The Soul in Cyberspace

by Douglas Groothuis

This book evaluates the emerging technologies of cyberspace in relation to their effects on our society and souls, and deals especially with the potential pitfall of becoming informationally rich but spiritually deprived.

Genres: Technology

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Douglas Groothuis (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado, where he heads the Apologetics and Ethics masters degree program. His articles have been published in professional journals such as Religious Studies, Philosophia Christi, Themelios, Christian Scholar's Review, Inquiry, and Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. He has written numerous books, including Christian Apologetics and, most recently Philosophy in Seven Sentences.

Reviews

[Patrick Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the opening paragraphs I began to wince, then smirk as I realize how dated this book is. It was written in the mid-1990s, when most people still connected to the Internet using a modem and a phone line. Now a device that is carried in the pocket of many middle- and grade-school students connects to the Internet almost anywhere that student can travel at speeds that were unimaginable in 1995.

In spite of the vast technological gulf between then and now, and looking ahead a time when the technologies of today will seem quaint, the principles of this book still apply.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Douglas Groothius, a Christian philosopher, looks forward in The Soul in Cyberspace to the issues he believed would permeate the global psyche. Many of Groothius’ written musings on emerging technology revolve around its relationship with the human desire to seek truth and spiritual nourishment. Its 90s frame of reference does not take away from the credibility of his arguments today- however, I think the proof was in the pudding when his rejection of subjective truth, existentialism, and naturalism made its basis in circular reasoning supported by his own belief system. The points brought up are certainly compelling, but I think ultimately I left this book feeling unconvinced of Groothius’ solution to the fragmentation of the self and escapism troubling the minds of today.

[Joshua Duemler · Rating 4 out of 5]

No doubt this book written in 1997 will at points be outdated. He’s addressing the technology of his day with a view to the future. But as he considers what the dangers of digital technology will be, he addresses some of the very issues we struggle with today. Sometimes I had to stop reading and say, “Oh yeah, he’s not describing my world, he’s predicting it.” Worth reading. He makes good points about the difference between information and wisdom, and about our need for embodied experience, especially in the realm of relationships.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the fact that this book is written in the late nineties make you think it does not speak to what we experience today, because it does. Now it was not as paradigm shifting as Neil Postman's work, but it did add to what Postman wrote and from a Christian perspective. Highly recommended