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

I liked the way Adam 360 explained his theory, very well don. It is good to see that some people still like to think things through, but many other religions can be portrayed the same way. How ever I like the Christian version the best. You could say I am biased, and you would be right.

As to Adam 360's opening statement about games becoming a form of art I would have to agree. Even though there are many definitions for art two of them are.
1. the products of human creativity
2. the creation of beautiful or significant things

If you go to Wikipedia you will fined this definition among others.

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.

So I think video and computer games can be placed in to the art category.

  • 03.04.2010 10:05 PM PDT

I agree, WT NITE. We need to be sure that we're not arguing Christianity vs. Other (which is, of course, a fascinating and important debate that I hope you all have considered) but rather considering how these beliefs are seen in the Halo universe. This is Bungie.net after all! I have enjoyed reading your replies, and I think that both sides have good points. Coming from a Christian worldview, I tend to see things one way, and I understand that those with different experiences will have their own views. I'm not here to change that, I'm merely presenting evidence that I've found makes sense.

Now that I've read up on some of your views, I propose a slightly different angle on the Covenant debate. It is possible (perhaps more likely, given the broader terms) that Halo is a commentary on the Christian religion as a whole, rather than on many religions battling. Could the Covenant represent the side of "Christianity" that has gone astray? I use this term loosely, because true Christians do not associate themselves with relgious, murderous zealots, just as faithful Muslims do not associate themselves with extremist terrorists. The Covenant look to a false hope, and have completely lost track of the truth that has been buried in their senseless laws. The Chief, on the other hand, refocuses the truth (in a very Christ-like manner). The church believes (as do I) that Christ is the only way to salvation, and the abuse of such a belief is a damnable thing (one need look no further than the Crusades to see the corruption that it can lead to) and the Covenant are clearly abusing their beliefs. Just a thought. I make no qualms about the Church's abusive past, it is a very real thing that sadly has misled many. But it's something that Christians and non-Christians alike should consider when going forward in society, and Halo is but one tiny example of how such a debate can carry on in the most unexpected of ways. Carry on, Halo faithful!

[Edited on 03.04.2010 10:09 PM PST]

  • 03.04.2010 10:08 PM PDT

It is very interesting all the different perspectives on this subject. Adam 360 has don a superb job explaining his view.
How ever, Adam 360 and those with similar ideas. Should remember that Halo dos not support Christianity, or any other religion that I know of. In order for the Halo universe to work the Bible can not be true. Because the world is not much over six or seven thousand years old(Unless you believe that when the Bible says six days it did not mean six 24 hour days.), and then what about the Forerunners. They would have to have been created over ten thousand years before humans, and that is not mentioning the flood. So for all Halos religious overtones. Halo can only work one of two ways, evolution, or a non biblical creation. Witch leads me to conclude that the religious overtones are there to make the story more interesting and believable.


[Edited on 03.04.2010 11:43 PM PST]

  • 03.04.2010 11:42 PM PDT

That is true, Josiah. I'm not arguing that Christianity is actually present within the universe, but rather that it is present allegorically. In other words, you can draw comparisons symbolically between certain aspects of the Halo universe and the Christian faith itself. Take the Chronicles of Narnia series for example. Throughout the story, the actual Christian faith is never directly referenced, but C.S. Lewis (the author) has made it very clear that characters within the story are meant to be parallels with aspects of the Christian faith. Perhaps this in an extreme example, as Narnia's parallels are much more blatant, but I think that the Halo universe has presented some similar evidence. Hope that clears things up!

[Edited on 03.05.2010 7:44 AM PST]

  • 03.05.2010 7:42 AM PDT
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Why would one not try to convince somebody that they were wrong if one knew full well they were going to be damned for their rebellion against their Creator? That one would be increasing the damnation of the rebellious if you did not try to persuade them to repent as all of the apostles did once they were filled with the Spirit! If a person's child was about to put his or her hand on a burner on a stove would not the parent warn their wayward child to turn away from doing so? How much more ought you try to win to repentance as many as possible to our Lord?

I have in no wise denied that Master Chief is a "messiah" figure. However, he is the kind of messiah that the Jews were looking for, which is why they missed Jesus.

  • 03.05.2010 10:50 AM PDT

Well I see your point Adam 360, but I doubt that Bungie meant Halo to be an allegory. After all, Star Wars can be seen as an allegory, but the true idea behind Star Wars is Pantheism. Lord Of The Rings can be seen as an allegory, but J.R.R. Tolkien (A good friend of C.S. Lewis.) stating he preferred applicability to allegory, in one of the Lord Of The Rings books.
Still the idea of Halo being an allegory is intriguing, but we will probably never know if it was meant to be one or not.

[Edited on 03.05.2010 12:23 PM PST]

  • 03.05.2010 12:14 PM PDT

Spartan II-151
Look, just talk to me. I'm sure we'll get along.

Nice. Cortana fits perfectly as the Holy Spirit as she guides him through his work.

Dr. Halsey, perhaps Mary, Jacob Keyes=Joseph.

All of this seems to align smoothly.

  • 03.17.2010 5:20 PM PDT

Oh hey there

Posted by: petarded2
It's a metaphor for the 07s' lack of identity. too old to be newfa­g, yet too new to be oldfa­g, we wander b.net in search of a home, forever trying to be something we are not.

Very well thought out. Good read.

[Edited on 03.22.2010 7:29 AM PDT]

  • 03.22.2010 7:29 AM PDT

You just blew my mind

But anyways nice work

  • 04.04.2010 7:55 PM PDT

"I pledge to punch all switches, to never shoot where I could use grenades, to admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage, to never use caps lock as my "run" key, and to never, ever, leave a single BoB alive."

2B || !2B - Why don't you look Inside the Machine?

Posted by: Adam 36O
That is true, Josiah. I'm not arguing that Christianity is actually present within the universe, but rather that it is present allegorically. In other words, you can draw comparisons symbolically between certain aspects of the Halo universe and the Christian faith itself. Take the Chronicles of Narnia series for example. Throughout the story, the actual Christian faith is never directly referenced, but C.S. Lewis (the author) has made it very clear that characters within the story are meant to be parallels with aspects of the Christian faith. Perhaps this in an extreme example, as Narnia's parallels are much more blatant, but I think that the Halo universe has presented some similar evidence. Hope that clears things up!


With the many talented, diverse, and dynamic people that work for Bungie I'm sure it would impossible to NOT find allegorical type stories in their works. It just makes their games that much better.

A great game or story can be interpreted in many ways and I am sure many allegories can be "unearthed," from Halo. Nice job on your version. :)


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. To some, this idea is still ridiculous. How could a medium that prides itself on virtual, bloody battlefields and fat, Italian plumbers be an art form? There are many different factors that could play into this argument, such as the very beauty of the virtual worlds themselves or the narratives that are growing ever more complex, putting other mediums to shame. ...[snip]


The technology that goes into the games can be beautiful too! :]

  • 04.04.2010 8:21 PM PDT

Combating Armour Abilities:
Armour Lock: Walk away.
Active Camo: Run away.
Drop Shield: Wait or throw a grenade inside.
Evade: Pray to science.
Jet Pack: Shoot up.
Sprint: Shoot

I really enjoyed the read. I prefer seeing it through a sci-fi lens, but the obvious religious overtones are too much to ignore.

The Covenant name all of their vehicles after synonyms of ghost. If we would like to continue with the Christian motif, it would be able to coincide with the Holy Ghost.

In respect to the Christian-Islam conflict, the Arbiter was going to be the Dervish, which is a Muslim path of asceticism. The Prophet of Truth is also a reference to the Prophet Muhammad.

We could keep looking at the allusions to Halo, which I can see as an allegory to King Arthur. The final scene of Halo where the Chief says, "Wake me when you need me." is reminiscent of Arthur in Arthurian legends after his death where in Le Morte d'Arthur it is told that Arthur will rise again to claim the throne. I see John as closer to Arthur than Jesus.

  • 04.04.2010 8:52 PM PDT

Mark 1157

But my friend there are many many more refrences! During a Forerunner conversation The Librarian refrences Earth as the garden of EDEN. She says she planted a garden and that the humans are a very special race. Before she ends the message she notes she is near Mount Killamonjaro in Africa. This refrence can be found in the bible where Adam and Eve are tempeted by the serpent.

Others include that this temptaion of evil is the flood because it looks like a serpent.
The false teachings by the prophets is the devil and sin.
John 117 as our savior like Jesus who died for us.

Mark's Gospel refrences that Mark's nickname is John upon doing research on St. Mark.

  • 04.05.2010 2:50 PM PDT
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Philosophy and philology is my game.

Only in the last decade or so has computer entertainment started to mature into something truly worthy of being considered an art form. To some, this idea is still ridiculous. How could a medium that prides itself on virtual, bloody battlefields and fat, Italian plumbers be an art form? There are many different factors that could play into this argument, such as the very beauty of the virtual worlds themselves or the narratives that are growing ever more complex, putting other mediums to shame. Video games are reaching a point where they are achieving a great level of complexity. Truly, this is the exception and not the rule in the industry, but can't the same be said for Hollywood or the New York Times Bestsellers list? The main point of this article is to point to and flesh out a particular game franchise that is very near and dear to my heart: Halo. I think that looking at an example of a game that can provide entertainment and something more is a way to give validity to the industry.

The Halo franchise is a shining example of how something very mainstream can be something very deep, well made, and rewarding for many reasons. Millions and millions have played this massive property, and yet few have taken into account the subtexts of the story as a whole. I believe that there are many parts of the Halo narrative that point to the scriptures. I would even argue that the developers of the game intended the story as a Christian allegory. Perhaps they used this symbolism to craft an epic story and not as an evangelism tool, but the evidence is there. There is far too much to simply blow off and assume mere coincidence. I've done some research, and I can't find anything on the web that lays these Christian symbolisms out in any sort of a coherent manner, so here is my attempt.

There's no denying that Christ is truly the focal point of the entire Bible. He is the fulfillment of the many Old Testament prophecies and a direct influence (in human form) on the events of the New Testament and its writers. His sacrifice and the salvation it provides is THE reason for the gospel. It only makes sense to look for this Christ-like figure in the Halo universe and you don't have to look far. The Master Chief, the main character and hero of the franchise, fits this description very well. One thing that is often overlooked is the character's real name. We don't know his last name; we only know his military serial number, 117. Thus, he is often referred to as John 117. Prior to the release of Halo 3, the conclusion of the saga, the slogan "BELIEVE" became associated with the franchise. The main character, the Chief, was to be the hope and inspiration for all of mankind as evil was bearing down on them. This is where his name comes into play. This is John 1:17 (note the resemblance to John 117) from the NIV translation: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
This verse, and thus, the Master Chief's name, is clearly a reference to the saving work of Christ.

So what is he saving us from exactly? Well this is where things get complex, and I may lose some of the less fanatical Halo fans with all of these technicalities. Best start with the name of the franchise, which has religious undertones in and of itself. Halo is named after the many installations (known as Halos) that are scattered throughout the fictional universe. It is discovered relatively early on that they are designed for one purpose: to cleanse the galaxy of a life-ending threat. This threat is called "The Flood." The Flood is a seemingly ancient race of aliens that are parasitic in nature and reanimate those that they slay in battle. They multiply at such an alarming rate that they are basically impossible to destroy entirely, and many civilizations have fallen to them. They are savage and brutal, and operate as a hive mind, linked directly to their "leader", the Gravemind. The Gravemind seems to be a representation of sin itself, and even says so about halfway through the second game. He tells mankind that he is "A monument to all their sins" and his very name seems to point to the idea of death in sin, also known as Total Depravity. He also has certain characteristics of the devil and false prophets/ angels because he often begins his statements with the phrase "Do not be afraid." He often references himself as earth's "salvation" and "peace", which is no doubt a deception. He even corrupts the Master Chief's artificial intelligence, Cortana, at one point, and makes her spew out false prophecies like "There will be no more sadness, no more envy, no more anger." The Gravemind has every intention to destroy mankind through the power of the Flood.
Now back to the Halo installations. They were built by a now seemingly extinct race known as the "Forerunners." The rings, when activated (there are 7 of them, one of many 7s throughout the game) destroy all sentient life within the galaxy's radius, leaving the flood to starve from lack of suitable hosts. Interestingly, the technology of the Forerunners gives the Master Chief and all of humanity a chance to stop the flood, but at a serious cost: death for all (perhaps indicating that we are all headed towards death without a savior?). John the Baptist is often referred to as "the forerunner" in the gospels, so it makes sense that these Forerunners would aid the true savior, the Chief, through their past accomplishments (not to mention the many warnings of the Flood, (a.k.a. sin) that they left behind).

This is where yet another Biblical reference comes into play: the Covenant. The Covenant is a unified group of alien species hell bent on activating the Halo installations to bring about "The Great Journey". They are religious fanatics through and through (their ships even have religious names like "Truth and Reconciliation" and "Seraph"), and will stop at nothing to "cleanse" the universe. They ironically worship all Forerunner technology and consider it holy. They are blissfully unaware that activating these rings actually leads to mass extinction and not to true salvation from the Flood. The hierarchs of the Covenant are called "Prophets" (ironically named "Truth" and "Mercy"), and throughout the course of the series they are proven to be corrupt, irrational, and ignorant of the truth about the Halos. It seems to me that the Covenant is representative of the "law" because of their inability to provide true salvation through their endeavors. Because we are saved through faith and not works (remember, the creators of the game tell us to BELIEVE in the Chief) the law is not enough to save us, therefore the Covenant's activation of the Halos is not enough to provide TRUE salvation.

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 that connects all of the installations together and can ultimately end all life, and therefore end the flood. This is where the Noahic covenant comes into play. In Genesis, God promises to never again destroy the earth with a flood by taking up a covenant with Noah. The Ark, therefore, is what saves all of sentient life from the Flood by instead destroying everything that the flood could consume. The Covenant wish to activate the installation and believe that this work will truly save them. Just as a belief which relies solely on the law, is not enough to provide true salvation, so is the activation of this false "Ark" not enough to truly bring about peace. The Ark leads to destruction and is not the true way to defeat the Flood (sin). In other words, the Covenant and their crusade is a false and empty one.

So either way, mankind is doomed right? Well, no, of course not, that would not make a very good video game story. Nor would it make a very encouraging life story. The only way for the Flood to be truly stopped is to annihilate the Gravemind himself. 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. Now in order to fully eliminate the Flood threat, the Chief has to actually perform the work that he was trying to prevent all along: activate the installation (a.k.a. perfectly fulfill the law, or the mission of the Covenant) out of range of mankind and sacrifice himself while destroying the Flood once and for all. So he descends, fulfills the works of "the law" and sacrifices himself in the process, ensuring TRUE salvation for all mankind.

Upon completion of this task, the Chief's last words with his long-time helper, Cortana are "It's finished." Tetelestai, which means "It is finished" in Greek are Christ's final words before dying on the cross. And finally, he says "Wake me when you need me." as he floats in the dark void of space alone. This seems to indicate an eventual "resurrection" of the chief in the future. Just as we think the battle with the Flood and the ensuing explosion was the death of him, we see that he did in fact survive and will one day return again. Lastly, Cortana sends word to earth of what happened to the Flood so that mankind will know that the Chief has done his job and will live on. This seems very representative of the work of the Holy Spirit, pointing to a finished salvation and a still-living savior. The series concludes at a memorial service for the Chief back on earth, as the surviving human race "believes" that he is truly out there. The last thing we see is the inscription "John 117" on the side of his memorial and the screen fades to black, a final reminder of the Chief as a Christ figure.

Whether or not all of that was truly intended by the script writers at Bungie I may never know, but it sure does line up well. Hope this has been eye opening and maybe even a little entertaining. Comments?


Dear lord why does it never end!?

  • 04.05.2010 5:24 PM PDT

Forum Rules for those who care to know what they are.

"Bs: Blame stosh for all of your BS!"

I have always wondered how many references to Christianity the game had and now I'm answered. Fantastic job!

  • 04.06.2010 7:59 AM PDT

Artes, Scientia, Veritas

Sapere Aude

"But I do not think we're invincible"

Posted by: Pokezilla Linked
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.


Wait, you're meaning to say that Halo is anti-Christian? From what I read on Halopedia, it appears as though you're wrong.


Just because somebody is anti-Crusade, doesn't mean they are anti-Christian...

  • 04.06.2010 8:07 AM PDT

Spartan I Project - Community Game Nights Team Leader

Posted by: MLG Cheehwawa
Humans = Muslims (In the Quran it says that Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc. were all Muslims who were falsely identified as Christians/Jews, so the Muslims are actually those from the OT, and humans = Forerunner)


Last time I checked Muslims don't believe Jesus was the savior only a mortal prophet. The OP portrayed MC as Jesus like in a savior sense. So unless Muslims started believing Jesus is the savior your argument doesn't fit. At least not for the OP.

  • 04.06.2010 1:33 PM PDT

Spartan I Project - Community Game Nights Team Leader

Posted by: HAL Wins 689
Dear lord why does it never end!?


If you want it to end why did you post the entire quote???

  • 04.06.2010 1:35 PM PDT

when you got to the part with the ark of the covenant i truly started thinking it was based on it. it really lines up thank you for doing this.

  • 04.06.2010 1:55 PM PDT

Wow. Well done, a huge eye opener for me.I just thought.....
Never mind.:].

  • 04.07.2010 7:52 AM PDT

Spartan I Project - Community Game Nights Team Leader

Posted by: sajtail
Wow. Well done, a huge eye opener for me.I just thought.....
Never mind.:].


What? That it was just a great game. All great games have a story. And all great stories have roots in other stories. The great thing about it is, it is a great story no matter what religion you are or if you are religious at all. The subtle(or not so subtle as the OP points out) hints to the Bible are interesting if you read the Bible, but for those that don't, the story of Halo is still fantastic.

  • 04.07.2010 8:08 AM PDT

"Resignation is my virtue; like water I ebb and flow. Defeat is simply the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved." -Gravemind

Well, to serve as a disclaimer, I read the entire original post, however, I did not read every post on every page so it is possible that what I write has been previously stated.

Moving on, I do not believe that halo is a Christian allegory. There are many connections between the two, some of which are strikingly correlated, however, on the other hand, many of them are a bit of a stretch towards Christianity.

The Ark saving humanity from the Flood is a Biblical reference but has no correlation to Christ's death for our sins, it merely refers to the story of Noah and the Ark and a great world cleansing.(obviously)

John's name and number (117) is a little coincidental I think and does not have any major ties to scripture and I say that because there are many different verses in the Bible that would much better describe John's role as a savior.

The Gravemind could be used to represent sin, but that is a fairly generic metaphor, as sin exists in every religion and therefore does not directly support the Christian allegory.

John as the Reclaimer could be a sort of Christ figure, but I think that he is just fulfilling the role of the sacrificial hero and not the spiritual savior.

I do not see the Covenant as Christians, because the Bible teaches us to love and accept everyone, just not their sinning. To contrast, the Qur'an teaches to rid the world of "infidels" which better agrees with the Covenant's policy of the total annihilation of the human race. (aka the infidels or Christians)

To conclude, I think that most of your connections are merely influences that the story writers at Bungie used to help create a fantastic hero story.

I complement you on your articulate abilities and well formulated ideas. Good post and I argue with only good intentions :D


-Wisdom

  • 04.08.2010 12:02 AM PDT

I am a practicing traditional Catholic.

I am absolutely awestruck at your work Adam 360. I'm actually a catholic myself and I had picked up a lot of religious references in the Halo series and so I subsequently tried to find anywhere on the internet were someone might be able to piece it all together in a cohesive pattern. You have done just that. I can think of nothing with which to find fault with your view. You've got me convinced and you have really opened my eyes to layers of depth that I never even knew existed in this epic. Thank you so much. I wonder why Bungie wrote all this into Halo. I would love to think that they wanted to be reverent and respectful to religion. I guess only Bungie can tell us there true motives but I believe that if Bungie had wanted to be blasphemous they would and could have been absolutely open about it. I wish I knew. Anyone got any ideas?

  • 04.09.2010 8:08 AM PDT

I am a practicing traditional Catholic.

Posted by: Adam 36O
That is true, Josiah. I'm not arguing that Christianity is actually present within the universe, but rather that it is present allegorically. In other words, you can draw comparisons symbolically between certain aspects of the Halo universe and the Christian faith itself. Take the Chronicles of Narnia series for example. Throughout the story, the actual Christian faith is never directly referenced, but C.S. Lewis (the author) has made it very clear that characters within the story are meant to be parallels with aspects of the Christian faith. Perhaps this in an extreme example, as Narnia's parallels are much more blatant, but I think that the Halo universe has presented some similar evidence. Hope that clears things up!


Actually the latest game ODST did feature Christianity. Dutch was a Christian. Also in Halo Legends, Cortez in the Babysitter episode joins his hands to say grace before meals. I guess that doesn't make him Christian but I think he most likely was. I'm sure you already knew this, I was only mentioning it.

  • 04.09.2010 12:25 PM PDT

The news of today will fade into 'morrow. They are the strong, they'll survive!

Not to sound... offensive, but does Jesus need to be in everything? I think it's fine if you saw elements of Christianity in Halo, kind of like some people see it in Lord of the Rings, but I seriously doubt that was the set intent.

Personally, with the Covenant, I got a very different religious message.

  • 04.11.2010 1:04 AM PDT