Virtual Faith : The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X [Hardcover]

Tom Beaudoin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0787938823 | ISBN-13: 978-0787938826 | Edition: 1st

Reveals the deep and pervasive search for meaning that haunts Generation X. This book is must reading for anyone who would understand the spirituality of young people at the turn of a new millennium.--Robert A. Ludwig, author of Reconstructing Catholicism for a New Generation

In Virtual Faith, Beaudoin explores fashion, music videos, and cyberspace concluding that his generation has fashioned a theology radically different from, but no less potent or valid than, that of their elders.

Beaudoin's investigation of popular culture uncovers four themes that underpin his generation?s theology. First, all institutions are suspect -- especially organized religion. Second, personal experience is everything, and every form of intense personal experience is potentially spiritual. Third, suffering is also spiritual. Finally, this generation sees ambiguity as a central element of faith.

This book opens a long overdue conversation about where and how we find meaning, and how we all can encourage each other in this central human searching.

Tom Beaudoin earned his Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University School of Divinity in 1996 and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Religion and Education at Boston College.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you've ever seen God in a tattoo or had a revelatory experience listening to R.E.M., Virtual Faith is for you. Tom Beaudoin has spent his whole life parked in front of the TV, surfing online, and jamming to the radio--that is when he hasn't been church hopping, getting graduate degrees in theology, or serving in the Israeli army. His book is the most comprehensive and accessible reading on the religious nature of irreverence among members of the so-called "Generation X." While Beaudoin skirts some of the most contentious issues raised by Gen-X pop culture (neither "Marilyn Manson" nor "homosexuality" appears in the index), his book is groundbreaking and important simply because it makes a bold move: he aims two rays of light--God's and Madonna's--straight at each other, and actually takes seriously the wild spectrum that results. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

Proclaiming itself as the first book to focus directly on the religious experience of Generation X, Beaudoin's book is a provocative interpretation of the spiritual side of the popular culture that, he argues, has so deeply informed today's 18- to 34-year-olds. Beaudoin, a lay preacher currently working on a doctorate in religion and education at Boston College, argues that, despite popular conception, Gen-X is strikingly religious. The author gushes a book-length apologia for his generation's unabashed "irreverent spiritual quest," which includes the "meaning-making system" of their popular culture, their condemnation of authority and the institutional church and their simulated "virtual faith." This is a faith located not in traditional religious institutions but in the simulated material environment of video games and MTV videos. Beaudoin is an energetic writer, but his thinking is often sloppy and, in some cases, absurdAas when he contends that Gen-Xers have undergone Christlike suffering simply by being born into the turbulent era of the 1970s and '80s, into divorced families, into a fearful, fragmented society overhung by the nuclear cloud. Given his lack of perspective, it's easy for him to explain his generation's turn to shocking, unorthodox means to satisfy their spiritual hunger. He decodes the messages of "Xer theology" from unlikely sources: the sensual and spiritual imagery in music videos, the marking of pain and "gift of religious experience" in body piercings, identification with society's outcasts through ripped jeans. Beaudoin would have us believe that the irreverent, arrogant-unto-death thief on the cross embodies true spirituality, while the repentant thief is weak, hypocritical and outside Jesus'paradise.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787938823
• ISBN-13: 978-0787938826
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,833,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting cultural observations on spirituality of Gen X, May 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Virtual Faith : The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Hardcover)

I felt that the author was able to incorporate good observations on the cultural nature of Gen X. The pop nature of the book and the inclusion of various types of fashion and electronic media were of importance to his subject. As a person from this generation, I was able to resonate with many of the assumptions about culture and their inclusion in the shaping of spirituality. The irreverant and ironic criticism of institutional religion found articulation in Virtual Faith as well, as it was developed from the perspective of Gen X Christianity.

I was disappointed though, by the poor use of the four music videos. I felt that too much was read into their imagery by the author. My own thoughts are that much of the second part of the book became mired in an overdeveloped desire to place spiritual meaning upon these cultural icons. I don't think that much meaning was there, which undermined the character of the book.

I did appreciate though, the book's attempt to bring together cultural and spiritual aspects in Christianity, and express the irreverent reverence of Gen X.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good premise, I have only two critiques, September 10, 2002

By 

[e-mail] (Mooresville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Paperback)

I read this book for a Youth and Culture class in seminary and it was by far my favorite book of the semester. Beaudoin does a good job in describing a generalized picture of Generation X's conception of Christianity, but there are two places where I feel he misses the mark somewhat.
I feel that Beaudoin could have made better choices in his selection of videos, and this is not about personal preference or taste. Soundgarden's "Outshined" or "Rusty Cage" were both more attuned, in my estimation, to the emotions, struggles, and general attitude of Generation X than "Black Hole Sun", generally speaking. Beaudoin could have also explored why a band like Pearl Jam, which is overwhelmingly non-imagistic, could still continue to have an impact despite Pearl Jam's lack of visual exposure beyond 1992. Another example: replace "Like a Prayer" with Tool's "Sober" or with Nine Inch Nails "Head Like a Hole", and you've got something. And one last musical point: where is hip-hop? Surely the amazing success of rap music in the ninties, especially gangsta rap, says something about Generation X theologically.
My second critique concerns Beaudoin's theological engagement. I simply feel that he could have gone a little deeper. I was also looking for some wrestling with the greats. I took Systematic Theology the semester before I read this book and was looking for Beaudoin to utilize Barth, Tillich, Bultmann, etc. An examination of Tillich's views of Christianity and culture would have been especially rewarding in the context of the book. It simply seemed to me that Beaudoin could have gone a tad deeper theologically.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but deserving of all the praise it has gotten, July 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Virtual Faith : The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Hardcover)

This book has been a huge influence on young adults, on parents of young adults, on pastors, and many others. Because of this, I approached the book with some skepticism, thinking that it might be "selling out" my generation.

But I was surprised. I have 3 main comments:

1. The book not only makes many fascinating comments about how our spiritual lives interact with our cultural lives, but the author has a sense of humor about him. Some of his interpretations of popular culture are over the top, but I wonder if he didn't intend to be excessive, so as to be ironic in his own way? (He talks about irony being a key trait in contemporary culture.)

2. The four basic themes he talks about are spot on for younger generations today: suspicion, experience, suffering, ambiguity.

3. I only wish he could have sampled some more "ethnic" forms of pop culture, like African-American or Latin music. But he doesn't claim to do everything, and no one can do it all in one book.