Is Minecraft Evil or Spiritual Dangerous? Can Christians Play Minecraft?

[LutheranGuy123]

I was just going to add about the Pike river mining disaster. It was a tragedy and that was a REAL mine. What happened was the management of the mine totally disregarded health and safety.

In terms of searching for treasure, the game really doesnt teach you about storing your treasures up in heaven.

This is what i propose..instead of playing a useless video game that exposes you to the underworld have the children put in the garden digging and growing things.

Another scripture that comes to mind is building your foundation on rock.

Not mining it! In heaven all the precious gems are there already, we dont need to dig for them. Mining actually destroys precious ecosystems.

Jesus was a carpenter, right? Do you think he didn't use iron, which somebody mined? You think he didn't use nails to hold his houses together? Honestly, do you think mining is bad because you should build your foundation on rock?

 

[Goatee]

Its a brilliant game. It teaches kids how to build fantastic structures etc. My daughter loves it and has built some stunning buildings etc.

People get too worked up about harmless stuff. Any sensible person / child will know right from wrong and fantasy from reality and not to put too much into what is just a game.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

How old is this kid? That makes a big difference.

I love Minecraft. Its great for being creative and has no real goal. You can just dig tunnels all day if you want. Everything is optional. For example if you play the regular mode, there are skeletons and what not at night. You can even put a "spell" on your items to make them better. And there is a witch character that throws potions at you. But if you set the game to "peaceful" mode there are no enemies at all. Just you relaxing and building stuff/crafting stuff. The reason its addicting is because theres no limit to anything. You can walk forever and the never ends. Well supposedly it does at some point but it would be near impossible to ever get to the end of the world. I bought the game I think when I was 28. I download maps for it. Textures. Characters.

To be fair there are christian like things you can download for it. I mean you can change EVERY aspect of the game if you wanted. Turn the Nether into Heaven for example. Makes everything white, cloudy...etc. You can change the enemies into something else. Leys say make them just look like a big block of white. Even the weapons and tools can be made to look different. Just have her search for "christian minecraft" online there are many results! I made a church in my game!

For example heres a picture of a texture pack "Candyland". See how it makes the game look more kid friendly? Granted the colors a bit more "girly", but there are packs out there that make it look like cartoons for example:
http://static.planetminecraft.com/f...y-Kingdom-By-Lords-Of-Minecraft-2_5627907.jpg

So like I said there are good and bad to it. Depends on how you play it. Nothing is forced on the player unless they choose to do it. I never really bothered with anything but peaceful mode because its fun, relaxing and lets me be creative. I'd tell the mom to do some research on "Texture packs", "charcter skins", "maps", "mods" and other things of that nature for it.

Wow I cant understand someone playing a game for that amount of time. The mind kinda seems like it would become unfruitful in anyway EXCEPT for the game itself. This causes me concern.

4 hours is nothing really. Especially for kids since they don't have adult lives to lead with time being used up.

 

[Cyprezz]

I'm a moderator for a Minecraft fansite (same site as from the link in the above post) and also have studied int. entertainment (fancy way of saying Ive studied the science behind games), and I would be lying if I said I didn't want to change your mind about this game, because I think it's fantastic, especially for younger audiences.

I can see where you might be concerned that Minecraft is satanic and spiritually misleading; there are aspects of the game that you might not find too appealing. It's true that it's not a Christian game, but it's actually quite beneficial and can be set up so your kids can't access the "scarier" stuff.

The open sandbox format of this game makes absolutely anything possible. Given the amount of resources your kid can collect, (or if they're in creative mode they can forego the collecting part and just start building!) they can build absolutely anything that comes to their mind; the only limit is their imagination.

It's also highly customizable. As was said above, you can change the "nether" into something like heaven, and change the way the blocks look so they're more cartoony, or even more realistic if you like. You can build a church, I know there's a modification where it adds the "Life of Jesus" and your kid can walk around in the game looking at what was happening then. If you don't like a part of the game, I can pretty much guarantee that you can either change it, or someone who knows how to make "mods" can do it for you.

It's fantastic for problem solving and building creativity in kids, there's even an aspect called "redstone", which is like a visual representation of programming in the game. It's pretty nifty stuff especially if your kids enjoy computers.

Minecraft is even being used in classrooms now, and yes, Christian schools and homeschooling alike as well for problem solving and creative purposes. It's one of the highest grossing games for kids aged 7-15 because its content isn't graphic and is suitable for that age group.

It has been rated for people ages seven and up by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) and ages four and up for the iOS version. There is some use of weapons against enemies in the game; however the interactions are not graphic at all and you can set it to "peaceful" so there's no enemies at all.

A friend of mine built a working i-Phone INSIDE the game; a long with some old arcade machines and calculators. Another friend built all of New York city in a 3:1 scale.

I just wanted to include some images of some of the amazing stuff that people have built in this game.

I agree, addiction can be a contributing factor to why a lot of people might not like Minecraft, or videogames in general. But that's up to the parents to decide what's best and how much your child can play; and they can be taken away if grades are slipping or there's a problem going on. The first thing I recommend to parents who are curious about their kids playing videogames is that you need to set boundaries, and make sure they know it's a privilege and not a right to play.

If you have any questions about this please feel free to ask. I really look forward to discussing anything that might come up.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

I am asking this question in regards to a lady whose son loves this game. He has posters on his wall in his bedroom of this game. I have no clue at all if this game has evil intentions or good, it's hard to know these days. I tried looking it up on the internet and got various answers. Some are saying it's inviting evil spirits into their home and others seem to not be bothered by the game. So I am looking for "advice" as to anyone out there that may know for sure if this game can open doors to evil or not? Again, this is not my child and I am seeking answers for his mom. She has been dealing with terrible things happening in her home for 9 yrs and is trying to get to the root of the problem. Her daughter is suicidal and does self harm. The mother is deeply depressed and sometimes suicidal. The teenage boy is suicidal and the father sleeps in seperate bedroom from the wife and has for 9 years and the marriage is failing. Everyone there is always fearful and they only experience "some" relief when they are outside of the home. There is alot more detail to this story but I am trying to keep it brief. So any info about this game would help me, thank you.

The way I felt the LORD explained the situation to me some months ago, when I was thinking about computer games that involve magical elements was as follows:

The bible says "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft". Games are not reality, as TV is not reality, it is fictional. We often watch movies with magical elements, and I play some games that involve magic. But i know that it does not effect me. My walk with God is sound and secure. True witchcraft is in "direct rebellion to God", as the bible say "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft".

A person playing mind craft is unlikely to be effected by a demon. They are playing the game in relative innocence. Only true rebellion against God invites demons.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

Sounds like the family needs professional medical/psychological help; Minecraft seems a non issue compared to what that family is experiencing.

I agree. It seems to me that the minecraft excessive usage is a symptom of the problems in the family, not the cause of the problems in the family.

 

[Goodbook]

Jesus was a carpenter not a miner but he gave up his job as that wasnt the most important thing to build stuff. He emphasised that we are his LIVING stones and that we are the temples of the holy spirit not anything made with hands.

When we walk with Him we are to bear fruits, so i dont really see a game like this as teaching anything useful eternally.

There is more to life than getting some level at a video game!

OP you might want to ask this son if hes being exposed to any horror movies, and what his tv habits are. If hes talking about being possessed. Most people get their occult gateways opened by watching stuff on tv. I mean where else would he be learning it from?

 

[Poppyseed78]

If you argue that Minecraft is not edifying because it doesn't teach anything eternally useful, well, by that logic most things aren't eternally useful. Many skills taught to kids are useless in the end. Why bother teaching kids math? What benefit does algebra serve in the long run? You need it to graduate from high school and go on to college and/or a job, but ultimately the job is a worldly pursuit, is it not? So the argument that video games are useless can be extended to many things that kids have been taught for centuries in school.

I never played MC, but it strikes me as an innovative game that helps kids build up their creativity and spatial skills. It is similar to drawing and other forms of artwork. Obviously if it is played to excess, it can become an addiction or an idol. But then, anything can.

 

[GillDouglas]

I am asking this question in regards to a lady whose son loves this game. He has posters on his wall in his bedroom of this game. I have no clue at all if this game has evil intentions or good, it's hard to know these days. I tried looking it up on the internet and got various answers. Some are saying it's inviting evil spirits into their home and others seem to not be bothered by the game. So I am looking for "advice" as to anyone out there that may know for sure if this game can open doors to evil or not? Again, this is not my child and I am seeking answers for his mom. She has been dealing with terrible things happening in her home for 9 yrs and is trying to get to the root of the problem. Her daughter is suicidal and does self harm. The mother is deeply depressed and sometimes suicidal. The teenage boy is suicidal and the father sleeps in seperate bedroom from the wife and has for 9 years and the marriage is failing. Everyone there is always fearful and they only experience "some" relief when they are outside of the home. There is alot more detail to this story but I am trying to keep it brief. So any info about this game would help me, thank you.

No.

 

[Sketcher]

My nephews, age 14 and 7, were normal individuals before a family member of theirs bought them a $20 Minecraft game for Christmas. They spend 4 hours a day playing it and more time watching it on Youtube. The 14 year old nephew is now grades behind on schoolwork (he homeschools). He developed something called Aspergers, but I'm not going to call it the game's fault, at least not entirely. Whenever I see them play the game on TV, I see skeleton pictures with candle lights on the screen. I cannot understand a word they are saying sometimes as I don't play Minecraft. And I worry about their spiritual state.

Sounds like the way kids normally act when they get into a game except for the Aspergers.

 

[ViaCrucis]

If the discussion of this game causes a division among Christians here, I would say that yes, it's probably an evil game.

So far I'm the only one that's arguing it isn't a good game. But if any more posters get on and agree with me, we have a real division, in which case I might say that yes, it's at least a divisive game.

Consider: There are over 2 billion Christians on this planet that can broadly be divided into groups of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. Ask the question, "How many books are in the Bible?" and you'll get different answers from all three groups. Protestants will say there are 66, Catholics will say there are 73, and Orthodox will say there are ~78. If one's rationale is "if the discussion of this X causes division among Christians then X is probably evil" we would have to conclude that the Bible is evil.

Hopefully we can all agree that the Bible isn't evil. Now I obviously this example because of how absurd it would be to claim the Bible is evil because Christians are divided over it; but this could be applied to any other subject both religious or not.

A thing isn't evil because, or when or if, Christians disagree about it; there must be something actually problematic about it.

One problem I often see is a willingness to engage in broad categorizations of "evil" to things which are fundamentally neither good nor bad. Imagine if I claimed that maps were evil, that'd be kind of silly right, they're just maps. Maps have no intrinsic moral value or ability, they just are; it is the use of a thing that could be good or bad.

Then there is simply the matter of using one's own conscience. Not everything fits neatly into a black and white world of good and evil; most things are neutral, or even grey. And attempting to condemn books, or games, or comics, or movies, or television, or music, or sports as "evil" tends to ultimately be an act of moralizations--inventing new commandments and laws to be followed in order to give the appearance of righteousness or goodness when there isn't any. We see this when we have churches which condemn women wearing trousers, as though a woman wearing bifurcated leg garments actually had any moral value or as though God said anything on the subject one way or the other; but this rule becomes established by which to judge and condemn or make people feel morally superior or give them the sense of moral uprightness thereby granting them pride, vanity, and self-righteousness.

St. Paul has something to say here when in Colossians he warns against those who say, "Don't touch!" "Don't taste!" "Don't drink!".

If your conscience is bothered reading a story about a British kid at an imaginary school using fake Latin words to pull of parlor tricks, then don't read it; but don't go telling people it's evil when it isn't. This can then be applied to most things, video games, music, etc. The reality is that we are expected to use common sense and our conscience, and to be mature enough to recognize that just because I may have an issue with something doesn't make it a problem for anyone else. Maybe in my conscience I have decided not to eat meat, it is not my job to then force others to follow the dictates of my conscience but to grant them the same liberty of conscious as I have.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[KnitReadRepeat]

It's pretty literally the equivalent of playing with electronic legos. It is what you make of it. Some people create great worlds of beauty and some people focus on fighting later added monsters. Themed lego sets also can have monsters. Some kids build elaborate tree houses; some kids act out monster movies they watched when they were supposed to be doing something else.

Things to watch for: too much screen time of any sort can be bad for developing brains. Screen time can be addictive, not only Minecraft, but any program. All time that a child spends on the internet should be monitored; you don't want to leave a child online without adult supervision any more than you'd leave them in a playground in a strange city without adult supervision. Limit time and watch what you child does and who they spend time with. The game is very popular; there are creative cooperative types online, and there are also reprobates, cons and creeps preying on the innocent. As in anything, provide guidance and explanations for what your child is doing. Parents can use videogame time as a reward and can set reasonable limits - only if your grades are above B, or so many minutes can be earned for each chore, or one hour a night unless you are grounded, that sort of thing. Kids don't know balance and moderation; parents need to teach them.

 

[marineimaging]

The writers of these programs have developed formulas for the levels of addictions they expect. These programs do not teach good values, do not lead our children to be good parents, good Christians..., they only lead to is to be self centered in behavior and self destruction before the world. The parents in that home need to be Christ centered in their marriage and the raising of their children. The problem is that they have let this fester for almost a decade and seem hell bent on hell on earth. I know these games are demonic in nature but they need to know it as well and when they have the conviction in their own hearts, by all means throw them out. But remember that the fight will be on and their kids are not going to take it lying down. They are going to need to stand together, seek help from a strong Christian counseling group, and most of all, desire to save this family. If they go in to this endeavor half-way, half caring, half desiring, they will only be half capable of doing anything.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I am asking this question in regards to a lady whose son loves this game. He has posters on his wall in his bedroom of this game. I have no clue at all if this game has evil intentions or good, it's hard to know these days. I tried looking it up on the internet and got various answers. Some are saying it's inviting evil spirits into their home and others seem to not be bothered by the game. So I am looking for "advice" as to anyone out there that may know for sure if this game can open doors to evil or not? Again, this is not my child and I am seeking answers for his mom. She has been dealing with terrible things happening in her home for 9 yrs and is trying to get to the root of the problem. Her daughter is suicidal and does self harm. The mother is deeply depressed and sometimes suicidal. The teenage boy is suicidal and the father sleeps in seperate bedroom from the wife and has for 9 years and the marriage is failing. Everyone there is always fearful and they only experience "some" relief when they are outside of the home. There is alot more detail to this story but I am trying to keep it brief. So any info about this game would help me, thank you.

By the sound of it "evil spirits" is that families least problem. Minecraft is great for helping kids practice creativity and get to build things themselves. While also being fun. Of course it's addicting. Anything fun is.

 

[marineimaging]

Consider: There are over 2 billion Christians on this planet that can broadly be divided into groups of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. Ask the question, "How many books are in the Bible?" and you'll get different answers from all three groups. Protestants will say there are 66, Catholics will say there are 73, and Orthodox will say there are ~78. If one's rationale is "if the discussion of this X causes division among Christians then X is probably evil" we would have to conclude that the Bible is evil.

Hopefully we can all agree that the Bible isn't evil. Now I obviously this example because of how absurd it would be to claim the Bible is evil because Christians are divided over it; but this could be applied to any other subject both religious or not.

A thing isn't evil because, or when or if, Christians disagree about it; there must be something actually problematic about it.

One problem I often see is a willingness to engage in broad categorizations of "evil" to things which are fundamentally neither good nor bad. Imagine if I claimed that maps were evil, that'd be kind of silly right, they're just maps. Maps have no intrinsic moral value or ability, they just are; it is the use of a thing that could be good or bad.

Then there is simply the matter of using one's own conscience. Not everything fits neatly into a black and white world of good and evil; most things are neutral, or even grey. And attempting to condemn books, or games, or comics, or movies, or television, or music, or sports as "evil" tends to ultimately be an act of moralizations--inventing new commandments and laws to be followed in order to give the appearance of righteousness or goodness when there isn't any. We see this when we have churches which condemn women wearing trousers, as though a woman wearing bifurcated leg garments actually had any moral value or as though God said anything on the subject one way or the other; but this rule becomes established by which to judge and condemn or make people feel morally superior or give them the sense of moral uprightness thereby granting them pride, vanity, and self-righteousness.

St. Paul has something to say here when in Colossians he warns against those who say, "Don't touch!" "Don't taste!" "Don't drink!".

If your conscience is bothered reading a story about a British kid at an imaginary school using fake Latin words to pull of parlor tricks, then don't read it; but don't go telling people it's evil when it isn't. This can then be applied to most things, video games, music, etc. The reality is that we are expected to use common sense and our conscience, and to be mature enough to recognize that just because I may have an issue with something doesn't make it a problem for anyone else. Maybe in my conscience I have decided not to eat meat, it is not my job to then force others to follow the dictates of my conscience but to grant them the same liberty of conscious as I have.

-CryptoLutheran

That assumes that your argument is focused on the division as being the ignition switch of evil in the Christian community. Evil is black and white. Anything that tears us away from God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the indwelling Holy Spirit is not of our God but of the world and if of the world, and of Satan if it leads us away. These games certainly do NOT lead us to Christ. No, not one.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Heres a picture of the church I made. Well technically its a home and has animal pens, a boat dock, a mining area and a church. The church inside is high highlighted in yellow. I forgot to add a cross to the top though. So as you can see nothing evil going on:

And heres a pirate type base I made:

 

[Cyprezz]

These games certainly do NOT lead us to Christ. No, not one.

Neither does working 9-5, driving a car, buying anything that isn't a bible, pretty much anything that isn't Christ centered in the world (which, you'll be surprised, is the majority and what 99% of Christians partake in!)


No, you're right that the purpose of these games may not be edifying, but the games (in question) themselves are not "tearing us away from God", other aspects such as addiction and obsession are. Both of those can be dealt with starting with restrictions and rules set by parents, and if it becomes a great big problem then you can always seek professional help.

 

[scottyp588]

Some of these responses simply amaze me. Minecraft is simply a video game about creating things with the resources you gather. This is one of the least offensive games on the market. I would hate to see what some of these commenters thought of other awesome video games like Smite, The Binding of Isaac, Skyrim and any war game.

 

[Rob84]

Hello

The short of it is that Minecraft is a building game. It's digital Legos. As far as skeletons, zombies, and the area that could basically be considered "hell" by some, the objective if to fight the things typically. If the children are spending several hours a day on it, that's a parenting problem, not a Minecraft problem. If the children's morals are somehow at risk because of the previously mentioned elements in the game, that is again a parenting problem. Now, I'm not saying let them play anything and everything, my argument is simply related to Minecraft. There very much exists games and other forms of entertainment that I'll go as far as saying even adults need to question why they participate in it.

When I was a teenager I actually brought my Dungeons & Dragons books to church to show them to my pastor. He'd heard about it, but never had anything to do with it because he was raised in a time when that was a no-no. After looking it over he said, "so this is basically just a template to be creative." We played a few times at church. How did we play? We made our characters (yes, including the magic characters) and we were the good guys the defeated the bandits and goblins and restored the town... typical good guy fantasy stuff. Why didn't they have a problem with the magic at church you may ask? Because we were sitting around crafting spells and other such questionable behavior. We simply said, "my character does this" and rolled a couple of dice for the results. Does that mean other people didn't do things with the game that were absolutely uncalled for, disgusting, and highly questionable? No, because they did.

Likewise, Minecraft and other such games allow creative freedom. What I would be more concerned about is observing what the children do with that freedom.

I also want to point out that the 14 y/o is at a point in life where he/she (I don't remember if they are boys or girls, sorry) will be facing considerably more insidious and destructive things in their life than Minecraft will ever remotely dare to be. I am not saying to accept something small because there are worse things, I just want to make sure things are in perspective. I decided to take a good look around a while back when I started questioning some of the video games I play and shows I watch. "Bad" is everywhere. Unless you keep the tv on the Hallmark channel and only read Christian books (which can even be questionable at times), you and them will be exposed to the secular world. Honestly, I'd be hard pressed to find something more neutral than Minecraft.

Another question... skeletons, zombies, and hell are bad and children shouldn't be exposed to them is what some believe, right? Do you allow those same children to read their Bible? Do we hide them away from Hell, demons, leviathans, behemoths, murder, sex, incestuous sex, and a whole host of other things we could go on about? OR, do we sit down with our children and guide them, raising them up in the way that they should go?

Communication has to be open with the children. Ask them how what they do helps their relationship with Christ. Ask them also how it could potentially harm their relationship with Christ, or their witness. Don't lead them to answer the way you want them to answer either, let them answer openly. THEN, guide them in the direction you think is best according to Scripture.

All that said, my personal opinion is this: Grades are down and Minecraft is being played 4 hours a day. That's not Minecraft's fault. That's the fault of nobody saying, "Since you cannot play video games and do your school work, you cannot play video games Sunday through Thursday. And you will not be playing all day on Friday and Saturday." It's not some kind of evil insidious game corrupting the children like a digital Ouija board from a horror movie. It's a weakness in boundaries and guidance that is actually somewhat easy to fix. As far as the children not sounding "normal" because they talk about a game they enjoy and mention *gasp* dragons... at 14 count your blessings that's all you're hearing being discussed lol.

Just guide them and love them, and I'm sure this will work out.



Sorry for the long post.

 

[elbato]

Everything has a spirit behind it if it was made by a human being. Especially movies, music, books, games, etc.
My advice is to look at from that perspective and pray about it