Authority and Christianity Online

The internet is full of both positives and negatives.The access to information is very helpful, however that information is not always accurate, which presents a problem. This problem is made visible when looking at Christianity online. The site, Web Church, exists to provide support and resources to Christians. On their site they have a forum where many questions are asked, however the problem is that the people responding lack credentials, and when looking at Christianity through the medium of this blog alone, it appears that this religion lacks any authority structure. Cheong states religious authority is eroded by online religious activity. Cheong also goes on to say that  digital media is framed as an erosion of power for traditional institutions and leaders. (pg. 5) On the Web Church site I found a Christian asking questions regarding Baptism. One of the users who replied to her started off their sentence with  the words,"I'm no scholar, but what I do know is...I'm no scholar, but what I do know is that baptism is only a symbolic ritual, it's not necessary to go to Heaven.". The problem with these online forums is that you have people with zero credentials spooning out information that could very well be wrong. A devout Atheists could get on this site and post information that sounds believable. The internet does undermine authority of the Christian church and information found through this medium should be scrutinized for accuracy.

Chapter on Identity written by Mia Lovheim

In Lovheim's chapter she argues that religion online takes many forms, and as many different effects on personal identity. Lovheim states that identity is "the process where an individual develops the capacity to grasp the meaning of situations in everyday life and their own position in relation to them" (pg. 2). Many people are using the internet to help them "grasp" who they are as people, ultimately strengthening their identity. Lovheim aruges [people] use the web more as an additional venue for their religious identity and integrate religious elements as one part of their identities"(pg.12). The concept of using the web as an additional venue for religious identity is found on the site, http://www.christianforums.net/forum.php. On this site we find Christian internet users discussing various aspects of Christianity. I found one particular user talking about an issue at his church he said that "So here is my issue: basically our church leadership is really hounding people regarding living together without being legally married"(Christianforums.net". The point of this is not the content of his statement, but just to point that this user has a church that he goes to, but is using this forum to supplement his faith and give himself and additional venue to express his religious identity. He is not happy with the situation at his church, and is using this forum to express his dissatisfaction. This is a case where online media provides an avenue for a user to strengthen their religious identity. This user is  able to express his thoughts to a Christian community, which might not have happened if he was plugged into his church alone.

Christianity & Web Chuch

Web Church online, found here, is a Christian church that is solely online. According to their website,"Web-Church was created to provide an online Christian worship, fellowship and discipleship community for people worldwide." This church offers everything from worship services to Bibles studies, however all of these components are self led. Their Bible study for example, is a series of questions that pertain to different texts found in the Bible. The questions do not have answers listed, and are designed for the worshiper to answer independently. Similarly, their worship services entail clicking on different song links in order to listen to the music, and the same goes for the sermons, you simply click on the lesson for the day and listen that way. The "services" are posted each week by 5 o clock on Saturdays, so they are available on Sunday for online use. Also, on their website I did not see any forms of Second Life, or even live chat. There are message boards where members can talk and post prayer request however. Since Web Church is primarily an independent, self led and self paced, this church obviously views community as a loosely bound aggregation of believers who use their online platform as means to share information between each other, but not much else. Since this church does not gather together in a offline room, let alone an online room, forming  relationships in this church body seem difficult. This "community" seems to be living out a watered down version of Christianity, compared to offline version. Answering questions and singing songs on your own lacks the corporate aspect of worship that is truly vital for this religion.

Religion Online

As we have discussed in class, many religions have space on the World Wide Web devoted to online ritual. Many religious communities have made it possible for different rituals to be done online. For example, the Islamic faith makes it possible to "travel" to Mecca  for the Hajj once a year. Online websites have set up  virtual pilgrimages to Mecca, attempting to recreate this important ritual. Similarly Helland discusses a Techno pagans and their use of online ritual. This religious group believes that "through “declarative acts” and “performative utterances” the neopagan community affirmed that cyberspace could be sacred space"(Helland). These scholars also cite that as long as the authenticity is there, then religion online is the same as it would be offline. However, this blog focuses on Christianity, so we will now look at this religion in light of online ritual. As far as Christianity is concerned it is all about a matter of the heart. Once a Christian is saved the Holy Spirit is living inside of the Christian, therefore worshiping is not limited to a building. At the same time however, since a Christian can worship wherever, logging on to a website is not necessary. Online religion in terms of Christianity is just an extra step that is not needed. The point of the Christian church, as defined in the book of Acts is for fellowship with other believers and the building up of the Body of Christ. An online worship center is not how Jesus intended for the the body of believers to gather, therefore online ritual does not work for the Christian Church who truly walks in accordance with the Scriptures. As far as super natural efficacy is concerned, Christians believe that God does not need a sacred sanctuary or even a sacred computer screen to move mightily. God will move mightily if it is according to His will, and if the believer is pure in heart. You can experience an encounter with God in a church, in a virtual sanctuary, or on a bus, the location does not matter, so God's presence and power is not limited to a computer, but at the same time it is not limited to either a Church offline or a computer online.If the Christian believes that in order to experience the super natural they need to be in a physical church or a virtual church, they do not fully understand the nature of God.