Luther Seminary Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary

MA Theses Student Theses

2007 "If Jesus Played Video Games, He Would Be a God!" : a Look at Gaming Culture Through the Eyes of a Christian--and a Look at Christian Culture Through the Eyes of a Gamer Paul Curtis Adams

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/ma_theses Part of the Practical Theology Commons

Recommended Citation Adams, Paul Curtis, ""If Jesus Played Video Games, He Would Be a God!" : a Look at Gaming Culture Through the Eyes of a Christian- -and a Look at Christian Culture Through the Eyes of a Gamer" (2007). MA Theses. Paper 9.

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in MA Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. “IF JESUS PLAYED VIDEO GAMES, HE WOULD BE A GOD!”

A LOOK AT GAMING CULTURE THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHRISTIAN —

AND A LOOK AT CHRISTIAN CULTURE THROUGH THE EYES OF A GAMER

by

PAUL CURTIS ADAMS

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of

Luther Seminary

In Partial Fulfillment of

The Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

THESIS ADVISER: JACK FORTIN

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

2007

This thesis may be duplicated. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my wife, Michelle, for all of her support during this project.

She played many video games late into the night for the sake of this writing, and her observations were an invaluable contribution to the completion of this work.

ii PREFACE

All Biblical quotations in this writing are from the New Revised Standard Edition of the Bible (NRSV), unless otherwise indicated.

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... iii

PREFACE ...... iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...... viii

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

A Brief Overview of Studies ...... 3 Historical Considerations ...... 4 The Rise of (PC) Gaming ...... 6 Technological Advances ...... 7 The Internet and Multiplayer Gaming ...... 9

2. THE IMPACT OF THE ...... 11

Video Games: A Way of Life ...... 13 Age and Gender Considerations ...... 14 Is There Enough Time to be a Christian and Play Video Games? ...... 15 Video Games and Human Relationships ...... 16

3. VIDEO GAMES: GOOD OR BAD?

Video Game Ethics: A Wesleyan Perspective ...... 19 Scientific and Social Perspectives ...... 24

4. THE RESPONSE OF THE CHURCH TO VIDEO GAMES ...... 27

The Current Response of the Church ...... 27 The Inadequacy of the Church‟s Current Response ...... 28 The Church‟s Unwillingness to Recognize Gaming Culture ...... 28 Inconsistency in the Church‟s Treatment of Video Games ...... 31 The Church‟s Denial of the Full Challenge of Culture ...... 34 The Challenge to the Church in a Technological Era ...... 36

iv

5. COMPARING “ 2” AND “WORLD OF ” ...... 38

An Introduction to, and Comparison of, Both Video Games ...... 39 “Age of Empires 2” ...... 40 The Monk in “Age of Empires 2” ...... 41 The Monk‟s Healing Ability ...... 42 The Monk‟s Relic Gathering Ability ...... 44 The Monk‟s Conversion Ability ...... 47 The Use of Theological Language in “Age of Empires 2” ...... 51 The Sanctity, Atonement, and Redemption Technologies ...... 51 Reflections on Theological Language in “Age of Empires 2” ...... 53 Comparing Theological Language and Theological Content...... 54 “Age of Empires 2”: Summary and Conclusions ...... 55 “World of Warcraft” ...... 57 The “Light” in “World of Warcraft”...... 58 The Paladin in “World o