Networked Theology: Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture

Campbell and Garner, both professors studying the intersection of digital culture and religion, collaborate in this addition to Baker’s “Engaging Culture” series, which aims to “help Christians respond with theological discernment” to issues in contemporary culture. Who the authors imagine this volume’s intended audience to be, however, is less than clear: even as they provide definitions of common words such as “theology”—for which few if any Christian readers need explanation—they offer dry summaries of scholarship on digital culture and religion, which is unlikely to be of interest to readers looking to think theologically about their own use of technology. Perhaps most salient is this book’s lack of specific examples: in a discussion of how the Internet has enabled laypeople to challenge the authority of more official theological gatekeepers, the authors cite the abstract studies of other scholars rather than including mainstream examples—for instance, Rachel Held Evans being named to a President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for her role as a blogger. At its core, the book seeks to explore “what it means to love God and love your neighbor” in a digitally networked world, but it seems unlikely to be helpful in that regard, loaded with far more citations and unnecessary definitions than original insights. (Aug.)