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An examination of modern digital media through the lens of biblical theology, showing the importance of the biblical media of God amid a digital culture.
The church can be uncertain of itself in our digital age. Some Christians denounce the twenty-first century's media culture while others embrace the latest gadgets and apps as soon as they appear. Many of us are stumbling along amidst the tweets, status updates, podcasts, and blog posts, wondering if we have ventured into a realm beyond the scope of biblical wisdom. Though there is such a thing as 'new media', Andrew Byers reminds us that the actual concept of media is ancient, theological, and even biblical. In fact, there is such a thing as the media of God. 'TheoMedia' are means by which God communicates and reveals himself - creation, divine speech, inspired writings, the visual symbol of the cross, and more. Christians are actually called to media saturation. But the media that are to most prominently saturate our lives are the media of God. If God creates and uses media, then Scripture provides a theological logic by which we can create and use media in the digital age. This book is not an unqualified endorsement of the latest media products or a tirade against media technology. Instead, Byers calls us to rethink our understanding of media in terms of the media of God in the biblical story of redemption.
The church can be uncertain of itself in our digital age. Some Christians denounce the twenty-first century's media culture while others embrace the latest gadgets and apps as soon as they appear. Many of us are stumbling along amidst the tweets, status updates, podcasts, and blog posts, wondering if we have ventured into a realm beyond the scope of biblical wisdom. Though there is such a thing as 'new media', Andrew Byers reminds us that the actual concept of media is ancient, theological, and even biblical. In fact, there is such a thing as the media of God. 'TheoMedia' are means by which God communicates and reveals himself - creation, divine speech, inspired writings, the visual symbol of the cross, and more. Christians are actually called to media saturation. But the media that are to most prominently saturate our lives are the media of God. If God creates and uses media, then Scripture provides a theological logic by which we can create and use media in the digital age. This book is not an unqualified endorsement of the latest media products or a tirade against media technology. Instead, Byers calls us to rethink our understanding of media in terms of the media of God in the biblical story of redemption.
Price: $29.99
Pages: 256
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Lutterworth Press
Publication Date:
28 August 2014
Trim Size: 9.02 X 6.02 in
ISBN: 9780718893521
Format: Paperback
In the third century of electronic communications ... Christians still don't have a constructive and guilt-free theology of media. Andrew Byers' book aims to put that right, steering a nuanced course between wholesale rejection of communications technology and uncritical cultural assimilation.
— Andrew Graystone
Byers provides a truly theological framework for interpreting media, not in its individual manifestations, but as a mode of relating in itself. .he gives a solidly theological account of why the biblical story matters when theologians consider 21st century digital media. ...He takes complex forces and conveys their importance in a readable and accessible way. For that, and for his work to serve the church and broader society in conveying the message of Christ in a life-giving way, I thank Andrew Byers for this particular medium.
— Jeremy Garber
— Andrew Graystone
Byers provides a truly theological framework for interpreting media, not in its individual manifestations, but as a mode of relating in itself. .he gives a solidly theological account of why the biblical story matters when theologians consider 21st century digital media. ...He takes complex forces and conveys their importance in a readable and accessible way. For that, and for his work to serve the church and broader society in conveying the message of Christ in a life-giving way, I thank Andrew Byers for this particular medium.
— Jeremy Garber
Acknowledgments
Part 1 | Media Old and New
Chapter 1. In Search of a Script: Is the Bible Media Savvy?
-TheoMedia Note 1: When Our Social Media Talk Back
Chapter 2. Contextual Gaps: Media Commercialized and Secularized
Chapter 3. Harbingers of Gloom and Glory: Christian Responses to Media Technology
-TheoMedia Note 2: The Mediation of Sex and Violence
Chapter 4. Media Dark and Bright: Image Making by Fractured Image Bearers
-TheoMedia Note 3: When Screens are Oracles, Portals, Stages . . . and well, "Screens"
Part 2 | The Sights and Sounds of Israel's God: Multi-Sensory TheoMedia in the Old Testament
Chapter 5. Creation and God-sponsored "Media-Events"
Chapter 6. Physical Structures, Visionary Encounters, and the Media of the Absurd
-TheoMedia Note 4: Aaron and the Calf: Idolatry and Technological Determinism
Part 3 | The Speech and Texts of Israel's God: Verbal TheoMedia in the Old Testament
Chapter 7. Word Anxieties and Word Theology
-TheoMedia Note 5: Online Theology: When God Is Blogged
Chapter 8. The Story of the Great King and the Lost Book: A Narrative Theology of God's Words
-TheoMedia Note 6: "Weighting" Media: The Shema in Our Twenty-first-Century Homes
Part 4 | Media Christology: Jesus, Media Legacies, and Focal Media Practices
Chapter 9. The Page-Splitting God Who Rips Sky and Veil: An Interlude
-TheoMedia Note 7: Fading Away from the Scene and into the Church: Celebrity Culture, Christian Leaders, and John the Baptist
Chapter 10. Gospel and Incarnation: Jesus as the Ultimate TheoMedium
-TheoMedia Note 8: Paul and Canonized Social Media: Two Lessons
Chapter 11. Crucifixion: Cross-visuality and the Eucharist
Chapter 12. Resurrection & Ascension: Word-media, Baptism, and Christ as Mediator
-TheoMedia Note 9: Word versus Image? Dismembering the Sensorium . . . and Christ's Body?
Chapter 13. Christ's Return: Apocalyptic Media and the End of Mediation
Part 5 | Conclusion
Chapter 14. The Spirit and the Bride: A Rough Theological Framework and "EcclesioMedia"
Bibliography
Part 1 | Media Old and New
Chapter 1. In Search of a Script: Is the Bible Media Savvy?
-TheoMedia Note 1: When Our Social Media Talk Back
Chapter 2. Contextual Gaps: Media Commercialized and Secularized
Chapter 3. Harbingers of Gloom and Glory: Christian Responses to Media Technology
-TheoMedia Note 2: The Mediation of Sex and Violence
Chapter 4. Media Dark and Bright: Image Making by Fractured Image Bearers
-TheoMedia Note 3: When Screens are Oracles, Portals, Stages . . . and well, "Screens"
Part 2 | The Sights and Sounds of Israel's God: Multi-Sensory TheoMedia in the Old Testament
Chapter 5. Creation and God-sponsored "Media-Events"
Chapter 6. Physical Structures, Visionary Encounters, and the Media of the Absurd
-TheoMedia Note 4: Aaron and the Calf: Idolatry and Technological Determinism
Part 3 | The Speech and Texts of Israel's God: Verbal TheoMedia in the Old Testament
Chapter 7. Word Anxieties and Word Theology
-TheoMedia Note 5: Online Theology: When God Is Blogged
Chapter 8. The Story of the Great King and the Lost Book: A Narrative Theology of God's Words
-TheoMedia Note 6: "Weighting" Media: The Shema in Our Twenty-first-Century Homes
Part 4 | Media Christology: Jesus, Media Legacies, and Focal Media Practices
Chapter 9. The Page-Splitting God Who Rips Sky and Veil: An Interlude
-TheoMedia Note 7: Fading Away from the Scene and into the Church: Celebrity Culture, Christian Leaders, and John the Baptist
Chapter 10. Gospel and Incarnation: Jesus as the Ultimate TheoMedium
-TheoMedia Note 8: Paul and Canonized Social Media: Two Lessons
Chapter 11. Crucifixion: Cross-visuality and the Eucharist
Chapter 12. Resurrection & Ascension: Word-media, Baptism, and Christ as Mediator
-TheoMedia Note 9: Word versus Image? Dismembering the Sensorium . . . and Christ's Body?
Chapter 13. Christ's Return: Apocalyptic Media and the End of Mediation
Part 5 | Conclusion
Chapter 14. The Spirit and the Bride: A Rough Theological Framework and "EcclesioMedia"
Bibliography