Digitally Remastered

A Biblical Guide to Reclaiming Your Virtual Self

Guy Brandon

£9.99

Pages: 176
ISBN: 978-1-910012-37-6
Publication Date: 30/09/2016

Choose to master technology - before it masters you.

Communications technologies open up endless possibilities. Yet there is a downside – hours wasted on unproductive online activity, as well as more sinister implications, such as loss of privacy and anonymity. Either we will master technology, or it will master us.
Guy Brandon unpacks the practical and spiritual significance of our technological choices and encourages us to use communications technologies in a way that aligns with our faith and our calling.

Format: Paperback

Imagine having to phone that friend to congratulate them on their new job – rather than posting a ‘like’ on their timeline.

Or imagine writing a letter, finding an envelope and a stamp, walking to the letterbox and waiting a week for a reply – instead of firing off an email.

How quickly life changes. The communications technologies that now permeate our every waking moment open up endless possibilities: we can do things more quickly, we can do things more efficiently, we can do more things.

And yet there is a downside – our time absorbed in social media and sifting through shopping choices; a quarter of working hours spent in unproductive online activity. And more sinister implications: loss of privacy, anonymity, the undisclosed harvesting of personal details by commercial and government organisations. Ultimately, the reality of communications technologies is that either we will master them or they will master us.

In this incredibly helpful book, Guy Brandon unpacks the practical and spiritual significance of our technological choices and encourages us to use communications technologies in a way that aligns with our faith and calling, and makes us more faithful, more human and better at relating to one another.

Ultimately the question is, ‘Who’s in charge?’

What people are saying

A note from Muddy Pearl

Reading the proofs of this challenging book made me think again about how I use technology myself in our ‘Always-On’ culture. Like so many of us, I’m acutely aware of the mixed blessings of Information and Communications technologies. And, as a parent, I’m also aware of not only setting healthy boundaries for myself in this area, but the responsibility of what I’m modelling to my children.

When my kids come in my room first thing in the morning, do I want them to see me occupied with a screen full of emails, or do I want to be engaged and present with those who love me? With my eyes locked on a screen, I may miss a precious hug, a tickle wrestle or a problem shared. And as they start to interact with technology more independently, they’ll imitate my actions and habits more than they’ll listen to my words of instruction. I want my actions to reflect my values of loving God and loving others, but I’m not always sure how this practically plays out in a digital world.

And am I honouring God and my relationships by heedlessly yielding to the ‘Always-On’ culture? Am I proactively making godly choices about how I engage with the technologies available, or am I just swept along with the tide of culture? There’s always one more email I could send, one more status update to like, one more really important article to read, one more…

Guy Brandon’s words of wisdom and biblical insight have spoken right into my personal wrestle of navigating through an ‘Always-On’ culture. And I’ve already made some counter-cultural decisions, choosing to be ‘Sometimes-Off’: taking a weekly sabbath day from all forms of technology; leaving my phone in the kitchen at night; thinking more thoroughly about what I choose to share online; using technology to connect rather than divide.

This book offers a timely opportunity to stand back, to reflect, and to make proactive choices of how to engage in the digital world we all find ourselves in – to master technology – in a way that reflects both our faith and our values.

Anna Robinson 

Muddy Pearl Assistant Editor

Additional information

Contents

Foreword by Chine McDonald
Introduction
Chapter 1 : Who's in Charge?
With great power comes great responsibility
Chapter 2 : Always-On
How being connected all the time isn't good for our connection
Chapter 3 : Work and Rest
How we use time-saving technologies - all the time
Chapter 4 : Who Are You?
How do you know that What You See Is What You Get?
Chapter 5 : I Choose, Therefore I Am
How infinite choice is exhausting and unsatisfying
Chapter 6 : Big Brother
Why it matters that you're being watched
Chapter 7 : Keep Out!
Why you don't just close the door because you have something to hide
Chapter 8 : You Can, Therefore You Should
How being able to do anything mean we're tempted by everything
Conclusion

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Weight 254 g
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Format

Paperback

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About the author

Guy Brandon
Guy Brandon

Guy Brandon is research director for Jubilee Centre, and holds a degree, MPhil and PhD in Old Testament theology from Cambridge University. His books include Just Sex (IVP) and Votewise (SPCK). As a freelance writer and consultant, Guy has worked with a range of cryptocurrency platforms, communities and businesses, creating articles, white papers and film scripts. Guy is married with two children.

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