Paper short abstract:

This paper documents a new kind of religious movement that emerges as believers use the Internet to enact a form of ritual deliberation. This deliberation creates a dispersed vernacular authority that both enacts the identities of the believers and limits the participation of those do not believe.

Paper long abstract:

This paper documents the definitive characteristics of a new religious movement. It is new because it focuses on a particular "End Times" interpretation of biblical prophecy that differentiates it from broader forms of evangelical Christianity. It also constitutes a new kind of religious movement because even as its beliefs have diverged from existing institutions, no new central leadership has emerged. Instead, it takes shape as believers use the Internet to enact a kind of ritualized deliberation that they believe generates an online church. While the dispersed nature of this network-based movement might suggest that it is free from social control, this is not the case. Instead, individual members use the Internet to create a dispersed vernacular authority that enforces a self-sealing ideology. Through ritual deliberation, individuals both enact their identities as believers and limit the participation of those do not believe. In this research, the perspective of vernacular religion suggests that individual believers instead of institutions or charismatic leaders are responsible for participating in the religiosity their movement constructs.