Christian Evangelicals and Digital Media: Mediating the Gospel in Contemporary America (Media, Religion and Culture)

This book provides a critical interpretation of media engagement among American evangelicals today―in the age of tweets, smart phones, bloggers, 24-hour news, and an almost infinite number of TV channels. It focuses on a new generation of tech-savvy U.S. evangelicals--including so called "New Evangelicals"--who share a similar utilitarian understanding of media. It asks how that understanding shapes, and is shaped by, religious beliefs and practices. Deftly employing the methods of religious studies, media theory, and cultural studies, author Deborah Whitehead offers readers a series of richly textured case studies―on Tim Tebow and "tebowing," evangelical "mommy blogs," megachurch design, creation care websites, and evangelist Joel Osteen―in order to shed light on ongoing practices and debates among U.S. evangelicals today. The result is a fascinating look at evangelicals’ use of media as an interpretive religious practice, undertaken within the context of a changing community, and within a shared religious tradition.