Digital theology


Digital theology or cybertheology is the study of the relationship between theology and the digital technology.

Terminology

In Catholic discourse, the more dominant term has been cybertheology. There has also been the yearly Theocom symposium since 2012 at Santa Clara University, which has explored topics related to theology and digital communications.
In more recent discourse related to digital humanities and digital religion, some scholars have begun to use the term "digital theology." They identify four kinds of digital theology:
  1. Digital technology as a pedagogical tool to teach theology
  2. Digital technology that opens new methods for theological research
  3. Theological reflection on digitality or digital culture
  4. The reappraisal and critique of digitality based on theological ethics
They also suggest a fifth aspect of digital theology, which offers a more integrated yet critical use of digital technology in the study of theology and religious belief and practice.
However, as digital theology is a burgeoning field, much of the literature has been critiqued as having a poor understanding of technology and digital culture.

Online Church

Much of the research on digital theology relates to church communities online. Some studies have explored churches which only have online existence, whereas others explore the relationship between how people connect through online and offline communities.