Some people thought that the internet was going to compete with religion \u2013 that church-going would vanish as people watched church online from the comfort of their armchairs. Religious leaders were very worried about the effects on their authority of the more democratic social media? On the internet, the church would be unable to impose its rules on the community.<\/p>\n
What is really happening, Dr Hutchings said, is that the internet is now just part of everyday life. Online church is part of religious life, not an alternative. Online church services attract people who were going to church anyway or who wanted to but were prevented by sickness, disability or other limitations. Online religion has just become part of the mix. Some groups are adapting and thriving and some people, like the Pope on Instagram, have discovered a way of using the media that works for them.<\/p>\n Dr Hutchings completed his lecture with a case study of the Scripture Union\u2019s Bible adventure app Guardians of Ancora<\/em>, developed in the hope that it would be a safe place for children in families, and church groups to explore their own faith and reflect on the impact of the Bible stories outside the game. He pointed out that, if it is to be handled with integrity and if the game is to have any credibility, the Bible story it tells cannot be changed. He suggested that the game might offer factual Biblical knowledge; he seemed less certain that the game would contribute to the development of personal faith in children.<\/p>\n The lecture can be seen in full on the Newbold College of Higher Education Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Newbold](\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/images_news-2018_Newbold-diversity-web-1.jpg\")
<\/a>People who saw in the internet potential for the creation of community were more optimistic. They believed, rightly as it turned out, that the internet would create new voices, new rituals and new communities. Small experimental online communities, like The Church of Fools<\/em>, was developed, said its creators, to follow the example of John Wesley in \u2018taking church to where people are in the 21st<\/sup> century \u2013 on the net\u2019. Already, that online community has lasted a lot longer than some people\u2019s affiliation to one more concrete church community.<\/p>\nWhat about electronic versions of the Bible, like YouVersion, to which a lot of resources have been devoted. Dr Hutchings quoted the Princeton professor, Bryan Bibb, who suggests that ‘electronic Bibles have the effect of reshaping the effective canon, the form and content of the scriptures as they are experienced in a particular community or by an individual.\u2019 As the Bible stops being a heavy paper book and can be easily accessed on one\u2019s phone, new practices are emerging. The Topverses website which lists those texts read most frequently on the internet suggests that people are most likely to access verses that give them hope and encouragement. Technical and theoretical parts of scripture which have very little everyday application to 21st<\/sup> century life tend to be sidelined. Electronic reading of the Bible may be enabling the development of a less traditional canon.<\/p>\n<\/a>As usual, the Q&A ranged far and wide. Questions about the limitations of faith mediated through technology, the place of emotions online as opposed to emotion in personal faith, the nature of \u2018liquid scripture\u2019 and the successful use of Twitter by religious leaders. There were lots of ideas meriting further thought by those in the room and, of course(!), those benefiting from the technology and watching on the Newbold livestream. [ted<\/em>NEWS]<\/p>\n
\n