After Babel: 

Digital Theology and Contextualities

13 - 15th June 2024

Attendance both online and in-person at selected regional gatherings.

During the last decades, research on the digital divide has shown how vastly access to and use of digital technology differs between world regions, generations, classes, religions and gender: the use of digital technology is highly contextual. But beyond usage, digital technologies consist of different platforms, software, and devices that have different affordances and limitations: digital artefacts are highly contextual. The same applies to theological reflection on digital technologies, their potentials and dangers, present and future uses: theological reflection is highly contextual. Both the contextuality of technology use and the contextuality of theology point to the contextuality of digital theology: the way that digital theologians interpret digital transformation, which problems they claim to be important and which developments they ignore, the outset of their research—all these topics seem to be highly interrelated with the cultural, social, economic, religious, ecclesial, geographic and institutional context they live and work in.


The reception of contextual theologies, of postcolonial studies and of liberation theologies in the discourses of digital theology evidences its own inevitable contextuality and the significance thereof. It raises several questions for digital theology: In what ways should this contextuality play an explicit role in the work of digital theologians? How can digital theologies from different contexts learn from each other? How do its contextualities impact the processes and outputs of digital theology?

All these questions are in turn deeply intertwined with digital transformations. The global use of digital technology restructures contextualities, it leads to forms of decontextualization of information and impacts how people perceive their context. Digital technologies have also played a role in creating new ways of intercontextuality, by connecting and disconnecting people globally and by creating new alliances and new conflicts. Whether or not people around the world are actively using digital technologies it is still forming the context in which they live.


The upcoming conference will explore the interrelation between theology, contextuality and digital technology with particular focus on intercontextuality. Therefore, we invite you to submit a paper proposal of 200-300 words from within this field that may include the following topics:

  • Postcolonial or decolonial perspectives in and on digital theology

  • The contextuality of digital theology

  • Digital media and intercontextuality in (digital) theology

  • Digital contexts—augmented reality—virtual reality 

  • Digital theology as contextual theology

  • Methods for contextual analysis in the digital context

  • Navigating multiple contexts in digitality

  • The interrelationship between physicality and digitality as constitutive of the digital context

  • Contextual factors that impact the development of a digital “culture”

  • The impact of physical or cultural location on digital culture and identity

  • The homogeneity or heterogeneity of digital culture

  • The impact of digitality on one’s physical context

  • Digitality as the context(s) for Christian ministry and praxis

  • Faith in postdigital contexts

  • Click the “Submit Button” at the top of this page, and simply fill in the short form to submit a paper

  • No - The conference will be available both in-person and online. Venue details will be announced for in-person closer to the time. In-person attendance may come with additional accomadation and travel costs.