Todd T. W. DALY. Chasing Methuselah: Theology, the Body, and Slowing Human Aging. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2021. Pp. 307 + xvi. $30.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-5326-9800-2. Reviewed by Calvin MERCER, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858.

The aptly titled Chasing Methuselah is a valuable contribution to the important Christian theological project of addressing the fast-developing therapies and technologies designed to radically enhance humans. Radical human enhancement is unfolding in five categories: physical, cognitive, affective, moral, and spiritual. Genetic engineering, tissue generation, artificial intelligence, robotics, brain stimulation techniques, and a host of other cutting-edge technologies are being marshalled to push enhancement forward in these five areas.

Superlongevity, a physical enhancement, has received the most attention. Transhumanists and others advocating radical life extension neither have in mind extending life only a few decades, nor do they anticipate being hooked up to tubes in a nursing home. Their vision is for a healthy life that includes full functioning in the world into an indefinite future.

It is, indeed, radical (some would argue “extreme”) life extension, and that kind of enhancement requires robust theological and ethical assessment and response to the emerging “Humanity 2.0.” Calls are being heard for “Theology 2.0,” “TechPlus Theology,” or “AI-Theology.” What matters more than the term is that theologians of all the religions understand these developments and give serious reflection. In this groundbreaking work, Todd T. W. Daly has provided an exemplar of theological work, from a Christian perspective, urgently needed.

Daly is Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics at Urbana Theological Seminary, writing on medicine and human enhancement. He was an inaugural Paul Ramsey Fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Culture and currently serves as a fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, as well as editor at large at the Stead Center for Ethics and Values, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Before engaging theologically, Daly shows how “life extension moves from legend to laboratory.” (p. 19) This first long chapter is the best (that I’m aware of) summary account of the modern history and status of life extension science. Shifts in attitudes toward the aging body are charted, shrinking the conceptual distance between disease and aging. As aging is viewed as disease, the body is conceived as an obstacle. Aging is no longer natural, but, rather, is a problem to be solved by medicine.

Daly’s careful reading of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) lays bare the theological origins of the modern biological project to attenuate aging. Bacon drew upon biblical imagery of prelapsarian Eden to prepare the ground for a new instrumental science intent on “relieving man’s estate.” Embedded in this project is a hostile stance toward the body, frail and aging. The goal is to restore the glory and longevity of Adam in Eden prior to the fall.

A fascinating and valuable contribution of this book is Daly’s consideration of the Desert Fathers and their relevance for longevity science. He gives focused attention to Athanasius (251-356) and St. Anthony (296-373), whose spiritual disciplines that slowed aging were, in part, in the service of recapturing prelapsarian Adam. The Athanasius-St. Anthony tradition and its appreciation of embodiment are utilized by Daly to critique Bacon’s narrative of the body. “… if Bacon sought to regain Eden by working against the body, the Desert Father sought this return by working with it or even through it.” (p. 202)

In particular, Daly explores the beliefs about and practice of fasting in the theological anthropology of Athanasius and St. Antony. Fasting helped regain what was lost by Adam’s sin by “reordering” the body and soul, thereby enhancing the body’s resistance to corruption and decay. In their “unqualified affirmation of embodiment” (p. 199), contrary, e.g., to Platonic and Gnostic thought, asceticism in Athanasius and St. Anthony was a moral project—becoming like God (theosis)—but one with the important by-product of slowing the body and promoting longevity. Fasting is an interesting and appropriate practice to interrogate, given that calorie restriction is one of the current longevity-enhancing paths being researched.

Finally, Daly turns to Karl Barth (1886-1968) to show how aging attenuation can be interpreted with reference to Jesus Christ, the last Adam. Barth provides a Christological framework for interpreting human aging and finitude as appropriate and for addressing the disorders of body and soul, particularly “sloth” and “care,” which are expressed in the modern anxious activity and fear around aging. Fasting, if practiced in the context of community and tradition, can be a discipline that addresses these very disorders.

With such a well-conceived and well-written book, it is difficult to find any fault. Given space allowances, authors must sometimes choose between breath of coverage and depth. Chasing Methuselah is clearly on the side of depth, but that is not a criticism. It is a commendation for the thoroughness with which Daly explores Bacon, Athanasius-St. Anthony, and Barth with regard to superlongevity. Now, the task is for other authors to follow Daly’s lead, bringing the same focused review of additional interlocutors, continuing this important theological project.