In da bginnin God cre8d da hvns & da earth

If you want to know which way is Mecca, you just need the right app for your iPhone. Can't make it to church on a Sunday morning? Live streaming means you can watch it from your bed. And if you're turned off by how long and wordy the Bible is, don't worry; the text message version is much shorter. No room for that Buddhist prayer wheel in your home? Well just download it to your iPhone, then shake and pray.

Like all other aspects of our life, religion is going digital. Ever since the previous Pope became the first to send a text message and set up the Vatican website in 1995, a plethora of religious texts, websites, interactive games, and phone apps have arrived, from digital rosary beads to copies of the Koran on your iPad - and, controversially, an app that promised to help you cure your gayness. Inevitably, a plethora of questions are having to be asked about how this technology might change religious practice and belief.

This week Spiritual Outlook investigates technology and faith and discusses what could be lost and what might be gained in this rush to digitise faith. We'll ask if there is really any difference between visiting the Wailing Wall in Second Life or going there in "real" life. And if so, what is that difference? Is the message of the Gospels still the same in text speak? Would the prophets have used predictive text? Can you be friends with God on Facebook?