The Influence of Information Technologies on Theology

Abstract

Information systems affect theology in many ways. The Internet makes texts easily searchable and linked—but without any internal guideposts. Anyone can put up a theological Web page, appropriating the name “Catholic” without any official sanction. The media audience is not passive; it draws conclusions quite different from those who create the messages. Logical patterns of analysis have given way to image, word, sound, and movement. E-mail, chat rooms, videoconferencing, Web sites now merely replace regular mail and typewriters; they can develop into something quite different.