8. Biblical Allusions in BioShock Infinite

                If you frequent the gaming world at all, you’ve most likely played or at least heard of BioShock Infinite. This game is, in my humble opinion at least, one of the deepest and most artful videogames to be released in recent history. It also happens that Christianity happens to be rather integral to the plot, giving me an excuse to gush about it here. 

                As a player embarks in the world of Infinite, he will probably notice this religious imagery pretty quickly. As the game begins, the player ascends into a city built in the clouds—a city called Columbia and referred to as a “new Eden.”

 There’s really nothing subtle about the references. As soon as you pick up the game and start playing, they scream at you, and they don’t let up. As you approach the city, you are informed that you can only be allowed inside if you are baptized (another attempt to draw a parallel between Columbia and Heaven).  Crucifixion seems to be a common form of punishment for criminals; the city is led by "Prophet" father Comstock, whose "miracle baby" you set out to retrieve, and the rest of the world is referred to as the "Sodom below." Seriously. These things just keep coming.

The references are easy to pick up on, but discerning their meaning is a bit more difficult. Some people have argued that this game is blatantly anti-Christian, which is understandable, since the people of Columbia are caught up in a pretty scary religious cult that is frowned upon pretty strongly. Others argue that the game actually defends Christianity.

Personally, I don’t believe that a defense or criticism of the Christian religion was ever on the minds of those who created BioShock Infinite.  I think this game tries to teach a very weighty lesson about not taking things at face value and the danger of looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses. I believe that it sets out to criticize our nostalgic love for early America, to force us to question whether or not our positive views on our past are correct or not.

The zeal of patriotism in this game is just as glaringly obvious as its religious references. The residents of Columbia literally worship the founding fathers, and you would be hard-pressed on find a street corner that isn’t flying star-spangled banners. In fact, when I saw Colombia the first time, I thought that it looked an awful lot like something out of Lady and the Tramp just…you know...floating. 

The Town in Lady and the Tramp

                                                                          Columbia

At first, Columbia does indeed seem like a “New Eden,” as its residents claim. Mirroring one of the most favorably-viewed time periods in American history, it seems to hearken back to simpler times in our past. All of the people are united as one under a love of country and a love of God. Children play in the streets without fear, and there’s no doubt a Bible at every bedside.

But there’s a dark side to this gilded past that we so often choose to ignore, a dark side the player soon uncovers—this “perfect world” is built on slavery.

 Racism, blind religious devotion, terrible working conditions, and unwavering patriotism to a country that gained much of its territory through the murder of innocents tear Columbia apart. For me, this game offered a stark reminder that everything is not always at it seems, and highlighted the danger of viewing our past through rose-tinted glasses. 

In the end, there is no “New Eden.” We can never go back to where we came from.

7. Explication of Psalm 63

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

In these four lines, David sets up his purpose and gives us a hint about the setting in which this poem is written. Like many of the poems in Psalms, Psalm 63 sets out to worship the protagonist. David wrote this psalm during one of his wanderings in the Desert of Judah, the “dry and weary land’ he speaks of here. During his lifetime, David spent three periods wandering the Judean wilderness: once during his youth when he was a shepherd there, once when he was fleeing from Saul, and finally when his son Absalom’s rebellion drove him from his kingdom. 

Context gives the readers strong evidence to suggest that this poem was written during his last roving of the desert, which occurs in 2 Samuel, 15-19. (1)

In these opening lines, David speaks simultaneously about the physical toil the desert takes on his body and the yearning he feels for his god. His physical needs are downplayed, however, and he chooses to focus more on the state of his soul. Though his flesh certainly faints and his body must thirst, he prefers to explain how his soul feels, letting readers know that his spiritual needs and longings are more important to him than his physical ones. 

² So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
³ Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
⁴ So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands.

⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, ⁶ when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night; ⁷ for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. ⁸ My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

Here, David continues his praise of the protagonist despite of the strife he is enduring. No doubt, at this point in his life, David is very unsure of his future. His traitorous son has driven him from his city and cast him into the wilderness, where he wanders alone and without provisions. In these lines, David seems unsure whether he will survive the ordeal or not. The survival of his physical body is, again, less pressing than the state of his soul, and his faith is not shaken by his strife. “Your steadfast love is better than life,” David tells the protagonist. Though his body may hunger, his soul “will be satisfied as with fat and rich food.” 

⁹ But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth; ¹⁰ they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
    they shall be a portion for jackals. ¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

These final lines tell readers the fate that await those who have gone against David and his god, and they are also the lines most integral to establishing the concrete setting of this piece. Here, readers become sure that David is not talking about one of his earlier wanderings but is in fact writing during the rebellion of his son. 

The line “those who seek to destroy my life” makes it very clear that his poem is not written during his pastoral days as a shepherd, and though he could still be speaking of Saul’s desire to kill him, the fact that he refers to himself as “the king” excludes this period as well. David didn’t become king until after Saul’s death. 

The tone of this psalm changes drastically during its closing lines. What has until now been a poem written to strengthen a downtrodden David and sing praises to Yahweh turns into a bloody fantasy about vengeance against those who have betrayed him. During this ruthless trial of the guilty, David and those who follow Yahweh will give praises and rejoice in their god. 

True to his prediction, Absalom and his fellow conspirators do indeed die, though Absalom goes down a bit less spectacularly than David seems to hope. Instead of being a feast for jackals, he rides his horse under a low-hanging branch, hits his head, and dies. 

(1) http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2011/06/10/Psalm-63-Longing-to-Worship-the-LORD-While-in-the-Wilderness.aspx#Article

6. Allusions in the Walking Dead

It’s Sunday—a day of religious worship for Christians all over the world…and also the season premier of The Walking Dead. Over the weekend, I spent (a lot more time than I should have) refreshing myself on what was going on in the series so far, and something struck me.

                There are a lot of religious overtones in the Walking Dead. A lot.

                This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering the setting. Our favorite zombie apocalypse survivors are located in the middle of Georgia, after all. Many of the characters in the series struggle with their faith throughout the series, and there is even one episode where religion is part of the central focus set largely in an abandoned church. 

                Rather than focus on any one particular event, I would like to focus on a character—Hershel Greene. Any fans of the T.V. series or graphic novels will know that Hershel is a deeply religious man who is described by other characters as a “man of God.” His faith helped save him from alcoholism before the outbreak of the virus, and it carries him through many hard times after. We see him struggle with his faith during the series, but up until his death he carries a Bible and often quotes verses from it. 

                At one point in the series, Hershel voices his thoughts about the zombie outbreak. “I can't profess to understand God's plan,” he says. “Christ promised the resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something a little different in mind.”

                It isn’t clear exactly what Bible verse Hershel is quoting here, since this resurrection of the dead is hinted at more than once in the text, but the clearest verse is John 5:28. “… For an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth…” Certainly, in the context of a zombie apocalypse, this verse does seem rather eerie. This quote helps to set the entire series in a sort of “end times” situation, and if this is all to be taken literally, it makes the prospects for our band of survivors rather bleak. It implies that there is no coming back from this.

                This quote also gives us some pretty deep insights into Hershel’s character. While other characters in the series try to find their own explanations for why this has happened, or simply go with the flow of things, Hershel seeks answers in faith. He tries to use this faith to encourage others, and tries to find the light even in the darkest of times. This faith sets him apart from the other characters and sometimes sets him at odds with them, but in the end it is what helps him remain a good man in a world where so many others fail to retain their humanity.