[Editor’s Note: This is the second week of From the Garden to the City Blog Tour.]
The downtown intersection of digital technology and Christian theology has been increasingly busy (one imagines sleek futuristic cars on tracks), and John Dyer’s new From The Garden to the City may be the smartest vehicle for clear thought that I’ve seen yet. (For some other recent models, you think of Tim Challies’ Next Story (pretty much a Volvo—all about safety), Shane Hipps Flickering Pixels (SUV—cool, but too easy to roll).
We’re jumping in to Chapter 1: Perspective, and the quickest way in is to check out four quick quotes:
Alan Kay famously described technology ‘as anything that was invented after you were born.
This is why new soccer mom’s can fret about their kids texting all day, but don’t notice that they themselves used to chill on the Princess phone for hours, writes Dyer. Bingo. Older technologies fade into the environment and don’t seem so techy to us.
Why is this obvious point so often missed?
I had a seminary professor complain about those new fangled video projectors as “inappropriate technology in Church,” but was unable to take my point that his favorite hard-bound hymn and prayer books weren’t different. Dyer illuminates this common blind-spot that plagues much of the Church’s critique so far (including some prominent writers on this very topic). Nice job.
Every single believer from Moses to Martin Luther… encountered God’s word by going to church and listening… they almost never had a chance to read it…
Yes yes yes. Historically, the Church thinks of God’s Word as God’s VOICE—something to be heard. (Fun detour: do a study on Jesus’ use of the word “hearing”). This has implications for the way we think about the doctrine of Scripture (my research is on this).
Pay close attention the influence of technology…
Easier said than done. The problem is that we’re the fish in the water of it all. McLuhan said that only artists are able to “reverse the figure and ground” to truly see how the culture is today. Are we artists?
We are returning to a culture of spoken words rather than the printed text
Sort of. Professor Walter Ong writes about “secondary orality”–the kind of Talking that appeared after Writing. Today? I think we’re in a “tertiary orality”–the kind of Writing that looks like Talking. Confusing? The key to understanding is that once a new technology is around, the old one is forever changed.
What do you think?
[Next week, we review chapter 2: Imagination]
John Dyer says
It’s strange to live in an era in which authors can comment on posts about their own books, but I’d like to point out two quick things.
(1) If you’re at all interested in technology and faith, you MUST go check out Chris Ridgeway’s blog (http://theodigital.com). Be sure to download and read his master’s thesis which he posted in full on his site. My only complaint is that I wish I would have met him earlier!
(2) If you head to http://fromthegardentothecity.com/ you can download the chapter Chris wrote about above. As a bonus, if you mention the site on twitter, facebook, or Google+, you’ll be able to unlock additional chapters for you and your friends.
Thanks to everyone blogging about the book – it’s really fun to do this together!
Chris Ridgeway says
Thanks John. You mostly beat me to the book I wanted to write, and I’m (mostly) content that you’ve got it: I still think yours is the best to date.
Eric Dye says
You’re awesome.
wezlo says
I too enjoyed this chapter – and I thought that John’s story about using the projector with his youth group was also enlightening. I share the thought that there is something wonderful about being brought to a point where “hearing” the word of God is suddenly key (again). As for your question as to whether or not we’re all artists… if we’re trying to communicate clearly in a world of rapid transition, I think we’d darn well better strive for that!
Anyway, here’s my thoughts on chapter 1: http://wezlo.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/from-the-garden-to-the-city-perspective/
Eric Dye says
Good stuff, man.
SethC says
Loved the idea that our perspective on technology is skewed since we are all born in the midst of the biggest shift in tech perhaps in the history of the world. Telephones, wireless, transportation, communication have all been game changers. Tech is constantly shifting.
Great review, Chris.
Here’s mine – http://www.lifeasexperienced.com/2011/09/perspective.html
Eric Dye says
I, too, loved the re-alignment of how technology should be viewed.
Chris Ridgeway says
Nice to see that we’ve got Power back for ChurchM.ag. Was the whole site down for more than 24 hours??
Eric Dye says
Yup. Hated every minute. And THEN, it went down AGAIN on Saturday!!! Changing servers, sooner than later. 😉
Jerrod Burris says
John Dyer, I am LOVING this book! Occasionally I think I’ll read a little ahead and then I stop myself. I can savor it this way…kinda like eating your favorite candy….I’m not sure how it’s like that…but I strongly believe that anytime you can reference candy it’s a good thing.
So…while I grab some more coffee and a cinnamon roll, you should read my post on this chapter: http://www.amodeirevolution.org/2011/09/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html
Eric Dye says
You crack me up Jerrod! (ref: not reading ahead)
BJ McGeever says
Like the rest, I’m loving the book too. As with so many areas of life, it’t critical that we have an appropriate perspective on things. John does a great job pointing out our shortsightedness when it comes to technology.
Here’s my post on Perspective:
http://mcgvr.com/2011/09/articles/garden-series-02-perspective/
Eric Dye says
Indeed, John does.
Greg says
I am enjoying the book so far and am excited to start getting into discussion about the intersection between faith and technology. I felt like this first chapter was good about setting up a basic premise for what technology is (or at least a working definition for the rest of the book). I am looking forward to the future exploration.
http://gdeitz.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/from-the-garden-to-the-city-blog-tour-perspective/
Eric Dye says
An amazing premise at that!
Phil says
Quote: I think we’re in a “tertiary orality”–the kind of Writing that looks like Talking. Confusing?
Yes. Please elaborate. Thank you.
Chris Ridgeway says
Sure… think about instant messenger. It’s written language, and we perceive it like we do most printed material: with our eyes. But the tone, cadence, grammatical structure, and rhetorical style of the language is much more like the way we talk. So it’s not so much “literacy” as “oral” speech.
Is that helpful at all?
Phil says
Okay. That makes perfect sense, and truthfully, that’s what I thought you meant. I just wanted to clarify.
Jeremy Smith says
I think that we may also be moving towards a visual form of communication. Look at Google+ and Facebook’s focus on visual aspects of social networking as well as the popularity of YouTube, Apple’s FaceTime, and Skype provide more visual interactions.