Landmarks in Digital Religion: A Twenty-Five-Year Scholarly Retrospective

The twenty-five years of digital religion scholarship, understood as the study of religious communities and practices as they intersect with digital media, platforms, and technological innovation (Evolvi 2021; Campbell 2024), invite critical reflection on the monographs that have significantly shaped the development of the field. Given that digital religion studies have evolved through the proliferation of spaces situated between religion, various media forms, and digital infrastructures, we argue that any reflection on foundational monographs must emphasize pivotal shifts or theoretical innovations captured within singular, defining contributions at this intersection. These contributions become visible when we examine foundational texts, theoretical frameworks, and empirical case studies that together suggest future directions for the field. Moreover, the relatively recent emergence of this field of study allows us to align the five foundational books with a clear timeline that parallels the development of modern Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). Foundational texts, those that can be considered primary references in digital religion studies, focus specifically on the “digital” as a transformative force. They explore how technological improvements impact religious identity at both the individual and collective levels, influence processes of community formation (both religious and nonreligious), and shape new articulations of faith within contemporary societies. In this regard, their scope is narrower than that of broader scholarship on religion and media (Hoover and Lundby 1997; Meyer and Moors 2005; Hoover 2006; Stout 2012). Nevertheless, digital religion studies have gained increasing significance in light of the intensifying integration of digital technologies into everyday life, especially with the emergence of practices associated with artificial intelligence (Simmerlein 2024). With the aim of identifying and discussing the most significant steps in the development of this discipline by also retracing the chronological emergence and impact of the different information technologies in this field, in this paper we take into account the following texts: Religion on the Internet: Research Prospects and Promises (2000); Religion and Cyberspace (2005); When Religion Meets New Media (2010); Digital Religion, Social Media, and Culture: Perspectives, Practices, and Futures (2012); Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in Digital Media (2022).