Paper short abstract:

In Russian Orthodoxy, the possibility of transcendence is built into the fabric of the creation by God. It is not something that one only begins to access with the development of new technologies. This paper examines this proposition in relation to their approaches to space exploration technologies.

Paper long abstract:

In the transhumanism of Bernstein's (2019) and Farman's (2020) interlocutors, the transcendence of death is to be achieved through technological means. The immortality that these groups advocate is otherwise impossible: new technologies open the very possibility of this materialist transcendence. Mormon transhumanists (Bialecki 2022) also believe in a transcendence – theosis, or communion with God – achieved through the invention of new technologies. This, I argue, is in a stark conflict with how the Russian Orthodox relate with technology, old and new, as they work towards theosis.

I suggest that the crux of this difference lies in the Orthodox temporal ontology of transcendence that underlies how the Russian Orthodox relate with the material. For the Orthodox, the possibility of theosis is already out there in the creation. It is built into the fabric of the creation by God. It is not something that they only begin to access with the development of new technologies.

However, some new technologies may work well for theosis, but not because of their technological advancements or a reordering of the materiality to give rise to the possibility of theosis. It is because – akin to religious technologies, such as icons – they help an Orthodox person orient themselves towards God. This paper will examine this proposition in relation to the ethnographic examples drawn from fieldwork conducted with the Russian Orthodox, devising approaches to the space exploration technologies.