Online Religious Learning: Digital Epistemic Authority and Self-Socialization in Religious Communities

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

Y

16

Foreign Countries; Religious Education; Internet; Religion; Judaism; Information Sources; Evaluation; Power Structure; Epistemology; Electronic Learning; Social Influences; Jews

10.1080/17439884.2023.2169833

1743-9884
1743-9892

Over the past two decades, the internet has become a central platform affording lay-learners access to a multiplicity of experts. While these outlets empower lay-learners, they create competition amongst clerical and knowledge authorities. This article addresses the question: "how is religious authority understood and negotiated by learners, and in turn, how do they evaluate authoritative sources." Twenty-six in-depth think-aloud interviews were conducted with Religious-Zionists in Israel on their internet sourcing practices. Findings uncovered four strategies employed when sourcing information online: (1) Generating a reliable source network based on the learners' social and primordial affiliations. (2) Complexity based sourcing practices stemming from learners' uncertainty in their ability to autonomously attain a satisfying answer. (3) Fitting an appropriate source to queries based on their availability and prestige. (4) Negotiating learner's autonomy in a particular field of knowledge based on the social or epistemic norms that govern it.

As Provided

2024

EJ1426459