In his relatively short, almost polemical work, Digital Liturgies (Crossway, 2023), Samuel James takes up the task of evaluating the effects of the internet on Christian spiritual formation. Whether the profound shifts in communications technology and social transformations brought on by the internet are generally beneficial for us is hotly contested, both in secular and religious circles. In particular, the rise of the smartphone and social media has been extensively studied and evaluated by social scientists and policy experts, with some arguing these new technologies are behind the alarming rise in mental health crises in our youngest generations. In his book, James takes a negative view and argues that the internet is not merely a neutral tool, but a spiritually dangerous one—a “pornographically shaped” digital environment with powerful rhythms and practices (or liturgies) that inculcate us into a spiritually poisonous narrative of self-sufficiency that is antithetical to embodied, Biblical wisdom.
Login to read more
Sign in or create a free account to access Subscriber-only content.
Topics:
