Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education
By Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E. Lowe
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Technological innovation has changed nearly everything about human life, including how we teach and learn. Many Christian professors and institutions have embraced new technologies, especially online education. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we face the same call to grow in our faith. So how should we think about and approach Christian education in light of new technologies? Is it possible for us to grow spiritually through our digital communities? Steve Lowe and Mary Lowe, longtime proponents of online education, trace the motif of spiritual growth through Scripture and consider how students and professors alike might foster digital ecologies in which spiritual growth—even transformation—can take place. IVP Instructor Resources available.
Stephen D. Lowe
Stephen D. Lowe (PhD, Michigan State University) is graduate chair of doctoral programs and professor of Christian education at Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University.
Related to Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age
Related ebooks
Foundations of Ministry: An Introduction to Christian Education for a New Generation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Teaching the Next Generations: A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching Christian Formation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children Matter: Celebrating Their Place in the Church, Family, and Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Read Theology for All Its Worth: A Guide for Students Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Teaching and Christian Imagination Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joining Children on the Spiritual Journey: Nurturing a Life of Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humanity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFollowing (Pastoring for Life: Theological Wisdom for Ministering Well): Embodied Discipleship in a Digital Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNetworked Theology (Engaging Culture): Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond Profession: The Next Future of Theological Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSticky Faith Teen Curriculum: 10 Lessons to Nurture Faith Beyond High School Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow God Saves the World: A Short History of Global Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Survey of the History of Global Christianity, Second Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Called to Witness: Doing Missional Theology Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Christian College (RenewedMinds): A History of Protestant Higher Education in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You're Irrelevant and Extreme Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christ and Culture Revisited Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christian Theology: An Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Revive Evangelism: 7 Vital Shifts in How We Share Our Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of a Servant: Anchored in Vietnam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Religious Other: A Biblical Understanding of Islam, the Qur’an and Muhammad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWestern Culture in Gospel Context: Towards the Conversion of the West: Theological Bearings for Mission and Spirituality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHandbook of Religion: A Christian Engagement with Traditions, Teachings, and Practices Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Introduction to Biblical Ethics Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Invitation to Educational Ministry: Foundations of Transformative Christian Education Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Everyday Theology (Cultural Exegesis): How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exploring Christian Theology : Volume 2: Creation, Fall, and Salvation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Method of Christian Theology: A Basic Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Local Theology for the Global Church: Principles for an Evangelical Approach to Contextualization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Teaching Methods & Materials For You
Closing of the American Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Tools of Learning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Principles: Life and Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Loving Children Effectively Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speed Reading: Learn to Read a 200+ Page Book in 1 Hour: Mind Hack, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jack Reacher Reading Order: The Complete Lee Child’s Reading List Of Jack Reacher Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside American Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Personal Finance for Beginners - A Simple Guide to Take Control of Your Financial Situation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Making Friends: Helping Socially Challenged Teens and Young Adults Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Take Smart Notes. One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming the Wonder in Your Child's Education, A New Way to Homeschool Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Easy Spanish Stories For Beginners: 5 Spanish Short Stories For Beginners (With Audio) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers: The Secret to Loving Teens Effectively Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four-Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Speed Reading: How to Read a Book a Day - Simple Tricks to Explode Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age
3 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A meandering technical discussion moving primarily toward an exhortation of understanding the faith and Christianity according to an ecological framework and secondarily as an exhortation to explore the potential of online connection in a Christian educational context.The core concept of the book regarding ecology is useful and beneficial. It explores what an ecology is and how Jesus uses ecological imagery to speak of the Kingdom and its function. Its final argument, an attempt to establish ecology as a way of looking at the faith, a host of interconnected, interdependent, symbiotic organisms whose growth and success can only happen in such a community. It is a good antidote to the rampant individualism which defines American ideology and which has overrun the church. The ecological perspective has its merits and ought to be explored.If that had been the focus of the book it would have been excellent, even if the way it is written is overly technical and a bit dry. I say it is "meandering" because one is left to expect more of a conversation about the subheading, spiritual growth in online education. The subject is explored occasionally with anecdotal evidence regarding the benefits experienced by students by participating not only in a class but also online Facebook groups and forums. The book ends with an exhortation to consider the benefits of online education in a Christian context.To this end the book has a bit of cognitive dissonance, since the "ecology of faith" demands a level of fellowship/association which ought to be real and substantive; online association, while a form of connection, is not as "real" or as "ecological." In the absence of other forms of connection, or perhaps as a way to enhance existing relationships, online association can be a good thing. Yet in a world which is becoming ever more superficially connected while losing real and substantive connection and relationship, Christians ought to be wary of uncritical embrace of online models. Understanding the faith in ecological terms has benefit. Some of that benefit would demand casting aspersions on promoting more movement toward the Internet and away from real life.**--galley received as part of early review program
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The authors of Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age elaborate biblical principles on community and interdependency in the current era with teaching and learning matters of faith as a focus area. After Alvin Toffler's Information Age, you may perceive the current decennia as the Digital Age which is essentially an interconnected age. The internet of things and we as humans potentially connected with everyone around, at least within six steps. What does that mean for traditional communities like families, associations, and churches? What difference would that mean for congregations of faithful? Is it harmful that people don't go to church on Sundays but meet fellow believers online instead? In the book, a lot of attention is given to concepts of ecologies, both on macro-level e.g. the universe and planet Earth and micro level, interdependent networks of humans and a holistic view of the human body. The Bible teaches us a lot about these human constructs of ecologies too. The Creation and Fall, Jesus Christ's parables, and the Pauline epistles on the life and practice of both local churches and the worldwide church as the body of Christ present on Earth.And so, it makes sense to enable networks whether they're offline or offline to foster faith and learning. A theological campus could be comprised of social networks on the internet just as a couple of buildings around a plot of grassland. Faithful interacting with the environment, other people to grow personally and as a whole. While the start of the book may give the impression that the authors strive for a theoretical exploration of social networks and their application in learning, basically Ecologies of faith in a digital age explains a lot of biblical insights in the interconnectedness of Christians as the one and only way to become fruitful.