Is the game Grand Theft Auto a sin

[Strachan]

Some of the others have already provided you with some good direction. The way I see it, is that whatever fill the mind, or heart, has a direct impact on you, in your "normal" life. I will give you an example, in Australia there is a current case of a cop that had to review porn material, video etc, every day - that was his job, to gather the evidence. This so affected him that he became a serial rapist and murder as a result.

It is the imagination that is affected, and this is where the sin takes place. I am not saying that simply playing GTA is wrong, I am saying is you get absorbed into the game you are doing things which is wrong, say stealing a car as an example - I know, it's a game, yes, but it mirrors real life.

Bottom line, if you feel the need to even question whether to play or not, then already you know the answer.

 

[nvyhus85]

It ultimately come down to does it edify your spirit, it becomes a sin when you put it before god. Would you chose to play video games instead taking the time in his word. If your answer is yes, then it is a sin.

 

[Alithis]

It ultimately come down to does it edify your spirit, it becomes a sin when you put it before god. Would you chose to play video games instead taking the time in his word. If your answer is yes, then it is a sin.

"to know what is right .. and not do it , is sin "

 

[Alithis]

Sir,

I repeat, these are NOT human beings. They are not women and they are not men. They are pixels on your screen.

Perhaps your argument could be applied to people watching films (where they see real women and men) that have these thoughts. Not to gamers who deal with, once more, pixels on a screen.

but the "player " IS a human being with a heart and a mind and an imagination .. and SIN begins in the heart

"...no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.- James

Sir , what scripture do you base your anti scriptural assumptions on ?

 

[SilverBlade]

but the "player " IS a human being with a heart and a mind and an imagination .. and SIN begins in the heart

"...no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.- James

Sir , what scripture do you base your anti scriptural assumptions on ?

If GTA is a sin, are you then calling all of the people involved with making the game 'sinners'? Everyone from writing the plot, making the cities, making the models, making the animation, and programming it...all of them are 'sinners' just because of their association with producing the game.

It's like calling everyone who worked on the Harry Potter movies 'sinners' because they helped, in some way, produce a film about magic - even if their job was simply to make the costumes or to build the sets.

 

[dies-l]

If GTA is a sin, are you then calling all of the people involved with making the game 'sinners'? Everyone from writing the plot, making the cities, making the models, making the animation, and programming it...all of them are 'sinners' just because of their association with producing the game.

It's like calling everyone who worked on the Harry Potter movies 'sinners' because they helped, in some way, produce a film about magic - even if their job was simply to make the costumes or to build the sets.

Well, aren't we all sinners? But, to address your point, I cannot imagine any follower of Jesus willingly taking part in making such garbage any more than I could imagine sincere Christians helping to make porn.

 

[Alithis]

If GTA is a sin, are you then calling all of the people involved with making the game 'sinners'? Everyone from writing the plot, making the cities, making the models, making the animation, and programming it...all of them are 'sinners' just because of their association with producing the game.

It's like calling everyone who worked on the Harry Potter movies 'sinners' because they helped, in some way, produce a film about magic - even if their job was simply to make the costumes or to build the sets.

yes - but i would only agree with God -.
he has declared it to be so .

tell me , why the effort to justify something that promotes
theft
rape
violence
lawlessness
etc ???
There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- Timothy

 

[Alithis]

Well, aren't we all sinners? But, to address your point, I cannot imagine any follower of Jesus willingly taking part in making such garbage any more than I could imagine sincere Christians helping to make porn.

nice context .. says it all

 

[Scipio]

but the "player " IS a human being with a heart and a mind and an imagination .. and SIN begins in the heart

"...no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.- James

Sir , what scripture do you base your anti scriptural assumptions on ?

It is you who quoted Jesus' on lust. Which has nothing to do with our topic since shooting pixels on screen is not in the slightest analogous to fantasising about doing something with another human being (again, a blood and flesh human being, not a moving pixel on your TV, is what that passage refers to).

If the topic was "Is fantasising about raping or committing adultery after playing GTA, a sin?", then maybe what you said might have had some relevance. In the meantime, you have done nothing to show that simply playing GTA is a sin (that playing GTA somehow leads to fantasising about real life murder or rape or whatever is your groundless inference and not what in fact happens or has happened to GTA players).

And I won't be bullied with slogans.

Sir.

 

[Alithis]

It is you who quoted Jesus' on lust. Which has nothing to do with our topic since shooting pixels on screen is not in the slightest analogous to fantasising about doing something with another human being (again, a blood and flesh human being, not a moving pixel on your TV, is what that passage refers to).

If the topic was "Is fantasising about raping or committing adultery after playing GTA, a sin?", then maybe what you said might have had some relevance. In the meantime, you have done nothing to show that simply playing GTA is a sin (that playing GTA somehow leads to fantasising about real life murder or rape or whatever is your inference and not what in fact happens or has happened to GTA players).

And I won't be bullied with slogans.

Sir.

whose bullying you ? what a weird reaction .
I am a christian .. i believe in Jesus and adhere to the bible .i don't assume all others here on CF are .
if you can show me scripture (which is NOT slogan) to justify the action of partaking in thoughts and imaginations (which the bible states plainly lead to SIN) which involve theft and hate and lawlessness are an allowable past time - please do so . then and only then can a bible believing christian ever assume you seek GODS ways and not just to justify your own .

remember in the making of Idols it was even making a "likeness " of them that was forbidden .. it didn't have to be the actual object for it to be idolatry. so now we carve idols from electronic pixels instead of wood and stone ... different medium , same result .

so present your scriptures and i will gladly listen - if you cannot ,i can only assume you play this Godless game and you are made uncomfortable that it is being classed as "sinful" ( full of sin ) .
of course repent from doing so and you will no longer feel uncomfortable .you will know peace.

 

[dabro]

Doesn't say somewhere in the Bible not to have petty arguments? I mean it's back and forth. This will be the only thing I post and I won't be reading the response....But I think you all should examine whats going on here and just settle sides.

 

[dogs4thewin]

There is a thread about this very subject, asking if GTA_V is a sin.
It was designed as a spoof so as to make fun of Christians and sin, etc...

Given you're a newbie I'll presume that is the spirit also in which this thread is posted. And I'll say this. If you know the content is wrong and you claim to be a Christian then you have no business getting the game.

It glorifies mass murder and grand theft. Violations of the commandments of righteous behavior.
Video games cultivate laziness and apathy. And also, desensitize the gamer to wrong doing when they're rewarded for that while voluntarily exposing themselves to a player platform that situates them into the position of first person murderer/shooter.

There are critics of that observation that will laugh and say it's nonsense. If it were though the military wouldn't incorporate first person shooter gamer platforms into the training for the infantry. That real life first person shooter position that helps to defend our country by shooting real guns, with real bullets, into real people.

The question becomes, why would a Christian want to spend hours playing a game where they are given points, kudos, for killing people?

"Oh, it's just a game!" Games are fun! If it's fun to murder people for reward rather than suffering legal reprisal, there's an inventory that needs to be taken. And it's not on how many games are in your X-box array.

I got Call of Duty at 13 my reason for getting such games was my desire to serve in the real world only I cannot for various reasons so I figured if I cannot do it in the real world I will it on a game.

 

[Alithis]

Doesn't say somewhere in the Bible not to have petty arguments? I mean it's back and forth. This will be the only thing I post and I won't be reading the response....But I think you all should examine whats going on here and just settle sides.

right you are lol .

but silent on this i shall not be, but i shall openly agree with the lord and with his Word .

these things ought not be .
it is astounding how so many people who claim to believe in the Lord Jesus can promote things that are in every semblance opposed to all he lived and died for .

 

[Scipio]

whose bullying you ? what a weird reaction .
I am a christian .. i believe in Jesus and adhere to the bible .i don't assume all others here on CF are .
if you can show me scripture (which is NOT slogan) to justify the action of partaking in thoughts and imaginations (which the bible states plainly lead to SIN) which involve theft and hate and lawlessness are an allowable past time - please do so . then and only then can a bible believe christian ever assume you seek GODS ways and not just to justify your own .

remember in the making of Idol it was even making a "likeness " of them that was forbidden .. it didn't have ti be the actual object for it to be idolatry.

so present your scriptures and i will gladly listen - if you cannot ,i can only assume you play this Godless game and you are made uncomfortable that it is being classed as "sinful" ( full of sin ) .
of course repent from doing so and you will no longer feel uncomfortable .you will know peace.

I don't play GTA though even if I did your last paragraph is irrelevant to whether what you're saying makes sense (which it doesn't).

You're trying to say that playing GTA is a sin because Jesus said that fantasising about having sex with another person's wife is a sin and that somehow playing GTA means you have a desire (or will develop one) to actually go out and murder and rape (a groundless assertion if there ever was one).

The Jesus quote, as I said, is completely irrelevant. There's no evidence that GTA players fantasise about having sex with other people's wives or being more lustful or whatever. If you have it, do present it. If not, you're just moralising by taking Jesus out of context (when it's very clear what he's referring to - fantasising about comitting a sin is a sin)

And you can't assume GTA players fantasise about doing any of those things to real human beings (the quote says nothing about pixels btw and if anything, your idol analogy shows that it is you who is taking pixels to represent something real - a human being - as idolaters take pieces of wood or rock to represent something real - God. I am taking things for what they are - human beings are human beings and pixels on the screen are pixels on the screen).

As I said previously, all these are your unjustifiable inferences and not based in fact. You assume what you want to assume. So to repeat: there's no evidence that GTA players fantasise more about murdering or raping real human beings and that's the only relevant question here. If they do, playing GTA represents a temptation to sin for some people (although again, simply playing is not a sin). But you have no evidence for that.

 

[Alithis]

I don't play GTA though even if I did your last paragraph is irrelevant to whether what you're saying makes sense (which it doesn't).

You're trying to say that playing GTA is a sin because Jesus said that fantasising about having sex with another person's wife is a sin and that somehow playing GTA means you have a desire (or will develop one) to actually go out and murder and rape (a groundless assertion if there ever was one).

The Jesus quote, as I said, is completely irrelevant. There's no evidence that GTA players fantasise about having sex with other people's wives or being more lustful or whatever. If you have it, do present it. If not, you're just moralising by taking Jesus out of context (when it's very clear what he's referring to - fantasising about comitting a sin is a sin)

And you can't assume GTA players fantasise about doing any of those things to real human beings (the quote says nothing about pixels btw and if anything, your idol analogy shows that it is you who is taking pixels to represent something real - a human being - as idolaters take pieces of wood or rock to represent something real - God. I am taking things for what they are - human beings are human beings and pixels on the screen are pixels on the screen).

As I said previously, all these are your unjustifiable inferences and not based in fact. You assume what you want to assume. So to repeat: there's no evidence that GTA players fantasise more about murdering or raping real human beings and that's the only relevant question here. If they do, playing GTA represents a temptation to sin for some people (although again, simply playing is not a sin). But you have no evidence for that.

and your scriptural reference to show your stance is based on the bible .. you forgot to add them perhaps?

we can have some nice sounding justifications and ideas on certain topics but the lord has said
"my thoughts are Higher then your thoughts , my ways Higher then your ways "

and consider the psalmist .. david asked

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

and then he goes on to answer it

-By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate(think on) on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

so again we see the scripture is full of instructions on what we are to do in respect to how we think and imagine

in the account of the tower of babel God destroys their tower ,for he states, .."that which they have IMAGINED in their HEART .. they will do ."

and it reaches an extreme in the days of Noah and God destroys all the earth for he Says... there is no longer any THOUGHT OF ME in them .

so over and over we see .. the principle is .. sow a thought and you reap a deed .
no my friend - there is nothing Godly in that Game it is filled with sin . it focusses the mind the thought and the imagination on every manner of thing that is an abomination in the sight of God .

 

[Genster]

Well, that being said. I wont get the game. I read both sides.

 

[manitouscott]

Genster

Good idea. I got the game after not buying any for a long time because of their influence on me. The GTA series was too much of a tempation. I will say that GTA5 was way too much for a conscience directed by the Holy Spirit to bear and I had to rid my home of it.

To be fair, there are a lot of other media that must be lumped in with this. Any christian who says GTA5 is wrong but reads books like Twilight or Harry Potter or 50 shades of gray or watches 90% of the movies out there today is a hypocrite. THere is just as much sex, violence, theft, pillaging and insanity in movies and books as in this game. "Oh, but I am not acting it out when I watch a movie or book" arguments fall dead based on content being the real issue.

I would challenge christians who attack video games to look at their bookshelf and movie list and apply the same "holiness" to themselves.

 

[Forest]

I really want to get the game because it is very fun, but I know the content in the game is very wrong.

It's just a game. I know the things that happen in the game are wrong. I would never reenact anything in the game.

Would I be practicing sin by playing this game? I am tempted to buy it, but I would also feel guilty playing it, now that I have grown a lot in faith. What are your thoughts?

The emphasis in bold is mine. It seems to me you have answered your own question.

 

[SilverBlade]

Genster

Good idea. I got the game after not buying any for a long time because of their influence on me. The GTA series was too much of a tempation. I will say that GTA5 was way too much for a conscience directed by the Holy Spirit to bear and I had to rid my home of it.

To be fair, there are a lot of other media that must be lumped in with this. Any christian who says GTA5 is wrong but reads books like Twilight or Harry Potter or 50 shades of gray or watches 90% of the movies out there today is a hypocrite. THere is just as much sex, violence, theft, pillaging and insanity in movies and books as in this game. "Oh, but I am not acting it out when I watch a movie or book" arguments fall dead based on content being the real issue.

I would challenge christians who attack video games to look at their bookshelf and movie list and apply the same "holiness" to themselves.

I find your argument completely one sided, as there's also sex, violence, theft, pillaging and insanity in the Bible. Based on your argument about why Christians shouldn't play games, read books or watch movies based on this kind of content (like you said) then we shouldn't be reading the Bible.

So, if Christians are to not view or read or play anything with violence, sex, pillaging, insanity..then my suggestion, toss your Bible, as the Bible as all of that as well, and I would challenge you to suggest that it does not.

 

[Alithis]

Genster

Good idea. I got the game after not buying any for a long time because of their influence on me. The GTA series was too much of a tempation. I will say that GTA5 was way too much for a conscience directed by the Holy Spirit to bear and I had to rid my home of it.

To be fair, there are a lot of other media that must be lumped in with this. Any christian who says GTA5 is wrong but reads books like Twilight or Harry Potter or 50 shades of gray or watches 90% of the movies out there today is a hypocrite. THere is just as much sex, violence, theft, pillaging and insanity in movies and books as in this game. "Oh, but I am not acting it out when I watch a movie or book" arguments fall dead based on content being the real issue.

I would challenge christians who attack video games to look at their bookshelf and movie list and apply the same "holiness" to themselves.

thank-you for a wonderfully honest and candid post