I recently received via Twitter from Leonard Sweet – an post about a Baptist professor who teaches at Oxford who is arguing for a sacramental theology for Second Life. The heart of the arguments seems to be that if one can worship virtually one should be able to received the sacraments virtually. I’m not sure I agree. This was my response to Len:
I would use a different take. I’m not sure matter matters in the sense of explaining/differentiating virtual matter versus real matter. Relationships matter and sacramental relationships are consumated relationships, to know and be fully known and that cannot be done virtually. If the Incarnation is more than God as avatar in our “second life”, then the sacraments must also be a “first life” experience of a consumated relationship with the Body of Christ, God and people together in community.
This is worth some more thought and a podcast.
Virtual Eucharist from Liturgy Blog by Bosco Peters
This isn’t a question just with second life. There are a number of online church services that are thinking about how to deal with this. I know a friend that has done several online communion and prayer services with his blog community. I know other churches that have done communion and even one church that did a baptism.
My church is going to start doing online streaming of the services but they are not going to call it “church” because the powers that be have decided that for now they don’t believe in online sacraments and their current thinking is that without the sacraments it can’t really be called a church. So we are having an “online experience” not an online church.
I think this is a real and valid line of discussion. And one that needs to be worked out theologically, practically and experientually. There are clearly churches that will experiment, some that will reject it out of hand. We need some middle ground where we can be thoughtful.