BA, MTh, MSc, PhD
Director of Postgraduate Studies, Tutor in Theology
Email: j.kurlberg@spurgeons.ac.uk
Mobile: 07425 813296
Jonas is Director of Postgraduate Studies Programme and Tutor in Theology. His primary research interest is in the nexus between Christian faith and digital culture. He has published on a range of topics within this field relating to ethics, missiology, post-secularity, liturgy, and ecclesial practices. This interest in digital theology began during a postdoc at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, University of Edinburgh, and developed during his time at Durham University and the Centre for Digital Theology.
He holds a PhD in British Literature and Culture from the University of Bergen. His doctoral work, published by Bloomsbury (2019), is an exploration of British intellectual elites’ responses to the perceived civilisational crisis during the 1930s and 40s. He used extensive archival material to narrate the story of ‘the Moot’ and its endeavour to create a Christian socio-political movement that would stem the tide of totalitarianism. Prior to his doctoral studies, Jonas completed an MTh with a focus on Free Church Ecclesiology at London School of Theology and an MSc in Sociology from the London School of Economics. In between these degrees, he worked as Lecturer and MA Course Leader at the Colombo Theological Seminary.
Jonas chairs the Global Network for Digital Theology, which brings together scholars across a range of disciplines to collaborate and further this emerging field of study. He is also an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University and serves as a member of the Lausanne Movement’s Theology Working Group.
Publications
Books
Christian Modernism in an Age of Totalitarianism: T. S. Eliot, Karl Mannheim and the Moot, London: Bloomsbury, 2019.
Edited books
With Peter Philips (eds.), Missio Dei in a Digital Age, London: SCM Press, 2020.
Journal articles
With Tomi Suovuo, and Erkki Sutinen, ‘A Hands-on On-line Course on Co-design for Digital Theology’, in T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of Innovate Learning Summit 2021, Online, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
With Alexander Chow, ‘Two or Three Gathered Online: Asian and European Responses to COVID-19 and the Digital Church’, in Studies in World Christianity, 26.3, 2020.
‘Doing God in Digital Culture: How Digitality is Shaping Theology’, in Cursor_ Zeitschrift Für Explorative Theologie, https://cursor.pubpub.org/pub/sk6clz8d, 2020.
With Peter M. Phillips and Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero, ‘Defining Digital Theology: Digital Humanities, Digital Religion and the Particular Work of the CODEC Research Centre and Network’, in Open Theology 5, 2019.
‘Resisting Totalitarianism: The Moot and a New Christendom’, in Religion Compass 7:12, 2013.
‘Church as the Image of the Trinity: Miroslav Volf’s Polemic of Free Church Ecclesiology’, in CTS Journal 5, 2009.
‘The Construction of a Political Ecclesiology: J. H. Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas’ Community of Non-Resistance’, in CTS Journal 4, 2007.
‘Tre-Själv Kyrkan och Socialismen [The Three-Self Church and Socialism]’, in ÖTH Rapport 23, 2006
Book chapters
‘Liturgy as Persuasive Technology: Exploring Liturgical Practices in Online Worship’, in Heidi Campbell and John Dyer (eds.), Ecclesiology for a Digital Church, London: SCM Press, forthcoming 2021.
With Rei Lemuel Crizaldo, ‘Inclusion in a Networked Society: Digital Theological Perspectives’, in Nina Kurlberg and Madleina Daehnhardt, Theologies and Practices of Inclusion, London: SCM Press, 2021.
‘Liturgi som Motiverande Teknik: Liturgiska praktiker i digitala gudstjänster’, in Sune Fahlgren, Elin Lockneus and Daniel Strömner (eds.), Corona och Kyrkorna: Lärdomar, digitala möten och beredskap för nästa kris, Stockholm: Libris, 2021.
‘Virtualität, das durchlässige Selbst und die Zukunft der Religion’, in Wolfgang Beck, Ilona Nord and Joachim Valentin (eds.), Theologie und Digitalität: Ein Kompendium, Herder Verlag, 2021.
‘Clashes Over Transcendence: T. S. Eliot and Karl Mannheim Through the Lens of Programmatic Modernism’, in Matthew Feldman, Anna Svendsen and Erik Tonning (eds.), Historizing Modernism: Approaches to ‘Archivalism’, London: Bloomsbury, 2021.
With Jolyon Mitchell, ‘Digital Representations of Martyrdom’, in Paul Middleton (ed.), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Christian Martyrdom, Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford, 2020.
With Jolyon Mitchell, ‘Building Peace in View of Digital Violence and Suffering’, in Gotlind Ulshöfer (ed.), Theological Media Ethics in The Digital Age, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer-Verlag, 2019.
‘The Moot, the End of Civilization and the re-Birth of Christendom’, in Erik Tonning, Matthew Feldman and David Addyman (eds.), Modernism, Christianity and Apocalypse, Leiden: Brill, 2014.
