Alastair's Adversaria - The Formlessness of Christian Belief Online

Starting point is 00:00:00 The following reflection is entitled The Formlessness of Christian Belief Online. It was first published on the Anchored Argosy. Considerations of online media's effects upon people's thinking typically tend to focus upon the content encountered on them. However, much of the impact of online media will be felt less in the content we consume than in changes in the forms of our belief systems. This will only become more important for Christian teachers to consider in the future. Historically, belief systems have tended to be much more bounded,

Starting point is 00:00:35 comprehensive and structured, bounded in clearly delimiting what lies inside and outside of a realm of knowledge, comprehensive in seeking to address the entirety of this defined realm of knowledge, structured in seeking to situate various elements of knowledge within a larger system, connecting and ordering them with other elements within that realm. Online media has shifted people's experience of the form of knowledge and the kinds of belief systems they have and will develop. Christian belief systems are bounded in numerous ways. Things like the creed determine what is and is not orthodox,

Starting point is 00:01:15 or the canon distinguishes what is scripture from what is not. There are fairly sharp lines between what counts as revelation and what does not, what counts as orthodoxy and what does not. Online, bounded realms of knowledge are much less evident and experienced. In place of the defined body of knowledge that old media like the book represent, you have amorphous, chaotic and heterogeneous bodies of information. Here one could contrast the Encyclopedia Britannica with Wikipedia. Christians, whose thinking is formed online,

Starting point is 00:01:49 will be more likely to have weird amalgams of canonical and extracanonical scriptures, of orthodox with heterodox or highly speculative teachings, idiosyncratic synthesis of different Christian traditions, etc. Rather than gravitating to orthodox systems of belief as package deals, belief systems largely formed online are likely to have more of a bricelage character with diverse and heterogeneous elements combined to create far more idiosyncratic belief systems. The comprehensive character of Christian teaching is closely related to its bounded character.

Starting point is 00:02:27 Scripture is bounded off from non-scripture, and you need to do serious business with all that falls on the scripture side of that division. Creed's, catechisms, systematic theologies, pastoral teaching, reading plans, etc., are all informed by a keen

Starting point is 00:02:43 sense of and concerned to inculcate a comprehensive grasp of the scope of Christian teaching. Online, by contrast, teaching will tend to be much more piecemeal and selected, teaching, even good teaching, will much less readily inculcate a comprehensive body of Christian truth. Again, online teachers tend to offer teaching as palatable takeout rather than balanced diet.

Starting point is 00:03:09 For instance, someone whose Christian beliefs were formed online may have elaborate speculative theories about the Nephling, assemble from a mix of biblical and non-canonical texts, yet have given little attention to the doctrine of the Trinity. Online it is much easier for secondary doctrines or teachings that are prominent issues of debate or discussion to assume a prominence far beyond that which they should properly enjoy in the system of Christian doctrine, being taken out of all proportion. There are manifold expressions of Christian's sense of the structured character of Christian truth. Elements of Christian teaching are only rightly understood as they are ordered and weighted properly relative to all others within a comprehensive and bounded body of knowledge kept in proportion and in their proper place.

Starting point is 00:03:58 Without a bounded and comprehensive body of truth, systems that connect our beliefs will be very different. For instance, online, given the heterogeneity of information, where the true is constantly admixt with the fake, systems of belief can often be selective narratives. Rather than seeking to connect the elements in a defined realm of truth, our online narratives are epistemological sorting mechanisms that heighten our awareness of certain elements and cause us to dismiss others. Increasingly, Christian teachers will need to communicate truth to people with such fragmented epistemological frameworks. Much of our task will be one of radically reordering people's basic experience of the very form of knowledge and understanding of the world.

Starting point is 00:04:44 Christian institutions, teaching and disciplines have long been oriented by a sense of the bounded, comprehensive, and structured character of Christian belief, and have sought to inculcate this sense into those being disciples. This occurs in manifold ways in texts such as creeds, confessions and catechisms, which variously represent the general shape of the body of Christian teaching, into which converts are instructed, which believers confess, and which ecclesial bodies uphold. In systematic theologies, which make the body of Christian doctrine a matter of close investigation. In the pastoral disciplines of sustained teaching over many years, exploring the breadth of the territory of Christian teaching. In personal practices such as daily

Starting point is 00:05:29 scriptural reading, following a lectionary through the entirety of scripture, in the institutional definition and congregational life of churches, which maintain boundaries between those within and without the Orthodox faith, and manifest and foster the unity of those within. For those whose faith is principally formed online, we should expect that each of these will be much less operative or effective. An important dimension of the task of Christian teachers online must be to address this lack and to direct their listeners or viewers to the disciplines, churches, pastors and texts that might provide them with the form of Christian doctrine that is so lacking online. I also suspect that for many people a sense of the formlessness of their belief will be a cause of anxiety. For such

Starting point is 00:06:18 people, Christian teachers who help them to bound, balance and structure their belief systems, will be offering them something truly liberatory. This reflection, and many others like it, are available on the Anchored Argosy. If you'd like to support my work there, here, and elsewhere, you can do so using the links below to my Patreon or PayPal accounts. Such support enables me to keep my material free and to ensure that it's accessible to everyone. Thank you very much for listening, God bless.

Alastair's Adversaria - The Formlessness of Christian Belief Online

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.