Teología en salida y nuevos espacios públicos

Abstract

This paper revives the discussion about the relevance of bringing theology into the public space, which would have been questioned by modernity due to the link between theology and religion. The idea was that, in increasingly secularized and pluralistic societies, religion, should it survive, was to be restricted to the realm of the private or of conscience. However, this article shows not only that religions and theology have creatively survived in the public space but also the need for a return of spiritualities and religions, along with their associated discourses, to societies that are worn-out and meaningless. This article focuses mainly on the emergence and growing development of new public spaces: digital platforms and highways, social networks, and the whole set of possibilities that “cyberspace” entails. It is here that an unavoidable challenge arises for theology: it is not primarily a matter of using these new spaces to disseminate knowledge and discoveries or of reflecting on these new environments from a faith perspective. Above all, what is called for is doing theology in these spaces in full consideration of the culture taking shape therein. From the encounter of the gospel with digital culture, new ways of being church, new ways of doing theology, and, without a doubt, reformulated and even unprecedented contents of the faith must emerge.