Media and Religion: possibilities and limitations
Media and Religion: possibilities and limitations

Summary/Abstract: Media, especially the four revolutionary ones (the spoken word, written word, printed word and the Internet) have had an important influence on shaping of religion. The spokenword is a natural creator of religion and in Christian religion it manifested as oral tradition. The written word (in Christianity the Bible) is an external and visual media that brings discipline in thinking and starts the shift towards science. The differences between the spoken word and written word resulted in tension between religion and science (theology and philosophy). The printed word took the tendency introduced by the written word even further, but the Internet – or digital media in general – is a totally different form of media (multimedia, network based and so on) that takes religion into the cyberspace. Religion in thecyberspace can be passive (religion online) or active (online religion). These constitute yet another possibility for traditional religions to spread. Nevertheless, online religion also offersnon-traditional forms of religion, including videogame such as 'World of Warcraft' (WoW), these forms also include religious elements. Some authors claim that these new forms ofreligion, for example WoW, can replace also traditional religions. In this paper we argue that the limitation of online religion is in human body, as human body and soul are subjects forsalvation (resurrection). Salvation, which also includes human body, is almost impossible to realise in online religion.

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