Theological Discourses on Social Media will examine ten different social media platforms across three overarching parts. The task throughout is, first, to delineate the configuration and intent of a given form of social media and, second, to probe its implications for theology. On the whole, the volume will focus on the Judeo-Christian tradition, though dialogue with and insight from other religious traditions will also be featured. The upshot will be a unique theological engagement with the defining issue of our era—a work that will be as relevant as it will be engrossing. Featuring contributions from leading scholars, it will be a must-read for all students of theology, religion and media, and cultural studies.
Theological Discourses on Social Media will examine ten different social media platforms across three overarching parts. Featuring contributions from leading scholars, it will be a must-read for all students of theology, religion and media, and cultural studies.
PART 1: Social Networks
1. Attention Online: Christian Practice and
Facebook Living
2. Twitter as Cybernetic Liberalism: The Apotheosis of
Disincarnate Humanity
3. Tinderization and Transcendence: Girard, McLuhan,
and the Apocalyptic Imagination PART 2: Media Sharing
4. You Shall Have No
Other Gods Before Me: The Technological Structuring of the imago Dei on
Instagram
5. Despairing of Creation: Snapchat, Body Dysmorphia, and Creatio
ex Nihilo
6. Is Your For You Page Really For You?: TikTok, the Human
Person, and Living With Social Media
7. YouTube and Christian Formation:
Discerning Christ and World PART 3: Collaborative Knowledge and Virtual
Reality
8. The Ghostly Voice: Reddit, Digital Space, and the Objectification
of Lived Experience
9. Wikipedia and the Unknowable
10. Avatar: Gaming and
Living as Through a Glass, Darkly
11. Meta Horizon Worlds: From Virtual
Reality to Preferred Reality
Christopher B. Barnett is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, USA.
Clark J. Elliston is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Schreiner University, USA.
Trevor B. Williams is a Visiting Assistant Professor at DeSales University, USA.
