Connecting the ‘Minecraft’ Video Game to Religion

Christianity dominates the Minecraft theology online

For those who love religion and video games, a connection exists. To be more specific, it is increasingly observed that too many Christian gamers, the borderline between recreational video games and formal religion has not only blurred but dissolved entirely[/tweetit]. Jeremy Smith is one of them. He has intermeshed with both these worlds, using one world to serve the other. The senior writer of ChurchMag, an online ministry website, vlogs himself elaborating on Christian theology while playing Minecraft. He has no qualms about the whole scenario, even naming it 'Minecraft Theology.

Connecting the ‘Minecraft’ Video Game to Religion[/tweetthis]

Rachel Wagner, a professor of Ithaca College, describes the phenomena as 'gamification' of religion -and by extension- the world. The professor pointed out video games and religion have many factors in common. Both of them lean towards structure and order and both come with a variety of rituals and rules.

Smith explained his activities, saying that he wanted to highlight the simple joys and the core of Christianity. He said that an important part of prayer is admitting you have sinned. If someone does not believe that then there is no point to attending the Minecraft infused Christianity episodes. In the Minecraft universe, one can save oneself by simply saying 'yes' to the greatness of Jesus. The spread of religion in Minecraft is now so widespread that it has virtually transformed into a tool for exploring religions and then advancing them amongst the gamers. Vincent Gonzalez, an academic who completed his doctoral dissertation on the subject of Christian video games, said Minecraft is an obvious choice for religious gamers as any player has the ability to design a world inside the game universe. People utilize it to express their own religious outlook.

RELIGION AND VIDEO GAMES, Y’ALL (via @kjwinston11) https://t.co/iPYYHqQ3TP

— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) February 6, 2018

Although the Minecraft game sees player participation from every religion, Christians outnumber all of them. About two-thirds of the religion flavored video games are Christian. At Planet Minecraft, the site where users could share creations, there are about 1,000 Catholic priests and 716 Jesuses. In contrast, only 58 Jewish Rabbis are present in this virtual world. Atheism is also represented with a Richard Dawkins presence inside Minecraft.

Video games and religion are now so enmeshed that a scholars' group has been created by American Academy of Religion to study the phenomena in 2014. Gregory Grieve of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro said that for a majority of individuals, virtual lives are regarded as an extension of real lives.

Resources

• The Columbus Dispatch
• Word & Way

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