Chasing Methuselah

Why Christians should take a longer-term view than anti-aging technology can provide.

Single Session Bible Study

Stan Guthrie

Overview

Ever since Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden, unable to eat from the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:22), humanity has been on a persistent quest for physical immortality. Through science, technology, sanitation, and other discoveries, our life spans have doubled from the nasty, brutish, and short days allotted to us less than two centuries ago. Now, it appears, we are prepared to take a quantum leap, according to Todd T. W. Daly in his Christianity Today article "Chasing Methuselah." Daly writes, "Over the past decade, the search for the fountain of youth has moved from legend to laboratory."

But this quest for physical immortality–or, at the least, a vastly longer life–raises a number of questions, particularly for Christians. Is a longer life an unadulterated good, even when pursued ethically? Is death a disease that needs to be cured? Does mortality bring us anything good that we would miss if it were conquered? How does life extension fit into the Christian hope for a bodily resurrection?

Table of Contents

SCRIPTURE:Genesis 2:15–17; 3:6–12, 22; Psalm 90; John 21:17–23; 1 Corinthians 15:14–28; Philippians 1:20–26

LEADER'S GUIDE

• Identify the Current Issue

• Discover the Eternal Principles

–Teaching point one: Human knowledge alone is an inadequate basis for living a good life.

–Teaching point two: Wisdom comes from putting our lives in proper perspective.

–Teaching point three: Jesus Christ's resurrection undoes the death brought to all of us by Adam.

–Teaching point four: Length of life is secondary to doing God's will.

–Teaching point five:Death with Christ is far better than life without him.

• Apply Your Findings

• Additional Resources