I was doing a little research today and reading God's Secretaries by Adam Nicolson. One sentence captivated me: "The old church and the new technology were the closest of allies." I know it's a hobby-horse that I ride all the time, but the church has to be in the business of redeeming technology and using it to serve God's purposes. We need to be turning iPods into GodiPods.
Hit the rewind button.
Martin Luther wasn't just a theological genius. He was a technological genius. In fact, without the printing press, Luther's genius would have impacted a few locals. But technology is what fueled the Protestant Reformation.
The Bible was unchained from medieval pulpits. Luther put the Bible in the hands of parishoners. It was the democritization of discipleship. The average Christian could read and study the word of God for themselves. We take it for granted, but the printing press was a Quantum leap in discipleship! It was the transition from oral to analog. What we are now experiencing is the digital revolution. We're experiencing the shift from analog to digital.
Nicolson calls Luther "the first genius of mass communications." His translation of the New Testament sold 3,000 copies immediately. A German printer estimated, forty years later, that he had sold 100,000 Lutheran Bibles.
There was a backlash from resisters. The first burning of a Prosetant Bible book was in 1521. A Protestant printer was burned in 1527. But technology fueled a revolution. The first Swedish Bible was printed in 1541. A Finnish New Testament was completed in 1548. The first Bible in Spanish was publihsed in 1569. A Polish Bible was printed in 1561. And a Hungarian Bible was published in 1590.
That theological revolution was facilitated by a technological development. Johann Gutenberg deserves some credit for the Protestant Revolution.
For what it's worth, my passion for blogging and godcasting have historical roots. The Internet is to my generation what the printing press was to the 15th century.
Theology and technology ought to be the closest of allies.
Hit the rewind button.
Martin Luther wasn't just a theological genius. He was a technological genius. In fact, without the printing press, Luther's genius would have impacted a few locals. But technology is what fueled the Protestant Reformation.
The Bible was unchained from medieval pulpits. Luther put the Bible in the hands of parishoners. It was the democritization of discipleship. The average Christian could read and study the word of God for themselves. We take it for granted, but the printing press was a Quantum leap in discipleship! It was the transition from oral to analog. What we are now experiencing is the digital revolution. We're experiencing the shift from analog to digital.
Nicolson calls Luther "the first genius of mass communications." His translation of the New Testament sold 3,000 copies immediately. A German printer estimated, forty years later, that he had sold 100,000 Lutheran Bibles.
There was a backlash from resisters. The first burning of a Prosetant Bible book was in 1521. A Protestant printer was burned in 1527. But technology fueled a revolution. The first Swedish Bible was printed in 1541. A Finnish New Testament was completed in 1548. The first Bible in Spanish was publihsed in 1569. A Polish Bible was printed in 1561. And a Hungarian Bible was published in 1590.
That theological revolution was facilitated by a technological development. Johann Gutenberg deserves some credit for the Protestant Revolution.
For what it's worth, my passion for blogging and godcasting have historical roots. The Internet is to my generation what the printing press was to the 15th century.
Theology and technology ought to be the closest of allies.
14 Comments:
Hey M,
On the heals of Redeeming technology, could what has a strong worldy stigma in it's basic form be redeemed? I mean, what's considered an extremely worldly past time, because of all the negative activity surrounding it/ in it's basic form...which is dancing....I don't think is out of the doable spectrum. I don't mean whorship dancing on a sunday or choreg. stuff in a skit. I mean physical free-style moving to the funkiest back-beat just for fun let loose dancing. As one coming from the extreme nightclub experience, I've heard some of these christian songs remixed and they are banging (quality is there). I wonder & wish that there were clean safe places that could back up some of this stuff and people wouldn't associate a good time with anything else (church body). It be cool to have a mixed latte or smoothie and a nice dance floor near by......
opinion sought, if it's alright
out of the box.....eh, not really
PA
The cross was a symbol of torture and death, but God has turned it into a symbol of hope and eternal life. What a redemption. That's why I think anything is redeemable!
The key is "why are you doing what your doing." If you do the right thing for the wrong reasons you get "no credit" spiritually speaking. We're called to do the right thing for the right reason.
So....I think there are two tests:
Is this is the right person, place or thing? And are we doing it for the right reasons. If we answer both in the affirmative then we've met the redemption test.
I just wrote that and thought to myself, "Huh?" I hope that makes sense. I may have to comment on my comment :)
The first thing that comes to my mind about redeeming dancing and "banging" Christian music is our annual Harvest Hoedown that we have in October. Now that is a good example of redeeming something the world has made negative. (on an aside, if you have any good suggestions for "banging" christian music anon, I would love it if you would e-mail me at tim@theaterchurch.com)
T. S. Elliot wrote:
"What is incumbent on all Christians is the duty of maintaining consciously certain standards and criteria of criticism over and above those applied by the rest of the world. We must remember that the greater part of our reading matter is written . . . by people who have no real belief in a supreme order."
The same can be said for most if not all of our technology medium. I wouldn't be too quick to jump on this bandwagon. Take television for example. Quite possibly the technology that has had the greatest influence on several generations. Certainly the Gospel has been broadcasted around the world. I would argue however that TV has done more damage to the Gospel message than good. Even when well meaning Ministers have used it to preach the Gospel it has backfired. And the message has paid the price and paid dearly. Let's not forget the televangelist scandals of the 1980's. My point is TV was never intended,or better said invented, to relay the Gospel message. It's purpose is entertainment. As a result the Message and Messengers become entertainers. So what's next??? Advances in Bio-techology are incredible. Do we jump on the Cloning bandwagon???? Christian Robots? Think about it.
I don't want to come across as harsh, but I think the logic of the above post is faulty. If you follow the argument to it's logical conclusion we'd have to withdraw from everything :)
"TV has done more damage than good."
You could probably say the same for the printing press. Think of the bad things that have been published. Does that mean we boycott that medium? I think it means we redouble our effort to win the publishing and broadcasting battle. It's not about the medium. It's about the message.
For me it boils down to redemption. We need to be redeeming anything and everything and using it for God's purposes.
I'm not trying to come across harsh or justify some of the Christian programing that ranges from cheesy to sleazy, but think of all the people who have come to faith via watching a television show that planted a seed of faith. I'm guessing there are hundreds of thousands of people who would trace their spiritual etymology back to television. I'm sure the same is true of the Internet.
Is there lots of junk on the Internet? Absolutely! Are there some terrible chat rooms? Sure. But I'm sure there are people who have been positively impacted by a Christian chat room or webpage.
I just don't think we sound the "retreat" and withdraw from the cultural battle.
One more thing :)
I think Jesus was entertaining to listen to :) Let's quit lambasting entertainment. Is entertainment an end in itself? Obviously not. But all of us know a few preachers who could be a little more entertainly to listen to. The word "entertainment" means "to grab attention." The word "compel" in Luke 14:23 means "to demand attention." We're called to "demand attention" so we can get a hearing for the gospel. I know that can be twisted every which way, but I hope readers no my hear. I'm in no way suggesting that we dumb-down or water-down the truth. I just think the greatest gift (salvation) deserves the greatest packaging!
Just pushing back a little.
Well the printed or written word has always been accepted this is not a matter of contention. The Scribes were the "printing press" of Jesus' day and they sure were under HIS microscope for thier shenanigans in relaying the message.
"but think of all the people who have come to faith via watching a television show that planted a seed of faith."
How many will never come to faith becauce of the mess the "Televangelists" created and to this day still continue especially on one station (most know the station I speak of). Don't underestimate the laughing stock that the "Message" became because of this all magnified 1000 times because of TV.
Consider this thought if you can:
What if our culture got tired of the entertainment and wanted something else? Where would they go? There are other religions that offer that something else. Would it be us?
I just don't think you can throw the baby out with the bathwater :)
If the measuring stick for whether or not we use a given medium is whether or not it has ever been abused or faulty or wrong, than we could use NOTHING! The church itself has been just that! Preachers have been just that. Even the Bible has been used to deceive people (ie. David Koresh)! So is this medium no longer useful? In fact, people have probably been the most troubling of mediums. Yet this is what redemption is ALL about! Taking what is broken, faulty, etc, and giving it value, making it useable, making it holy. We are simply vessels, and the gift makes the vessel holy, not vice-versa. Think about how many people Saul (aka Paul) turned away from Christ. Yet God used this medium. Thank God for redemption! We would be in serious trouble if the medium made the message Holy!
Hello,
The medium couldn't be more important and must be Holy. And it can damage the Message if it isn't. Why do the epistles spell out clear qualifications (moral & spiritual) for those who minister or preach the Gospel Message? Because if those that are entrusted with the Message don't live up to its high standards the message becomes ineffective. Yes there are millions of books spreading thousands of ideas. But yet there is none like the HOLY BIBLE. There have always been great efforts to protect the Word of God and to keep it HOLY (seperate from all others). Christians have done a poor job protecting the Gospel message on TV. well thought I'd thought I'd squeeze a bit more out of this thread. GOD BLESSS and good night
We'll keep squeezing with other blogs :) I'm so passionate about redeeming technology that we'll revisit this theme alot. Hopefully the blog banter helps everyone see both sides of the issues.
I think some people have what I would call one-sided faith. They've only seen the side they agree with. Doubled-side faith has seen the opposing point of view and still holds it's opinion.
One way or the other, we should all be double-sided believers :)
Didn't God use a donkey once? Not to say standards aren't key. They are! The point is simply that God can and does redeem and use imperfect mediums. If He can use a donkey, He can use the internet, tv, people, etc.
I actually like the KJV translation of "donkey" :)
How do pastors read that passage in that version with a straight face?
That is one of my favorite passages. What an encouragement. There isn't anyone or anything that God can't use to accomplish his purposes!
Even a donkey like me :)
Mark:
I loved what you had to say here, and the conversation in the comments has been enjoyable as well.
Thought you might like to know that I blogged today about your article here.
Thanks for bringing attention to an important issue.
Thanks Frank. Love your blog!
Mark
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