Christianity and digital media

Abstract

A diversity of Christian networks and practices has emerged online, attracting increasing levels of academic attention. Theologically conservative and liberal traditions are thriving, destabilizing some traditional hierarchies of Christian authority while reinforcing others. Religious groups draw on their distinctive beliefs and values to devise appropriate digital strategies to pursue them. This chapter applies two complementary theoretical approaches: the religious-social shaping of technology and the mediatisation of religion. The former explores the process through which religious groups create media products, while the latter draws attention to the "media logic" that groups must accommodate to communicate effectively. I draw on my ethnographic, interview-based study of the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life, an online church in a virtual world, to examine digital forms of leadership, community and proselytism. Christians have pursued these using digital media to develop new kinds of influence and relationships and to communicate with non-believers. Case studies include internet activities of established religious leaders, "church online" and multisite ministry, and the rise of new voices through social media. Forums, chatrooms and Twitter hashtags support "virtual communities" that offer valuable opportunities for connection and conversation to believers who are marginalized by disability or theological commitments. They support social movements calling for political changes in politics and society, to attract customers to inter-faith companies specializing in fashionable "modest" attire, or even to maintain communication between the living and the dead. Christian evangelists express enthusiasm for the internet’s potential, using digital media to advertise their faith, share their life stories, read and share the Bible and train children through educational computer games. Western missionaries have developed digital technologies to help promote their religion in countries hostile to Christianity and in cultures without written language.