It's not science fiction, and it's happening now. Medical science research is laying the groundwork for the treatment of diseases of all sorts by nanotechnology, known as nanomedicine. In a recent study, medical researchers used nanotubes to treat strokes in lab rats, with a degree of success. Assuming that medical science will soon enough begin to apply the findings of this study, what we can anticipate is a time ten or twenty years from now when doctors routinely and successfully treat strokes, which today defeat their skills. [Bibliography: Summary; Abstract; Supporting Information]The thing is nanomedicine offers the possibility of cures and preventative measures for many other diseases than strokes. The day is coming when the lives of those who can afford nanomedical treatments will be extended potentially indefinitely. That means, in theory at least members of the human race will be able to live forever.
Think of the "theological implications" of that last paragraph. How do we understand the good news of Jesus Christ in an age when some, at least, have the potential to live nearly forever? What does it mean to be the church in a society where only those with sufficient wealth can live potentially forever? There are developments coming down the pike that are going to make the whole creationism-scientism brouhaha look as silly and irrelevant as it actually is—developments that will pose fundamental ethical challenges for church and laboratory alike.
