How Do Believers Acquire Religious Knowledge Online? Religious Epistemology and Sourcing in the Digital Age

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Knowing, Reading, Leading, and Integrating (Table 24)

Abstract

New media provides lay-learners access to a wide range of authoritative figures and creates a competitive environment for experts and religious authorities. This study explores how religious learners perceive, navigate and evaluate clerical authority and online sources. The research involved conducting in-depth think-aloud interviews with 26 Religious-Zionists in Israel, focusing on their sourcing practices. Findings revealed four strategies when seeking online information: (1) Generating a trust-based network based on learners’ social and primordial affiliations. (2) Sourcing for complex issues given learners’ uncertainties about their ability to independently find satisfactory answers. (3) Selecting suitable sources based on availability and prestige. (4) Negotiating learner’s autonomy. Findings illuminate questions of autonomous worship and religious individualism in the digital age.

Authors

• Oren Golan, University of Haifa

• Akiva Berger, University of Haifa