Virtual religiosity as a social anthropological phenomenon

The paper deals with the phenomenon of virtual religiosity that synthesizes virtuality and individual religious practices in the context of the modern social and cultural space. The study discusses the impact of high technology on the existence of a modern person. The research notes the transformations of the social and cultural space caused by the immersion of the 21st century person in a new virtual reality. The paper substantiates the thesis that religious communication within the virtual space is actively influenced by this space. As a result, religious communication undergoes a transformation and affects religious behavior and religious practices of believers which together shape their religious experience obtained in the virtual space of electronic networks. Having analyzed various studies on this issue, the author reveals the challenges related to the virtualization of religion: the transformation of religion into a kind of religious simulation, the spread of quasi-religious ideas, a decrease in confidence in religious organizations, which provokes a deviation from religious norms.