A typology of virtual religious communities of Christian orientation

The present article provides an introduction into the subject of virtual communities with emphasis on the religious oriented ones. It describes this social form of virtual organization through a series of paradoxes, which reveal the contradictions between premises or expected results and the present state of religious communities online. The final part suggests a typology for the virtual religious communities based on a two bipolar dimension frame: denominational and value orientation, resulting in four community types, metaphorically entitled „reinforcement”, „reformer”, „fight for the Truth” and „no frontiers.