University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2013 Witnessing the Web: The Rhetoric of American E-Vangelism and Persuasion Online Amber M. Stamper University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Stamper, Amber M., "Witnessing the Web: The Rhetoric of American E-Vangelism and Persuasion Online" (2013). Theses and Dissertations--English. 3. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/3 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. 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Stamper, Student Dr. Roxanne Mountford, Major Professor Dr. Virginia Blum, Director of Graduate Studies WITNESSING THE WEB: THE RHETORIC OF AMERICAN E-VANGELISM AND PERSUASION ONLINE ____________________________________________________ DISSERTATION ____________________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Amber Michelle Stamper Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Roxanne Mountford, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky 2013 Copyright © Amber Michelle Stamper ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION WITNESSING THE WEB: THE RHETORIC OF AMERICAN E-VANGELISM AND PERSUASION ONLINE From the distribution of religious tracts at Ellis Island and Billy Sunday’s radio messages to televised recordings of the Billy Graham Crusade and Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, American evangelicals have long made a practice of utilizing mass media to spread the Gospel. Most recently, these Christian evangelists have gone online. As a contribution to scholarship in religious rhetoric and media studies, this dissertation offers evangelistic websites as a case study into the ways persuasion is carried out on the Internet. Through an analysis of digital texts—including several evangelical home pages, a chat room, discussion forums, and a virtual church—I investigate how conversion is encouraged via web design and virtual community as well as how the Internet medium impacts the theology and rhetorical strategies of web evangelists. I argue for “persuasive architecture” and “persuasive communities”—web design on the fundamental level of interface layout and tightly-controlled restrictions on discourse and community membership—as key components of this strategy. In addition, I argue that evangelical ideology has been influenced by the web medium and that a “digital reformation” is taking place in the church, one centered on a move away from the Prosperity Gospel of televangelism to a Gospel focused on God as divine problem-solver and salvation as an uncomplicated, individualized, and instantaneously-rewarding experience, mimicking Web 2.0 users’ desire for quick, timely, and effective answers to all queries. This study simultaneously illuminates the structural and fundamental levels of design through which the web persuades as well as how—as rhetoricians from Plato’s King Thamus to Marshall McLuhan have recognized—media inevitably shapes the message and culture of its users. KEY WORDS: Digital Rhetoric, Digital Evangelism, Internet Communication, Religious Rhetoric, Christianity Online Amber Michelle Stamper Student’s Signature April 22, 2013________ _______________ Date WITNESSING THE WEB: THE RHETORIC OF AMERICAN E-VANGELISM AND PERSUASION ONLINE By Amber Michelle Stamper Dr. Roxanne Mountford Director of Dissertation Dr. Virginia Blum Director of Graduate Studies April 22, 2013 For my inspiring and beloved husband Scott, For my endlessly-supportive Daddy-o, Mom, Alyssa, and Annika, And above all, For the honor and glory of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Without Whom nothing is possible TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ......................................................................................................................v Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Chapter Two: The Great Transmission of the Great Commission: Evangelical Mass Media in Context ................................................................................................................17 The Broadcast Revolution Part One: Radio Evangelism .......................................27 The Broadcast Revolution Part Two: Televangelism ............................................37 The Ideology of Media and Evangelism ................................................................47 Chapter Three: Website Evangelism and the Rhetoric of Digital Space ...........................49 Spatial Feature #1: Geography and the Rhetoric of the Interface ..........................59 Jesus 2020: Geography ..........................................................................................61 Peace with God: Geography ..................................................................................66 Journey Answers: Geography ................................................................................72 Spatial Feature #2: Navigation and the Rhetoric of Hyperlinks, Search, and Content Speed ........................................................................................................75 Jesus 2020: Navigation ..........................................................................................77 Peace with God: Navigation ..................................................................................83 Journey Answers: Navigation ................................................................................85 Spatial Feature #3: Inhabitants and the Rhetoric of Relationship Design .............88 Jesus 2020: Inhabitants ..........................................................................................90 Peace with God: Inhabitants ..................................................................................93 Journey Answers: Inhabitants ................................................................................97 Website Design as Space: Implications .................................................................99 Chapter Four: Ideology Online and the Unchanging Gospel ...........................................106 Jesus 2020 ............................................................................................................116 1. The Inherent Draw of the Gospel .....................................................................120 2. Active Faith ......................................................................................................124 3. Power of Space and the Role of the Holy Spirit ..............................................127 Peace with God ....................................................................................................130 1. Relationship and Community ..........................................................................131 Journey Answers ..................................................................................................141 1. Illness and Healing ...........................................................................................145 The Ideology of Design .......................................................................................147 Chapter Five: Persuasive Communities Online and the Changing Face of Evangelistic Outreach ...........................................................................................................................154 Talk Jesus: Bible Café .....................................................................................................167 Talk Jesus: Forums ..........................................................................................................175 LifeChurch.tv: Online Church ..........................................................................................186 A New Type of Cyberevangelism