Scripture, Culture, and Missions
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 55, No. 1 – Fall 2012
Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
Edited by Craig Detweiler. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2010. 248 pages. Softcover, $19.95.
While the relationship between the church and various forms of entertainment has often been characterized by opposition, in the years following the explosive popularity of film, for example, the theological academy has seen fit to dialogue critically with it. When it comes to the medium of the video game, however, theology has had little if anything to say about it. The fact that theology is routinely late to the party when it comes to matters of pop culture notwithstanding, theology is actually simpatico with almost any other humanities discipline when it comes to indifference towards video games; there is no denying that for the majority of scholars, theological or otherwise, video games do not exist, at least not academically speaking.
Craig Detweiler, associate professor of communication at Pepperdine University, believes that such indifference need not be the case. By serving as editor of Halos and Avatars, a collection of essays regarding God and video games, he hopes to bring the serious discussion of gaming to the collective attention of a theologically minded audience. In his own words, the book “is an effort to take games seriously, to wade into an emerging field and make sense of an expanding phenomenon” (4).
The book is divided into three sections, each containing essays pertaining to distinct aspects of video gaming from a theological perspective. The first section, “Playing Games with God,” is the most explicitly theological of the three, as its essays deal specifically with the possibility of video games communicating to the player theologically. “Halos,” the second section, consists of essays that look more toward the inner mechanics of video games. The final section, “Avatars,” includes essays concerning the role-playing players assume and the nature of virtual personas.
Because of the difficulty of reviewing a collection of twelve unique essays, this reviewer will highlight two found to be the most substantive. In the first essay, “From Tekken to Kill Bill: The Future of Narrative Storytelling?” Chris Hansen asks, “If games replace films as our preferred stories, how will they alter our understanding of narrative arc, character development, and our own sense of calling?” (19). He answers by comparing and contrasting video games and film and ends with a potential theological implication: he posits that the video game’s ability to provide multiple paths to one conclusion (or even to different conclusions) could pose significant problems for the player’s view of biblical truth (31).
A second essay of note is the final essay of the book, John W. Morehead’s “Cybersociality: Connecting Fun to the Play of God.” In the latter part of his essay, he discusses a “theology of play,” a particularly fascinating theological concept. After noting that few theologians have ever approached a theology of play, Morehead intimates that, given the current proliferation of digital technology today, there is much potential for research to be done in this area (181-83).
The most significant value of Halos and Avatars is found in the underlying presupposition adopted by all of the contributors: that the medium of the video game is worthy of theological consideration and critique. Some of the authors do more towards the support of such a contention than others, but it is quite clear from the essays that theologians, ministers, and laypersons who are interested in the relationship between theology and pop culture would do well not to look upon video games with disdain. Strength is also found in several of the contributors’ thoughts regarding the implications of the interactivity of video games for biblical truth. Outside of the aforementioned example, this is perhaps best illustrated by Rachel Wagner’s essay, “The Play is the Thing: Interactivity from Bible Fights to Passions of the Christ,” in which she argues that interactivity of video games makes them “not suitable for portrayal of the passion of Jesus” (62). The very fact that the player has some control over what transpires in a video game can hold severe theological consequences.
The book does have two significant weaknesses, however. First, it is clear that some of the essay authors’ experience with video games is minimal. As an experienced gamer, this reviewer can assert with certainty that even gamers who are not theologically minded would quickly gather that some of the authors do not know as much about what they are discussing as they think they do. Second, the conclusions reached by several authors hold potential problems for the interpretation of biblical truth. While space does not permit listing them all here, perhaps the most illustrative is found in Detweiler’s conclusion for the book, in which he states, “[Jesus] was eventually fragged during a deathmatch on an unexpected field of battle. . . . After three days, Jesus respawned, took his place as Administrator, and redefined the way the game is played” (196). Though it is clear that Detweiler is attempting to frame the story of redemption in gamer parlance, by doing so he actually risks biblical interpretation using non-biblical terms and the trivialization of Christ’s salvific work.
On the whole, however, Halos and Avatars should be seen as a work that seeks to take theological discussion to an area it previously has not been and for that, it should be commended. Theology has been in serious dialogue with television and film for quite some time. With the proliferation of video games having significant narrative structures, theology would be remiss to ignore such an increasingly influential medium.
