For those who are gamers, how do you handle Christian Ethics vs gaming?

CoreyD said:

I'm not going to take a look at the list, because I might be critical, and then your list might be blank.
So, I'll let you decide... unless you really would like me to evaluate it from the scriptural perspective.

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It's public. It's ok.

AstralHammer said:

It's public. It's ok.

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One thing I can tell you, as a long time gamer, is that games made in the 20th century are not very creative.
The creative minds of the past, made, and still make the best games. So, if you want to find a game that's not a bundle of meaningless confusion... The only downside, is that most aren't cheap.
However, there are tons of freeware games out there... I just remembered... most people don't have Windows XP, or Windows 7, so most of those games won't play on a new Windows OS.
This is what I mean by getting left behind.

CoreyD said:

One thing I can tell you, as a long time gamer, is that games made in the 20th century are not very creative.
The creative minds of the past, made, and still make the best games. So, if you want to find a game that's not a bundle of meaningless confusion... The only downside, is that most aren't cheap.
However, there are tons of freeware games out there... I just remembered... most people don't have Windows XP, or Windows 7, so most of those games won't play on a new Windows OS.
This is what I mean by getting left behind.

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I wonder about these in terms of an older OS. I have came across these sites in the past but have not played any games off of them yet.

I believe these are all free. They even have Below the Root, an old Commodore 64 game I remember from when I was a kid.
My Abandonware: My Abandonware: because old video games were better

DOS Zone | DOS games in browser DOS Zone is free too. If you want to keep your saves in the cloud, it’s dirt cheap. Like $1 a Month.

Delvianna said:

I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea of fiction in general, but it can go south quickly when you start making up deities and stuff. I think a great idea would be to look at some Christian Fiction writers like CS Lewis. I don't think Tolkien's works is all that ethically stable, but I think Lewis does a greater job at how you can merge fiction while staying in the boundaries of scripture.

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I guess this is why this an interesting topic for me and should fictional video games with magic in it be avoided when there is no deity worship or deity-sourced powers? At the beginning of my first post in this topic, my answer would be it is acceptable. From what you and @CoreyD have been sharing, it causes me to think a bit about it.

My thoughts... if I were talking to myself.
Cory, you read it there in God's word... which is for our instruction, so as to make us complete. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 God does not leave us in doubt, uncertainty, or confusion, because according to Paul, the body of Christ....
I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among you, but you may be having been knit together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10

Those are strong, but specific words, Corey.
God's people must speak the same thing, have no divisions among them, be knit together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Obviously, there cannot be a case of one person saying, 'Yes, X is okay.'; Another saying, 'No, X is not okay.'; Another... 'Well, I'm not sure. Perhaps we wait until the end to find out.'.
No Corey.

For example, the Bible does not explicitly say "Do not watch porn... whether it be soft, hard, or...
Yet, the Bible has scriptures that says to every member of the body, 'Watching porn is not okay.'
I wonder if anyone disagrees with this, like there may be a gray area. I'm opened to hearing anyone on this.

There is fictional porn, but it's still porn, isn't it?
There is fictional blood and gore violence, but it's still blood and gore violence.
We can read it, watch it, and play it all. Is it right for Christians to do so? Can we be sure on God's view?

Remember Corey, "a man convinced against his own will, is of the same mind still".
Remember Balaam.
God told Balaam, "Do not go." Then God said to Balaam, "Okay, go.". Why? God realized that Balaam wanted to go, and so God gave him leeway to do what was according to Balaam's will.
Balaam is mentioned in the Bible, in a very unfavorable way.

Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 2 Peter 2:15

Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 1:11

Yes, Corey, you can rush headlong into a course that is appealing, yes, but in the end, leads to destruction.
That is why God has these in his word. Matthew 13:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12

What do you think about this guys?

CoreyD said:

My thoughts... if I were talking to myself.
Cory, you read it there in God's word... which is for our instruction, so as to make us complete. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 God does not leave us in doubt, uncertainty, or confusion, because according to Paul, the body of Christ....
I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among you, but you may be having been knit together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10

Those are strong, but specific words, Corey.
God's people must speak the same thing, have no divisions among them, be knit together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Obviously, there cannot be a case of one person saying, 'Yes, X is okay.'; Another saying, 'No, X is not okay.'; Another... 'Well, I'm not sure. Perhaps we wait until the end to find out.'.
No Corey.

For example, the Bible does not explicitly say "Do not watch porn... whether it be soft, hard, or...
Yet, the Bible has scriptures that says to every member of the body, 'Watching porn is not okay.'
I wonder if anyone disagrees with this, like there may be a gray area. I'm opened to hearing anyone on this.

There is fictional porn, but it's still porn, isn't it?
There is fictional blood and gore violence, but it's still blood and gore violence.
We can read it, watch it, and play it all. Is it right for Christians to do so? Can we be sure on God's view?

Remember Corey, "a man convinced against his own will, is of the same mind still".
Remember Balaam.
God told Balaam, "Do not go." Then God said to Balaam, "Okay, go.". Why? God realized that Balaam wanted to go, and so God gave him leeway to do what was according to Balaam's will.
Balaam is mentioned in the Bible, in a very unfavorable way.

Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 2 Peter 2:15

Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 1:11

Yes, Corey, you can rush headlong into a course that is appealing, yes, but in the end, leads to destruction.
That is why God has these in his word. Matthew 13:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12

What do you think about this guys?

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This is an interesting response. Thanks. I can tell you are a thinker. I'm thinking too. Some things I think about, is when you say blood and gore violence vs what? Non-blood and gore violence? This question could be construed as akin to hard vs soft porn. Maybe not. Or maybe combat of any sort in video games and could be considered unrighteous even if fictional. I'm still trying to digest your answer.

Some games and actions in games I certainly would not like to repeat because my relationship with God has matured. There is a lot of critical thinking and views on this particular topic that I would not have thought to be bad, but now I am left questioning. Personally, I was on a search for games that did not involve player choice of worshipping something that was not God and not drawing powers from gods, deities, or demons. Things I felt a Christian should not be exalting/worshipping for powers as they lead to a path that just doesn't feel right at all. There's a lot in this topic I am still taking in. I used to think that combat in video games was ok as it wasn't real. But I don't know anymore. I'm feeling discouraged more than anything as I am on a search for a game to play that isn't chess or checkers. Maybe I am more lost than I thought as I do like space exploration and space battles and fantasy rpgs with quests that involve deadly goblins and wizards who are bent on destruction that my character must overcome with his weapon of choice and combat mechanics built into the game. I have a lot to think about.

I like Pinball FX

Delvianna said:

I hope I'm posting in the right spot, if I'm not, my apologies and please move it to where it needs to be.

I want to talk about video games, table top games, etc and look at it from a place of Christian moral ethics. To give an example, I play the game Medieval Dynasty, which is mostly just building a city and managing it with all the resources. But due to it being close to Halloween, they've updated it to give the main towns halloween decorations. This isn't standard decorations... This looks purely pagan witchcraft to me.

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So when you run across instances like this, what do you do? I'm not required to engage with it. Like, there isn't quests or anything but how do you handle video games and following Christian ethical standards? (This is just an example as I mean this discussion to be more broad than just the example I'm showing).

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I don't engage. I didn't know about this. I haven't played medieval dynasty in a while. I like medieval dynasty. I have some hours sunk into the game.

AstralHammer said:

This is an interesting response. Thanks. I can tell you are a thinker.

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Thanks.
Even though I do think... a lot... it's not my thinking, really.
It's more, God's thinking, as I getting God's mind on the matter, so tat my thoughts would be aligned with his thoughts.
So, in any event where I might be led by my treacherous heart, I would be repeating God's view in my head.

I always did this, when I saw in the scriptures that something I loved was 'questionable', I would deliberately hammer those scriptures at me, to get my mind on the right track.
I didn't find it easy ignoring my conscience.

As I mentioned in the other thread, the scripture Romans 2:21-24 had a serious impact on me.

AstralHammer said:

I'm thinking too. Some things I think about, is when you say blood and gore violence vs what? Non-blood and gore violence? This question could be construed as akin to hard vs soft porn. Maybe not. Or maybe combat of any sort in video games and could be considered unrighteous even if fictional. I'm still trying to digest your answer.

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I was going to say blood and gore and violence, but since most games come with the blood and gore, these day, I decided to combine them.
Your question is, not only an interesting one. It's a good question.
Can violence be compared to porn in this sense?

Zephaniah 1 and Revelation 19:11-21 describe violent events.
David struck down a giant that was taunting God, and he also killed a lion and a bear.
That would make God, Jesus and God's ancient people guilty of sin, if acts of violence were wrong... in these circumstance.

The Bible does not specifically condemn violence, so does that mean it's okay to play a game where the player has to kill animals attacking him?
That's where one's conscious comes in, and using scriptural principles.
Hebrews 5:11-14 says the mature Christian "by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil."

Corey would ask...

1. Does the game promote violence? For example, is violence the primary feature, or prominent in the game?
2. If a violent act takes place, is it graphic? For example, if an act of violence takes place, is it an explicit and uncensored depiction, or is it more like... give me a couple days to find one.
3. How might Bible principles such as Psalm 11:5; Isaiah 2:2-4; Matthew 26:52 help me decide?
4. What about playing a game where the player has to kill giants or other creatures...Like the many senseless games out there.?

However, being entertained by something that is wrong, is not the same thing as reading about something that is wrong.
For example, Genesis 34:1-34 describes Shechem violating Dinah, after which Jacob's sons slaughtered all the men of the city.
We could certainly imagine what these events were like, but that's different to watching graphic sexual and violent content.

Pornography has one purpose only.
Graphic violence also has a purpose.
Both, unanimously are avoided by Christians seeking to please God.
Ephesians 5:3-5, 10-14; Colossians 3:5, 6; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 Psalm 11:5

A person may reason, 'What if a husband and wife make a sexually explicit video, for educational purposes. It's not sexual immorality. So, can a Christian watch it... perhaps a new Christian couple might be trying to learn the ins and outs of sex.'
Hmm.
Corey would think...

• Would this not be opening the doors to adultery?
• Would this couple not be inviting lust into their relationship, to either one of the mates.
• What's the Bible principle? Matthew 5:28 is one. As we can see, this involves the eyes, and how we sinful mankind is lured. 2 Samuel 11:2-4. Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? We can add... Or a married woman, because the same principle applies.

Allow me to demonstrate the difference between "thinking Corey", and "thinking Corey adjusting his thoughts to conform to a higher thinking - that is, God's thoughts" Isaiah 55:8, 9
Corey, once started to reason, that some forms of pornography could be considered 'educational', or even 'art', but this was Corey's heart at work.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

However, the Bible quickly debunked the world's thinking with just one scripture - Matthew 5:28.
That, along with the others, helped me to see that viewing these things does not allow me to ""put to death" the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry." Colossians 3:5
So, Corey adjusted his thinking, to what is clearly, God's thinking.

I've been putting this into practice, for a long time, and so, I know it works,
I even have seen that one can become addicted to games, to the point where one's time is wasted, and one can immerse themselves in a world where it's possible to do anything... including what one would not do in reality.
Hence, some sick minds out there, created Grand Theft Auto, Left 4 Dead 2, Manhunt 2... and the list goes on.

...and people immerse themselves, saying, "It's not just okay. It's awesome!".

@CoreyD
War of Rights – American Civil War FPS with muzzle loaders and bayonets – Blood is part of combat. It is not a focal point like in games that glorify blood and gore. This is PVP.
Star Citizen – space mmo – Combat yes. I have not seen any gore or blood yet.
Albion Online – mmorpg – Combat, yes. Gore are blood, no. There is a lot of PVP content.
Myth of Empires -– sandbox survival game inspired by the Ancient East – No player worship. I have not seen any gore and blood like many other titles. There is PVP content.
Corepunk –- Open world mmorpg - I did some deeper dives into this one and uncovered worship and very sexual dialogue.
Avorion –- co-op space and spaceship game- I have not dug deep enough yet.
…and Bellatores being released in 2026 – I am still researching this one.

Since joining this topic, I have already removed Corepunk from the list of games I am interested in playing. It doesn’t fit into what I am looking for because of the worship and sexual dialog.

The violence in the games that are so far staying on my list don’t align to what you find in GTA, Left for Dead, Manhunt, etc. It’s combat mechanics that don’t evoke the same response one would get from real life violence. Games like GTA, you just know it is wrong.

I really don’t associate the content in the above games as something promoting wickedness. I also don’t think the PVP content in these games is bad either. As far as War of Rights and Myth of Empires is concerned, possible even Albion Online should be in this remark, violence is prominent in the game, but again, it’s not the type of violence that evokes the same response from real life or even reading about it where it hurts to know it is happening. Or from games that glorify in an ugly way like the games like GTA and others would.

These are my thoughts for the now.