Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Subject: Halo as a Christian Allegory
  • Subject: Halo as a Christian Allegory
Subject: Halo as a Christian Allegory

This is an awesome read.

  • 08.18.2009 7:34 PM PDT

Interesting theories all around. There is definitely some allusion to the progression from Old Testament Judiasm to modern day Christ-centered faith when looking at the Forerunners/Covenant followers and the central hero who will provide true salvation. I'm hoping this will be fleshed out in the inevitable sequels, although I doubt we'll see too many unknown details in ODST or Reach.

  • 08.18.2009 9:49 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

So how does one activate all of the Halos? Via the Ark. The Ark is a giant installation located at the center of the fictional galaxy

its on the outside of the our galaxy isn't it?

  • 08.19.2009 2:07 AM PDT

Break down, every single one of you.

After finally taking the time to read this thread, I have come to a conclusion. No. While I do believe that Bungie took the terms halo, flood, and ark from Christianity, I do not believe it is or was meant to be a christian allegory. While some things do match up, I believe that your looking to deeply into this. Your trying to hard to link Halo with the Bible and only finding answers you want to find. Don't get me wrong. I was impressed by your well thought out post and conclusions, but your looking too much into this. Halo is just a game meant to entertain.

  • 08.19.2009 10:00 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

I would argue that we live in a christian based society, so it is inevitable that some story elements seem allegorical

every story that features a central "savior" type character gets branded as a biblical allegory, and frankly, I just don't buy it.

not to come off as rude or standoffish I just wanted to make that point

  • 08.19.2009 11:01 AM PDT

Underwater Eagle.

I don't know what to say, that was awesome. I can't see a single hole in your entire post.

  • 08.19.2009 11:36 AM PDT

I'll have you know
that I've become
Indestructible!

Puma knight, Carswell, you should realize that one Bungie employee explicitly said it was a Biblical allegory, and yet another said that Jason Jones utilizes a lot of religious impetus.

It isn't looking too deeply at all if the creators made it that deep.

Games are just another medium of stories, just like music, just like movies, just like books. You can appreciate them at entertainment value, but many books, movies and much music is more than just entertaining.

  • 08.19.2009 2:45 PM PDT

Posted by: Adam 36O
Only in the last decade or so has computer entertainment started to mature into something truly worthy of being considered an art form.


I fully disagree, anyone who has played The Legend of Zelda or any final fantasy will tell you that the idea of a story worthy of being a book started way before the 2000s.

I wouldn't say that its an allegory but instead just uses Christian myths as a sort of foundation for which to work off of.

  • 08.20.2009 12:36 PM PDT

I'll have you know
that I've become
Indestructible!

Posted by: LongMasterWolf
Posted by: Adam 36O
Only in the last decade or so has computer entertainment started to mature into something truly worthy of being considered an art form.


I fully disagree, anyone who has played The Legend of Zelda or any final fantasy will tell you that the idea of a story worthy of being a book started way before the 2000s.

I wouldn't say that its an allegory but instead just uses Christian myths as a sort of foundation for which to work off of.

...
You do realize Chris Butcher called Halo a Biblical allegory, right?
How come nobody is getting that?

  • 08.20.2009 6:00 PM PDT

Halo..........is.......AWESOME

  • 08.20.2009 6:31 PM PDT

I think it's legit to say that the Biblical references have their purpose in spicing up the story as a whole, but it all lines up too well to be "just another Biblical reference." Sure, some things may be a stretch, but when the developers admit to placing the references in there, I think that it's valuable for everybody, Christians and non-Christians alike, to analyze where the developers are going with it. Besides, at the end of the day, Smallfry414 gets it right:

"Halo..........is........AWESOME!"

The very fact that we can have educated discussions about a topic like this proves that this is more than some mindless shoot-em-up, and for that I give Bungie some major Kudos, even if I'm pushing it a little at the end of the day.

  • 08.20.2009 8:18 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT


Posted by: IceWeasel
Puma knight, Carswell, you should realize that one Bungie employee explicitly said it was a Biblical allegory, and yet another said that Jason Jones utilizes a lot of religious impetus.

It isn't looking too deeply at all if the creators made it that deep.

Games are just another medium of stories, just like music, just like movies, just like books. You can appreciate them at entertainment value, but many books, movies and much music is more than just entertaining.


can you provide a link to said source?

you may be right, I can't deny that, however, if this is in fact true it would be monumentally disappointing

if all this halo story was some bastardized parallel to an old book, itself a derivative of stories before it

I'm sorry, my judgement on this matter is extremely biased, for the same reasons yours are.

  • 08.21.2009 12:46 AM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

Some can come away from reading "War and Peace" thinking it a simple adventure story, while others can read the ingredients on a gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.

Very nice but i have always thought about it a different way. All the biblical references there as part of the plot. The flood, precursors, forerunner etc. Not as much as a moral story as an extra layer of depth in the story. Also note where the forerunner first made contact with the flood. G617 is the planet. G1 being the moon I believe. G=7 and 1 + 6 = 7 so the entire thing is 777. Also G for Genesis. If you look in that line it says something along the lines of. "I shall unleash a flood of waters upon the earth and all creatures that walk upon it will expire". Not even close to the exact words but the meaning is the same.

  • 08.21.2009 1:04 AM PDT

I'll have you know
that I've become
Indestructible!

Posted by: Carswell98

Posted by: IceWeasel
Puma knight, Carswell, you should realize that one Bungie employee explicitly said it was a Biblical allegory, and yet another said that Jason Jones utilizes a lot of religious impetus.

It isn't looking too deeply at all if the creators made it that deep.

Games are just another medium of stories, just like music, just like movies, just like books. You can appreciate them at entertainment value, but many books, movies and much music is more than just entertaining.


can you provide a link to said source?

you may be right, I can't deny that, however, if this is in fact true it would be monumentally disappointing

if all this halo story was some bastardized parallel to an old book, itself a derivative of stories before it

I'm sorry, my judgement on this matter is extremely biased, for the same reasons yours are.


I laud your sober mindset.

Here are the links with quotes:
Christ Butcher said the story is pretty much an Allegory to the Bible.
ciber: How did you get the idea for Halo?


chris butcher: [...]
as far as the story, it can be looked at as a biblical allegory. the parallels are stronger than you probably realise, because nobody outside of bungie has more than a corner of the big picture. and we only have two corners. :(


Marty O'Donnell also said in an interview
Well we are religious guys, I think a lot of the religious stuff in Halo comes from Jason Jones, and the imagery is all him and he likes to fit it into the Halo story.


Any thoughts on that?

  • 08.21.2009 11:41 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Ive noticed that too idk what it means but i wanna find out.. and have you noticed that "HALO" is what a angel wears also ... :0 .... so is this against Christianity....who knows and I think the gravemind is supposed to be saitan.. it makes sence

  • 08.21.2009 12:44 PM PDT

That was, truly astounding. Executed flawlessly. I feel bad for replying because my response is not worthy of such a great piece of work.

  • 08.21.2009 4:42 PM PDT

"Don't you know? Spartans never die!."-Kurt

BnetGS=40 (9)(10)(14)(18)

Now that edjakashun!

Well done sir! I just read it and find your observations to be very well thought out! I have noticed the christian allegory as well, but the one that was most powerful (and the one I hadn't seen till now) was that of Chief "fulfilling the law" by detonating installation 04. Great work!

  • 08.21.2009 10:36 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

Some can come away from reading "War and Peace" thinking it a simple adventure story, while others can read the ingredients on a gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.

Posted by: Agustus
Very nice but i have always thought about it a different way. All the biblical references there as part of the plot. The flood, precursors, forerunner etc. Not as much as a moral story as an extra layer of depth in the story. Also note where the forerunner first made contact with the flood. G617 is the planet. G1 being the moon I believe. G=7 and 1 + 6 = 7 so the entire thing is 777. Also G for Genesis. If you look in that line it says something along the lines of. "I shall unleash a flood of waters upon the earth and all creatures that walk upon it will expire". Not even close to the exact words but the meaning is the same.

  • 08.21.2009 11:23 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Posted by: IceWeasel

I laud your sober mindset.

Here are the links with quotes:
Christ Butcher said the story is pretty much an Allegory to the Bible.
ciber: How did you get the idea for Halo?


chris butcher: [...]
as far as the story, it can be looked at as a biblical allegory. the parallels are stronger than you probably realise, because nobody outside of bungie has more than a corner of the big picture. and we only have two corners. :(


Marty O'Donnell also said in an interview
Well we are religious guys, I think a lot of the religious stuff in Halo comes from Jason Jones, and the imagery is all him and he likes to fit it into the Halo story.


Any thoughts on that?


thanks, I didn't doubt your sources, I just wanted to see them for myself


can I ask you a question?,

what do you think we should take away from this then? does it give halo a "message"?






[Edited on 08.22.2009 12:09 AM PDT]

  • 08.22.2009 12:08 AM PDT

No battle is decided in a single moment, although in every battle there arise moments of crisis, on which the result depends. - Carl von Clausewitz

No man’s knowledge can go beyond his own experience.- John Locke

How many Ukrainians does it take to change a lightbulb? None, they glow in the dark!

Posted by: MLG Cheehwawa
In terms of when the Religions showed up and also the way that the factions act within Halo... I always paralleled

God = Precursors
Jews; Jesus, Noah, etc. = Forerunners
Christians = The Covenant
Muslims = Humanity

The Covenant-Human war parallels the Crusades, with the Covenant (Christians) trying to re-take Forerunner relics from the humans.
I disagree. I always equated the Covenant with these guys, who want to eradicate everyone who stands in their way. Halo doesn't parallel the Crusades. The leader of the Covenant is a megalomaniac who's followers are bunch of zealots hellbent on a mass genocide. They Crusades were a just a giant land grab and a way to export the bellicose nature if knights outside of Europe. Halo is much more akin to modern day terrorists or national socialists. They drummed up support by invigorating the populace with grandiose and erroneous ideas that they were the chosen race who were suppose to rule the world (like the Covenant).

  • 08.22.2009 3:06 AM PDT

I'll have you know
that I've become
Indestructible!

Posted by: Carswell98
Posted by: IceWeasel

I laud your sober mindset.

Here are the links with quotes:
Christ Butcher said the story is pretty much an Allegory to the Bible.
ciber: How did you get the idea for Halo?


chris butcher: [...]
as far as the story, it can be looked at as a biblical allegory. the parallels are stronger than you probably realise, because nobody outside of bungie has more than a corner of the big picture. and we only have two corners. :(


Marty O'Donnell also said in an interview
Well we are religious guys, I think a lot of the religious stuff in Halo comes from Jason Jones, and the imagery is all him and he likes to fit it into the Halo story.


Any thoughts on that?


thanks, I didn't doubt your sources, I just wanted to see them for myself


can I ask you a question?,

what do you think we should take away from this then? does it give halo a "message"?


Well, now that you ask, I suppose I'd say, "Take it like you would the matrix"(?).
I mean, as the OP said, it isn't really an evangelism tool if a majority of people don't recognize the Biblical references off hand.

Joseph Campbell, in his wildly successful socio-psychological-mythological 1940's smash hit book (The Hero with a Thousand Faces), he describes all of the best and enduring stories of our time borrow off of most of the same blueprints within our psyche. Or else, at a cognitive level, from other stories that do.

  • 08.22.2009 6:37 AM PDT

very interesting....
Alot of what you said was very good....

However I believe the covenant have a different role...
The covenant might be the gentiles...humans are the chosen ones, yet at times do not care or are ignorant of what they are.
The elites , and many other covenant realize they are wrong and join the humans, or what the humans stand for.

We see this in the Bible, many gentiles believe when finding the truth.




  • 08.22.2009 7:10 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Waste of bytes.

Bungie.net is the work of many talented people within, also they use verypowerful computers and servers and storage equipments to save and guard the data and all stats from halo 3 and all other crap, but mostly nothing last for ever, in years to come, the Bungie servers(storage or what you say it is) will have to be replace with other newer ones.

And History will repeat itself over again, I dont care if bungie has made one of my favorite games of the one I have, but it also means they(bungie) can get away/overpower the whole world or deny you acces to your whants or needs. BUT there are rules and only a good percent of them are followed, but they just say it to terrorize people that don't dare say it in front of them.

this thread was well writen but I dont get it, you have to get to the point. but never the less.

  • 08.22.2009 7:22 AM PDT

Again the christian theme of halo might be a far-out side story, like lord of the rings.

Lord of the ring had a man returning as king, and the earth made by God or iluvator whom fights Morgoth his once servant.
I think when we think of chronicles of Narnia, the allegory is clearly seen, as aslan as Christ and even the way aslan is portrayed (A lion going like a lamb the slaughter).

So halo might have very christian allegory's but not like Narnia or even lord of the rings.
Its hard to miss Narnia's christian allegory, very nearly impossible. Halo's.. is slightly more dim and unclear.

Sorry if you could not understand me.. I can rarely put my thoughts into words....


PS. lol i can understand what you mean waste of bytes since it does not change anything, but i think its always good to try to understand things better... like halo.

[Edited on 08.22.2009 7:28 AM PDT]

  • 08.22.2009 7:23 AM PDT