View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by eScholarship@BC Digital Media at the Service of the Word: What does Internet-mediated Communication offer the Theology of Revelation and the Practice of Catechesis? Author: Daniella Zsupan-Jerome Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1843 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2011 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College Graduate School of Arts and Sciences School of Theology and Ministry DIGITAL MEDIA AT THE SERVICE OF THE WORD: WHAT DOES INTERNET- MEDIATED COMMUNICATION OFFER THE THEOLOGY OF REVELATION AND THE PRACTICE OF CATECHESIS? a dissertation by DANIELLA ZSUPAN-JEROME submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May, 2011 © Copyright by DANIELLA ZSUPAN-JEROME 2011 Digital Media at the Service of the Word: What does Internet-mediated Communication offer the Theology of Revelation and the Practice of Catechesis? A dissertation by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome Director: Jane Regan, PhD ABSTRACT Internet-mediated communication is undoubtedly shaping our culture, especially the way we access, gain, produce, share and understand information. The Internet, a vast resource of content is also taking form as a social communication network, where online content mediates the presence of people animating this network, who are accessing, contributing to, sharing and connecting over information. This movement toward the social web has significant implications for the way we go about communicating, sharing knowledge and making meaning as a whole, giving way to an overall more participatory culture, both on and offline. Commissioned to go and proclaim the Good News to the world, the Church continues to hold the communication of the faith as one of its essential tasks. This cultural shift in communication thus demands the attention the Church, presenting new opportunities and challenges for its evangelizing mission, while inviting a greater dialogue between evangelizing faith and digital culture. This dissertation engages the Church in this dialogue, focusing especially on what the present cultural shift wrought by Internet-mediated communication may mean for the theological foundations of communication in divine revelation, and the practice of the transmission of revelation in the context of the catechetical ministry. The dissertation offers a theological and ministerial foundation for exploring Internet-mediated communication, and the ways it may continue to evolve and shape our culture. To narrow in scope my investigation of the Church’s dialogue with Internet-mediated communication, the dissertation approaches the Church’s evangelizing mission as an expression of the theology of revelation concretely exemplified in catechesis, the religious education process concerned with facilitating conversion to Jesus Christ. This process of catechesis fueled by the theology of revelation encounters the socio-cultural phenomenon of Internet-mediated communication as its context. For the greater dialogue between the evangelizing faith and digital culture, all three of these elements, the theology, the ministerial process and the socio- cultural context receive careful analysis. After exploring each of these three constitutive elements, the dissertation suggests new directions and possibilities for revelation and catechesis in light of this dialogue. Chapter I introduces Internet-mediated communication and describes its relevance both from an ecclesial and socio-cultural perspective, focusing especially on the Church’s clear intention to take social communications media seriously, as articulated through a series of ecclesial documents. Chapter II investigates the theology of revelation and Chapter III examines catechesis, and both of these chapters highlight the particular dynamic of communication operative in both revelation and catechesis as one that emphasizes both relational presence and informational content. Chapter IV on Internet-mediated communication also continues to address this dynamic of communication, offering both revelation and catechesis a new model for integrating the relational and the informational in one process of communication. Chapter V concludes the dissertation by exploring the theological and ministerial implications of this integrated model of communication that the Internet as social network offers, while suggesting new directions especially for the practice of catechesis. CONTENTS Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………….iv Abbreviations for Ecclesial Documents ……………………………………………………….vi Chapter I: Internet-Mediated Communication: The New Medium for Sharing the Faith?..1 Introduction: Pope Tells Priest to Blog in January 2010 Message………………………………..1 Ecclesial Documents on Social Communication………………………………………………….6 Inter Mirifica ………………………………………………………………………………6 Communio et Progressio ………………………………………………………………….8 Aetatis Novae ………………………………………………………………………….....11 The Church and Internet…………………………………………………………………14 Evangelization Documents ……………………………………………………………………...17 Evangelii Nuntiandi ……………………………………………………………………...17 Redemptoris Missio ………………………………………………………………………19 The Rapid Development…………………………………………………………………20 Socio-Cultural Observations of the Internet…………………………………………………….22 Statistical Data…………………………………………………………………………..23 Religion and Faith Online……………………………………………………………….25 Defining Internet-Mediated Communication……………………………………………………27 Web 1.0 to 2.0…………………………………………………………………………...27 Participatory Culture…………………………………………………………………….29 Conclusion: Evangelizing Church cannot miss this evolution in communication………………32 Chapter II: The Theology of Revelation………………………………………………………34 Introduction: Why the Theology of Revelation?...........................................................................34 Mapping the Theology of Revelation: “God Communicates Godself”………………………….38 Trinity……………………………………………………………………………………38 Incarnation……………………………………………………………………………….40 Logos……………………………………………………………………………………..41 Ways God ‘s Self-Communication………………………………………………………43 The Created Order ………………………………………………………………43 History and Prophetic Interpretation…………………………………………….44 Signs and Symbols……………………………………………………………….46 Miracles and Interior Illuminations…..………………………………………….46 Salvation History………………………………………………………………...48 Models of Revelation…………………………………………………………………….50 Overview of the Models………………………………………………………….52 Symbolic Communication……………………………………………………….55 “To Humankind:” The Reception and Transmission of Revelation.…………………………….58 The Human Faith Response………………………………………...................................58 The Deposit of Faith……………………………………………………………………..61 The Transmission of Revelation and Catechesis………………………………………...62 Conclusion: Theology of Revelation and Internet Mediated Communication…………………..64 Person and Content in Relationship……………………………………………………...64 Participatory Knowledge and Participatory Culture …………………………… …………...66 i Chapter III: Catechesis………………………………………………………………………...68 Introduction: Catechesis as Expression of Revelation…………………………………………..68 What is Catechesis?.......................................................................................................................69 A Moment in Evangelization ……………………………………………………………70 Catechesis as Ministry of the Word……………………………………………………...72 Catechesis and the Communal Body of Christ ………………………………………….73 The Challenge of Catechesis: Balancing the Relational and the Instructional…………..75 The Relational Dimension of the Catechetical Process………………………………………….78 A Caveat for Integrated Balance………………………………………………………...78 Relational/Communal Elements of Catechesis…………………………………………..79 A Suitable Catechesis …………………………………………………………...82 Liturgical Rites ………………………………………………………………….84 Life in Community………………………………………………………………85 Active Witness of Life……..……………………………………………………87 The Instructional Dimension of the Catechetical Process……………………………………….90 Role and Importance of Catechetical Instruction………………………………………..90 Content of Catechetical Instruction……………………………………………………...93 Conclusion: Toward a More Integrated Catechetical Ministry…………………………………..96 Chapter IV: The Internet as Social Web……………………………………………………...99 Introduction: White Bean Dip and the Emergence of the Social Web…………………………..99 The Interpersonal Dynamics of Internet-Mediated Communication…………………………...104 The Emergence of Online Communities………………………………………………..107 Control: Experiencing Time Online…………………………………………….110 Connecting: Anonymity and Identifiability in Self-Presentation………………112 Commitment: Risk and Responsibility in Online Relationships……………….115 Integrating Information with Relationship: Particular Examples of IMC……………………...122 Online Dating and Romances…………………………………………………………..122 Online Support Groups ………………………………………………………………...125 Online Education……………………………………………………………………….129 Conclusion: The Medium is the Message: The Internet as Social Network Gathered around Nodes of Information…………………………………………………………………………...134 Chapter V: What the Internet as Social Web Offers Revelation and Catechesis…………135 Introduction: Revisiting Pope2You.net………………………………………………………...135 The Medium is the Message……………………………………………………………………139 Jesus Christ as Medium and Message………………………………………………….140 Medium/Message as Model Revelation………………………………………………..143 Medium/Message Shaping Catechesis…………………………………………………148 Practical Implications of Participatory Culture for Catechesis…………………………………154