Virtual Lives

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The astonishing new information technologies--computers, smart- phones, interactive television, and more--are fraught with moral ambiguity. They can enhance our friendships, extend our knowledge, and overcome barriers of time and distance. But they can also draw us into virtual lives that are careless, unreflective, and unguarded by our moral practices.

To see why mobile connectivity is both compelling and unsettling, Doug Henry distinguishes two ways of desiring information--curiositas and studiositas. Kevin Miller explores what we might learn from complex Amish attempts to use information technology in ways that preserve the meaningfulness of time and wholeness of community.

Robert Woods and Paul Patton provide guidelines for faithfully evaluating media technologies. Heidi Campbell and Paul Teusner review how the Internet is reshaping the authority of religious institutions. Cameron Moore employs C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien's theory of fantastic imagination to evaluate moral decision making within immersive fantasy video games.

Christian Reflection is an ideal resource for discipleship training in the church. Multiple copies are available for group study at $3.00 per copy.

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to examine how new information technologies can shape and misshape our discipleship. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.