray for their calling.