Enacting a virtual 'ekklesia': online Christian fundamentalism as vernacular religion

Based on the interactive features of websites, researchers have distinguished between ‘religion online’ and ‘online religion’. Approaching online religious expression as ‘vernacular religion’ can transcend the distinction by focussing on the lived experience of believers. In this study, qualitative interviews and close textual analysis are deployed to locate four traits that define the ‘vernacular ideology of Christian fundamentalism’. Tracing these traits in public discourse, they are seen to emerge as a set in the early 20th century. Collecting a sample of 40 sites, the traits are located in association with biblical prophecy. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with four individuals in the sample, linked websites connect individuals in a virtual ‘ekklesia’ based on their shared interest. Locating religion in lived experience instead of media artifacts, this research suggests that a limiting tendency found in this form of fundamentalism is the result of individual choices facilitated by network media.