My article, based on last year’s presentation at the meeting of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians, has recently been published in EJT:

“Technologising of Word and Sacrament: Deuteronomy 14:24–26 and Intermediation in Worship.” European Journal of Theology 28.1 (2019): 66–77.

I’ve written in such a way that will be useful, I hope, to pastors and students as well as scholars of the Old Testament and media ecology. The article is available to EJT subscribers (which you should be!) and through ATLA. Posting the PDF online is not permitted, but if you email me (benj [at] [this domain]), I will send it to you.

Here is the abstract in English:

This paper explores the effects of introducing intermediating technologies into worship, through the lens of media ecology. Just like ‘writing is a technology that restructures thought’ (Walter Ong), so other human technologies restructure the meaning of worship. The codex permitted a defined scriptural canon to be promulgated and accepted in the early church. The ancient Israelites were required to offer both raw materials (live animals) and offerings that were transformed through human labour and technology (grain cakes, wine). Deuteronomy 14:24-26 introduces the intermediating technology of trade into the sacrificial process. The invention of unfermented grape juice in the nineteenth century and its use in the Eucharist necessitated the use of individual cups. These intermediations transform the worshippers’ understanding of communion with God in both positive and negative ways. Scripture and church history offer contemporary churches resources to wrestle with the transformative effects of electronic technologies on worship and engagement with Scripture.

You can read more about the entire issue here.