{"id":11244,"date":"2017-01-26T19:46:53","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T03:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=11244"},"modified":"2017-01-26T19:46:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T03:46:53","slug":"baptize-me-through-your-computer-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/baptize-me-through-your-computer-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Baptize Me Through Your Computer Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

By nature, I am a techy!\u00a0 \u00a0I was mesmerized the first time I saw a computer (I think it was a Commodore or a TRS-80).\u00a0 But I remember asking, \u201cWhat does it do?\u201d\u00a0 The only project that the guy knew was to run paper through a dot-matrix printer and make banners with it.\u00a0 Boring, but it was cool to think you could personalize your \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d banner with someone\u2019s name.\u00a0 The fonts were yellow in color and it felt like you had violated something to just sit down and touch the keyboard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Little did I ever dream that my life would be so deeply engaged with technology and baptized into the digital age years later.\u00a0 Being an Apple\u00a0enthusiast, that first computer is eons away from my Apple TV, MacBook, IPhone 7, and IPad Pro.\u00a0 I write this sitting on a plane with all of them with me, except the Apple TV.\u00a0 There are very few times that I don\u2019t have least one of them in my possession.<\/p>\n

The digital world has opened a cornucopia of activity from \u201csecond space\u201d churches to online porn.\u00a0 Having a connected technological device can divorce you from the \u201cneed\u201d to be in community, physically, in a local church.\u00a0 As much as I love technology and being connected, there are some things that will never be replaced with any device.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As much as I\"\"<\/a> embrace tech and the power of connectivity of the internet, it has some challenges theologically and in implementation of the sacraments.\u00a0 How do you do communion online?\u00a0 How do you have the \u201claying on of hands\u201d?\u00a0 How do you baptize through the screen?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Campbell and Garner, in their work, Network Theology:\u00a0 Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture,<\/em> do an excellent job navigating through the malaise of the digital world and its multiple implications.\u00a0 Intentionally they map the history of the digital world and how it has networked and progressed to a world-wide influence that must be assessed and dealt with theologically.<\/p>\n

The challenge point is combining \u201ctheology\u201d with \u201cnetwork\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cThe term \u2018theology\u2019, derived from the Greek words theos <\/em>(god) and logos <\/em>(word, or teaching or studying), literally means \u2018words about god\u2019 or \u2018the teaching about or study of god\u2019\u201d.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Campbell and Garner infuse God into the dialogue and how He must be present in our digital environments.<\/p>\n

Theologian and bioethicist, Ronald Cole-Turner asks the same question, \u201cCan theology\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad \u2013 that communal process by which the church\u2019s faith seeks to understand-\u2026can theology aim at understanding theology? Can we put the words God<\/em> and technology<\/em> together in any kind of meaningful sentence?\u00a0 Can theology guess what God is doing in today\u2019s technology?\u00a0 Or by our silence do we leave it utterly godless? \u00a0Can we have a theology of technology that comprehends, gives meaning to, dares to influence the direction and set limits to this explosion of new powers?[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Historically, we have inventions that have brought enormous change to the way we live.\u00a0 The railroad allowed for cross continent travel.\u00a0 The car allowed our horizons to become reality, not just a dream.\u00a0 Air conditioning in Arizona was the catalyst to the expansive growth.\u00a0 Air travel allows us to touch the world.\u00a0 Each of these had an impact, but none us as much as the ability to print and the ensuing digital age and technology.<\/p>\n

In comparison \u201cPrinting not only changed the way information and ideas spread but also elevated text so that it became the dominant medium of communication both formally and socially.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 The digital and technological has surpassed the impact of the printed page.\u00a0 The idea of the \u201cworld-wide-web\u201d is a reality with epic impact.\u00a0 China and India, two of the largest countries in the world, are the purveyors of much of technology that is in the world today.<\/p>\n

Campbell and Garner use Micah 6:8 as a starting point to help develop an appropriate relationship with technology and media.\u00a0 \u201cOur response to technology should not only be economically productive, ecologically sound, socially just, and personally fulfilling. It should also include a call to act justly, be authentic and wholesome in our relationships, and walk in line with God in our technological world.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 This became a reality check that turned my thoughts more to the need of a book like theirs.<\/p>\n

Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can we truly engage through a digital footprint and path?\u00a0 Is technology the panacea for everything in life?\u00a0 The way we must be strapped to our devices, I sometimes wonder if we have drunk the Kool-Aid.\u00a0 Where are the boundaries?\u00a0 What are the true benefits?<\/p>\n

Even the tech wizard, Bill Gates, had mixed emotions.\u00a0 In his book, The Road Ahead, <\/em>written in the mid-1990\u2019s, said, \u201cThe network will draw us together, if that\u2019s what we choose, or let us scatter ourselves into a million mediated communities.\u201d[5]<\/a> \u00a0Technology is like money, both are neutral.\u00a0 The power of money and technology is in the user.<\/p>\n

My first reaction prior <\/em>to reading Network Theology:\u00a0 Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture, <\/em>was one of skepticism.\u00a0 Were Campbell and Garner going to attempt to moralize technology?\u00a0 Were they going to propagate an online theological expression?\u00a0 What I found was a holistic approach to navigating this digital age that has transformed our culture, including the church.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Heidi A. Campbell and Stephen Garner, Network Theology:\u00a0 Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture, <\/em>(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016)., 10.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 12.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid., 28.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 123.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction By nature, I am a techy!\u00a0 \u00a0I was mesmerized the first time I saw a computer (I think it was a Commodore or a TRS-80).\u00a0 But I remember asking, \u201cWhat does it do?\u201d\u00a0 The only project that the guy knew was to run paper through a dot-matrix printer and make banners with it.\u00a0 Boring, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[794],"class_list":["post-11244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-campbell-and-garner","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}