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Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age
How the Habitat of Internet Technology Undermines Christian Wisdom With advancements in internet technology, people can get instant answers to just about any of their questions, connect long distance with family and friends, and stay informed with events around the world in real time. In Digital Liturgies , tech-realist Samuel D. James examines the connection between patterns in technology and human desires. Everyone longs for a glimpse of heaven; James argues they are just looking for it in the wrong place—the internet. This accessible book exposes 5 “digital liturgies” that prohibit people from contemplating big truths, accepting the uncomfortable, and acknowledging God as their Creator. It then calls readers to live faithfully before Christ, finding wisdom through Scripture and rest in God’s perfect design.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2023
191 people are currently reading
3472 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 355 reviews
September 14, 2023
Deep and important book. Our intuitions are far more internet-shaped than we assume.
March 25, 2024
Wow - outstanding.
I’m planning a Youth Group discussion tonight on the internet, social media (Goodreads, I’m looking at you!) - how to use and consume them wisely. I read this book over the course of the last week or so as preparation and background. Now I have the task of somehow synthesizing all of this into an hour - pray for me!
Two things I especially appreciate about this book:
First, James explores the power of the internet to shape us - not just its content, but the thing itself. I generally think of tools as neutral. It’s fascinating to consider how the form itself carries meaning, and muse on how this extends to other parts of my world.
Second, I appreciate that James doesn’t resort to a list of dos and don’ts. He doesn’t bind conscience, this isn’t a moralistic treatise. Instead, he introduces a thoughtful discussion of wisdom, and in his conclusion encourages habits of wisdom and above all, resting in Christ:
“In a world of rootless identity crisis, he reminds us that we belong to him, that we are created by and for him, and that he will wipe every tear from our eyes as we finally see the one face we have longed to see (Rev. 21). In a world of shame, he tells us that our record of debt is canceled, and that nothing can separate us from his love. In a world of lust, he offers his own broken body in the place of our defiled body (Luke 22:19). The digital liturgies that captivate so easily wither in the light of who our wisdom really is and how much he has done, is doing, and will do for us.” (180)
I’m planning a Youth Group discussion tonight on the internet, social media (Goodreads, I’m looking at you!) - how to use and consume them wisely. I read this book over the course of the last week or so as preparation and background. Now I have the task of somehow synthesizing all of this into an hour - pray for me!
Two things I especially appreciate about this book:
First, James explores the power of the internet to shape us - not just its content, but the thing itself. I generally think of tools as neutral. It’s fascinating to consider how the form itself carries meaning, and muse on how this extends to other parts of my world.
Second, I appreciate that James doesn’t resort to a list of dos and don’ts. He doesn’t bind conscience, this isn’t a moralistic treatise. Instead, he introduces a thoughtful discussion of wisdom, and in his conclusion encourages habits of wisdom and above all, resting in Christ:
“In a world of rootless identity crisis, he reminds us that we belong to him, that we are created by and for him, and that he will wipe every tear from our eyes as we finally see the one face we have longed to see (Rev. 21). In a world of shame, he tells us that our record of debt is canceled, and that nothing can separate us from his love. In a world of lust, he offers his own broken body in the place of our defiled body (Luke 22:19). The digital liturgies that captivate so easily wither in the light of who our wisdom really is and how much he has done, is doing, and will do for us.” (180)
March 12, 2024
I really enjoyed this. Christians should be aware, not just of the content we consume online, but of the fact that the Internet is re-shaping our mental pathways and habits—our phones mark the liturgies of our days.
The author points out that new technology has always reshaped the world around it, as in the case of the printing press, the train and then the plane, the television and now the smartphone. He compares our social media era to pornography, a kind of consumption distanced from involvement that has left our generation in a state of excess, with access to everything, yet more lonely and detached than before.
The call here is not to run from phones or the Internet, but to recognize how deeply our mindsets are affected when we build our habits around these liturgies of the Internet, social media, and our phones instead of the practices and mindset of Christ. PHEW.
The author points out that new technology has always reshaped the world around it, as in the case of the printing press, the train and then the plane, the television and now the smartphone. He compares our social media era to pornography, a kind of consumption distanced from involvement that has left our generation in a state of excess, with access to everything, yet more lonely and detached than before.
The call here is not to run from phones or the Internet, but to recognize how deeply our mindsets are affected when we build our habits around these liturgies of the Internet, social media, and our phones instead of the practices and mindset of Christ. PHEW.
February 28, 2024
Technology is changing us, and James rightly identifies how it is doing so. I think that this may be an important for Christians as they navigate the digital waters. Older Christians may find this to be a valuable resource as they interact with younger Christians who are shaped by technology.
May 11, 2024
Great book. I recommend it along with The Shallows; God, Technology, and the Bible; and 12 ways Your Phone is Changing You
September 5, 2023
Insightful. My “review” this time will consist of the questions I wrote up for an interview I’m doing with the author:
My guest today on Logos Live is the only writer whose Substack I actually pay for personally. He’s an editor for Crossway and someone who writes with perception and aplomb. I was very much interested when I heard that he’d written a book on digital technology and its effects on the Christian. This author is Samuel James, and his book is *Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age*.
Welcome, Samuel.
Samuel, you cite Jamie Smith’s work on cultural liturgies, and I remember well his example of the liturgy of the mall: the way the mall is structured is meant to shape us in ways that will make us more consistent shoppers. That, though, was his one strong example, and I thereafter found limited utility in the concept. You have added a new liturgy, another strong example. For that I am grateful. Can you describe this liturgy to us? What is a “digital liturgy”?
You wrote: “Rather than being a neutral tool, the internet (particularly the social internet) is an epistemological environment.” Could you explain this line a little for our viewers?
You wrote, “The nature of online (30) presence itself powerfully reinforces the sense that we are not our bodies, that we have total control over our identity and our story, and that any threat to this feeling can and ought to be ‘deleted’ so that we don’t have to put up with it.” (31) What are the Bible passages you’d arrange against that viewpoint?
I have to ask you a few harder questions, but I’m going to point them to some degree at myself as well. You sound so, so much like me. You recognize some of the harmful effects of digital liturgies, especially in the online world, and you cut yourself off from the worst of them, such as Twitter/X. I, too, just can’t bring myself to throw my energy into that horrific world—though I’m glad some Christians do. But here’s the thing: I gather we’ve both been reading Nicolas Carr and Neil Postman for a long time, and yet we’re still online. So here’s the hard question: what do you really, practically, do differently than most of your imagined readers when it comes to technology?
You wrote that because of your online life, “Conversation is harder, reading is much more of a slog, and mental busyness is so alluring I almost feel restless when I’m not distracted.” (47) You and I are similar ages, though I think I’m a tiny bit older. You and I appear to have read some of the same media ecologists at the same time. I read “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in 2008. I have watched myself for 15 years for signs that what he said would come true of me. Only I think I already found it difficult to really, really concentrate on a book long before the internet made me stupid. How certain are you of your own read of your experience? I’m not doubting you: I’m genuinely asking.
Ok, I challenged you a bit—but not because I’m certain I know the right answer. Now I want to express deep agreement with you about two “characters” in your book: Dean and Erica. Dean the leftist evangelical and Erica the rightist evangelical. It does seem to be incontrovertible to me that the internet in general and social media in particular have brought something into and then out of these folks that isn’t good for them or for the church. Talk to us about Dean and Erica.
One of the best paragraphs in the book for me was this: “Not long ago I read a discussion online about whether “civility” was really a virtue we should pursue. While there were some insightful questions about how injustice might be hidden behind norms of discourse, I came away from the conversation with the unshakable sense that this was a very internet thing to talk about. On the computer, “civility” may be a mere abstraction, a philosophical principle that can be interrogated and perhaps jettisoned. But offline, in the physical world of work, family, church, and neigh- borhood, “civility” is simply what’s required to live among other people. Offline, if you open the door to someone else’s house, enter her living room, and start yelling at her, you may be arrested, and few people would feel sorry for you. But on the internet, starting arguments with total strangers, for no apparent reason, is normal. In fact, we almost expect it. It’s nearly impossible to overstate how fundamentally the disembodied nature of the web has recalibrated our sense of what is good and normal.” This struck me as so deeply true. Again I ask: what Bible statements come to your mind as a helpful corrective for this common problem?
If there’s one thing that gets talked about in time to come about your book—and all writers are lucky to have that one thing—I think it might be your observation about the porn-shape that the web has: “Porn and the web go together so efficiently precisely because they are both instruments of commodification, a way to turn the most intimate or even most elementary stuff of human life into consumable content.” (137) Can you fill out what you mean there?
I’m asking you the hard questions today, because inquiring minds need to know what to do. Despite the porn-shapedness of the web, at the end of the book you don’t call for Christian withdrawal from the online world. You instead acknowledge that Pandora’s unlikely to go willingly back into her box, and that many jobs, including mine, “require large amounts of time spent online.” Do you really believe it’s possible to cultivate Christian wisdom in a medium that is porn-shaped?
I did wonder if Bible software was going to make a cameo appearance. I invited you to Logos Live before I read the book, though, because I knew that even if you were critical of Bible software, you’d be thoughtful. But it didn’t come up that I noticed. Let me ask you, finally: I read John Dyer’s The People of the Screen, a kind of ethnographic history of evangelical use of Bible software. He had a hard time, I think, coming up with statistically significant and meaningful differences between digital Bible use and paper Bible use. Would you expect such a difference? What path might you go down to interrogate this question?
Samuel James’ brand new book, with Crossway, is Digital Liturgies. Pick it up in Logos or wherever fine books are sold. Check him out at Substack and at TGC, World Opinions, and other venues. Thank you, Samuel, for joining us today on Logos Live.
My guest today on Logos Live is the only writer whose Substack I actually pay for personally. He’s an editor for Crossway and someone who writes with perception and aplomb. I was very much interested when I heard that he’d written a book on digital technology and its effects on the Christian. This author is Samuel James, and his book is *Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age*.
Welcome, Samuel.
Samuel, you cite Jamie Smith’s work on cultural liturgies, and I remember well his example of the liturgy of the mall: the way the mall is structured is meant to shape us in ways that will make us more consistent shoppers. That, though, was his one strong example, and I thereafter found limited utility in the concept. You have added a new liturgy, another strong example. For that I am grateful. Can you describe this liturgy to us? What is a “digital liturgy”?
You wrote: “Rather than being a neutral tool, the internet (particularly the social internet) is an epistemological environment.” Could you explain this line a little for our viewers?
You wrote, “The nature of online (30) presence itself powerfully reinforces the sense that we are not our bodies, that we have total control over our identity and our story, and that any threat to this feeling can and ought to be ‘deleted’ so that we don’t have to put up with it.” (31) What are the Bible passages you’d arrange against that viewpoint?
I have to ask you a few harder questions, but I’m going to point them to some degree at myself as well. You sound so, so much like me. You recognize some of the harmful effects of digital liturgies, especially in the online world, and you cut yourself off from the worst of them, such as Twitter/X. I, too, just can’t bring myself to throw my energy into that horrific world—though I’m glad some Christians do. But here’s the thing: I gather we’ve both been reading Nicolas Carr and Neil Postman for a long time, and yet we’re still online. So here’s the hard question: what do you really, practically, do differently than most of your imagined readers when it comes to technology?
You wrote that because of your online life, “Conversation is harder, reading is much more of a slog, and mental busyness is so alluring I almost feel restless when I’m not distracted.” (47) You and I are similar ages, though I think I’m a tiny bit older. You and I appear to have read some of the same media ecologists at the same time. I read “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in 2008. I have watched myself for 15 years for signs that what he said would come true of me. Only I think I already found it difficult to really, really concentrate on a book long before the internet made me stupid. How certain are you of your own read of your experience? I’m not doubting you: I’m genuinely asking.
Ok, I challenged you a bit—but not because I’m certain I know the right answer. Now I want to express deep agreement with you about two “characters” in your book: Dean and Erica. Dean the leftist evangelical and Erica the rightist evangelical. It does seem to be incontrovertible to me that the internet in general and social media in particular have brought something into and then out of these folks that isn’t good for them or for the church. Talk to us about Dean and Erica.
One of the best paragraphs in the book for me was this: “Not long ago I read a discussion online about whether “civility” was really a virtue we should pursue. While there were some insightful questions about how injustice might be hidden behind norms of discourse, I came away from the conversation with the unshakable sense that this was a very internet thing to talk about. On the computer, “civility” may be a mere abstraction, a philosophical principle that can be interrogated and perhaps jettisoned. But offline, in the physical world of work, family, church, and neigh- borhood, “civility” is simply what’s required to live among other people. Offline, if you open the door to someone else’s house, enter her living room, and start yelling at her, you may be arrested, and few people would feel sorry for you. But on the internet, starting arguments with total strangers, for no apparent reason, is normal. In fact, we almost expect it. It’s nearly impossible to overstate how fundamentally the disembodied nature of the web has recalibrated our sense of what is good and normal.” This struck me as so deeply true. Again I ask: what Bible statements come to your mind as a helpful corrective for this common problem?
If there’s one thing that gets talked about in time to come about your book—and all writers are lucky to have that one thing—I think it might be your observation about the porn-shape that the web has: “Porn and the web go together so efficiently precisely because they are both instruments of commodification, a way to turn the most intimate or even most elementary stuff of human life into consumable content.” (137) Can you fill out what you mean there?
I’m asking you the hard questions today, because inquiring minds need to know what to do. Despite the porn-shapedness of the web, at the end of the book you don’t call for Christian withdrawal from the online world. You instead acknowledge that Pandora’s unlikely to go willingly back into her box, and that many jobs, including mine, “require large amounts of time spent online.” Do you really believe it’s possible to cultivate Christian wisdom in a medium that is porn-shaped?
I did wonder if Bible software was going to make a cameo appearance. I invited you to Logos Live before I read the book, though, because I knew that even if you were critical of Bible software, you’d be thoughtful. But it didn’t come up that I noticed. Let me ask you, finally: I read John Dyer’s The People of the Screen, a kind of ethnographic history of evangelical use of Bible software. He had a hard time, I think, coming up with statistically significant and meaningful differences between digital Bible use and paper Bible use. Would you expect such a difference? What path might you go down to interrogate this question?
Samuel James’ brand new book, with Crossway, is Digital Liturgies. Pick it up in Logos or wherever fine books are sold. Check him out at Substack and at TGC, World Opinions, and other venues. Thank you, Samuel, for joining us today on Logos Live.
June 23, 2023
“Rather than drawing quick conclusions, Christian thinking seeks out the other half of the story.”
Digital media is not neutral; “You are what you scroll.” In a world dominated by the misconception that digital media is neutral, it's easy to overlook how it profoundly shapes our emotions, values, and worldview. But in “Digital Liturgies,” my good friend Samuel James masterfully reveals the immersive effect of digital technology on our lives and the ideologies it brings along. I couldn't be prouder to see his insightful analysis and thought-provoking perspective come to life in this book.
At the book's onset, Samuel tackles the notion of "expressive individualism," the belief that personal desires and ambitions should take precedence. He shows how it has become the “secular creed” of our time. He uncovers the hidden influence of digital technology and how it aligns with this ideology, subtly shaping our lives without us even realizing it.
What sets this book apart is it's humble (Samuel often shares his need for growth) call to contemplation and a deeper connection with God. James exposes five "digital liturgies" that hinder our pursuit of truth and prevent us from acknowledging God as our Creator.
Digital Liturgy #1: Authenticity
Digital Liturgy #2: Outrage
Digital Liturgy #3: Shame
Digital Liturgy #4: Consumption
Digital Liturgy #5: Meaninglessness
He then presents a compelling case for finding wisdom and rest in Scripture and living faithfully in an internet-saturated world.
“Digital Liturgies” is a must-read for anyone interested in technology and culture. It provides a biblical lens through which to view the internet and technology, allowing readers to navigate these realms with wisdom and discernment. James's tech-realist perspective (a perspective defined by continuous critical examination of how technologies help and inhibit human flourishing) challenges us to reevaluate our relationship with digital tools and assess their impact on our faith and lives. He calls us to contrast our “digital habitats” with “biblical wisdom” to reorient us from the diluted beliefs and attitudes we tend to form online.
Prepare to be enlightened, inspired, and sometimes convicted as Samuel unveils the deeper realities of our online existence. Dive into “Digital Liturgies” and discover a profound understanding of how to live faithfully for Christ in a technology-driven world. It's a book that will leave a lasting impact on your perspective and empower you to seek true fulfillment beyond the confines of the digital public square.
Digital media is not neutral; “You are what you scroll.” In a world dominated by the misconception that digital media is neutral, it's easy to overlook how it profoundly shapes our emotions, values, and worldview. But in “Digital Liturgies,” my good friend Samuel James masterfully reveals the immersive effect of digital technology on our lives and the ideologies it brings along. I couldn't be prouder to see his insightful analysis and thought-provoking perspective come to life in this book.
At the book's onset, Samuel tackles the notion of "expressive individualism," the belief that personal desires and ambitions should take precedence. He shows how it has become the “secular creed” of our time. He uncovers the hidden influence of digital technology and how it aligns with this ideology, subtly shaping our lives without us even realizing it.
What sets this book apart is it's humble (Samuel often shares his need for growth) call to contemplation and a deeper connection with God. James exposes five "digital liturgies" that hinder our pursuit of truth and prevent us from acknowledging God as our Creator.
Digital Liturgy #1: Authenticity
Digital Liturgy #2: Outrage
Digital Liturgy #3: Shame
Digital Liturgy #4: Consumption
Digital Liturgy #5: Meaninglessness
He then presents a compelling case for finding wisdom and rest in Scripture and living faithfully in an internet-saturated world.
“Digital Liturgies” is a must-read for anyone interested in technology and culture. It provides a biblical lens through which to view the internet and technology, allowing readers to navigate these realms with wisdom and discernment. James's tech-realist perspective (a perspective defined by continuous critical examination of how technologies help and inhibit human flourishing) challenges us to reevaluate our relationship with digital tools and assess their impact on our faith and lives. He calls us to contrast our “digital habitats” with “biblical wisdom” to reorient us from the diluted beliefs and attitudes we tend to form online.
Prepare to be enlightened, inspired, and sometimes convicted as Samuel unveils the deeper realities of our online existence. Dive into “Digital Liturgies” and discover a profound understanding of how to live faithfully for Christ in a technology-driven world. It's a book that will leave a lasting impact on your perspective and empower you to seek true fulfillment beyond the confines of the digital public square.
September 27, 2024
This is a great book but warning, it has a lot to digest. I went back and forth between the physical book and audio, and I definitely recommend the physical book option as there is much to process.
Some things I took from this book: 1. We were made to connect with other people, in person not through the Internet. 2. Our lives in this day and age tend to revolve around technology, so we must actively examine the ways the we consume and react to it. 3. Do I put my phone, social media/media in general, or the internet above all other things including God? Even subconsciously?
Some things I took from this book: 1. We were made to connect with other people, in person not through the Internet. 2. Our lives in this day and age tend to revolve around technology, so we must actively examine the ways the we consume and react to it. 3. Do I put my phone, social media/media in general, or the internet above all other things including God? Even subconsciously?
May 24, 2025
A good addition to the growing body of evangelical literature on digital resistance and habit formation, although some difference of opinion might come from growing up millennial (the author) vs Gen Z (me). The book is primarily a digital diagnostic for how we're being formed, and it's quite accurate on that account! A helpful book.
January 19, 2025
After a brief theological introduction, then the author engages 5 common digital "liturgies": Authenticity, Outrage, Shame, Consumption, and Meaninglessness".
Although the author talks about the impossibility of going completely off the grid and rather engaging in a more productive way, so much of this research leads me to desire a more technology-lite life.
Fascinating Ideas:
1. The internet is not just full of pornography, it is "pornography-shaped" in its form. The nature of the internet itself shapes us into the spirit of the age, giving a god-like freedom to pursue any fantasy we wish.
2. Certain technologies have had unintended negative side-effects that we don't think about: Timekeeping technology, Central heating (families no longer had to share common spaces to keep warm), the automobile (with freedom also came the fragmentation of lives and wandering from place to place without community), hyperlinks (rabbit holes of endless information rather than focusing on one specific article), and customer reviews (self-expression that cannot be challenged).
Favorite Quotes:
"Instead of being a diversion that I stowed away in the corner for occasional use during the doldrums of offline life, my online activity became the most consistent, the most regular, the most habitual thing about me" (2).
"What if the issue is not that we aren't making the internet more humane; it's that the internet is making us less so?" (3).
"The tendency among Christians has been to focus on what the internet provides instead of what it is" (8).
"Christian wisdom is about living a life that responds correctly to reality" (20).
"As much as we might tell ourselves that we go to the internet and social media to be plugged into what's going on in the world, many times we're logging on to escape it" (35).
The internet is "an interruption system, a machine geared for dividing attention" -Nicholas Carr (61).
"The reality is that the default in much of Western culture is to rely on internet technology to fill the gaps in our minds and hearts" (63).
"The form of the internet, the very nature of it, serves the centering of the self" (77).
"The center of gravity in the online world is your profile, in which you are granted a near-godlike ability to craft an identity" (79).
"Nearly every case study Shrier describes of a young girl suddenly and totally unexpectedly identifying as a boy includes the girl's immersion into online subcultures that encourage her to identify as trans" (83).
"The power of limitless freedom and options does not seem to unleash our creative self-expression as much as it seems to make us wish someone else would think about life on our behalf" (86).
"The net effect of TV's transformation on public discourse was... to always expect frivolity and resist sobriety, to need noise and flee from silence" (96).
"In many communities, churches are some of the only physical centers of human gathering left" (110).
"One way of fighting [lust and pornography] was simply to get out of the dark places--get out of the lonely rooms. Get out of the boxed-in places. Get out of the places were it is just small... and get to where I am just surrounded by color and beauty and bigness and loveliness" -John Piper (147).
"The threat is to our souls. At this rate, if the noise does not relent, we might even forget we have any" -Andrew Sullivan (153).
"The web is a promise that we can be more than we are, do more than we can, and feel more than is near us," but that longing is only to be fulfilled in heaven. (180)
Although the author talks about the impossibility of going completely off the grid and rather engaging in a more productive way, so much of this research leads me to desire a more technology-lite life.
Fascinating Ideas:
1. The internet is not just full of pornography, it is "pornography-shaped" in its form. The nature of the internet itself shapes us into the spirit of the age, giving a god-like freedom to pursue any fantasy we wish.
2. Certain technologies have had unintended negative side-effects that we don't think about: Timekeeping technology, Central heating (families no longer had to share common spaces to keep warm), the automobile (with freedom also came the fragmentation of lives and wandering from place to place without community), hyperlinks (rabbit holes of endless information rather than focusing on one specific article), and customer reviews (self-expression that cannot be challenged).
Favorite Quotes:
"Instead of being a diversion that I stowed away in the corner for occasional use during the doldrums of offline life, my online activity became the most consistent, the most regular, the most habitual thing about me" (2).
"What if the issue is not that we aren't making the internet more humane; it's that the internet is making us less so?" (3).
"The tendency among Christians has been to focus on what the internet provides instead of what it is" (8).
"Christian wisdom is about living a life that responds correctly to reality" (20).
"As much as we might tell ourselves that we go to the internet and social media to be plugged into what's going on in the world, many times we're logging on to escape it" (35).
The internet is "an interruption system, a machine geared for dividing attention" -Nicholas Carr (61).
"The reality is that the default in much of Western culture is to rely on internet technology to fill the gaps in our minds and hearts" (63).
"The form of the internet, the very nature of it, serves the centering of the self" (77).
"The center of gravity in the online world is your profile, in which you are granted a near-godlike ability to craft an identity" (79).
"Nearly every case study Shrier describes of a young girl suddenly and totally unexpectedly identifying as a boy includes the girl's immersion into online subcultures that encourage her to identify as trans" (83).
"The power of limitless freedom and options does not seem to unleash our creative self-expression as much as it seems to make us wish someone else would think about life on our behalf" (86).
"The net effect of TV's transformation on public discourse was... to always expect frivolity and resist sobriety, to need noise and flee from silence" (96).
"In many communities, churches are some of the only physical centers of human gathering left" (110).
"One way of fighting [lust and pornography] was simply to get out of the dark places--get out of the lonely rooms. Get out of the boxed-in places. Get out of the places were it is just small... and get to where I am just surrounded by color and beauty and bigness and loveliness" -John Piper (147).
"The threat is to our souls. At this rate, if the noise does not relent, we might even forget we have any" -Andrew Sullivan (153).
"The web is a promise that we can be more than we are, do more than we can, and feel more than is near us," but that longing is only to be fulfilled in heaven. (180)
May 16, 2024
This one took me quite a while because of its density. I really needed to chew on what he was saying, and as with most books about technology, a lot of it is uncomfortable to sit with.
“Our addiction to distraction and our struggle against discontentment are both really expressions of the fact that our devices have made us feel elsewhere than where we really are. We are split in two, dividing our attention and our lives. And in our quietest, most honest moments, we know the day-in, day-out burden of living this way is not sustainable. It’s not what we’re meant for.”
Samuel offers the hope of Jesus in a gentle, yet mighty way and it left me feeling convicted, yet hopeful.
“Our addiction to distraction and our struggle against discontentment are both really expressions of the fact that our devices have made us feel elsewhere than where we really are. We are split in two, dividing our attention and our lives. And in our quietest, most honest moments, we know the day-in, day-out burden of living this way is not sustainable. It’s not what we’re meant for.”
Samuel offers the hope of Jesus in a gentle, yet mighty way and it left me feeling convicted, yet hopeful.
March 14, 2024
Insightful at times, imprecise at others, this is overall a helpful book.
November 3, 2024
Samuel James is one of the wisest and most incisive Christian writers today.
February 6, 2025
A well written, necessary book that recognizes the issue is not that we just need to be more disciplined or manage our screen time better, but that the internet is fundamentally changing how we live and move and have our being.
To be honest I didn’t finish the entire book because I found it incredibly boring. But perhaps if I were to pick it up in a different season of life I would feel differently.
To be honest I didn’t finish the entire book because I found it incredibly boring. But perhaps if I were to pick it up in a different season of life I would feel differently.
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August 19, 2023Available from Crossway right now https://www.crossway.org/books/digita.... Pre order from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Liturg...
February 11, 2025
Will change the way you view and interact with technology. This book just improved my quality of life, no exaggeration.
October 14, 2023
This is my 19th book I have read this year and the most meaningful. Why? Because I did two things with intention this year: I started to read the Bible chronologically and I fasted all my social media accounts. I did the latter to make time for my Scripture reading but soon I felt this undeniable reality that God wanted to reveal to me how both were connected. But how?
Digital Liturgies made that connection for me. My endless scrolling and time wasted on social media had changed me in profound ways. Samuel James digs into the deeper questions of how technology shapes us but he hits a home run with the aspect of Christian wisdom. I needed a reset button-time away-from a digital addiction that was not only interrupting my time with God, but it was chipping away at biblical wisdom in my life.
His balanced approach to how we remedy the digital age with our Christian walk is refreshing. While not everyone will be called to digitally fast (like me), James makes a good argument to at least contemplate how digital liturgies negatively effect us. I think everyone, especially followers of Christ, can benefit from that observation. I certainly have!
Digital Liturgies made that connection for me. My endless scrolling and time wasted on social media had changed me in profound ways. Samuel James digs into the deeper questions of how technology shapes us but he hits a home run with the aspect of Christian wisdom. I needed a reset button-time away-from a digital addiction that was not only interrupting my time with God, but it was chipping away at biblical wisdom in my life.
His balanced approach to how we remedy the digital age with our Christian walk is refreshing. While not everyone will be called to digitally fast (like me), James makes a good argument to at least contemplate how digital liturgies negatively effect us. I think everyone, especially followers of Christ, can benefit from that observation. I certainly have!
July 30, 2024
An insightful look into the ways that the digital medium, and not just the content it delivers, shapes us.
2nd read: still insightful and a refreshing opinion in contrast to arguments that focus only on the content of digital technology (i.e. digital entertainment is bad)
2nd read: still insightful and a refreshing opinion in contrast to arguments that focus only on the content of digital technology (i.e. digital entertainment is bad)
January 19, 2025
[Thank you to @crosswaybooks for my gifted copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.]
“When we put the digital liturgies of our age up against the analog truth of the gospel, we see just how flimsy, how untrue, and how unsatisfying the spirit of the web age really is.”
“Our immersion in the world’s liturgies is not the deciding factor of our faithfulness to or love of Jesus. Rather, by identifying how the web shapes us, we can use these technologies more deliberately, more wisely, and more Christianly. To be in the world is not necessarily to be of the world.”
This book is phenomenal. Very well-written. Very insightful.
I think it’s safe to say that most Christians are aware of at least some of the dangers of technology. Christians also tend to have a lot to say about which things to avoid entertaining when using technology. However, the Christian focus on content overlooks the mode. It’s not just content available through technology that has the power to impact and change us but the technology itself. Samuel James discusses where technology began, where it’s going, and how it’s changing us, whether we realize it or not.
This book is divided into two parts. The first: “Truth and Technology,” which deals with how technology shapes individuals, as well as what technology means for our spiritual lives. The second is titled “Engaging the Digital Liturgies,” which covers five secular liturgies that the web immerses users in, the impact they have, and how to be a faithful Christian internet user amidst it all.
This book covers so many important ways that technology impacts all of us and teaches wisdom in navigating our tech-saturated world as Christians.
I would highly recommend this title. I would also like to add that this would be an incredible book to share with any of the teens in your life!
“When we put the digital liturgies of our age up against the analog truth of the gospel, we see just how flimsy, how untrue, and how unsatisfying the spirit of the web age really is.”
“Our immersion in the world’s liturgies is not the deciding factor of our faithfulness to or love of Jesus. Rather, by identifying how the web shapes us, we can use these technologies more deliberately, more wisely, and more Christianly. To be in the world is not necessarily to be of the world.”
This book is phenomenal. Very well-written. Very insightful.
I think it’s safe to say that most Christians are aware of at least some of the dangers of technology. Christians also tend to have a lot to say about which things to avoid entertaining when using technology. However, the Christian focus on content overlooks the mode. It’s not just content available through technology that has the power to impact and change us but the technology itself. Samuel James discusses where technology began, where it’s going, and how it’s changing us, whether we realize it or not.
This book is divided into two parts. The first: “Truth and Technology,” which deals with how technology shapes individuals, as well as what technology means for our spiritual lives. The second is titled “Engaging the Digital Liturgies,” which covers five secular liturgies that the web immerses users in, the impact they have, and how to be a faithful Christian internet user amidst it all.
This book covers so many important ways that technology impacts all of us and teaches wisdom in navigating our tech-saturated world as Christians.
I would highly recommend this title. I would also like to add that this would be an incredible book to share with any of the teens in your life!
September 23, 2025
Digital Liturgies put to words a lot of the struggles that I have experienced with my internet usage. My early childhood was not marked by personal computers or smartphones, but as I have aged, they have become an integral part of business and of many people’s lives, including my own. The first half of this book describes how life has changed as the internet has become more ingrained in culture. The general population’s impulse control, concentration, and thoughtfulness have decreased while anxiety, loneliness, and dissatisfaction have increased. These are some of the more indirect effects that the internet has had on modern society, but I have also seen these to be true for individuals in my life and for myself.
The second half of the book outlines habits, beliefs, and desires that our internet time is propagating, and he names these as “digital liturgies. He mentions authenticity, outrage, shame, consumption, and meaninglessness as the primary ways that the internet is shaping us right now. I have seen these as accurate ways that the internet is molding society, and I found authenticity and meaninglessness are the primary ways that I am being shaped. I have repeatedly fallen into the trap that expressive individualism will make my life better, and I have had to deal with both confusion and exhaustion until I am reminded that understanding myself is not my chief end in life. I felt liberated by the author’s words that my vocation, relationships, and experiences matter because of their relation to Christ and not just to myself. I do not have to craft an identity for myself because God has already given me one: a child of God. The liturgy of meaninglessness has also been an ensnaring trap for me. I have frequently lived with distraction and discontentment, and have had other people have to point it out for me to even notice it. Every time I doom scroll or waste time on the internet, I choose shallowness and distraction over deep and rooted relationships and thoughtfulness. I found his discussion of Philippians 4:8 to be extremely helpful. I also enjoyed his “antispam” from Psalm 23 that illustrates just how I have really felt at times, but how these feelings are contrary to the promises of God.
The author concludes that while these technologies are new, the problems that arise from using them are not. The web promises only what Christ can deliver. Only through Jesus can we have true wisdom, true relationship, and true satisfaction. Since reading this book, I plan to have dedicated time each day that I consciously disengage from the internet and to intentionally pursue the Lord and others without using my phone.
The second half of the book outlines habits, beliefs, and desires that our internet time is propagating, and he names these as “digital liturgies. He mentions authenticity, outrage, shame, consumption, and meaninglessness as the primary ways that the internet is shaping us right now. I have seen these as accurate ways that the internet is molding society, and I found authenticity and meaninglessness are the primary ways that I am being shaped. I have repeatedly fallen into the trap that expressive individualism will make my life better, and I have had to deal with both confusion and exhaustion until I am reminded that understanding myself is not my chief end in life. I felt liberated by the author’s words that my vocation, relationships, and experiences matter because of their relation to Christ and not just to myself. I do not have to craft an identity for myself because God has already given me one: a child of God. The liturgy of meaninglessness has also been an ensnaring trap for me. I have frequently lived with distraction and discontentment, and have had other people have to point it out for me to even notice it. Every time I doom scroll or waste time on the internet, I choose shallowness and distraction over deep and rooted relationships and thoughtfulness. I found his discussion of Philippians 4:8 to be extremely helpful. I also enjoyed his “antispam” from Psalm 23 that illustrates just how I have really felt at times, but how these feelings are contrary to the promises of God.
The author concludes that while these technologies are new, the problems that arise from using them are not. The web promises only what Christ can deliver. Only through Jesus can we have true wisdom, true relationship, and true satisfaction. Since reading this book, I plan to have dedicated time each day that I consciously disengage from the internet and to intentionally pursue the Lord and others without using my phone.
April 15, 2024
This book was so eye opening to the ways that the internet/social media has changed our culture. I love the point that he makes in chapter 4 & 8 that social media has made our culture more discontent than ever before. We continually long for a better house, job, vacation, body, clothes, etc. because it promises the good life. This was a great reminder that the content and peaceful life we are actually longing for is only found in God’s kingdom. Continual scrolling has led to more depression than ever before and this book made me see why. The cycles of shame/guilt teens and young adults experience over the internet is effecting them more than I thought. I really recommend reading this book and looking into this topic!
November 23, 2024
This was really good and better than I expected. I was prepared for a lot of sermonizing and poo pooing the web and digital devices for their harmful effects and how we need to delete all our apps to tame our smartphone addiction, etc…
Actually, James’ book was quite profound and there were several big “aha” moments for me that go beyond the surface of just citing studies and anecdotes that demonstrate the harmful effects of screens, etc…He really understands what digital technology has done to us on a deep level and though I personally will want to make some changes, he doesn’t try to take us back to some pre-smartphone era. Digital technologies are here and will continue to change. How will we proceed with wisdom?
Actually, James’ book was quite profound and there were several big “aha” moments for me that go beyond the surface of just citing studies and anecdotes that demonstrate the harmful effects of screens, etc…He really understands what digital technology has done to us on a deep level and though I personally will want to make some changes, he doesn’t try to take us back to some pre-smartphone era. Digital technologies are here and will continue to change. How will we proceed with wisdom?
April 2, 2024
Clear and challenging insights on the effect of the internet as a world-view shaping medium. A key point made is that the internet itself is shaping our hearts and minds, which should help us do more than simply categorise the good, bad or trivial 'content' (James points out how unusual this word is) which is on the internet. I found the points about how the gospel gives us a better narrative very encouraging.
Many of the observations about social media outrage, twitter shaming etc are nothing too new, but the arguments are put forward well and with pastoral clarity. Better to read these observations together as part of a slowly building argument than in half a dozen articles.
A bit like a sermon without quite enough application, the book falls a bit flat at the end, as after all the explorations, there is not much practical, positive advice to help us navigate the digital world wisely. But it's still a well written book with many valuable insights.
Many of the observations about social media outrage, twitter shaming etc are nothing too new, but the arguments are put forward well and with pastoral clarity. Better to read these observations together as part of a slowly building argument than in half a dozen articles.
A bit like a sermon without quite enough application, the book falls a bit flat at the end, as after all the explorations, there is not much practical, positive advice to help us navigate the digital world wisely. But it's still a well written book with many valuable insights.
August 26, 2024
This was brilliant and I've lost count of how many times I've brought this book up in conversations.
The internet is shaping our minds, instinct, and thought in very nuanced ways.
(I also have to reflect on the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook book while driving because I don't drive in silence)
The internet is shaping our minds, instinct, and thought in very nuanced ways.
(I also have to reflect on the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook book while driving because I don't drive in silence)
October 27, 2025
Pretty much what I expected. We’re distracted and need Jesus.
I looked for a banger quote but all the best quotes were just him quoting other people
I looked for a banger quote but all the best quotes were just him quoting other people
February 9, 2025
James writes about social media in a way that's not reactionary but rather helpful and insightful.
February 16, 2025
Really solid book from Sam James on Christian Wisdom and how it relates to technology. He is very clear that he doesn’t think abandoning technology is the answer for Christians but definitely gives some good things for Christians to think about. It sometimes feels like he is just quoting others at points but the conclusion is worth the whole book in my opinion!
Usually it seems like people talk about certain apps or websites and why they are wrong or right but here, James is looking at the digital technologies we use as a whole. I really loved the idea that the way the internet is inherently shapes us in a way and teaches certain things about life (hence the title Digital Liturgies) that may or may not be true. Would recommend!
Usually it seems like people talk about certain apps or websites and why they are wrong or right but here, James is looking at the digital technologies we use as a whole. I really loved the idea that the way the internet is inherently shapes us in a way and teaches certain things about life (hence the title Digital Liturgies) that may or may not be true. Would recommend!
November 13, 2024
I really appreciated that this book emphasized the importance of the reclamation of thought in a digital age. Where it might have been easy to cultivate a simple argument against social media and all of its dangers to the mind and emotions, in many instances engaging in social media is necessary, and perhaps even profitable, and it is thereby necessary to not disengage with it entirely, but to use it mindfully. The book also imitates C. S. Lewis in the way it challenges modern issues (in this case of technology) against rational thought, all the while contrasting how the very nature of digital discourse can challenge rational thought. Overall I think it’s a very worthwhile read for anyone looking to evaluate their own thoughts on how to be a good steward of the technology they possess or if they simply want to reexamine their relationship with it.
December 10, 2024
This book was thoroughly instructive for me in beginning to frame a theology of technology. James clearly contrasts biblical wisdom against digital, secular wisdom and regularly points back to the need for the time-tested ancient wisdom of the Scriptures. I appreciate the way James compares the way we’re meant to engage with the digital realm to religious rites. This method reminds the reader that we’re always being shaped by something. Either we’re being shaped by the truth of the Scriptures or we’re being shaped by the ever-shifting sands of the digital culture in which we live.
October 29, 2023
A needed reflection about our digital age and the ways we must reshape our lives without it leaving us disenchanted and bereft of purpose. Sam’s desire for human beings to know their God and his promises to them is palpable throughout these pages.
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