Heavens, no. Why? Because the goal is to think about each and every question being raised by the digital revolution and the digital church both biblically and theologically. And the nature of the sacrament of baptism is that it is meant to be a public profession of faith. That means in front of other people. It’s for this same reason that you cannot marry yourself. When a couple marries they make public vows, and it is the public nature of the vows that matters.
Such conclusions may not satisfy everyone, nor do they reflect the way to think theologically about all aspects of the digital church. Each will bring its own set of unique theological challenges. But perhaps this shows how we are going to have to reflect, and reflect deeply, about the digital world and the church’s operation in that digital world.
These three things I know: We cannot bury our head in the sand as if there are no new questions being posed to the doctrine of the church (there are); we cannot march blindly forward into the digital world as if theology doesn’t matter (it does), and we cannot restrain all ecclesiastical innovation as if there hasn’t been a digital revolution
… (because there has).
Sources
Dalvin Brown, “Online Church: Ministries Use VR, Apps to Deliver Digital Services and Virtual Baptisms,” USA Today, December 27, 2019, read online.
This article originally appeared here.
