Book Reviewed: Cohen, Yoel, and Paul A Soukup, eds, The Handbook of Religion and Communication (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2023). View on amazon (Associates Link)
Journal of Christian Teaching Practice, Volume 12, 2025 (January – December)
Reviewed By: Benson P. Fraser, William J. Brown, and Candace Saunders-Grewe
Reviewer Affiliation: Virginia Wesleyan University, Regent University, and Mt. San Jacinto College
Total Pages: 551 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-119-67158-9
The Handbook of Religion and Communication, edited by Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup, combines some of the best academic research on religion and communication. This work focuses on how religion and communication have been examined and reviews the various research methods (quantitative, qualitative, and critical) employed in this area of study. In thirty-three chapters, there is a wealth of knowledge provided. This handbook draws from an impressive group of influential and knowledgeable religion and communication scholars. Although the editors solicited international non-Western perspectives, especially from the Global South, they admit that “a bias to the West still remains.”[1] The editors perceive the influence of mediatization as being uneven, noting the strong influence and prevalence of media in the West and some non-Western countries that contrasts with the “villages where traditional religions seem untouched by media and depend on face-to-face contact.”[2] The handbook is divided into eight sections, each of which contains several chapters. We will succinctly review each part and discuss many of the contributions presented.
One of the strengths of this handbook is the breadth of the knowledge discussed. The work comprises theoretical and theological studies, mediated and individual communication, and attention to culture coupled with new technologies. Part I provides an excellent overview of these areas across communication, media, and religion studies. In chapter 1, Lynn Clark and Heidi Ippolito provide an overview of the background and terms used in studying religion and communication. The usefulness of this work is further exemplified in chapter 2, where Stephen Garner articulates the relationship between religion and communication, drawing particular attention to the diversity and complexity of their relationship. As Garner states,
The movement away from treating communications and media as cause-and-effect instruments or tools toward more mediatized and cultural understandings of media appears with increasing frequency in academic engagement with religion, communication, and media. This movement proves helpful in locating religion and communication not merely in the global mass media context but also rooting the expression of religious communication in the everyday world.[3]
Chapter 3, where Paul Soukup discusses theology and communication, and chapter 4, where Robert Fortner discusses religious traditions and ethics in communication, round out Part I and provide a wide-ranging and inclusive view of this area of study. Both chapters cover research on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Fortner also includes ethical studies in Buddhism, further underscoring this book’s concerted effort to include more than just Western studies of religion and communication.
Part II contains an overview of the literature on communication (or mass media) and religious faith (either Christianity or Judaism and Islam) or religious communication in a specific part of the world (such as Asia or Africa), as well as a useful examination of atheism and the media. In chapter 5, Mary Kennedy surveys the literature on Christianity and the mass media, noting that Christianity has adapted to various technological advancements. While it is challenging to cover so much material in just one chapter, Kennedy offers a brief but useful overview. Likewise, Yoel Cohen and Hadi Enayat examine the role of communication in Judaism and Islam in chapter 6. One great strength of their chapter is it demonstrates how these two religious beliefs, despite their emergence centuries apart, “each witness to one God, a God who interacts with humanity.”[4] Chapter 7 by Anthony Le Duc and Keval J. Kumar, and chapter 8, by Joseph Muyangata and Mark Fackler, discuss religious communication in Asia and Africa. Both chapters are relevant to those unfamiliar with religious communication in these regions of the world. These chapters also provide valuable insight pertinent to scholars who conduct research in these areas.
In the final chapter of Part II, Teemu Taira offers useful insights into the intersection between atheism and the media. Furthermore, he defines atheism and differentiates it from similar terms, such as non-religious faith and secularism. Taira argues that “left outside the media coverage in most countries are those ordinary atheists who are not celebrities or who do not speak with the voice of leading associations.”[5] This chapter addresses an under-studied area and aids in understanding the greater context of media and religion.
Part III on religions as actors touches on a wide variety of topics, serving as a ‘catch all’ for topics in religion and communication. Beginning with chapter 10, Jim McConnell offers a brief but helpful introduction to broadcasting from 2000-2021 for students in media studies. This concise but judiciously referenced chapter covers not only North America but also Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. In chapter 11, Paul Soukup examines religious personalities and televangelism, noting that while “the phenomenon of television preaching [has] spread widely and rapidly, [and] many have studied it, [only] a few [have done so] from a global perspective.”[6] The chapter focuses on people (televangelists) rather than the beliefs and traditional practices in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. He argues that “televangelism has spread to most major religions throughout the world because [of] its model—television formats combining preaching and other religious content with entertainment.”[7]
In chapter 12 on public relations and advertising, Carlo Nardella argues that “religion and marketing have become more closely intertwined as religious institutions seek economic resources in competition with other religions.”[8] He asserts that although neither fundraising nor religious marketing is new, “the marketing of religion signals a new dimension in religious organizations’ approaches.”[9] As implied, marketing tools are used by a majority of religious organizations today. Likewise, many religious organizations are employing crisis communication strategies to hide or dismiss many of the missteps of the organizations themselves or their leaders. In chapter 13, Gregory Perreault, Mildred Perreault, and Monica Crawford consider how religious organizations and religious leaders respond to various crises and argue that much more crisis communication research is needed in religious institutions. Chapter 14 by Amanda Sturgill examines the World Wide Web as a resource for religious organizations. The chapter is an important addition, as it examines the various attributes and limitations afforded by this technology in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity.
Part IV covers a variety of issues involving the role of religion and communication in the lives of individuals. Chapter 15 on pastoral ministry and communication by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome examines the important role of communication in pastoral ministry. While a short chapter, Zsupan-Jerome covers not only the fundamental role of a pastor’s interpersonal communication in ministry but also the role of various communications media relevant to pastoral ministry.
Damian Guzek and Piotr Borkowski argue in chapter 16 for studying the intersection of religious identities and the media, underscoring that “religious traditions maybe transforming under the influence of the media.”[10] They further explain that “the relevance of religious traditions is decreasing in many parts of the world, especially in developed countries.”[11] This chapter adds much to our understanding of media, secularization, and individual piety.
In chapter 17, Mary Hess explores youth, education, and media. Hess addresses the challenges facing most young people who are growing up in a digital media environment. The pervasive media influence coupled with the diminishment of young people’s participation in religious communities is deeply disturbing. For her, “communication is at the heart of human being and thus learning about and through communication media . . . is at the heart of education in religious communities.”[12]
Part V, which covers media institutions, begins with Krut Lundby’s overview of mediatization in chapter 18, drawing from his books Mediatization: Concepts, Changes, Consequences and Mediatization of Communication.[13] Lundby discusses diverse examples of mediatization research in the religious traditions beyond the traditional European and Christian worlds, exploring case studies of mediatization in Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, and African Pentecostalism. In doing so, Lundby offers an informative and enticing contribution.
Chapter 19, by Yoel Cohen, also provides an international perspective on religion and communication through his focus on religion news. Cohen defines and describes religion news, examines the trends in reporting religion news, examines the religious backgrounds of religion news reporters, assesses audience interest in religion news, and offers a critique on the quality of reporting religion news. His chapter contributes important knowledge for all journalism students and professors who study the dynamic intersection of news and religion. The continuing religious conflicts resulting in religiously-fueled wars, terrorist attacks, and other acts of violence will continue to place a high demand on this area of scholarship.
In chapter 20, Allen Novaes grapples with the proliferation of entertainment media throughout the world. Explaining the important concepts of edutainment, also referred to as entertainment-education, and pop culture, Novaes explores why popular entertainment mediates the presentation of religion and religious beliefs to mass audiences. His insightful examination of religion in pop culture, pop culture in religion, and pop culture as religion provides valuable theoretical lenses for examining this interdisciplinary scholarship. In doing so, Novaes clarifies why entertainment is central to the study of religion and communication.
Joel Mayward employs a case study approach in chapter 21 to discuss religion and film, providing three vantage points to examine their complex relationship. Religion in film considers how religious elements, whether they be characters, locations, symbols, or texts, play a central role in the story being portrayed. Film in religion examines how various religious institutions, organizations, and representatives respond to either individual films or the medium of film. Finally, film as religion considers how individual films or the film industry perform religious functions, such as creating myths and offering a window into reality.
In the final chapter of Part V, chapter 22, John Ferré underscores how documentary religious films can function both as advocates of religious beliefs to reinforce existing religious belief systems and prophetic instruments that question and challenge those systems.
Part VI presents functional perspectives on religion and communication, beginning with Myna German’s analysis in chapter 23 of how media create religious communities through the theoretical lens of mediatization at the macro level and uses and gratifications theory at the micro level. In chapter 24, Johannes Ehrat explains how simply gaining knowledge about religious beliefs and practices leaves us shortsighted at the least and often completely ignorant as to the meaning of such beliefs and practices within individuals and communities of religious faith. Drawing from the richness of a semiotic theoretical approach, Ehrat explores the religious discourses of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. Alternatively, in chapter 25, Gnana Patrick explores the same religious systems through the rituals, pilgrimages, and festivals of mediated events that dynamically converge symbolic religious meaning with the habitual practices of religious communities.
Johanna Sumiala completes Part VI with chapter 26, exploring how digital communication technology is harnessed in the presentation of death within various religious communities. Investigating mediated acts of mourning, witnessing, martyrdom, and sacrifice, this chapter considers extended meaning-making in the world of the digital afterlife.
In Part VII, cultural perspectives are presented, beginning with Chiung Hwang Chen’s analysis of gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity in media and religion research in chapter 27. In chapter 28, Felicia Katz-Harris applies a material lens to explore religious artifacts, buildings, and art, including an insightful exploration of museum exhibitions. Moving from exhibitions to exhibitionism in chapter 29, Ruth Tsuria and Jason Bartashius explore how religious communities encourage or repress mediated portrayals of gender roles and unorthodox sexual practices. While Tsuria and Bartashius regard the Internet as a tool that reinforces traditional religious approaches to gender and sexuality, Maríam Bosch and Alba Gauxachs argue that the complex intersection of authority, religion, and media challenges the status quo in the digital age. In chapter 30, they explain why the mediatization of religion and culture creates a dynamic process in which media negotiate how religious authority is reinforced or challenged. Robert White concludes Part VII with a global perspective on religion and development communication in chapter 31, focusing on how religious media can enhance socio-economic development and well-being in the developing world. Unpacking the various religious perspectives on helping resource-deficient communities, White describes how Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus promote development in developing nations.
The last section, Part VIII, considers how new technologies are changing the dynamic interplay of religion and communication. In chapter 32, Maríam Bosch and Josep Micó first describe the rich history of religion and communication technology and then quickly move their focus to today’s online communication networks, the mobile phone revolution, and the ever-increasing use of mobile apps globally, enabling religious communities to transcend all geopolitical, social, and cultural boundaries. In chapter 33, Rohit Chopra further explores the ubiquitous nature of online religious beliefs and practices. The profound explosion of online religious communication during the COVID-19 pandemic was taking place while this book was being written, and since then, hundreds of studies have explored how religious communities fostered prayer groups, social groups, services, and gatherings through the Internet, mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic devices. Chopra offers foresight into this dynamic period of change, making the important observation of the blurred boundaries between online and offline religious practices and the merging of virtual reality with real experiences, which calls for a whole new book on religion and media studies. As Chopra points out, the recent explosion in the popularity of artificial intelligence amplifies the demand for new, exploratory research on religion and communication in the age of AI. With advancements in communication technology yet to come, there is no room for boredom in the study of religion and communication in the 21st century.
Conclusion
One great benefit from this handbook is the comprehensive overviews found in many of its chapters. This is particularly true with the advancements in mass mediated communication technologies. On the other hand, the influence on religious communities of emerging media technologies such as mobile phones, tablets, AR and AI, and growing genres like videogames is predictably not covered well.
Another benefit of this handbook is the serious and intentional attempt to cover several major religious traditions and include studies from diverse areas of the world. This is a challenging task and it is not always completely successful, but the reader is always aware of the strong attempt to include different religious communities from various countries.
A second weakness of the handbook is the limited attention to international broadcasting through global organizations like the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which collectively are reaching two billion people. The handbook also lacks a discussion of the online ministry efforts in closed countries, particularly much of the Muslim world, through ministries like 3xm International. The astounding church growth in nations like Iran, Morocco, and Indonesia is not even mentioned.
These few limitations are far outweighed by the valuable contributions of this handbook, which is a useful resource for both undergraduate and graduate students studying communication and religion, as well as for scholars conducting research in this field. Although the price restricts this handbook’s use as a required textbook for most classes, especially for undergraduates, every university library should provide one or more copies.
Notes
[1] Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup, “Introduction,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 3.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Stephen Garner, “Communication, Media, and Religion Research: Theoretical Roots,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 35.
[4] Yoel Cohen and Hadi Enayat, “Communication in Judaism and Islam,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 83.
[5] Teemu Taira, “Atheism and the Media,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 134.
[6] Paul Soukup, “Religious Personalities and Televangelism,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 165.
[7] Soukup, “Religious Personalities and Televangelism,” 175.
[8] Carlo Nardella, “Public Relationships and Advertising,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 181.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Damian Guzek and Piotr S. Bobkowski, “Piety, Religious Identity, and the Media,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, by Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 241.
[11] Damian Guzek and Piotre S. Bobowski, “Piety, Religious Identity, and the Media,” 251.
[12] Mary Hess, “Youth, Education, and Media,” in Handbook of Religion and Communication, ed. Yoel Cohen and Paul A. Soukup (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2023), 266.
[13] For more information on mediatization, see Knut Lundby, Mediatization: Concepts, Changes, Consequences (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2009); Knut Lundby, Mediatization of Communication (Berlin: De Gruter Mouton, 2014).