From metanarrative to metadata A postdigital hermeneutical critique of the algorithmic curation of the word and the call of prophetic homiletics
Abstract
Postmodern theory announced the collapse of metanarratives, yet in the postdigital condition algorithmic curation now performs the work of legitimation, largely unseen. Sermons, Bible verses, and preachers reach congregations through platforms that rank content by engagement, so metadata increasingly shapes what believers hear. This article argues that preaching authority has migrated from the pulpit to the timeline, where metrics function as a performative regime of legitimation rather than a new metanarrative. Using library-based constructive theology, Osmer’s four tasks, and a postdigital hermeneutic joining Romele’s digital hermeneutics with the Pentecostal triad of Spirit, Scripture, and community, the study engages Lyotard, postdigital theory, and critical algorithm studies, and reads Amos 8:11–12, a divinely sent famine of hearing the word amid abundant worship, as a prophetic lens applied analogically. It proposes a postdigital prophetic homiletic expressed in whole-text preaching, naming the algorithm, communal discernment over metrics, embodied gathering, and justice-oriented proclamation.
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Authors
Copyright (c) 2026 Alex Stefanus Ginting, Sharon Munthe, Ernida Marbun
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