This presentation was given at a conference co-sponsored by Cranmer Hall, St. John's College, Durham University and Fresh Expressions of the Church of England. The conference title was "Preaching in the 21st Century." My presentation was "TheoMedia: Is the Bible Media Savvy?" The talk was premised on the material from my book, 'TheoMedia: The Media of God in the Digital Age." The main idea is that if God himself uses media (means of communication and self-revelation) then there must be a theological logic by which we can create and use media today. And among the diverse media of God is the communicative practice of preaching. Though an ancient exercise, preaching is still a valid media form for the 21st century church.

1. TheoMedia:
Is the Bible Media Savvy?
Andrew Byers
hopefulrealism.com | @Byers_Andy | #theomedia

2. Introduction
Preaching Ancient Texts
in a 21st
Century Digital Culture

3. The Book:
TheoMedia: The Media of God and the
Digital Age Eugene, OR: Cascade
Books, 2013.

4. Key Questions
Is the Bible media savvy?
Is Christian theology media
competent?
Does the Bible need an ‘upgrade’?

5. Not an Upgrade...
But Hermeneutics

6. My Arguments
1] God himself uses media,
"TheoMedia"—means through which he
reveals himself and communicates with
us. And if God uses media, then there is
a theological logic by which we can
understand and use media today.

7. My Arguments
1] God himself uses media, "TheoMedia"—means through
which he reveals himself and communicates with us. And if
God uses media, then there is a theological logic by which
we can understand and use media today.
2] Christians are called to media
saturation; but the primary media that are
to saturate our lives are the media of
God.

8. Defining “TheoMedia”
Means of divine communication or
revelation
Means by which God communicates or
reveals himself

9. Foundations: Genesis 1–
3
Creation as TheoMedia
Humans and the Imago Dei
The Fall as Epic Communications
Disaster

10. TheoMedia in the OT
Multisensory TheoMedia
The Sights and Sounds of Israel’s
God

11. Multisensory TheoMedia
in the OT
Creation
Human Beings
Theophanies as Media Events (Plagues,
Sinai, etc.)
Tabernacle / Temple
Mysterious Visitor / Strange Encounters
“The Media of the Absurd”

12. TheoMedia in the OT
Verbal TheoMedia
The Words and Texts of Israel’s God

13. Verbal TheoMedia
in the OT
The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4–5
Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God; the
LORD is one. And you shall love the
LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your
might....”

14. Verbal TheoMedia
in the OT
The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:6–7
...and these words, that I command you
today shall be on your heart. And you
shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk about them when
you sit in your house, and when you walk
by the way, and when you lie down, and
when you rise....

15. Verbal TheoMedia
in the OT
The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:8–9
...You shall bind them as a sign on your
hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes. You shall write them
on the doorposts of your house and on
your gates.

16. Verbal TheoMedia
in the OT
The Conquest of Canaan as Media
Displacement
Israel was called to media saturation; but
the primary media that was to saturate
their daily lives was the media of God’s
words.

17. OT TheoMedia | Overview and
Assessments
What can we say about the media of God
in the OT?
How does God’s use of TheoMedia
inform our understanding of digital
culture?

18. OT TheoMedia | Overview and
Assessments
In his communicative and revelatory activity,
our God is a multimedia God. He appeals to
the entire “sensorium”
Word-media is often prioritized.
Our most fundamental vocation as humans is a
media vocation, that of divine image-bearing.

19. Media Christology
1] Jesus is the consummate
TheoMedium, the ultimate revelation of
God:
“The Word became flesh…. No one has
ever seen God. It is God the only Son...
who has made him known” (Jn 1:18).

20. Media Christology
2] Jesus is the “Multimedium of God”:
We declare to you what was from the beginning,
what we have heard, what we have seen with our
eyes, what we have looked at and touched with
our hands, concerning the word of life—this life
was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to
it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with
the Father and was revealed to us— we declare
to you what we have seen and heard... (1 Jn 1:1–
3a).

21. Media Christology
Gospel | “Eucatastrophic” Newsflash
Incarnation | Christ as Ultimate TheoMedium
Crucifixion | The Sights and Sounds of God Crucified
Resurrection and Ascension | Physical
Absence... yet the Holy Spirit’s Presence
Return | Apocalyptic Hermeneutics and the New
Sensorium

22. Media Legacies of Christ
Gospel — Preaching
Incarnation — Face to face; entering the digital
environment
Crucifixion — Cross-Visuality; Eucharist; selfless
online interaction
Resurrection — “Hopeful Realism”—
hermeneutical lens; Baptism
Ascension — Spiritual Gifts; Spiritual Disciplines
Return — Seeing thru the News; Easing the
tensions in the church’s sensory regimes

23. “EcclesioMedia”
Focal Media Practices of the
Church
Church: The Primary Media Domain of
God
But do our 1st century media forms still work?
Is the church in need of an upgrade?

24. Preaching in the 21st
Century
Preaching is a media form externally
sourced. It is the communication and
revelation of God through the agency of a
divine image-bearer.