‘Theology After Google’ conference takes a look at religion in the InterWeb era
The Los Angeles Times is carrying a piece on a conference called “Theology after Google” which purports to analyse the future of American Christianity in relation to the rise of the interweb.
Although the mix of Christianity and the Internet is one of my pet subjects, I simply don’t feel comfortable with this conference for personal and theological reasons.
Here are some snippets for you from the LA Times article, and you can make up your own mind:
The consensus: It’s a whole new world out there. Churches will ignore it at their peril.
So far so good.
“I think things like denomination and ordination are part of the old system of control and domination that has to go,”
Uh huh.
The premise of the conference had been laid out earlier in the evening by Philip Clayton, a professor at Claremont who talked about the role of Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15th century. By making the Bible more widely available, he said, it democratized religion and led directly to the Protestant Reformation. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Clayton said, “we are talking today about a transition equally as great.”
Really?
Theologically and culturally, the conference attendees leaned toward the liberal end of the spectrum. One theme that emerged was how smart the Christian right has been about using new media, and how progressive churches need to catch up. But more than talking about how to use new media and social-networking tools, the conference was about how those tools reflect a new cultural mind-set that is changing how people pray.
Oh dear.
Jon Irvine, a 30-year-old Web designer who works with the “emerging church” movement, said the church of the future will have to be less hierarchical and more freewheeling and ecumenical…..Every man is capable of learning and providing feedback. Church 1.0 is all about creeds and doctrines, whereas Church 2.0 is kind of like a wiki-theology.”
Really uncomfortable now.
In this new world, he said, “You can be a free agent. You could start your own church, go to a little faith community down the street, you could go to a mega-church. You could be a Methodist today, Anglican tomorrow — it’s your choice.”
That might sound like heresy to some, for whom doctrine is immutable. But it fit well with the spirit of the conference, where nothing with the exception of the corn toss tournament trophy, was etched in anything solid.
OK, I’ve had enough and I think you get the picture. You are free to read the entire article here.
UPDATE: Check out this article, oh and this one.
Tags: Christianity, Internet & Technology, Theology Doctrine Philosophy