Should i play Civilization V ?

[Filip]

First of , let me say that i am a Christian , but i do not consider myself of a certain branch (Protestants , Catholics etc... ) i only believe God and his holy word with all certainty (or at least i try) . I pray to God to help me with this question i have , but i'd also like to ask fellow Christians and find out what is their opinion.

 

So as you can see in the title , i don't know if Civilization V is a game i should be playing.

For the people who don't know what Civ V is , it's a game where you start somewhere in 4000 bc all the way to the year 2000 or something and build up your civilization , discovering new technologies etc... For the player to win they either have to achieve domination victory (conquering all cities) , cultural victory (having the best culture) or scientific victory (building a spaceship) .

Now the thing that concerns me about this game are the Religious aspects , i am not a Religious person myself because it involves to many unnecessary and mostly invented rituals and it feels like it's being dishonest to God , i barely ever go to churches but do have meetings with other Christians. But the thing that concerns me about Civ V is that you can make your own "Religions" for your "people" to worship , and choose a pantheon of which i think all are Polytheist Gods , and only as you progress further the option to make Christianity appears. Now these "Religions" you can make really don't have any meaning apart from giving you bonuses (such as money , food and so on) and also the people in the game are not real , they are only code , you cannot even see them. But i still am not sure what to think about fake people worshiping fake Gods , could it be a bad thing? 

Also you can choose not to make a Religion for you Civilization , but then you'd probably have another one converting your cities. 

There is also this resource in the game you get called faith , i think you get them for citizen that you converted x the number of turns ( in Civ , you don't have actual citizens , instead , for example a big city has 20 citizens). With this resource you can buy bonuses or sometimes even military units.

Playing computer games is one of my pastimes , but i mostly just play strategy games ( Europa Universalis IV , Age of Empires 2 , Stronghold etc...) . The only game that i play and that is not strategy i think is Minecraft , but i am put off because you need to go to the Nether sometimes to get resource , which is supposed to be a representation of hell.

 

Thank you for your attention , and thank God.

[BK1110]

Do you feel it separates you from God in some way? I'm a big fan of Age of Empires 2 myself, so I'd point out that the Monastary units and technologies in that game are definitely Catholic-based, many of them named after Catholic teachings, like "Atonement." But playing that game, I feel, does not equate to practicing Catholicism or believing in those things at all. They're simply used as named for the technologies that give bonus points to units.

I do think we need to be careful about what media we consume, but sometimes I think we can go overboard in our worry about it, too. If you're a strong, Bible-learning believer, I can't see it challenging your faith or separating you from God in any way. But if you're concerned even in the slightest then, of course, prayerful consideration is the way to go.

[Adstar]

11 hours ago, Filip said:

First of , let me say that i am a Christian , but i do not consider myself of a certain branch (Protestants , Catholics etc... ) i only believe God and his holy word with all certainty (or at least i try) . I pray to God to help me with this question i have , but i'd also like to ask fellow Christians and find out what is their opinion.

 

So as you can see in the title , i don't know if Civilization V is a game i should be playing.

For the people who don't know what Civ V is , it's a game where you start somewhere in 4000 bc all the way to the year 2000 or something and build up your civilization , discovering new technologies etc... For the player to win they either have to achieve domination victory (conquering all cities) , cultural victory (having the best culture) or scientific victory (building a spaceship) .

Now the thing that concerns me about this game are the Religious aspects , i am not a Religious person myself because it involves to many unnecessary and mostly invented rituals and it feels like it's being dishonest to God , i barely ever go to churches but do have meetings with other Christians. But the thing that concerns me about Civ V is that you can make your own "Religions" for your "people" to worship , and choose a pantheon of which i think all are Polytheist Gods , and only as you progress further the option to make Christianity appears. Now these "Religions" you can make really don't have any meaning apart from giving you bonuses (such as money , food and so on) and also the people in the game are not real , they are only code , you cannot even see them. But i still am not sure what to think about fake people worshiping fake Gods , could it be a bad thing? 

Also you can choose not to make a Religion for you Civilization , but then you'd probably have another one converting your cities. 

There is also this resource in the game you get called faith , i think you get them for citizen that you converted x the number of turns ( in Civ , you don't have actual citizens , instead , for example a big city has 20 citizens). With this resource you can buy bonuses or sometimes even military units.

Playing computer games is one of my pastimes , but i mostly just play strategy games ( Europa Universalis IV , Age of Empires 2 , Stronghold etc...) . The only game that i play and that is not strategy i think is Minecraft , but i am put off because you need to go to the Nether sometimes to get resource , which is supposed to be a representation of hell.

 

Thank you for your attention , and thank God.

Make your decision based on what the Holy Spirit is moving your conscience to do..  If this issue is causing you to come online and ask this question then most likely your conscience is being troubled so maybe for you the correct decision is to stop playing that game..   For another Christian who may only see it as just a game that will not cause them any harm probably can play the game with no problems.. We are all different and what can undermine one person may have no effect on another..

 

[turtletwo]

On 10/18/2018 at 10:26 PM, Adstar said:

Make your decision based on what the Holy Spirit is moving your conscience to do..  If this issue is causing you to come online and ask this question then most likely your conscience is being troubled so maybe for you the correct decision is to stop playing that game

I agree. This principle that Adstar posted is found in:

"If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning."

Romans 14:23

---------------------------------------------------

A verse that I use as a gauge to determine whether to do something or not:

"whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 1:31

--------------------------------------------------

Back in the 1990's there was a guideline idea abbreviated by W.W.J.D.

(often worn on bracelets as reminders.)

It stood for "What would Jesus do?"

Since we are commanded to follow Him, that is a question we can ask ourselves to see if a certain thing is acceptable behavior for a Christian.

[simplejeff]

On 10/18/2018 at 11:06 AM, Filip said:

But i still am not sure what to think about fake people worshiping fake Gods , could it be a bad thing? 

Yes.

[Filip]

5 minutes ago, simplejeff said:

Yes.

Just letting you know that you replied to a very old post, and by the way i've decided against it

[simplejeff]

4 minutes ago, Filip said:

Just letting you know that you replied to a very old post, and by the way i've decided against it

How old is the idea behind the "very old post" ?

How old is the book of 1st John, in the Bible ?

 

:)

[Filip]

3 minutes ago, simplejeff said:

How old is the idea behind the "very old post" ?

How old is the book of 1st John, in the Bible ?

 

I don't understan. Just wanted to let you know that this post is not related to the recent one i made. I don't even play Civ V now

[simplejeff]

1 hour ago, Filip said:

I don't understan. Just wanted to let you know that this post is not related to the recent one i made. I don't even play Civ V now

Understood.    I just meant that the oldest post on any internet site,  is still not even close to as old as anything written in the Bible.    "How old it is"  does not mean it has no value or no purpose today,   no,  not at all.

BTW,  glad you gave up that game.   I expect, Yahuweh Willing and to be Pleased and Praised,  the other games for many people will also lose their attraction ,

in view of Experiential Salvation Daily in Union in Christ Jesus !

[Filip]

Thank you nevertheless brother, and may our Father keep you!