Lots of people will tell you to watch out for pornography, hate literature, and other nastiness on the Internet. Some people will sell you filtering software to try to protect your kids from bumping into it. Thomas Nelson takes a different approach. Instead of warning you where not to go on the Internet, this guide, with the accompanying CD-ROM, offers thousands of "safe sites" to investigate.

This is the second edition of a fairly good work on telecommunications, with strong emphasis on Internet. The first edition was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in Mid-March, 1996 and Church Bytes in February, 1996. The review in CAMsoc Update read, in part:

Christian Cyberspace Companion is probably the most technically accurate book on the subject that I have reviewed thus far. It touches an a wide variety of topics related to "going online", and only very rarely did I spot mistakes in the information presented. The section in Chapter 8 ("Electronic Mail") which discusses how to discover the Internet address of somebody you want to write to is the most complete I have seen outside works specifically devoted to finding Internet resources. Appendix C, the "Christian Internet Directory" is fairly extensive, nicely arranged, and concise. Baker (and no, he's not related to the publishers) also maintains a Christian Cyberspace Companion Web site, where the directory can be kept up-to-date.

Type-in BASIC programs to create Bible games. The programs are intended to work in any version of BASIC, but the book includes tips for adapting the programs for the Apple II, Atari 400/800, Commodore VIC-20/64, and TRS-80, as well as extending and customising the programs to make them more interesting.

One of the earliest books on the use of computers in churches, by one of the pioneers in Christian Computing.

Bedell again, this time discussing the use of computers in Sunday school, etc.

An early collaborative work by two of the pioneers in Christian computing.

An examination on how religion has moved onto the Internet as people use technology to discuss their faith. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in April, 2003. The review read, in part:

Like David Lochhead, Brasher goes beyond merely reporting that "there are a lot of religious sites on the web" (Brasher reports that she has discovered over a million web sites which she considers to be religious in some way) to asking the deeper questions about what's going on. If she gets some of the details wrong (whether technologically or theologically), or if she doesn't happen to have found and examined this or that particular web site (or book), that hardly renders the questions irrelevant.

A collaborative work by several people involved with the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in January, 2008. That review read, in part:

I can quibble with this or that minor detail, but the truth is that, in the broad strokes, they're not wrong. (This technology may seem to have hit a dead end, and that online service may have shut down, but there are new virtual worlds online, and people are so into them that they actually pay real money to buy virtual "assets.") There are very real threats (beyond things like pornography and financial scams) in the digital world, and although enthusiasts like me might not want to hear warnings like this one, we are the ones who are most in need of being warned.

Lowell Brown created the Logos Church Management System, and is one of the pioneers of church management software.

Practically from the moment that computer-mediated communication became possible, people have talked about using computers for evangelism. Now, Andrew Careaga has put his thoughts on the subject on paper. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in January, 2004. That review read, in part:

Instead of speculating on what might work, or banging the drum for what he already knows, Careaga went out and found out what is already being done in terms of online evangelism. The book is full of examples of people already doing online evangelism, though web sites, newsgroups, mailing lists, and chat rooms. Similarly, he gives examples of people who have come to Christ through online evangelistic efforts. In other words, Careaga isn't saying, "This would be a neat thing to try" he's saying, "This is what works." The focus is not on finding an excuse to play with technology, the focus is on ministry, albeit through a different medium.

The title says it all.

Cobb sets out to explore the relationship between computers and spirituality, but unfortunately, does not display a particularly strong grasp of either topic. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in July, 2004. That review read, in part:

In short, this book is fairly short on reliable information about God or technology, but replete with the ideas of many people with whom Cobb finds some kind of common ground with her own belief system. Therefore, it would probably be most useful for those planning an apologetic ministry online, to familiarise themselves with one form of process theology.

Type-in BASIC Bible games for the Timex/Sinclair, Radio Shack TRS-80, and Texas Instruments TI-99.

The same type-in BASIC Bible Games, but for Apple II, CP/M, and C-64. Book 2 was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in December, 1988. The review in CAMsoc Update read, in part:

The thought of having to type in, and then debug, pages of BASIC commands kept this book on my shelf for three years. Furthermore, the Biblical content of the games is fairly low. (One game, in which the object is supposed to be to catch as much "manna" as possible, looks very much like "Space Invaders.") Also, the programming is not very elegant, even for BASIC. There are very few error-handling routines, and some shortcuts are taken which should not have been. Nevertheless, I was amazed to see children about 5-9 years old spending hour after hour playing the games. If you have several children at the threshhold of reading, and if you already have a computer for which these books are available at home, and if you like to tinker in BASIC (some fairly simple tricks can improve these games quite a bit) and you're not afraid of a little typing, then check to see if your local bookstore can get a copy for you.

Note: Since writing this review, I have been informed that the games in these books are now available for downloading from www.geocities.com/sdbnet/fishnet/fishx.htm.

Using insights from Alvin Toffler's work, Davis and Clapp set out to describe how, especially in the context of the church, computers should be used as a "third wave" technology, to personalise, rather than depersonalise. This book was reviewed in Over The Shoulder in May, 1999. That review read, in part:

This work is remarkably generic: full of sound advice and well-thought-out principles about how computers should be used in the church. For that reason, it has aged much better than many more recent works, which have gotten bogged down in the technology of the moment.

Another early work on the subject.

A book aimed at helping churches and individual Christians use Internet technology for ministry. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in August, 2007. That review read, in part:

The opening of Dixon's book reminded me uncomfortably of my own writing shortly after I discovered computers. In those days, computers seemed capable of anything, and anybody who had the faintest hesitation about jumping into the information revolution with both feet was obviously a Luddite and a fool. Dixon does not go anywhere near so far, but his unabashed enthusiasm for the technology strikes me now as somewhat less than warranted, and it seems to me that his discussion of potential hazards is less serious than it should have been.

A book specifically aimed at helping churches and non-profit organisations prepare for the rollover to the year 2000. The author is the president of the Joseph Project 2000, which is also dedicated to Y2K preparation for churches and non-profit organisations, and which offers Y2K Preparedness Seminars. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in February, 1998. That review read, in part:

Lots of books out there can tell you how to prepare your home or business for Y2K. This is the first I have found which specifically discusses the impact on churches and non-profit organisations.... I highly recommend this book. It's thought-provoking, well-researched, and deeply Christian. The leadership of every church and non-profit organisation should read it, discuss it, and decide what steps to take.

An annotated guide to 500 Catholic web sites on the Internet.

A very brief introduction to electronic communications, including instructions on how to connect to a BBS using ProComm Plus for DOS and Zterm for Macintosh, and several resource lists, including a list of all known Christian BBSs at the time of publication.

A very brief introduction to connecting to the Internet, most significant for the inclusion of the complete text of the "Not Just Bibles", one of the earliest and most extensive lists of Christian resources on the Internet.

A more philosophical discussion of the information revolution and how it affects the way we think.

Kay is a regular contributor to His Servant and Scroll, and her book has received glowing reviews. If you are using a Macintosh in a church, you should have it.

I tend to distrust surveys of any field of software which are published by vendors competing in that particular field. The use of terms like "up-to-date" and "best" in the title make me even more suspicious. Still, this is seven years more recent than Hughes' work.

Essentially an annotated bibliography and review of computer resources for Biblical and Classical Studies. For years after its publication, this was the standard reference on Biblical studies software.

A computational physicist comes up with an unusual form of computer ministry: using the computer to analyse the Biblical text to determine the validity of the theory that the Bible text contains "hidden messages." This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in March-April, 2005. That review read, in part:

Rather than arguing about whether this or that text string found through this method is or isn't meaningful, Ingermanson did what any self-respecting computer geek would do when faced with this kind of question: he wrote software to perform statistical analyses on the texts concerned, to determine whether they did or didn't show signs of meaningful content, or were simply random.

Guide to choosing a computer for a church, dating from the early days of personal computers.

Old, but not dated. Good introduction to use of computers in the Church. Reviewed in Christian Computing Magazine, May, 1989.

This is a series of essays on the interaction of theology and information science. Not a "how to", but an essential piece of theory. This book is hard to find, but one of the only works I have discovered so far which asks the "why" questions about using computers, instead of focussing on the "how." I highly recommend it. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in June-September, 1989. That review read, in part:

The questions that Lochhead raises are important and powerful ones, which challenge the Church to rethink the impact of the information revolution, not only upon the Church office, but on the pulpit and seminary as well.

Part of a series, from the early days of personal computers, each volume devoted to selecting computer equipment for use in different fields of endeavour.

A discussion of how to add computers to the array of tools used in Christian education.

Yvon Prehn is a regular contributor to His Servant, and has helped many desktop publishers to do better work. In fact, she has built a ministry out of helping churches to use desktop publishing more effectively. This book is based on a presentation which you can also get on video.

Rossman again in a pioneering work. This time on his own, and with more stress on theory and less on practice.

A more recent work by Rossman, again in collaboration. Reviewed in Church Bytes, April, 1991.

Yes, Augsburg used to market its own church management package.

Second edition of a fairly good introduction to the Internet. The first edition was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in Mid-March, 1996. The review in CAMsoc Update read, in part:

Internet for Christians is the third book on the subject which I have read, and in one way, it shines above all the rest. Most people have heard that the Internet has pornography on it, and many guides to the Internet for Christians or for parents have some sort of warning that "there is unacceptable material out there, so be careful." However, since these works rarely mention just where the "unacceptable material" is, how to spot it, and how to avoid it, the result is more likely to produce paranoia than enlightenment, and so many people going "online" expecting to find evil under every electronic rock. Schultze is the first author I have found to go into detail (in chapter 6) with tips on how families should go online: where to put the computer, what times to allow kids to go online, "surfing the net" together as a family, and so forth. For that reason alone, I heartily recommend this book to anyone with children who is online, or is considering going online.

Many people see the Internet as a new threat to people's virtue, when in fact it is simply a different way to face the same old vices (or, for that matter, timeless virtues.) Schultze argues that the way to deal with temptation online are the disciplines described by Alexis de Tocqueville: discernment, moderation, wisdom, humility, authenticity, and diversity. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in September-October, 2004. That review read, in part:

I highly recommend this work as a needed correction to the uncritical acceptance of the hype about the information age by many Christians (including myself), and add it to the list of those works which I consider to be essential reading on the subject.

A "how-to" guide including sample lessons integrating computers into Christian education.

Reviewed in Church Bytes, July, 1991.

You probably know somebody who has an Internet addiction. I certainly know people who have ruined their marriages or their jobs through addiction to MUDs or chat or other online time-suckers. Watters offers strategies for overcoming the dark side of the information revolution.

Several technical errors make it difficult to recommend this book to the uninitiated. In particular, Wendland's advice on viruses is highly misleading. Nevertheless, the wealth of resources included in the text and in assorted appendices makes the book quite valuable as a resource locator. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in August, 1998. That review read, in part:

The basic message any "wirehead" wants to get through to the uninitiated is, "You can do useful things on the net." Wendland gets that message across loud and clear, with dozens of case histories of people doing useful things on the net. In each case, he gives the URLs for the sites used, and he gives several appendices listing newsgroups, mailing lists, and Web sites of interest.

A discussion of using the Internet and the communication opportunities it presents for evangelism.

Zaleski is fascinated by the idea of religious practice online, and sets out to explore the possibilities by doing a survey of different religions and their online presence. However, his choices of sites to represent different religions are a little strange, and he tends to reinterpret each religion through his own filter. This book was reviewed in CAMsoc Update in June, 2004. That review read, in part:

Most of the people Zaleski talks to have interesting things to say. I feel like I could have fascinating conversations about technology with the techies, and fascinating conversations about religion with (most of) the religious people. Unfortunately, the techies' grasp of theology is pretty shallow, and the religious people's grasp of technology similarly shallow, so that people on each side of the conversation make comments which the other would have trouble taking seriously. Worst of all, Zaleski does not demonstrate a particularly good grasp of either side. It quickly becomes clear that his understanding of the technological issues is fairly limited, and the elementary errors of fact and interpretation he makes when discussing the religions with which I am familiar do not incline me to regard him as speaking authoritatively when discussing the religions with which I am less familiar.