Networked Theology – Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture

2018 Clifford G. Christians Ethics Research Award This informed theology of communication and media analyzes how we consume new media and technologies and discusses the impact on our social and religious lives. Combining expertise in religion online, theology, and technology, the authors synthesize scholarly work on religion and the internet for a nonspecialist audience. They show that both media studies and theology offer important resources for helping Christians engage in a thoughtful and faith-based critical evaluation of the effect of new media technologies on society, our lives, and the church.

Heidi A. Campbell (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of communication at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal, and on PBS's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

Stephen Garner (PhD, University of Auckland) is academic dean and senior lecturer in theology at Laidlaw College in Auckland, New Zealand. He holds an MSc in computer science and previously worked in the information technology sector. He speaks frequently on technology and new media.

"Thoughtful, compelling, and substantial" " Networked Theology contributes to a burgeoning field in Christian theology--theologically engaged reflections on digital culture--with wisdom, learning, and passion. Campbell and Garner are a dream team to tackle this topic. Their combined expertise results in an impressive interdisciplinary endeavor, bringing up-to-date, rigorous media scholarship together with thoughtful, engaged theological practice. They offer much-needed historical and theoretical grounding to help describe where we are and how we got here. They also offer rich theological and deeply pastoral resources to help communities engage their work. This will be a wonderful text for seminary and advanced undergraduate classes and for pastors and laypeople who want to understand their own digital practices."-- Kathryn Reklis , Fordham University; New Media Project, Christian Theological Seminary" Networked Theology is robustly theological in (1) addressing the nature of being human (theological anthropology) in an era of network individualism, (2) analyzing the nature of human social relations (ecclesiology and theology of society) in a time of connectivity commodification, and (3) revisioning the form of Christian faithfulness (theology of culture and mission theology) in our digitally mediated world. Amid the emerging literature at the intersection of theology and technology, Campbell and Garner give us the first sustained assessment of contextual and public theology for living in and against Web 3.0."-- Amos Yong , Fuller Theological Seminary"A thoughtful, compelling, and substantial reflection on the intersection of networked religion and Christian theology. The authors' distinctive backgrounds--his in computer science, hers in media studies--offer unique perspectives from which to consider difficult questions about identifying and loving our neighbors in the midst of digital cultures. An excellent text for both seminary and congregational study."-- Mary Hess , Luther Seminary"A fine introduction to major themes at the intersection of technology and theology in the age of new media."-- Quentin Schultze , Calvin University (emeritus); coauthor of An Essential Guide to Interpersonal Communication

The Theological Implications of Digital Culture This informed theology of communication and media analyzes how we consume new media and technologies and discusses the impact on our social and religious lives. Combining expertise in religion online, theology, and technology, the authors synthesize scholarly work on religion and the internet for a nonspecialist audience. They show that both media studies and theology offer important resources for helping Christians engage in a thoughtful and faith-based critical evaluation of the effect of new media technologies on society, our lives, and the church.

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