Indonesian Journal of Theology
Vol 14 No 1 (2026): Edisi Reguler

Akal Rohani Imitasi di Realitas Gereja Virtual: Sebuah Pneumatologi Eklesial Komuni

Josua Estomihi Butarbutar (Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Jul 2026

Abstract

This article proposes an ecclesial communion pneumatology as a theological framework for a virtual church that operates through artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR). Specifically, it answers the ontological and theological questions pertaining to whether the Holy Spirit is present and works in digital liturgy mediated by technologies, as well as how AI might be an instrument for genuine personal connectedness. This research employs a transdisciplinary descriptive qualitative method drawing from John Zizioulas’s ecclesial communion, Amos Yong’s theology of participation, and discourses on vanity and theopoetics, articles on AI and VR, church documents, and metaverse studies. The author’s reflection oscillates among the aesthetics of digital sacred space, contemporary spirituality, and cultural critiques. The result is an understanding of the Holy Spirit that constitutes the church in her relational and ecstatic “mode of being,” therefore provoking an idea of the digital medium (AI/VR) as a space where the Spirit establishes ecclesial hypostasis—the church’s identity no longer identified by spatial and physical limits—insofar as such a medium facilitates, not substitutes for, personalized love relations. The virtual church, as this article concludes, must be perceived in terms of a new expression of the communion reality that is already present in the God of the Trinity

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Journal Info

Abbrev

home

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Social Sciences

Description

Indonesian Journal of Theology is a theological journal published by Asosiasi Teolog Indonesia. It is established to enhance theological discourse among theologians across denominations and faith traditions, particularly in the Indonesian context. We also aim to contribute to the wider academic ...