Was Halo fundamentally Christian?

[didactics]

I just watched the first few minutes of the video... to painful to finish.

John 117 is the name of a character that is a clone. It's pure coincidence it's also a Bible verse.

I'm straining here to see Halo as necessarily being in favor of Christianity (particularly young kind of Christianity), unless you somehow think Christianity is nothing but teenage/young adult male power fantasies. Some of the actual underlying themes in the game critique religion as superstitious.

I think you're right on that. However, I think it's entirely possible they did use John 117 as a reference, only after watching this video it seems they take references from other religions as well. As you were saying, it seems they do this without the intent to pick any one side.

 

[FireDragon76]

I think you're right on that. However, I think it's entirely possible they did use John 117 as a reference, only after watching this video it seems they take references from other religions as well. As you were saying, it seems they do this without the intent to pick any one side.

Alot of good points. Fanatical holy warriors were prominent enemies in many action games, and bogiemen in popular culture from the early 2000's

I don't think Halo is entirely devoid of religious references but like pop culture in general, there's not really alot of deep messaging in it. It's more of what is called a pastiche.

A video game that deals with Christian themes in a deeper way would be interesting. As close as I can think of is the game Bioshock Infinite, with the protagonists quest for redemption and literal baptism (twice). But it's not really sympathetic to religion, either, and doesn't delve deeply into Christian themes beyond the symbolism of baptism, and American Christian nationalism featured in the utopian/dystopian steampunk city Columbia.

 

[angelsaroundme]

It's not outright Christian, but there are parallels one can choose to see. One can view Master Chief as a Christlike character. He's a special savior figure who everyone looks up to. Cortana could be something like the Holy Spirit, guiding him. Or she could be seen as a female Christian hero and the feminine romantic ideal that a chivalrous Christian knight is fighting for. Guilty Spark could be seen as analogous to Satan the deceiver. Spark, like fire or light, being a reference to the sacred, that Satan was once an angel.

Gears of War also has religious references, the aliens there are called "Locust", and it's clearly a nod to Revelations because of the apocalyptic setting. But Halo has a much more idealistic or noble hero with Master Chief that fits better as an analogue for Christ like Superman does.

 

[didactics]

It's not outright Christian, but there are parallels one can choose to see. One can view Master Chief as a Christlike character. He's a special savior figure who everyone looks up to. Cortana could be something like the Holy Spirit, guiding him. Or she could be seen as a female Christian hero and the feminine romantic ideal that a chivalrous Christian knight is fighting for. Guilty Spark could be seen as analogous to Satan the deceiver. Spark, like fire or light, being a reference to the sacred, that Satan was once an angel.

Gears of War also has religious references, the aliens there are called "Locust", and it's clearly a nod to Revelations because of the apocalyptic setting. But Halo has a much more idealistic or noble hero with Master Chief that fits better as an analogue for Christ like Superman does.

You know, it reminds me how Richard Dawkins once considered himself a cultural christian. He states that he prefers it over an islamic culture any day because they are more openly hostile toward women for example. It's not that he's speaking about individual Muslims but what is stated in the Hadiths and Quran makes it problematic. Now he doesn't believe in the signs and miracles mentioned in the Bible but he finds it to be a more decent religion.

My whole point is that anyone claiming that Halo is christian would do well to clarify what they mean by that. I would say they are borrowing from a christian worldview and in a way they are getting away from those roots. But yeah, they were never really christian embracing. It is interesting to notice the amount of references though, like the ark or the flood. The ark in game being a massive installation but I have to be honest I never really paid attention to that detail before or the lore but apparently it was introduced in Halo 3 and the intention for calling the parasitic lifeforms the flood.

 

[OnceLostButNowFound]

It's not outright Christian, but there are parallels one can choose to see. One can view Master Chief as a Christlike character. He's a special savior figure who everyone looks up to. Cortana could be something like the Holy Spirit, guiding him. Or she could be seen as a female Christian hero and the feminine romantic ideal that a chivalrous Christian knight is fighting for. Guilty Spark could be seen as analogous to Satan the deceiver. Spark, like fire or light, being a reference to the sacred, that Satan was once an angel.

Gears of War also has religious references, the aliens there are called "Locust", and it's clearly a nod to Revelations because of the apocalyptic setting. But Halo has a much more idealistic or noble hero with Master Chief that fits better as an analogue for Christ like Superman does.

I find myself seeing Gravemind as another analogy to Satan. He quotes scripture and refers to himself as "salvation". He also describes himself as "the monument to all your sins", implying there's no escape or hope for redemption. (When in fact there is)

I also see the Covenant as sort of weird mixture of the Roman Empire and the Pharisees. People who say they're following God but are in fact deceiving themselves or are corrupt and manipulating people to selfish ends as in the case of the Prophet of Truth. At one point, in one of his speeches, Truth even tells the Covenant that the path to the Great Journey is "broad" which is clearly a twisted version of Matthew 7:13-14.

As someone who's been playing the Bungie Halo games on and off for years way before becoming Christian, it's interesting to see all the references and analogies thrown in there. Although I would be hesitant to say the series as a whole is fundamentally Christian. I like to think at least some of the original devs went on to follow Christ after the fact if they haven't already. But that's something only God knows.

 

[angelsaroundme]

I find myself seeing Gravemind as another analogy to Satan. He quotes scripture and refers to himself as "salvation". He also describes himself as "the monument to all your sins", implying there's no escape or hope for redemption. (When in fact there is)

I also see the Covenant as sort of weird mixture of the Roman Empire and the Pharisees. People who say they're following God but are in fact deceiving themselves or are corrupt and manipulating people to selfish ends as in the case of the Prophet of Truth. At one point, in one of his speeches, Truth even tells the Covenant that the path to the Great Journey is "broad" which is clearly a twisted version of Matthew 7:13-14.

As someone who's been playing the Bungie Halo games on and off for years way before becoming Christian, it's interesting to see all the references and analogies thrown in there. Although I would be hesitant to say the series as a whole is fundamentally Christian. I like to think at least some of the original devs went on to follow Christ after the fact if they haven't already. But that's something only God knows.

Gravemind certainly seems like a Satan figure, as he's a fallen or mutated Precursor. The reference you mention about the way being broad is hard to imagine as being random. I'd almost guarantee the writer knew what they were doing, setting the Covenant up as a non-Christian or anti-Christian villain. It's very possible some of the devs were or became Christian.

 

[angelsaroundme]

You know, it reminds me how Richard Dawkins once considered himself a cultural christian. He states that he prefers it over an islamic culture any day because they are more openly hostile toward women for example. It's not that he's speaking about individual Muslims but what is stated in the Hadiths and Quran makes it problematic. Now he doesn't believe in the signs and miracles mentioned in the Bible but he finds it to be a more decent religion.

My whole point is that anyone claiming that Halo is christian would do well to clarify what they mean by that. I would say they are borrowing from a christian worldview and in a way they are getting away from those roots. But yeah, they were never really christian embracing. It is interesting to notice the amount of references though, like the ark or the flood. The ark in game being a massive installation but I have to be honest I never really paid attention to that detail before or the lore but apparently it was introduced in Halo 3 and the intention for calling the parasitic lifeforms the flood.

I think that's a good point. Halo could be seen as influenced by cultural Christianity, if not outright Christians working on it. It's also possible they just thought the Biblical references sounded cool. Maybe the series could be called Christian friendly at the very least.

 

[FireDragon76]

Gravemind certainly seems like a Satan figure, as he's a fallen or mutated Precursor. The reference you mention about the way being broad is hard to imagine as being random. I'd almost guarantee the writer knew what they were doing, setting the Covenant up as a non-Christian or anti-Christian villain. It's very possible some of the devs were or became Christian.

More than likely, they chose to create a fictitious religion for the Covenant to avoid the perception of bias or antipathy on the part of the developers. A developer making a game in an international market has to be sensitive to the fact that their game might be played by people of various religions.

 

[didactics]

More than likely, they chose to create a fictitious religion for the Covenant to avoid the perception of bias or antipathy on the part of the developers. A developer making a game in an international market has to be sensitive to the fact that their game might be played by people of various religions.

I kind of see where you are coming from. While I don't think they were trying to avoid bias completely I don't think they were aiming for Christian virtue either. I think it is entirely possible that they (as in game devs) favor some things Christian culture without being Christian themselves. And I know, none of us can really know for sure but I think it's telling that none of the writers ever mentioned Christian virtue is what they were going for. Heck, if it mattered to them, they would be inspired by those like J.R.R. Tolkien and not be afraid to admit it.

But this brings up another point that I wanted to touch on. There is one game designer I've heard of who has been vocal about their beliefs as a Christian such as Doug TenNapel designer for Earthworm Jim. He said once (I don't remember verbatim) that he enjoyed the popularity he gained from the game development but that really wasn't so much his passion. He tried animation for some time but settled on doing comic books as he found it much more effective in storytelling. All this to say, it makes me think there are natural limitations to telling a story through video games. I think the Halo devs primarily wanted to focus on the cool and it required some knowledge about world history and how military operates. Also it was a flagship game for the xbox with the console being a brand first introduced to a western audience in mind, the United States. And I think most were willing to admit our identity as a culture is Christian. Sadly it seems we've been moving away from that and a lot has changed in twenty years. But in the same way that Thomas Paine wrote primarily to Christians he appealed to them without being a Christian himself and I'm referring to his work on Common Sense. Now we might not all agree about whether the American revolution was just but that can be a topic for another thread.

 

[didactics]

I think that's a good point. Halo could be seen as influenced by cultural Christianity, if not outright Christians working on it. It's also possible they just thought the Biblical references sounded cool. Maybe the series could be called Christian friendly at the very least.

One other way you could look at it is instead of them thinking positively only toward the cultural Christian, because they had other positive references to other religions such as the Arbiter who they originally wanted to call dervish or how chief's armor is named after Thor's hammer in Norse mythology, you could say it's more of a message about coexist than anything. Sure there may be more symbols of christianity but if it's not a Christ the only way message it kind of detracts from the meaning.

 

[didactics]

@angelsaroundme On second thought, you could say Halo does have a Christ the only way reference if it was intentional to have John 117 put in there. However, I've been thinking maybe that shouldn't be the standard of whether something is foundational in Christianity. Think of The Lord of the Rings for example how the author wanted to approach his work. He not only wanted nods to phrases or symbols, but a big part of rooting it in Christian messaging is the themes and morals. While The Lord of the Rings makes no explicit references to religion or Christianity, there are implicit Christian ethics, values, and hints of symbolism to Catholic and Scriptural themes. [1] And work that famously does have explicit reference such as Pilgrims Progress makes it very clear and obvious to the reader. During the time of the enlightenment there were many deists who used a few names for God in their writings but it was not hard to tell the difference from writers that were Christian. They don't sound like us today because it was the Baroque era of theology. One of the main reasons for that is Christian writers often had many names for God found in their writings. In fact that is why one historian, Peter Lillback, argued that evidence was in favor of George Washington being a Christian. You can see a clear difference how he writes when speaking about God to say Thomas Paine. Washington has over ninety different titles for God in his writings. Thomas Paine has three and it's in his book The Age of Reason. But you could say that the Bungie era of Halo was Christian friendly but I would argue that there is no evidence of it being anything more than that. In the same way non Christians often celebrate Christmas it's not really a statement about their faith.



[1] https://catholicismcoffee.org/bibli...ien-the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-d15cb72ce72