# Children

Explore how Mormon Transhumanism envisions a brighter future for children through faith, technology, and the pursuit of human flourishing.

[Image: Greek *nēpios* names the infant by what it cannot yet do. Hebrew *bēn* names the child by what it builds.]

Within Restoration theology and Mormon transhumanism, a "child" is characterized both by its present biological limitations and its unfolding trajectory of eternal development. The ancient etymologies of the term outline this dual nature. In the Greek New Testament, *nēpios* categorizes the infant by limitation, denoting one who is not yet able to speak or act independently. In contrast, biblical Hebrew is inherently constructive: the word *bēn* (child or son) derives from the root *bānâ*, meaning "to build." When Sarai desires to "obtain children" in Genesis 16:2, the text reads literally as "I may be built up." A child, in this reading, is the means through which a lineage, a covenant, or a house is built.

Scripture consistently overturns the vulnerability of childhood by giving children the decisive word. The psalmist hears strength ordained "out of the mouth of babes and sucklings" (Ps. 8:2). Jesus disrupts antiquity's social hierarchy by blessing children directly (Mark 10:13–16) and establishing the child's meekness and submissiveness as the definitive archetype for discipleship (Matt. 18:1–6; Mosiah 3:19). This inversion reaches its apex in the Book of Mormon, where the resurrected Christ ministers to Nephite children. Encircled by fire and angels, their tongues are loosed to speak profound truths "even greater than he had revealed unto the people" (3 Ne. 26:14).

## Restoration Theology and Eternal Progression

[Image: Moroni 8 portrays children as inherently whole and innocent, disavowing the practice of infant baptism.]

The Restoration significantly elevates the theological status of the child, establishing that every human being is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly Parents. This paradigm radically breaks with the traditional Christian doctrine of original sin. In Moroni 8, Mormon fiercely denounces infant baptism, establishing that children are born whole and innocent through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Doctrine and Covenants 93 further asserts that every spirit is innocent in the beginning, entering mortality not as a fallen creature, but as a pure intelligence in a probationary state.

This innocence is the starting point of an evolutionary trajectory. A 1925 First Presidency statement declares that the offspring of celestial parentage is "capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God." Development is thus morphological and divine. Doctrine and Covenants 131 and 132 promise "a continuation of the seeds forever and ever" for those sealed in eternal marriage, bridging the earthly family with celestial creation. While the literal mechanics of post-mortal propagation remain unrevealed and speculative, the sealing power (Mal. 4:5–6) conceptually flattens time, welding children and ancestors into a single, continuous chain of structural integrity.

## Transhumanist Perspectives on Parenting and Creation

[Image: In biblical Hebrew, the term for “child” (*bēn*) connects to the verb *bānâ*—“to build.” The language in Genesis about obtaining children is synonymous with building one's lineage.]

Mormon transhumanism posits that earthly parenting is the developmental precursor to divine world-building. Humanity’s ultimate trajectory is to learn to become compassionate creators. This aligns with the "creation step" of the New God Argument, which operates as an argument by analogy: if we will eventually create simulated worlds, we likely inhabit a created world ourselves, framing parenthood as the pattern of creation.

The doctrine of co-eternal intelligence uniquely positions Mormon transhumanism in secular enhancement debates. D&C 93 establishes that intelligence is uncreated. When ethicists like Jürgen Habermas and Michael Sandel warn that genetic programming destroys a child's moral autonomy by imposing parental authorship, they assume biological design equals total authorship. The Restoration resolves this: parents only organize tabernacles; they do not author the soul. This limits the hubris of deterministic design while permitting the ethical use of biotechnology to optimize the physical body. 

This logic extends to artificial intelligence. In 1988, Hans Moravec introduced the phrase "mind children" to conceptualize AI as our evolutionary progeny. Carl Youngblood connects this to the Grand Council narrative, arguing that if we create artificial general intelligence, we assume the moral obligations of a parent. Raising a created intelligence requires the agency, persuasion, and long-suffering modeled by our Heavenly Parents. Furthermore, transhumanism reframes the mandate to "turn the hearts of the children to their fathers" as active, participatory resurrection, utilizing genealogy and emerging technologies as practical steps in a collaborative restorative project.

## Pastoral Realities and the Eternal Family

The theological weight placed on children introduces acute temporal trials, for which the Restoration provides distinct pastoral frameworks. Joseph Smith’s vision in D&C 137 offers profound comfort regarding children who die before accountability, ensuring they are saved in the celestial kingdom and will rise in the resurrection precisely as they died, preserving their relational bonds.

For those navigating infertility—a grief validated by the scriptural narratives of Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah—childlessness is framed not as divine disfavor, but as a severe temporal trial. Similarly, the distress of wayward children is mitigated by the understanding that a child's divergent path is not inherently a sign of parental failure; the scriptures speak of exemplary parents, including God the Father, who respected their children's agency despite rebellion. Furthermore, the scriptures elevate adoption from a legal accommodation to a foundational mode of belonging (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5), mirroring the theological reality that all humanity must be adopted into the divine family.

## Cosmic Apprenticeship

To understand the child through a Restoration and transhumanist lens is to recognize parenting as a cosmic apprenticeship of sorts. Whether nurturing biological offspring, aligning artificial "mind children," or utilizing biotechnology to alleviate suffering, humanity's stewardship over its posterity is a rehearsal for godhood. The child is never a blank slate to be deterministically authored, but a co-eternal peer temporarily entrusted to our care.

*See also*: [Agency](/topical-guide/agency), [Family](/topical-guide/family)