Has the internet advanced weak faith?

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Timothy

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Back say 30 years ago you had your little local Church, books, some audio tapes, and maybe radio ... but it was easy to stay inside your little camp of faith. With the internet you can search something on Google and get a wide range of commentary or personal Biblical conviction regarding almost any topic.

So, I wonder, has the internet advanced weak faith?

I say it advances weak faith since we see very clearly the compete lack of agreement on almost any Biblical doctrine.

What say ye? Is this a problem?
 
It can. It can also expose false doctrine.
 
It can, yes. But it can also show people where they are wrong, and give them the media to explore without being bashed and ridiculed, "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
 
If not for the Internet, I would know little of preachers or theologians such as Charles Spurgeon or Jonathan Edwards, apart from the occasional sound-bite quoted from the pulpit.

In my case the Internet has advanced mature and robust faith.

You could well ask whether the Internet has advanced racism, anti-intellectualism or medical quackery. The answer is yes, in the sense that the Internet is a democratizer of information - to a fault - that has given racists, conspiracy theorists, and quacks a voice that they would probably not have had otherwise. But at the same time it has also enabled reasoned refutation of those views on the very same grounds.

For every Stormfront, there's a Nizkor; for every Jenny McCarthy, there's a Quackwatch, and so forth. And for every two-bit pulpit screecher and Internet heretic, there's a site offering the works of Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, or the Puritans. It's a beautiful thing.  The Internet doesn't promote weak faith, if only you know where to look. But that means not abandoning your God-given critical thinking skills.
 
[quote author=Ransom]The Internet doesn't promote weak faith, if only you know where to look. But that means not abandoning your God-given critical thinking skills.[/quote]

Some weren't granted that luxury...

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given...

;)
 
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