TECHNOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS TRANSFORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: AN EXPLORATION OF THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CHRISTIANITY

Abstract

One of the phenomenological discourses in the scholarly field today is the impact of technology on society, particularly in the religious sector. The underlying motivation on the discourse centered on its impact on religion and the shift technology has brought to the contemporary world. This shift cuts across every aspect of life; economic, political, social, cultural and religion.  The approach adopted in writing this paper is descriptive and investigative. A review of the existing body of literature is done to elicit the position of scholars on the subject matter. The concern is if there is any relevance, effect, or impact of this shift in the religion circle. This paper will not wary away from the fact that technology has come to stay and over the time.  Therefore, this paper explores the impact of Technology in the 21^st century on religious transformation using social media and Christianity as its case study. It examined the relationship between the Church and social media. Findings through this research revealed that there are both positive and negative influences of technology and media on the church at large.  The research concludes that the world and the Church inclusive have been interacting with technology from the ages; musical instruments, public address system, computer system, communicating gadgest are examples of the technology. Obviously, it is a fact that technology has come to stay in its world, and it develops daily in society and Church activities in the recent times develop more on it. It therefore recommended that on the part of the church, there is need for explicit teaching on the use of media for members of the body of Christ. In like manner, there is need to discourage the abuse of media usage, and this can still be engendered through stern teaching. The work also recommended that efforts must be made to encourage youths today who have vast knowledge of media and technology.