Digital religion out of the book: the loss of the illusion of the 'original text' and the notion of a 'religion of a book'

Abstract

Since the classical age, a detailed knowledge of philology and critical editions of textshave been developed in the field of ancient Greek texts. This knowledge is at risk today because the new digital support draws new parameters for texts and textuality itself. The gradual disappearance of the notion of the ‘original text’ and the undermining of the philological approach is tinged with nostalgia for all scholars whose roots are in classical, philosophical or linguistic studies. It is interesting to examine how this disappearance of the notion of an ‘original text’ will affect the relationships to the sacred texts of those religions which are called ‘religions of the book’, in the context of a global transformation of the notion of ‘textuality’ itself in Western culture through the development of digital culture.