Scattered through the articles in The Times were nearly 20 web sites for those with computers and modems to find and download further information.
On television, a campaign is running to push the use of the web, and even my cereal packet boasts its own cryptic address of slashes and letters. The web is spreading so fast that - for once - the word 'explosion' is not hyperbole.
The very pace of its spread has been unsettling. First there was the Internet, the global linkage of computers through which we were able to e-mail colleagues, relatives and missionaries across the world at minimal cost. We were still adjusting to the implications of that when the blizzard of pages of linked fact, fantasy and trivia that makes up the world wide web (and which is hosted by the Internet) descended on us. In fact, web sites now proliferate to the extent that it will soon be an odd church notice sheet that doesn't have at least one web page listed somewhere and you can even find Evangelicals Now at http://www.e-n.org.uk.
Over the last six months, I have been able to access the Internet cheaply over weekends and have, as a result, done perhaps more than the average peering around in cyberspace. I've also been listening to what the pundits are saying
Divided reaction
The eruption of the web into our diverse and morally comatose (if not brain-dead) culture has produced divided reactions. On the one hand, there are the web-zealots with their dreamy statements about how, virtually within months, most of us in the developed world will be linked up into a global 'virtual community' free of barriers, with cheap online shopping and with endless knowledge on tap. On the other are the web-sceptics, who mutter darkly of a flood of terrorism, cyber-porn and juvenalia, a loss of local shops and an unbridgeable divide emerging between those with web access and those without.
Certainly no biblical Christian is likely to buy into the more Messianic visions; society's ills are so deep as to need the incarnation and the cross, not an infusion of mere silicon gadgetry. Indeed, our sympathies might be with the sceptical attitude given that the technology has, in its brief history, demonstrated an ability to make a total mockery of all UK pornography legislation. I have no doubt that Christians given to plots and paranoia have tried working out how WWW can come out as 666. There definitely are also very real implications for society, that need careful watching. But that is another article.
My own view, and that of many other Christians, is that the web is simply another neutral technological tool like printing and the telephone whose application inevitably mirrors (and sometimes amplifies) our fallen human state. And like all technology from fire to a bread knife, it can be both used and abused. Where the web is capable of good, our job as Christians is surely to use it, and where the web is capable of evil, we need to do what we can to frustrate it. In short, cyberspace is just another area in which the gospel can either advance or retreat.
Strong presence
Let me illustrate the strong Christian presence on the web. I have made a rough grouping of some of the main categories of web site and, where appropriate, given examples. The URLs (the http:// bit) of these and other sites can also be found on a web page of my own (http://websites.ntl.com/~chris.walley/links.htm).
First of all, there are some great resource sites. Many significant works of Christian literature that are out of copyright can now be found on the web from where they can be downloaded freely. A good place to start is The Christian Classics Library (http://ccel.wheaton.edu/). All those famous books from Augustine to Zwingli you always meant to read can now clog up your hard disk instead of acquiring dust on your shelves. Mind you, for modern translations you will still have to buy the book. But to have, for instance, much of Spurgeon's works (see The Spurgeon Archives at http://spurgeon.org/) online is a great blessing. An excellent source of Bible study material, including the fascinating NET Bible project (a freely usable, modern online version) is to be found at The Biblical Studies Foundation at http://www.bible.org/. For older Bibles and commentaries, try the WWW Study Bible (http://ccel.wheaton.edu/wwsb/). Christian clipart and other links to graphics can be found in the Free Christian Software Directory at http://www.seriousd.com/clipart.htm. There are some excellent sites for mission facts and resources etc. and Brigada (http://www.brigada.org) is brilliant, a fascinating and innovative site with all sorts of useful things on it for anyone involved in missions and computing. An article of particular interest is a long (but downloadable) one on web evangelism at http://www.brigada.org/today/articles/web-evangelism.html.
A second group of sites are those directed at the supporters of organisations or readers of publications. Most Christian societies now have web sites and if you are a regular supporter of almost any organisation you will probably be already aware of their online presence.
Some of these seem to merely duplicate their quarterly magazines; others cover things at more depth, give article references and others make available useful resources such as back articles. On the whole these are fairly easy to find with a search engine such as Yahoo or AltaVista. Because of the fact that anyone in the world has (in theory) access to such web pages, a number of mission society sites do a remarkable job of saying very little about who is exactly where and doing what.
This accessibility of the web (coupled with the fact that it can be visited anonymously) is the basis of a third group of sites that are using the web for evangelism. An example is the site for Muslim enquirers to be found at The Debate (http://debate.org.uk/).
A fourth group of sites are church web sites, which vary from the polished and inspiring to the dull and depressing. Those hunting for churches in a new town might find a search on the web a valuable experience.
Do, however, make sure you are on the right continent; it is all too easy to find yourself looking at churches in Cambridge, Massachusetts, rather than Cambridge, England!
Phil's bookmark
A fifth group are the personal web sites which can be like entering someone's private library. A heavyweight example of this is Phil Johnson's Bookmarks (http://www.gty.org/~phil/ bookmark.htm) a listing of hundreds of (mainly American) Christian and non-Christian web sites measured against the plumb line of Phil's own, rather idiosyncratic, brand of Calvinism.
Last of all, since the start, the web has always been the home of the alternative voice, and a good example of this is the Christian online magazine Ship of Fools (http://www.geocities.com/~ship-of-fools/) a well-produced and lively site with a cutting sense of humour. I have no doubt that it is not to everyone's taste, (especially if your church has been pitilessly scrutinised by the 'Mystery Worshipper'). But the section on Christian Urban Myths is well worth reading and passing on next time you get an e-mail telling you that a Russian borehole has drilled down into hell!
