Daniel in digital Babylon A spirituality of resistance and the identity integrity of God’s people in the ecosystem of surveillance capitalism through theological reading of Daniel 1 and 6
Abstract
Church communities today inhabit a digital ecosystem governed by surveillance capitalism, in which human attention is harvested and identity is algorithmically formed; a condition this article names “digital Babylon.” This study constructs a spirituality of resistance and a theology of identity integrity for God’s people in that ecosystem through a theological reading of Daniel 1 and 6. Employing qualitative library research that integrates narrative exegesis with constructive theology, the article reads Daniel’s refusal of the royal diet and his disciplined practice of prayer before an open window as paradigms of boundary-keeping and counter-formation at the heart of empire. The findings propose a model of “Babylonian literacy without Babylonian identity”: God’s people may master the language, knowledge, and platforms of the digital empire while sustaining nonnegotiable disciplines of identity rooted in worship. The article contributes an Old Testament foundation for digital ecclesiology and offers churches, especially in Indonesia, a doctrinally grounded framework for resilient discipleship within, rather than withdrawal from, digital culture.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ayub Pangga Lewu, Jonsa Manullang
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