The Promises and Perils of Christian Discourse - Part 1

The digital age has brought us face to face with the reminder that communication is invariably personal. There is no such thing as a purely abstracted, objective, informal communication. There is, however, another aspect of communication. According to Scripture, the communicative life we have as God's image-bearers is strategically and providentially ordered to the concerns of God's law. Communication, therefore, is not merely personal, but moral and ethical. The digital age continues to encourage the erosion of the very possibility of what the Bible takes so seriously: not just discourse, but the Christian kind of discourse which requires charity and patience. In light of this erosion, how might the church recovery discernment and prudence in communal environments in a way that upholds the Christian gospel and the church's identity?

To discuss this and more, Dr. Mark Garcia, the President and a Fellow in Scripture and Theology at Greystone Theological Institute, sits down with Greystone's Associate Fellow in Ethics and Culture, Michael Sacasas. Mr. Sacasas earned his MA in Theological Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in 2002. Over the years he has taken a special interest in the work of Hannah Arendt and the resources it offers to those seeking to understand the personal and social implications of emerging technologies. He has written about technology and society for a variety of outlets including The New Inquiry, Rhizomes, The American, Mere Orthodoxy, and Second Nature Journal. Since July 2019, Mr. Sacasas is Associate Director at the Christian Studies Center in Gainesville, FL. 

Mr. Sacasas' Greystone lecture series on Technology, Faith, and Human Flourishing is available to all Greystone Members and on Greystone Connect. Become a member today for unlimited access to the growing Greystone Connect library.

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For Further Reading:

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. 

McLuhan, Eric and Marshall. Laws of Media.

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. 

Postman, Neil. Technopoly. 

Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda. 

Ong, Walter. Orality and Literacy. 

Ong, Walter. The Presence of the Word. 

Illich, Ivan. In the Vineyard of the Text. 

de Zengotita, Thomas. Mediated. 

Scott, Lawrence. The Four-Dimensional Human.