The Transformation of Christian Liturgical Practices in Post-Covid-19 Using Marshall Mcluhan's Four Laws of Media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62926/jtvd.v6i2.94Keywords:
Digital Culture, Four Laws of Media, Liturgy, McLuhan, MediationAbstract
This study examines how digitally mediated liturgical practices respond to Marshall McLuhan’s Four Laws of Media—extend, obsolescence, retrieval, and reversal—as a conceptual framework for understanding liturgy dynamics in the post‑pandemic digital culture. The main problem addressed is the lack of systematic integration between media theory and liturgical studies, resulting in insufficient critical insight into the theological and practical challenges and opportunities of digital worship. Employing a conceptual framework analysis, McLuhan’s Four Laws are deductively applied to secondary data, including literature reviews, hybrid church case studies, and previous empirical research. The study aims to bridge liturgical discourse with classical media theory to offer new perspectives on digital liturgy. Findings reveal that digital media extend worship’s reach and temporality, render traditional media like printed Bibles obsolete, revive house‑church traditions, potential to reverse the function of liturgical rituals into the fulfillment of aesthetic commodities. McLuhan’s Four Laws provide a critical analytical “lens” that helps identify dynamics, challenges and opportunities in digital liturgy, and contributes to future research.
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