THE RECONSTITUTING NATURE OF CYBERSPACE TECHNOLOGIES ON THE BASIC CHURCH “DOCTRINE” PRINCIPLE

Abstract

In general, technology is essentially linked to the question of religious values and doctrines, which either enables or constrains the mission and identity of the church. Technology has become the destiny and inspiration of the modern age that configures the being of the church and the ways of doing the mission of the church; it has passed from being a mere instrument used by the church to attain specific ends to a way through which the church’s doctrinal dimension is perceived, explained and determined. The enucleating argument of the article is that even though cyberspace technologies (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and all other internet related technologies) give the church a renewed way of doing mission, there are basic church principles that cannot be compromised or surrendered to technological determination since they give the church her unique identity. The article employs the critical theory of technology expounded by Andrew Feenberg, which argues that technology is not a mere means and therefore not neutral; technology has become a reconstituting phenomenon. The reflection assumes more of a cautionary approach to technology as the church gets more engaged with it