iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual Lives

by Craig Detweiler

Publisher:

Brazos

, 2013

Overview

Today the world is literally at our fingertips. We can call, text, email, or post our status to friends and family on the go. We can carry countless games, music, and apps in our pocket. Yet it's easy to feel overwhelmed by access to so much information and exhausted from managing our online relationships and selves.

Craig Detweiler, a nationally known writer and speaker on media issues, provides needed Christian perspective on navigating today’s social media culture. He interacts with major symbols, or “iGods,” of our distracted age—Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Pixar, YouTube, and Twitter—to investigate the impact of the technologies and cultural phenomena that drive us. Detweiler offers a historic look at where we've been and a prophetic look at where we're headed, helping us sort out the immediate from the eternal, the digital from the divine.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Situates Christian ethics in the midst of social media
• Helps navigate the tricky world of online relationships
• Navigates Christan perspectives on social media

Contents

• Defining Technology
• Apple: Aesthetics First
• A Brief History of the Internet
• Amazon: Personalized Abundance
• Google: Algorithmic Authority
• A Brief History of Social Networking
• Facebook: Authentic Frenemies
• You Tube, Twitter, Instagram: Audience Participation
• Conclusion: The Telos of Technology

Top Highlights

“We are hyperconnected and easily distracted, always available and rarely present.” (Page 6)

“If we receive technology more as a God-given gift and privilege, could we grow in gratitude? How might stepping away from the conveniences of technology sharpen our perceptions and quicken our spirit?” (Page 3)

“When we go from experience to experience, from Gmail to Facebook to Tumblr to YouTube, we crowd out those moments where the Spirit may have something significant to convey. We replace God-given interludes of pause, rest, and reflection with the goat version of Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ (look it up on YouTube). Nobody laughs harder at ‘Goats Screaming Like Humans’ than I do. However, it is tough to build a life around viral videos and memes.” (Page 5)

“Perhaps we should pause more often and thank God for the gift of technology. Before we pick up a fork, we could be grateful for the toolmakers who preceded us.” (Page 3)

“We want to appreciate the gift of technology, but we also desire to put the iGods in their proper place.” (Page 5)

Praise for the Print Edition

Detweiler brings cultural savvy, theological know-how, and transparent passion to this book, making it both thoroughly readable and immensely insightful. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to better understand the impact technology has on us, and who seeks to use it well for the kingdom of God.

—Brett McCracken, author, Hipster Christianity

This is a wonderfully engaging romp through the largely American hills and valleys where theology and technology meet--a splendid contribution to the emerging conversations about what constitutes the good life in this age of information and communication technologies.

—Quentin Schultze, author, Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age

Where [Detweiler] excels most notably is in his careful, well-researched portrayal of the values and motivations behind the digital technologies so tightly woven into the fabric of our lives. By tracing the formation of the iGod institutions, his book constitutes 'an active resistance to a thoughtless embrace.' We're offered a theologically informed exposé of technological influences and a cautionary reminder that our media gadgets and their makers are far from neutral.

—Andrew Byers, Christianity Today

Product Details

• Title: iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives
• Author: Craig Detweiler
• Publisher: Brazos
• Print Publication Date: 2013
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Technology › Religious aspects--Christianity; Social networks
• ISBNs: 9781441226563, 9781587433443, 1441226567, 1587433443
• Resource ID: LLS:IGODS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:42:44Z

About Craig Detweiler

Craig Detweiler joined Fuller in 2008 as associate professor of theology and culture. He is also co-director of the Reel Spirituality Institute, the area of Fuller’s Brehm Center focused on theology and film. Dr. Detweiler previously taught at Biola University in La Mirada, California, as associate professor of mass communication and chair of its Film, TV, and Radio Program. Detweiler is a filmmaker who has written scripts for numerous Hollywood films. His most recent film, the social documentary Purple State of Mind (2008), won “Best Spiritual Film†at the Breckenridge Film Festival, and his documentary Williams Syndrome: A Highly Musical Species (1996), won a Cine Golden Eagle. He also wrote the films Extreme Days (2001) and The Duke (1999). Detweiler has served as a juror for several film festivals and produced the annual City of the Angels Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, as well as the inaugural Reel Lives Film Festival: The Cancer Chronicles in Geneva, Switzerland. He leads a coalition of schools and educators to the Sundance Film Festival each year for Fuller’s WindRider Forum in Park City, Utah.