Digital Spirituality, the Sacredness of  Artificial Intelligence, and Religious Life in the Metaverse: Manifestations of the New Religious Materialism Cover Image

La spiritualité numérique, la sacralité de l’IA et la vie religieuse dans le métavers: hypostases du nouveau matérialisme religieux
Digital Spirituality, the Sacredness of Artificial Intelligence, and Religious Life in the Metaverse: Manifestations of the New Religious Materialism

Author(s): Nicu Gavriluţă
Subject(s): Theology and Religion, Theory of Communication, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: ESSACHESS
Keywords: religious materialism; secularization; digital spirituality; artificial intelligence; religious communication;

Summary/Abstract: This review examines Stefan Bratosin’s book Religious Materialism: The Illusions of Viral Human Fulfillment, which offers an original interpretation of the contemporary transformations of religion in the digital age. The book argues that secularization should not be understood as the decline of religion but rather as a process through which the invisible becomes materialized under the influence of digital technologies and media practices. The review highlights the heuristic value of the concept of religious materialism for understanding emerging forms of digital spirituality, the transformation of religious practices, and the interplay between religion, communication, and technological innovation. It also emphasizes the author’s analysis of the metaverse, avatars, holograms, religious chatbots, and artificial intelligence, all of which challenge conventional boundaries between spiritual experience, technological mediation, and the commodification of the sacred. The review concludes that the book makes a significant interdisciplinary contribution to contemporary debates on the reconfiguration of religion and its theoretical, social, and ethical implications.

  • Issue Year: 19/2026
  • Issue No: 1(37)
  • Page Range: 247-252
  • Page Count: 6
  • Language: French
Toggle Accessibility Mode