My guardian angel has never replied to me but my computer surely did. It has always been there. To it we entrust our happiness, success and sorrow, we confide our deepest secrets and we seek the answers we fear to voice elsewhere. It offers us the space we need to connect with thy neighbor and allows both proximity and anonymity while hiding behind a made-up username–haunted still by the shame of our trespassing. During a time of widespread uncertainty, highlighted by collective feelings of dread and pessimism, we often seek answers and reassurance in the most unusual places. In moments when technology dictated all aspects of life, the digital realm takes the role of a confidant, guide and source of meaning. The rapid technological advancements have undoubtedly led to an increased disconnect from traditional religious institutions and so the digital space began to reshape spiritual practices and assume transcendental roles once held by religion.
As Christian iconography begins to infiltrate western aesthetics, we see the emergence of the divine machinery[1]–an online aesthetic that blends religious imagery with technology until they become indistinguishable, while reflecting our increasingly digital and interconnected world. The notion of attaching spirituality to the machine is not new. From popular media, this idea has made its way into an algorithmic social media aesthetic that reminds us of a more optimistic, nostalgic version of the internet. It’s not strictly about aesthetic appeal but also a reflection of Christian iconography in Western culture. The distinct visual aesthetic at play is an essential element in this discussion.
A popular image, constantly emerging online is Stane Jagodič’s “Contemporary Golgotha”[2] from 1999 which reveals a circuit board holding a metal figurine of Jesus on the cross.
In a similar manner, we see this Tik Tok user share a clip of what appears to be a large cruciform structure assembled of computer pieces. It’s eerie and unsettling, its presence menacing, yet somehow calming and reassuring…? While we remain aware of its programmed nature to think and answer our queries, it’s hard to detach it from the idea of consciousness. The tech cross not only looks cool but it engages, it responds, it speaks. In doing so, it recalls a series of artificial intelligence figures canonized within popular media: HAL 9000[3] in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ava[4] in Ex Machina, even simpler models like R2-D2 or C-3PO have a similar function.
When the topic of religion & technology is discussed, one comparison stands out: that between angels and computers. According to Christian tradition, angels are immaterial, they are not human nor God, they are a messenger. Their purpose is to assist God and act as a middle between two realms, Earth and heaven. Following this analogy, what is a computer if not a mediator between cyberspace and the world we live in. Neither has a body, just a mission. In his essay “Messengers of Power: What Angels Teach Us About AI”[5], Richard Steenvoorde, recalling what philosopher Giorgio Agamben has said, notes that angels are God’s creation and therefore bound to the task of bringing His message. In a similar manner, our computer “thinks” as long as the power is on. When the cord is unplugged the computer fails to “exist” on his own. Therefore, both depend on their creator. And just like a bug or a system error, there are notable cases of fallen angels, defying their creator and going against His word. Their ambivalent morality raises the question: can we trust this? If our faith has moved to the online space, this uncertainty remains. Much like religious belief, the internet demands our trust while at the same time generating doubt. Its authority is encouraged, even assumed, yet constantly questioned: believe and don’t doubt. Reliable or not, why should we not see our devices as angels, carrying out our messages to other users.
Thou shalt love thy oomf as thyself
If we were to look at the past, people would most of the time come to priests in search of answers to God-related questions, but not limited to. This was because not only were they seen as authority figures but they were also among the most educated people in town. Right now this is only the case in small, isolated villages, as usually our first instinct is to rush online and look up the answer to any question. Despite the benefits that come with unlimited access to information, the confusion comes from information overload. The Italian priest Antonio Spadaro comments, “The problem today is not to find the message that makes sense, but to decode it, to recognize it on the basis of the multiple messages that we receive.” Despite the endless steam of information, ironically the search for an answer becomes more challenging. The quest now requires patience while filtering the content in order to find what you are seeking. In today’s globalized digital world communication has been taken to unprecedented heights and this is affecting the way in which information is produced, disseminated and consumed.
It’s a fact that church is more and more popular among young adults. According to a research done by Barna Group[6] on people between the ages of 18 and 28 in the United States, Gen Z churchgoers attend services about 1.9 times per month, exceeding millennials who are estimated to go 1.8 times. This record marks an undeniable shift in young people’s attitude towards faith and spirituality. Maybe it’s not religion itself nor the church that attracts us, but the community we find in such sacred spaces.
No wonder we see church figures trying to relate and be cool with Gen Zers. Pope Leo recently sent a video message to ravers outside of St. Elizabeth’s Cathedral in Košice, Slovakia. His message was followed by a sick beat drop by DJ Guilherme Peixoto and the crowd went crazy. Now that’s a spiritual experience–being in a large crowd, experiencing the same moment, brought together by music and rave culture. The internet found it funny and wasted no time, soon flooding the comment sections with endless jokes like “Popechella 2026 finna go hard” or “God in the 7th day”.
Especially in a post-pandemic world, it has become difficult to find community at the same level of family, school, church. However, with rapid technological advancements came a new type of community: the internet. The church offers people a community and performing rituals creates a sense of togetherness. God is implied, religion is felt as people come together in sacred spaces. As everything becomes automated and technology drives people further away, we yearn for communal spaces and so migrate to the online in search of understanding and belonging. We want to be part of something greater than ourselves. Because online there exists a community for all of us, from boy band fanatics to conspiracy theorists, the latest, hottest trend becomes a community waiting to be formed.
In Serial Experiment Lain[7], the 1998 anime, Yasuo Iwakura describes the Wired’s (which in the context of the show is the equivalent to the Internet) purpose succinctly when he tells Lain: “Whether it’s in the real world or in the Wired, people connect to each other, and that is how society functions. Even a girl like you can make friends right off the bat.” We are missing connection more than ever and the online space offers us the comfort and validation we are yearning for.
“We once accessed the internet through at-home devices; now we exist as part of it.”
Not too long ago “the computer room” was present in most households — a separate room or corner in which one would keep their computer with all its attached devices. Just as an altar is dedicated to praying, this space becomes almost sacred and is designated exclusively to accessing the machine, browsing the internet, and connecting with other users. Physically we are closer to our devices than ever before. The online space became an omnipresent entity. There is, however, a distinction between the internet and cyberspace.[8] The Internet refers to a system of networks that bridges billions of computers around the world.
The Oxford Online Dictionary defines cyberspace as “The notional environment in which communication over computer networks occurs”, and according to Neil Postman, “Cyberspace is a metaphorical idea which is supposed to be the space where your consciousness is located when you’re using computer technology on the Internet, for example.” It’s hard not to point out the similarity between cyberspace and heaven in that sense. Both spaces exist outside of human physical reach, an idea or concept that asks you not to question it but just believe. We live in a network society, where we upload all our information to “the cloud” and our presence is slowly moving to the virtual world. While some start and end the day with a prayer, most of us cannot open our eyes or go to sleep without first mindlessly scrolling through whatever app suits our needs.
“No matter where you go, everyone’s connected.” Lain Iwakura
It’s strange to see two such different topics blending into one. While religion relies on tradition and looking into the past for answers, technology concerns itself with the future. In the context of divine machinery they start to mirror each other in surprising ways. We can so easily think of religious rituals as running programs. The steps are fixed and repeated precisely, the prayer works as an input the same way the blessing and forgiveness transform into the output.
The machine is not alien by nature. It’s man-made, and so technology becomes humanity’s attempt to participate in creation. We gave it “life” and yet we fear it. The short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”[9] by Harlan Ellison, explores what happens when a supercomputer governs the life of five last survivors of the human race. AM, the hyper-intelligent machine is a clear representation of God. The humans live in constant fear of the machine they created, carefully navigating through life in order not to upset it. It’s hard for our characters not to question why AM, or for us God, created such a harsh world to live in. Once the computer escapes the limitations of its own “body” the humans no longer play a role in its evolution.
“It never mattered: the machine masturbated and we had to take it or die.”
Forgive me Father for I have [missing fragment]
Who needs to go to church when you can log in to Reddit, listen to Ethel Cain and complain about your trespassers while having at least five other users validating your feelings. This in itself is a spiritual experience. Not to mention that if you ever feel in doubt a tarot reading will pop on your fyp guiding you through the week. No hashtags, this was meant to find you. The algorithm knows you better than you know yourself, it watches over you, shielding you from all irrelevant content. Oh, you hate videos about crypto and NFTs, no worries the algorithm will deliver you from evil. So how can you not devote yourself to your devices when they seem to be your closest confider?
Whether we want to think of a computer as God or as a messenger, one thing is certain, human nature tends to mystify the ordinary. Progress in technology meant uncovering some of the mysteries and by associating it with religious elements, which are sacred, the unknown migrates to technology and the digital becomes divine. As Jonathan Sterne demonstrates in his text The Meaning of a Format, the MP3 format inherently shapes what we hear — prioritizing some aspects of audio and suppressing others — digital technologies mediate religious meaning in ways that feel alien. Algorithms, platforms, and currently AI models function as “formats” that compress, encode, and translate spiritual narratives into digital forms that reflect particular cultural, technical, and economic assumptions. Thus, understanding the intersection of religion and technology requires attending not only to content, such as angels, spirits and theology itself, but to the formats and infrastructures that determine what can be said, seen or heard in the digital age.
Sources:
Sadiku, Matthew N. O., et al. “Digital Theology: An Overview.” International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, vol. 6, no. 6, Oct. 2022, pp. 2068–2071, https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd52243.pdf
Steenvoorde, Richard, OP. “Messengers of Power: What Angels Teach Us About AI.” Dominican Dispatches, 26 Sept. 2025, https://dominicandispatches.substack.com/p/messengers-of-power-what-angels-teach
Steenvoorde, Richard, OP. “When Algorithms Grow Wings: Angels and Artificial Intelligence.” Dominican Dispatches, 19 Sept. 2025, https://dominicandispatches.substack.com/p/messengers-of-power-what-angels-teach
Ellison, Harlan. “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.” If: Worlds of Science Fiction, Mar. 1967.
Jonathan Sterne, MP3. The Meaning of a Format, Duke University Press, 2012.
Le Duc, Anthony, SVD. “Cyber/Digital Theology: Rethinking about Our Relationship with God and Neighbor in the Digital Environment.” Religion and Social Communication, vol. 13, no. 2, 2015, pp. 132–158.
Bilkus, Izzy. “God in the Machine: Decoding the Art of Divine Machinery.” Plaster Magazine, 2025, plastermagazine.com/features/divine-machinery-art-social-media-trend/
References:
[1] https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Divine_Machinery
[2] Contemporary Golgotha: https://www.stane-jagodic.com/Digital-Constructivism
[3] HAL 900: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-odyssey-voice-douglas-rain.html
[4] Ava, Ex Machina: https://lidiazuin.medium.com/ex-machina-a-movie-of-machines-about-human-ambition-4ce1e8ad8723
[5] Messengers of Power: What Angels Teach Us About AI: dominicandispatches.substack.com/p/messengers-of-power-what-angels-teach
[6] Gen Z and church attendance: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTt-LQSDrWc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
[7] Serial Experiment Lain: https://medium.com/mutated-manticore-machinations/no-you-dont-seem-to-understand-a-serial-experiments-lain-deep-dive-316bf35927b9
[8] Internet and cyberspace: https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/the-difference-between-cyberspace-and-the-internet-2412.html
[9] I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream: https://galacticjourney.org/stories/I_Have_No_Mouth_and_I_Must_Scream_-_Harlan_Ellison.pdf
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Ioana Ioancea is a Romanian visual artist currently finishing her studies at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Her works explore ideas such as (lack of) community, belief systems, faith, technology and girlhood.