Religious practice is shaped by technology. Technological practice is shaped by religion. Since the early 1990s, this parallel formation has become visible through the internet and other digitally networked technologies, as the perception of a barrier between the digital and the non-digital dissolves. Fully rendered 3D temples and churches, prayer and confession apps, digital shrines and offerings, virtual graveyards, and online pilgrimages are a selection of the intersections between digital and specifically religious practices. The emerging study of religion and digital technologies immerses itself in this rapidly changing landscape.
How does digital technology change religious practice? How does religious practice change digital technology? What is religion online? What is online religion? How has the study of religion and the digital changed as technology changes? These questions will help us interact with and analyze examples of religious practice and digital technology.