Theology Gaming Posts

April 9, 2014 / / Essays

The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite. Life is not an illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait.

– G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

In sum, then, the problem as described in the earlier entry is two things: games are closed systems, and life is an open system. A closed system is, simply put, more fun because human beings easily perceive the inner workings of something designed by fellow human beings. Open systems like life in general and Christianity often do not provide the same sort of “thrill” just by the nature of their existence. That doesn’t mean that God has no plan, but the divide between God and human makes that a difficult notion.

April 8, 2014 / / Essays

Truth, of course, must of necessity be stranger than fiction, for we have made fiction to suit ourselves.

– G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

One of the primary reason that Christians often don’t like video games, or won’t even entertain buying one, comes down to one simple idea: God designed us to live a real life, not a fake one. An understandable goal, of course; nobody wants to see any Christian sitting in a room all day playing a video game, right? That’s not very Christian in the opinion of many. A relationship with God Himself should take precedence over all else.

I understand this opinion, and confronted it for many years, and in a way I am still haunted by it. No, not THAT question: should I play video games? Rather, this question: are video games just more exciting than real life? Does that mean real life is, gasp, boring? Maybe they just don’t want us to see it when we play video games? Not necessarily! But let’s contrast them both and see what develops.

April 7, 2014 / / Monday Update

Gravity – Gravity is a pretty standard action thriller that’s notable for a unique setting, wonderful special effects, and for failing to really connect with me on any real level. Perhaps I demand too much? I don’t think so; plenty of big budget blockbusters appeal to me on that level, but the level of critical acclaim Gravity received did not resolve my desire to see it. At the very least, I’d get a relatively enjoyable space adventure, right? SPOILERS AHEAD, so please watch the film first.

April 6, 2014 / / After Church

I don’t know why I am talking about this, but I feel it’s important to state this outright:

Nothing in the world actually “means” anything. “Meaning”is the result of a human construct designed to implant a message behind the organization of the universe, how things occur, what is in the media we consume, and otherwise.

Why is this the case? Let us look at common definitions of meaning, and see how we came to this particular conclusion.