Some of the most trafficked Evangelical blogs are authored not by theologians or pastors, but by computer programmers, web designers, journalists and other laymen.
Evangelical Outpost, Challies, WORLD's main blog and Pyromaniac are among the most popular conservative Christian blogs and while theological themes are common fare on these blogs, none is authored by a pastor or theologian.
In fact, the silence of the theologians on the internet is deafening. With the exception of Doug Wilson, no major figure in the world of theology routinely writes on the internet.
Why is this? I suspect a number of factors lie behind this trend.
1. Appearance and sophistication are important on the internet. The most trafficked blogs are typically visually superior sites containing sophisticated graphics and creative design--handing a vast advantage to web designers capable of producing their own sites.
2. The internet is intimidating. Older pastors and theologians don't have time to learn the technology. Instead, they often rely on tech-savvy youngsters to place material on the web for them.
3. Big-time blogging requires countless hours on the internet--a boon for computer professionals and a serious difficulty for the non-nocturnal pastor who must always place his real flock before his virtual.
4. Lack of money. A few theologians and Christian leaders do manage to lead ministries, pastor churches and maintain sophisticated, frequently-updated web sites. I suspect they do so by paying (or drafting, in some cases) others to research their columns and to manage and place material on their sites. Al Mohler is either the world's most prolific thinker and writer, or he maintains his web pace partially through the use of assistants who repurpose his material for the web. I wouldn't be surprised if the same were true of Doug Wilson. I wonder if those entries on his blog which consist of excerpts from his books aren't placed there by an assistant.
On a more negative note, several further factors weigh into the prominence of laymen in internet theological debates.
1. I suspect many academic theologians mildly disdain the web's common-man atmosphere. It's surprising how out of tune with the vernacular those who live in academic settings often become.Full-time academic theologians don't realize that Christian laymen have historically been eager debaters and thinkers on the great issues of theology. Nor do they grasp that such issues have always been far more accessible to the common Christian than the more esoteric realms of academic theological debate.
Finally, they utterly fail to grasp how Doug Wilson and R.C. Sproul, writing for the common man, have ennobled the practice of theology, becoming the most influential Reformed theologians of their generations through their ability and willingness to speak to the common man in the vernacular.
2. Successful blogging depends on a steady diet of red meat thrown to the masses. Some of the most popular blogs dealing with theological themes simply put provocative statements up on their main page, then sit back and let the world react. (Unfortunately, WORLD's main blog does this rather frequently--a practice I hope will diminish under its new editor.)
Good pastors never throw out radical statements just to ask, "What do you think?" Nor do they use truth as a trial balloon. Speaking God's Word is a sacred trust.
It's hard to maintain an interactive web site when you're not always asking, "What do you think?" This is ultimately, I think, the reason the most successful theology blogs are run by laymen.
