Youth and Communicative Theology

How to reflect about faith with today’s young people?

Abstract

The changes in communication mark humanity in such a way that it gives birth to a new generation with its own way of thinking, expressing and living. In view of this, this article proposes a dialogue between current youth and communicative theology, with the guiding question: what would be the best way for young people to think about their faith? We have as premise the digital youth as a fundamental theological place to understand the dynamics of faith in the network society. Communicative theology is presented as an alternative to this journey of youth theological reflection, as it is in tune with aspects of digital culture, such as interactivity and the collaborative spirit. This work follows the methodology of exploratory and bibliographic research. In the study of digital generations and their contexts, we have Michel Serres, Sidnei Oliveira, Don Tapscott and Lucia Santaella as their theoretical framework. Communicative theology will be based on the works of its creators, Bernd Jochen Hilberath and Matthias Scharer, and from its inspiring source, Ruth Cohn’s “Theme Centered Interaction” method. Contemporary youth will only find faith in experiences that provide opportunities for sharing, reflection and dialogue, where they can express themselves and be protagonists of social and ecclesial transformation.