Religion and the Internet

This new collection will cover the development of the study of Religion and the Internet over the past three decades, highlighting the core research topics, approaches and questions that have been explored by key international scholars at the intersection of new media and religion.

Religion and the Internet will present a range of scholarly articles that offer a critical overview of the interdisciplinary study of new media, religion and digital culture. Scholars have documented individuals using computer networks for religious discussions and enagagment since the early 1980s. In the mid 1990s, when the Internet became publicly accessible, scholars began to study how users were translating and transporting their religious practices onto this new digital platform. This collection will cover the development of the study of Religion and the Internet over the past three decades, highlighting the core research topics, approaches and questions that have been explored by key international scholars at the intersection of new media and religion. The collection seeks to present how new forms of religious practices have emerged and been interrogated by scholars. It will also present how religious communities have negotiated their engagement with digital techologies and the online and offline implications this has had for religious practioners and individuals.