How the iPhone became divine: new media, religion and the intertextual circulation of meaning

Abstract

This article explores the labeling of the iPhone as the ‘Jesus phone’ in order to demonstrate how religious metaphors and myth can be appropriated into popular discourse and shape the reception of a technology. We consider the intertextual nature of the relationship between religious language, imagery and technology and demonstrate how this creates a unique interaction between technology fans and bloggers, news media and even corporate advertising. Our analysis of the ‘Jesus phone’ clarifies how different groups may appropriate the language and imagery of another to communicate very different meanings and intentions. Intertextuality serves as a framework to unpack the deployment of religion to frame technology and meanings communicated. We also reflect on how religious language may communicate both positive and negative aspects of a technology and instigate an unintentional trajectory in popular discourse as it is employed by different audiences, both online and offline.

Worship, Faith, and Evangelism

“…As also discussed in the introduction, scholars of science and technology have uncovered deep-seated connections between technological objects and religion, for example pointing to the prevalence of religious language within branding discourse [32,34,41,42] or showing how specific technologies are rhetorically connected to divinity and redemption in use [10,23,25,33]. These scholars have found that technologies can evoke what cultural historian Vincent Mosco refers to as 'the sublime,' or feelings of awe, transcendence, and connection to a greater purpose -feelings that, not coincidentally, are also central to religious experience [33].…”

“…Scholars in science and technology studies and related fields have explored how technologies become 'salvific' or 'sublime' [33,36]. Apple Inc. has been a particularly fruitful target of this kind of analysis, given the religious overtones of its marketing and the zealotry of its users [10,25,32,34,41,42]. Campbell and La Pastina, for instance, show how popular discourse adopted religious terms to frame and define the reception of the Apple iPhone, such as the phrase 'Jesus Phone' [10:1192].…”

The New Scroll Digital Devices, Bible Study and Worship

“…The social change prompted by the promotion and then introduction of the iPhone was explored by Campbell and La Pastina (2010), who traced use of the phrase "Jesus phone" from a joke used by Brian Lam and bloggers at Gizmodo into its emergence as a meme used to capture the perceived transformative power of the new digital device and the rhetorical implications of such use. They identified three frequent frames that link religion and technology in which "a) technology offers human redemption, and humanity becomes godlike by embracing technology; b) technology itself is a divine or spiritual force; and c) engagement with technology offers humans a magical or religious experience" (p. 1194).…”

The Influence of Religiosity Toward of the Muslim's Happiness With the Behavior of Zakat, Infaq and Alms as Moderating Variables

“…Cheung further argues that the utilization of media in religious lesson is valuable. With the advance in internet and technologies, the inclination to compare innovative engagement with religious interests has been further fortified (Campbell & La Pastina, 2010).…”