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  • Subject: Halo as a Christian Allegory
Subject: Halo as a Christian Allegory

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Posted by: Soviet Strelet
I may not be a creative writer but I am a deep thinker, I do not believe that this games is making a religious reference. To think of a name for some completely alien to you and me alike is much harder than it seems. The Covenant are called their name because of THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEF SYSTEM AND SOCIAL MAKEUP. You can't call them any singular name or just simply,"the order of -blah blah blah-" because that would not me orginal thought... there have been many "orders" in the Science Fiction world. You need a creative name, and just because it can precieved differently does not mean that its intended meaning is the same as the preception.

It is not just John that it is there savior, it is then entire group of Spartans that makes up that image, not just one soldier in their ranks is the face of the entire group of the said soldiers. So to say that ONE Spartan is the savior of mankind is incorrect, to effectly apply him to the role you precieve him to be filling would be bypassing all of his comrades in theire respective roles to.

The Ark could be a Christian allegory to me, so I'll give you that one.

The Flood are named correctly, for they throughout the games seem to just try and role over their enemies with brute force and numbers. Just as a flood in real life would work as it simply rolls over the objects in their collective way with the brute force of trillions of fast moving atoms crashing in to the said objects. I do not see how you can just label them an object of Christian reference due to the creative naming on the part of the Bungie staff.

As for the Garden, I have not heard of such reference in the game series so I am guessing that it is in one of many books about this subject. The books are not made by the entire Bungie team so this cannot apply to the games series as a whole. If I am wrong about that being in the books just disregard this segment.

Humanity's home planet is Earth, and through progression we have advanced into the stars. It is our home, not just some shelter for temporary halts in progression of technology. So of course it is a safe place for Humanity to propser and then expand. That is what it means to be a home planet home-planet, base for progression.


You obviously don't think deep, there are things here that go beyond their entitled names and whatnot.

  • 02.04.2011 10:50 PM PDT

Death wil come to all of us, it is what makes us human

i dont want to be rude, but: tl;dr

  • 02.09.2011 1:15 AM PDT
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Btw - polls on bungie.net mean absolutely nothing, so please don't use them to try and prove some kind of point.

~Achronos

Hey OP check this old thread of mine out I was trying to draw similar lines but I think most people missed out on it. Check it out if you or anyone else is interested.

[Edited on 02.09.2011 1:52 AM PST]

  • 02.09.2011 1:51 AM PDT

In memory of those fallen in the defense of Earth and her colonies.

March 3, 2553

Good read. I didnt agree with everything you said there, but it was interesting to read.

Good work. :)

  • 02.09.2011 2:05 AM PDT
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Btw - polls on bungie.net mean absolutely nothing, so please don't use them to try and prove some kind of point.

~Achronos


Posted by: cameo_cream
Good read. I didnt agree with everything you said there, but it was interesting to read.

Good work. :)


Glad you enjoyed it. Did you read the responses? It garnered alot of incendiary comments, stuff I haven't seen coming from people on the site for a while. Other good points later on too. My favorite was that someone pointed out that Adam and Eve were banished from paradise, and at the end of halo 3 MC and Cortana suffer a similar fate in that they didn't make it back, and were cut off from the world they once knew.

  • 02.09.2011 2:42 AM PDT


Before another person tries to say that Halo cannot possibly be a Biblical allegory I would like to just bring this back up again.

Posted by: IceWeasel
Posted by: Top_Gun_2021
Didn't Frankie say that Halo is based off of many religions?

Maybe he did. And that's fine, the OP made concession for that.

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.


(I never could get into the O'Donnell link myself)

Bungie pretty much slaps you in the face with the obvious Biblical terms/references relating to Genesis: The Ark that saves lives from the Flood. There's a Garden of Eden. There's a Covenant (maybe coincidence). There are 7 "Halos" each resembling rather a church at the beginning of the book of Revelation or a color of the rainbow, based on the rainbow theory (there's a link on the 1st page of this thread). Bungie loves the number 7 for some reason and it is usually known as God's number or a holy number. This is not just because I am a Christian that I see these things, it is because I made the attempt to read even just half of the first book in the Bible.

Great read btw OP, I read all 22 pages of this thread over the past few days and found many of the ideas interesting. I'm surprised that this discussion has lasted this long. Originally I was going to write a paper on how the Halo books and games mix together but I stumbled upon this topic and this is way better. lol

(The next 2 paragraphs are a bit off topic)

To comment on some previous things, however. I read a lot of posts stating something like Christians only see God where they want to see God, but isn't it the same with people and things in general. Sure, generally Christians will want to see God everywhere, but most likely it will be the same in which atheists will not see God where they do not want to see God. Its not always but most likely. That is just man being stubborn. Also there were debates whether or not "LOTR" or "The Chronicles of Narnia" were Biblical allegories. The funny thing is that I just learned that C.S. Lewis and Tolkien use to get together at the Eagle and Child pub and discuss theology and their literary works. This article about some of that was pretty cool IMO. And to the comments about the Bible being inaccurate, do you really think that all of the events written in history books are so much more pure and truthful than events in the Bible? They have a pretty big chance at being inaccurate too you know. It actually turns out that writings on events that took place under 200 years before the recording are normally considered historically accurate until disproved. In the case of the New Testament the books were generally written between AD 45-95, about 10-60 years after events involving Christ actually happened.

Also I am seeing entire religions criticized due to only certain sects of the religions. I know for a fact in Christianity that there are tons of different denominations (I'm a Baptist) of Christianity caused by disagreements in parts of scripture (such as misinterpreting scripture or choosing to accept some verses of the Bible but not others) to small things such as the distribution of money (On that topic I read a post saying something like there would be less world hunger if Christians stopped paying offering that goes to the church and give their money to people who need it directly. Well in my church we not only feed people locally, but we give to missions in the Philippines, Africa, and even to random orphanages, too. So if churches like mine stopped collecting offerings/tithes, which you do not have to give if you don't want to, there would be more world hunger and not less IMO). These different denominations behave differently, for the best or worst for the world. Also within all denominations, you have your Christian extremists, your Christians, and your "Christians". Branding all Christians the same is just plain ignorant. I discussed a bit of misconceptions on that topic on this discussion page (3rd page of comments)(And I was actually arguing against the making of a "Left Behind" game lol) It is unfair to brand all Christians as one group trying to cause chaos in the world. I am also sure all religions (Muslims, Jews, and all) and even atheists are stereotyped like this in one way or another. Its very offensive.

Back on topic...
In the Biblical Allegory perspective,

The Covenant Prophets seem to be those religious extremists, like the Pharisees, that persecute others and are willing to kill for their faith. They spread a warped truth, whether they believe they are spreading the real truth or not, to other races and if the races fail to accept the religion, they are wiped out, much like in times of the Crusades.

Brutes are those who believe in the Prophets and will not be convinced to be tolerant of others of different beliefs. They follow the religious leaders to the dot. They are like Jews who followed the Pharisees.

Elites are those who can be tolerant of others or persuaded to be. They are skeptical of the leaders. They are also a race of honor. They seem to be Jews, maybe Gentiles, who are willing to understand Christ's ways.

Jackals seem to be what was previously stated somewhere as hired mercenaries.

Grunts seem to be to be like the brutes and elites but are also too much of a coward to stand up for themselves. That or they are just too easily brainwashed. They are the true religious idiots if you want to look at them that way.

Engineers are just slaves to the Covenant.

Hunters are hard to analyze. They could almost fall under almost any category in the above races.

The Flood is the as the flood in the Bible, made to destroy any and all living creatures. Or it represents man's sin which in turn kills every living being. Being infected by flood is being filled with sin.

Gravemind can represent the head of all sin, or as Satan, a deceiver, a tempter, wants to see the fall of God's creation.

Humanity represents all of humanity in general, theists and atheists alike. They do not want others' religion forced on them when it means keeping or losing their life. They fight to survive and to preserve their own culture.

Master Chief represents the Savior of mankind (Jesus), seemingly perfect and lucky, who takes on all of the flood (sin), and takes on challenges from those who challenge him (Covenant/Pharisees), all for the sake of mankind.

I am not quite sure of other Spartans though. I can see them as maybe disciples or as angels who help MC along the way. I think they are as the angels if MC is as Jesus because they seem more flawed than him and in the Bible there is a character in the Old Testament known as the Angel of the Lord which is argued to be the original form of Jesus Christ, putting Him above other angels. Just a thought.

I really liked the idea of the Arbiter as Saul/Paul. Paul is like the Co-main character of the New Testament like the Arbiter is to Halo. The Arbiter was on the antagonist side, found the truth, and switched to the protagonist side, like Saul did before he became Paul.

Cortana? I could see her as the Holy Spirit. She is always acting like MC's conscience, being annoying, convicting of every little thing, telling him what to do the best way even if it is obvious...much like how the Holy Spirit works within Christians, but all for the greater good.

Anyways, these are some of the points I thought about. I also liked the Bible verse references such as the planet the flood was 1st found on, G617 (Genesis 6:17). That one is too good to be a coincidence. I'm not entirely convinced on the John 117 (John 1:17) but that would be cool. On that one I looked at other books written by a John but only in Revelation does it have a 1:17 or a 11:7.

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last." (Revelation 1:17 NKJV)

When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (Revelation 11:7 NKJV)

I doubt these were any more intentional than John 1:17, if it even was, but I just found those verses interesting. I think these are just coincidental but pretty cool.

Pretty interesting ideas have come up, maybe they are legit, maybe we are just thinking too hard. Who knows? The Halo games are great either way. It is what we conceive it to be.

(Sorry on the long post)

[Edited on 02.16.2011 6:14 PM PST]

  • 02.10.2011 10:33 PM PDT

the human-forrunner war could be compared to the the tower of babel in that they both have a theme of humen getting split in to smaller tribs

[Edited on 02.10.2011 10:49 PM PST]

  • 02.10.2011 10:47 PM PDT

To be honest, I've always seen Halo's symbolism to be philosophical, with undertones of pro-existentialism and humanism.

The covenant are the followers of religious teachings. The prophets are the leaders of all religions. The Brutes are the metal-headed, barbaric warriors. The Heretic, Arbiter, and their followers are the dissenters from dogma. 343 Guilty Spark is the mad scientist who provides the answer, yet is ethically unsound. The flood is overpopulation and the viruses that stem from it. The Great Journey is the ascension to heaven. Halo is the abortion of life in order to prevent destruction or decay of the future.

The conclusion is that there is no Great Journey. The prophets are false. The covenant finally start to split and recede. The Arbiter is the hero of reason. The mad scientist philosophy is destroyed. Abortion is shunned from being the solution to overpopulation; education becomes the solvent. The remaining individuals are free from superstition, and embark into the uncharted space of objectivism.





[Edited on 02.12.2011 5:33 PM PST]

  • 02.10.2011 11:38 PM PDT

The flood could also been seen as untruth or fallacy. The Library of knowledge and wisdom disproves and seals it off. The index is the understanding of that knowledge, which can be used as a key to destroy misconception, and all sentient minds capable of sustaining it.

  • 02.11.2011 12:00 AM PDT
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The world will be ours Septacons.


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Posted by: Adam 36O
Well, it turns out the Chief does just that by descending into the pit of the flood itself on The Ark. This pit is representative of the death that Christ had to go through to be the ultimate sacrifice for out sins.

You forgot that Jesus took the Keys of Hell while he was there.


Chief took Cortana, who had the key to activate Installation 04.2.

  • 02.12.2011 6:46 AM PDT


Posted by: Alexthekid3000

Posted by: Adam 36O
Well, it turns out the Chief does just that by descending into the pit of the flood itself on The Ark. This pit is representative of the death that Christ had to go through to be the ultimate sacrifice for out sins.

You forgot that Jesus took the Keys of Hell while he was there.


Chief took Cortana, who had the key to activate Installation 04.2.


Are you sure, I'd like to see where you got that information. All I know for sure on that subject is in Revelation 20:1-3 where God sends an angel with a key to the bottomless pit to chain up Satan for 1000 years and in Revelation 1:18 where Jesus already has the keys to Hades and Death which is then cast into the Lake of Fire after the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20:11-15.

On another note, Master Chief's last words in Halo 3 to Cortana are "Wake me, when you need me." You can look at it like the second coming of Christ sort of. In the end times according to the Bible, the world is going to be in chaos where it seems the Holy Spirit just can't seem to work well in alone anymore. It will be when the Holy Spirit needs Jesus to come back and set things straight again, eventually leading to the millennial reign without Satan reeking havoc on the world for once. I doubt MC will have a millennial reign over the Flood himself though lol.

  • 02.16.2011 5:41 PM PDT

Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains.


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.


This makes so much more sense.

  • 02.24.2011 1:35 PM PDT

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.
- Sun Tzu

Very well thought out and written! Not to mention how the number seven keeps popping up in the Halo series. The number 7 is often seen as the Biblical number for completion (7 days to make Earth).

[Edited on 02.24.2011 7:50 PM PST]

  • 02.24.2011 7:49 PM PDT
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X, X, Y, Right Stick= Pump Butt

Posted by: FleetAdmiralBob
Nah.

Biblical alegories are pretty much inevitable. Even atheists have to try pretty hard to avoid them.


I agree with this guy, bible's a long ass book. Jurks who wrote it took u most of the archetypal stories in human history.

  • 02.25.2011 3:53 AM PDT

a work of christian genius, lol

  • 02.26.2011 6:40 AM PDT

Sup, im Blindfire77, look me up on youtube or xbox live, i play halo and CoD and many other games. See ya!

WOAH! im a christian too and i always thought it had some sybalism in it but you really reashearched it huh? nice work u really blew it out the water!

  • 02.26.2011 7:47 PM PDT

Very interesting...

  • 02.28.2011 6:44 AM PDT

PKT:AH @ UF

Very nice OP

  • 02.28.2011 6:52 AM PDT

Don't worry, you're still your mom's favorite Bnet member.

Posted by: Lyme1331
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.


This makes so much more sense.
And The Flood would be the Devil.

  • 02.28.2011 6:59 AM PDT

This is a very good article. And I mean that sincerely. But let's also look at the fact that Norse and Pagan references are made in Halo as well. I wouldn't say it is an allegory as much ad it is a story based off officious cultures and religion. It's a story of victory, defeat, loss, guilt, death, hope, redemption, love, hate, determination, spirit, truth, and deceit. It plays on the emotions and philosphies of players/readers/audiences. It is entertainment meant to stir us and hive us a good storry. It reminds to beware of what people say in the name of religion. The prophets used their religion, which was proven wrong, to rise to power. They protected the Union of the Covenant by protecting their faith that they knew was false. If is a compelling story, and while I may not agree that it is not an allegory, I do so humbly and respectfully with an open mind. If I sound offensive I apologize, I just don't believe that Halo was made with religious promotion in mind. I myself am an Atheist, but I still think that you do present a strong argument. I wish there were more intelligent people such ad yourself in the world, nit that I'm saying there aren't.

  • 03.02.2011 1:57 PM PDT

Didn't this used to be pinned?

  • 03.02.2011 3:23 PM PDT

Posted by: AngryBrute1
Oh yeah, since somebody does not believe what YOU believe; that makes us vapid...
I cannot grasp that what you call "Something happened to nothing, and that nothing became something, and it was smaller than than a period."

Noah made the ark to protect all the creatures from the flood (water).
The librarian cataloged every specie in the galaxy into the ark, the only safe place from the flood (parasite). The fact the prophet's names are used in irony mean they are wrong- the false prophets.

  • 03.09.2011 7:24 PM PDT

Halo 1...simply the best

Maybe it is the other way around. Halo was here first and religions are an interpretation of it. Halo is now a religion itself it seems.

  • 03.11.2011 12:02 AM PDT

Life's a game. How do you play?

Deep, my friend. Very deep, and striking. Your writings speak truth, as I have noticed many of the similarities you speak of yourself, and believe that this was a determined effort on the part of Bungie to make a story that many people would be comfortable with, and a story that many could believe in. I can see how one might see as a sort of Jesus figure, and all of your other comparisons make sense as well (I see the Monitor as a sort of Judas, selling out his allies for the sake of a petty object). Keep up in spreading the word, my friend. You should take a look at the Space Marines from the Warhammer 40,000 series. What you see may surprise you.

  • 03.11.2011 4:45 PM PDT

I enjoy Halo and Bacon!

I totally agree, and that's the reason I love Halo even more.

Yeah yeah, I'm a Christian. Let the anti religious comments roll in.

  • 03.16.2011 4:51 PM PDT