Online Christian Communities

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract The possibility and potential of online community have been a topic of heated debate in digital theology since the origins of the discipline. Digital theologians have asked how online community might reshape Christian ecclesial life and have questioned the adequacy and sufficiency of online connections. This chapter introduces some of the key themes of that debate. We begin by proposing a typology of theological images of online community—Epistle, Trinity, Incarnation, and Body—establishing online and offline not as separate realms but as interconnected, hybrid realities. We then explore this hybrid reality further by introducing the classic distinction in internet studies between communities and networks. In the second part of this chapter, we map three major themes of theological discussion of online community: connection and communion; embodiment, presence, and participation; and authority and autonomy. In the third part of the chapter, we evaluate a specific example of digital ecclesiology, the Catholic report Towards Full Presence (published 2023). We argue that this report references and reinforces earlier Catholic teaching but also reflects a gradual shift in Catholic understanding—the beginnings, perhaps, of a digital ecclesiogenesis. Finally, our chapter ends by reflecting on the relationship between digital theology and digital religion, identifying three models of the theological process that support different opportunities for digital creativity.

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