TheoMedia:Is the Bible Media Savvy?

Andrew Byers

hopefulrealism.com | @Byers_Andy | #theomedia

Introduction

Preaching Ancient Texts in a 21st Century Digital Culture

The Book:

TheoMedia: The Media of God and the Digital Age Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013.

Key QuestionsIs the Bible media savvy?

Is Christian theology media competent?

Does the Bible need an ‘upgrade’?

Not an Upgrade...

But Hermeneutics

My Arguments1] God himself uses media, "TheoMedia"—means through which he reveals himself and communicates with us. And if God uses media, then there is a theological logic by which we can understand and use media today.

My Arguments1] God himself uses media, "TheoMedia"—means through which he reveals himself and communicates with us. And if God uses media, then there is a theological logic by which we can understand and use media today.

2] Christians are called to media saturation; but the primary media that are to saturate our lives are the media of God.

Defining “TheoMedia”

Means of divine communication or revelation Means by which God communicates or reveals himself

Foundations: Genesis 1–3

Creation as TheoMediaHumans and the Imago DeiThe Fall as Epic Communications Disaster

TheoMedia in the OTMultisensory TheoMedia

The Sights and Sounds of Israel’s God

Multisensory TheoMediain the OT

CreationHuman BeingsTheophanies as Media Events (Plagues, Sinai, etc.)Tabernacle / TempleMysterious Visitor / Strange Encounters“The Media of the Absurd”

TheoMedia in the OT

Verbal TheoMedia

The Words and Texts of Israel’s God

Verbal TheoMedia in the OT

The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4–5

Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God; the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might....”

Verbal TheoMedia in the OT

The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:6–7...and these words, that I command you today shall be on your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk about them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise....

Verbal TheoMedia in the OT

The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:8–9...You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Verbal TheoMediain the OT

The Conquest of Canaan as Media Displacement

Israel was called to media saturation; but the primary media that was to saturate their daily lives was the media of God’s words.

OT TheoMedia | Overview and Assessments

What can we say about the media of God in the OT?

How does God’s use of TheoMedia inform our understanding of digital culture?

OT TheoMedia | Overview and Assessments

In his communicative and revelatory activity, our God is a multimedia God. He appeals to the entire “sensorium”Word-media is often prioritized. Our most fundamental vocation as humans is a media vocation, that of divine image-bearing.

Media Christology

1] Jesus is the consummate TheoMedium, the ultimate revelation of God:

“The Word became flesh…. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son... who has made him known” (Jn 1:18).

Media Christology2] Jesus is the “Multimedium of God”:We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard... (1 Jn 1:1–3a).

Media ChristologyGospel | “Eucatastrophic” Newsflash

Incarnation | Christ as Ultimate TheoMedium

Crucifixion | The Sights and Sounds of God Crucified

Resurrection and Ascension | Physical Absence... yet the Holy Spirit’s Presence

Return | Apocalyptic Hermeneutics and the New Sensorium

Media Legacies of Christ

Gospel — Preaching Incarnation — Face to face; entering the digital environmentCrucifixion — Cross-Visuality; Eucharist; selfless online interactionResurrection — “Hopeful Realism”—hermeneutical lens; Baptism Ascension — Spiritual Gifts; Spiritual DisciplinesReturn — Seeing thru the News; Easing the tensions in the church’s sensory regimes

“EcclesioMedia” Focal Media Practices of the

Church

Church: The Primary Media Domain of GodBut do our 1st century media forms still work?Is the church in need of an upgrade?

Preaching in the 21st Century

Preaching is a media form externally sourced. It is the communication and revelation of God through the agency of a divine image-bearer.