Aquinas on the Web?: Doing Theology in an Internet Age [Paperback]

The problem of the internet has plagued theologians for the past decade: some have claimed it as gnostic and evil because it denies the Christian doctrine of the incarnation and lacks serious engagement with others. Some have viewed the internet as presenting good possibilities for theological work because it provides a democratic arena for sharing ideas, unrestricted by traditional hierarchies and concerns.

None of these considerations quite capture the problems or benefits that the internet provides. Jana Bennett reviews critically how Web 2.0 both develops from traditional theology and also how Web 2.0 may change the way traditional theology is done. Web 2.0 spaces do invite many more lay people to participate in theological conversations than in the past, but the conversations frequently become constricted because of the medium. At the same time, Web 2.0 also offers surprising spaces for renewing or revisiting questions that theologians have left aside. The book explores how theologians and other interested persons might carefully respond, neither totally rejecting nor wholly embracing Web 2.0 technology.

This book takes
theological questioning about the internet to greater depth, discussing traditional theological
questions in light of Web 2.0 technology.

Where this book really shines is its attempts to answer some very fascinating and important questions about the Internet and theological discourse . . . Bennett is privy to the problems that online technologies create for the developing of the Christian life, and she gives informed solutions that draw upon tradition . . . in an accessible and systematic way. Nathaniel Warne, Durham University, UK,Journal of Religion, Media & Digital Culture, vol. 3, issue 2

This book is a needed engagement not only with scholarship about theology and the internet but about the unique challengl3&