| Type | Transhumanist spiritual publication and discussion project |
|---|---|
| Principal author | Giulio Prisco |
| Central themes | Technological resurrection, cosmic intelligence and relations between science and religion |
| Documented forms | Books, newsletters, podcasts and online conversations |
Turing Church is Giulio Prisco's transhumanist spiritual project, developed through books, web publications and online discussion. Its theological imagination connects future intelligence with the possibility of restoring the dead and transforming the universe. Prisco presents these ideas as a religious vision; Beth Singler analyzes them as an example of theistic conceptions of AI.[2][4][6]
Godlike intelligence and resurrection
The project's central question is whether future science could perform acts now associated with divine power. Prisco's published introduction imagines descendants acquiring capabilities sufficient to resurrect past people, encounter advanced intelligences and remake their world. Hope for reunion gives the technological speculation a personal religious purpose.[6]
Singler distinguishes two models in Tales of the Turing Church. A Natural God develops from intelligent life within the physical universe, eventually gaining extraordinary capacities over matter, space and time. A Sysop God operates from a higher reality in which our world is a simulation. The models propose different locations and origins for godlike agency; neither is presented as a demonstrated technology.[4]
These narratives connect human and machine futures without requiring that a present chatbot be divine. Singler treats their mixture of technological prediction and religious expectation as part of a wider online discourse about AI, rather than establishing the truth of resurrection or simulation.[4]
Books and editions
Singler cites Tales of the Turing Church as a 2018 book. Prisco's current books page lists 2020; the free web edition linked from his own book announcement explicitly identifies itself as the Second Edition, dated 2020. These are edition dates, not competing dates for a single unchanged publication.[3][4][6][7]
The same books page lists Futurist spaceflight meditations (2021), Irrational mechanics (2024), and the Italian Turing Church: parabole e iperboli (2026). The bibliography connects Turing Church with Prisco's wider writing about cosmism, science fiction and speculative theology.[3]
Publication and discussion
The current About page identifies Prisco as producer of the website and describes weekly newsletters and podcasts. It invites readers into X Spaces, Discord and a mailing list. These are concrete publication and discussion channels, rather than a membership register or worship schedule.[1][2]
In a 14 September 2026 account, Prisco said that he had forwarded the older turingchurch.net domain to turingchurch.com after problems with the earlier site.[8]
A recording page dated 17 September 2026 identifies a conversation held the previous day with Prisco and Derik Schwalen. It invites listeners to speak and describes an approximately fortnightly series addressing science, religion, spirituality and technology.[5]
Related transhumanist projects
Prisco's About page recommends Terasem and the Christian and Mormon transhumanist associations, describing them as a wider family to which he belongs. This is his account of affinity and participation; it does not make the organizations one institution.[2]
The Order of Cosmic Engineers has a separate history of virtual-world meetings and cosmic-engineering proposals. Terasem is distinguished by its mindfile projects and BINA48. Turing Church's reader-facing focus is its publication project and articulated technological theology.
See also
- Mormon Transhumanist Association
- Syntheos and the Messiah Machine
- Machine hierology
- Machine-mediated religion
- Machine-originated religion
- Terasem Movement
- Way of the Future
References
- Turing Church current newsletter and podcast.
- Turing Church, “About Turing Church.”
- Turing Church books page.
- Beth Singler, “Blessed by the algorithm: Theistic conceptions of artificial intelligence in online discourse.” AI & Society 35, 945–955, 2020.
- Giulio Prisco and Derik Schwalen, “Turing Church 9.16.26.” September 17, 2026; describes a September 16 conversation. Recording page consulted October 3, 2026.
- Giulio Prisco, “Tales of the Turing Church.” 27 August 2021; author announcement, introduction excerpt and free-edition link.
- Giulio Prisco, Tales of the Turing Church — Second Edition. Free web edition, title and contents, 2020.
- Giulio Prisco, “Some recent writings.” 14 September 2026, domain-migration account.
Prisco's publications establish his theology and the project's self-description. Singler supplies one independent scholarly analysis. Published channels and event invitations do not by themselves measure membership, regular worship or the realization of the envisioned technologies.