Description
The Digital Sanctuary explores how the metaverse is reshaping religious beliefs, values, and communities.
The metaverse is still being formed, but many purposes for it have been proposed, including as a space for redefining religious culture. Therefore, this book asks: When digital heavens are constructed, what gods are invited? What rituals are performed? And can a realm of bits and algorithms truly house the timeless human search for transcendence? In this book, Marco Adria examines the metaverse through four theoretical lenses – media affordances, tetradic theory of kinship, media angst, and mediated God – to illustrate the complex and novel nature of the metaverse as a growing venue for religious activity. Case studies and the results of a new focus group provide fresh insights into the social meaning of religious practice in the metaverse.
Ultimately, this text investigates both the potential challenges and opportunities for the metaverse to either unite or divide global faith communities, reflecting on the evolving relationship between humanity, technology, and the divine to explore what's next for online religious experiences.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Digital Sanctuary: Persistent, Immersive, Interconnected
1. The Convergence of Faith and Technology: A Short History
2. A Media Ecology Perspective
3. New Medium, New Social Environments: The Tetradic View
4. Theology (and God) in the Digital Sanctuary: Making and Maintaining New Worlds
5. What a Faith Community Requires and What the Digital Sanctuary Makes Possible
6. Listening to the Future: A Focus Group
7. Change and Continuity: Case Studies of the Digital Sanctuary
8. A New Paradigm: The Ethics of Virtual Spirituality
9. Becoming Virtual: The Sensorium and Its Biases
Conclusion: How to Worship in the Metaverse
Appendix: Focus Group
References
Index
About the Author
Product details
| Published | 15 Apr 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 192 |
| ISBN | 9798216371496 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 4 bw illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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