1. Introduction 2. History of Research Paradigms 3. Heuristics 3a.The Internet as an information transmission medium 3b.Online religion's relationship to offline religion 3c.Online influence on the offline: the prime heuristic 3e.Basic observations on the Internet as a medium: the beginning and end of medium theory 4. Methodologies 4a.Qualitative approaches 4b.Quantitative approaches 5. Conclusion