What games should Christians not play?

durty_s4nch3z · Jan 30, 2004

ghost_on_fire said:
i am not going to law down any law but, I just got the new Electronic Gaming Monthly and it had 146 pages in it. I desided that I would rip out every page with something bad on it and there was only 50 pages left. Kinda stinks

and you kept the ones with the half naked women on there am i right. please oh god all mighty tell me you did that

led · Jan 30, 2004

Haethurn said:
You don't have to try to be EXACTLY like Jesus.

What if Jesus only ate fish and bread and nothing else?

What if Jesus would only drink Pepsi? Is it a sin to drink Dr. Pepper now?

What Would Jesus Do is a kind of stupid question to ask. In some cases it may be a good thing to ask but man, people take it way too literally these days.

whoah, calm down there little tiger. What Jesus would do is a perfectly legitimate question. Would Jesus drink pepsi or Dr Pepper isnt the right question. That is like asking if Jesus would Play Halo or Unreal Tournament. They are both sodas. You are in error in your analogy man and it destroys your whole rebuttal. Want to try again?

The question isn't weather or not Jesus would play videogames. The question is, what would Jesus NOT play and why would he not play them. And, from reading about his life, it appears that those he wouldnt play would be due to his purity and his desire to be pure. I mean, why did he not party with the sinners? It is cause he is Holy and he set an example for us. The bible says not to be in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. What we allow to get fed into our head through influences affects us. And, if what we are seeing is ungodly, then it is most likely at war against our spirit. THe bible also says that the carnal man is always at war with the spirit. It is rather obvious that some games totally feed our carnality. Amped2 doesnt really cause it is more of a nature game but games where you enact violence does feed the flesh mentally. Remember when Jesus was asked about adultery? What did he say? He said that even if a man commits it in his mind, it is sin. Actions in the mind can be as sinful according to Jesus. Lets reword that question. "Jesus, is a game of murder a sin?" Probable response "To kill someone in your thoughts is just as if you killed them." Right?

Now, don't get me wrong. I play first person shooters from time to time but I do feel a convition against it in some of the games. And, I know that eventually I'll end up giving them up as I get more serious with God.

seebs · Jan 30, 2004

It seems to me that this is pretty much the opposite of what I read in the Bible, which is that it is not the things which come into you, but the things which come out of you, which defile you.

To sincerely want a person dead is indeed very much like murder. However, to want to score points in a game isn't killing people at all; you know quite well that there are no people being harmed.

led · Jan 30, 2004

seebs said:
It seems to me that this is pretty much the opposite of what I read in the Bible, which is that it is not the things which come into you, but the things which come out of you, which defile you.

To sincerely want a person dead is indeed very much like murder. However, to want to score points in a game isn't killing people at all; you know quite well that there are no people being harmed.

actually, that verse is talking about food, not thoughts. The food is destroyed Jesus says. But, that doesnt refer to the mind at all.

And perhaps the game itself isn't sin. I think it is, or rather, it is sin to me. But, what is more important is how it affects you. Again, personally, outside influences affect me some. Like, lately I have been trying to walk the straight and narrow after ynearly a year of fighting with God over something. And, the Chat Box has really influenced me in a good way. Peoples attitudes have fueled a spark and I am much more healthy spiritually now thanks to the members here. But, negativity also influeces me. Maybe I won't go and kill someone after playing RPG's but the violent nature in me sure is fueled by watching gore and as my flesh gets fed, it gets real strong.

Tiga Ronso · Jan 30, 2004

Again, the important thing is your ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality. As for Amped, I could be wrong, but I believe it is rated Teen for lyrics. So, it is up to you and your spiritual relationship with God, what games each of us should play. It doesn't matter what other people say. If a person thinks Zelda is evil, does that make it evil? No, it doesn't. Like I keep saying, I will continue to play games until God tells me to stop, no one else. God is the highest authority in my life and he hasn't told me to stop yet. I use things like games and Yugioh to help people take me seriously and help witness to people. People take me more serious when I don't greet them by telling them about God and how they are going to hell.

seebs · Jan 30, 2004

Violent video games don't seem to have any such effect on me; I guess that's why there's differences between people.

cjkoger · Feb 1, 2004

"Yes Gandalf is vaguely Christ-like, although if you get serrious about the Bible teaching against magic, it becomes somewhat distressing that the Christ-figure is a magician."

I have read some interesting articles and interviews with Tolkien about the 'magic' and 'wizards' and such things that he placed in his books. He was actually almost reluctant to use such words, but chose them more for point of reference than any other thing. In a fantasy setting, it would be terms he could use that people would reference and understand more easily than some created terms of his own. In some of his other writings he talked about how the 'magic' in his stories had nothing to do with magic like we would think of in this world. I was not the occult, or 'the art', or whatever some people would call it. Characters like gandalf and saruman and sauron and such were not actually human. He compared them more to something like angels. Angels are created differently than humans are. They have abilities we do not. They can do things we do not, simply because that is the way God created them. They are a different type of being than we are. That was a way Tolkien described the magic and such characters in LOTR. The 'magic' wasn't an ability developed through sorcery or some such effort or belief, but rather more of an inherent ability of those who used it. Not trying to argue or divide, somply to pass on some info. thx.
cjkoger
ps my first post, probably my last.
Shalom
pps wow, i guess that was a tad of of context to the original post too =)

Hermit_Disciple · Feb 3, 2004

There are some games which have 0 redeeming qualities in them. The GTA series I think is one of them. The game makes you perform evil/sinful acts to progress through the game. The more sin you do in the game, the more you are rewarded. Now granted, clicking the mouse in the game is different than performing the acts in reality. But as things become more realistic the lines of reality become blurred. Games like this one can affect you negatively without you knowing it.

The game also wastes what time you could have used in service of God.

Kelly · Feb 3, 2004

cjkoger said:
Characters like gandalf and saruman and sauron and such were not actually human. He compared them more to something like angels. Angels are created differently than humans are. They have abilities we do not.

Yep. Many of the big time players in Middle Earth are angel-like beings known as Ainur. They are the offspring of the god's thought. They took different forms, one of which were the Maiar -sort of like lesser angels. Gandalf is a Maiar, so was Sauron and Saruman, and balrogs too!

Creationist2004 · Feb 17, 2004

I don't know for sure what games, if any should NOT be played by any Christian. I agree with those of you who said that it is God who decides these things, so therefore if he tells you not to play something, you should not play it. The same if your conscience tells you not to play something.
Because i believe that my conscience was given to me by God, to help me stay on the right path. There are times when my conscience is not clear, and then i ask other Christians.

For me personally, games like Pokemon, Zelda, Mario etc are okay. My conscience never goes against playing any of them. That is one of the reasons why i prefer Nintendo over playstation. Iam not saying that playstation is bad, at all. This is just my personal preference.

I don't disagree with all fighting games either (Beat em ups)
One of my fav games is Super smash brothers melee. If iam stressed, i can take it out on a computer character rather than a real person.
And because games that are exclusive to Nintendo never have bloodshed and gore in them, they aren't teaching young people to resort to violence in real life. Infact the object of the game is to use each characters moves to build up the opponants damage percentage, until it is high enough to knock them out of the ring. It is colourful, imaginative and good "clean" fun.

The type of games that i will not play (and i am by no means saying that others musn't play them) are games that involve a lot of bloodshed, death and "realistic" violence.
This is why i never play shoot em ups, war games or anything really violent. And the same applies to anime. Pokemon and Hamtaro for example are perfectly okay to me. The ones i won't watch are Spawn and Cowboy Bebop etc.

As for LOTR and Harry Potter, i dislike Harry potter and try to avoid it where possible, but LOTR is just fine.

Sorry if ive waffled on a bit, or have mentioned a game that you feel differently about. These are just my opinons and are not rules.

Thanks for reading.

Caedmon · Feb 17, 2004

Hermit_Disciple said:
The game also wastes what time you could have used in service of God.

You could claim that of any videogame, or any number of nonreligious activities as well. Are all videogames a waste of time that detract from your service to God?

earthenvessels · Oct 31, 2006

My brother plays Final Fantasy games, but I was told that Christians shouldnt play that kind of game. Is this true? He sees it as just a game and not as anything else. If someone could help me with with this I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Dracil · Oct 31, 2006

Thread necromancy in progress.

It's perfectly fine if you don't have a problem with it. Read Romans 14.

Dannager · Oct 31, 2006

earthenvessels said:
My brother plays Final Fantasy games, but I was told that Christians shouldnt play that kind of game. Is this true? He sees it as just a game and not as anything else. If someone could help me with with this I would appreciate it. Thanks!

I think it's kind of ridiculous to think that Christians shouldn't play a game. As long as you're able to separate fantasy from reality you shouldn't have any problem indulging in a little escapism every now and again.

SUNSTONE · Nov 1, 2006

Anything Playstation 1 or 2, or xbox 1.
SNES and Atari is ok for only 10 minutes every 6 months.

SteelDisciple · Nov 1, 2006

earthenvessels said:
My brother plays Final Fantasy games, but I was told that Christians shouldnt play that kind of game. Is this true? He sees it as just a game and not as anything else. If someone could help me with with this I would appreciate it. Thanks!

No, that's usually a comment made by someone who suffers from one of the worst sins. Ignorance.

Dannager · Nov 1, 2006

SUNSTONE said:
Anything Playstation 1 or 2, or xbox 1.
SNES and Atari is ok for only 10 minutes every 6 months.

Man, what? This wasn't a serious post, right?

willard3 · Nov 1, 2006

Dannager said:
Man, what? This wasn't a serious post, right?

Knowing Sunstone, it might actually be serious.

All bow down to the almighty power of the Halobox 360.

earthenvessels · Nov 2, 2006

Thanks! I appreciate your comments. I play Final Fantasy as well, my faves are 10 and 10-2 and i just ordered FF 12. A friend of mine told me that because they cast magic Christians shouldnt play it. I was like, to me its just a game and I dont see it as anything else. I dont let a game ruin my walk with God, and I believe that if you know the difference between reality and game, its OK. I mean, its a GAME! Sheesh...lol...at least I am not the only one who feels this way, so thank you!

God Bless!

WhirlwindMonk · Nov 2, 2006

earthenvessels said:
Thanks! I appreciate your comments. I play Final Fantasy as well, my faves are 10 and 10-2 and i just ordered FF 12. A friend of mine told me that because they cast magic Christians shouldnt play it. I was like, to me its just a game and I dont see it as anything else. I dont let a game ruin my walk with God, and I believe that if you know the difference between reality and game, its OK. I mean, its a GAME! Sheesh...lol...at least I am not the only one who feels this way, so thank you!

God Bless!

Yeah, I love how people say stuff like that. Most times, they've never even seen the games! They're just like "OH NOES!!! T3H MAGIX!!!111" and start trying to rub their paranoia on other people. Seriously, who is going to have their faith ruined by a couple figures saying the word "fire" and some fire appearing? It doesn't even resemble what people call "real magic".

No offense to your friend meant, by the way. I'm just expressing general frustration with people who share the same beliefs as your friend.

What games should Christians not play?

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