Dorothy

There’s no place like home,

There’s no place like home,

There’s no place like home…

The Stallion

A wild stallion is my heart,

That bucks and stomps in his cage,

He longs and yearns for freedom’s art,

His mouth froths and foams with rage.

His mane bristles in his ire,

Ropes tied tight around his thighs,

Cannot quench the red-hot fire,

That burns beneath his grey eyes.

He aches, the door open to see,

For green fields to run and play,

The wind through his hair flowing free,

All chains have been cast away.

To see mountains and chasms deep,

To look upon the sky,

In boldness he may even leap,

And gravity defy.

Wolf

The specks of grey along your coat,

The wind blows, causing a ruffle of colours.

Your deep yellow penetrating eyes

Stare out on the bleak wilderness.

Theology of Bioshock (Part III)

For we are in fact, spiritual by nature, something the game makes constant reference to.  When we enter Neptune’s bounty, the fisheries of the city, we see a most striking sight.  A man has been brutally killed and is hanging in a cruciform position.  The word “Smuggler” is written above him.  The punishment does not seem to fit the crime, but we decide to look at the items he smuggled, which are laid below his feet.  What we find is a bible and a crucifix.

Theology of Bioshock (Part II)

Christian tradition has held that sin has at least three characteristics which are on display in the game quite wonderfully.  Namely, sin is addictive; sin deforms us; and sin eventually drives us insane.  The main enemies in the game are both fascinating and tragic, which happened to be called ‘Splicers’.  These Splicers have gotten addicted to Adam at such a level that they simply do not live as normal human beings anymore.  They wander the streets with various weapons, looking for the next fix of Adam.  Additionally, their addiction to Adam has horribly warped their bodies, with tumours and various other malformations, making them grotesque and sorrowful to look at.  Finally, and perhaps the most tragic of all, they utter strange phrases from their past, like an echo, as if they were still living their lives but had not realized the pathetic level they had in fact reached.  Here we see clearly the threefold pattern of sin, that it is addictive, deforming, and induces insanity.

Theology of Bioshock (Part I)

One of the greatest games of all time (PC Gamer placed it 28^th all time (Feb 2010)), Bioshock will most assuredly stand the test of time.  Of course you can discuss the gameplay, which I thought was good; or you can discuss the art design, which I think is the best any game has ever had; or you can discuss the philosophy, which is extremely intriguing; but what I will discuss here, which admittedly will touch on philosophy, is rather the Theology of Bioshock, or rather a Theological interpretation of the game. 

The Yellow Wood

There lies a yellow wood beside a still cobalt lake,
It’s leaves, now dying, fall, leaving ripples in its wake.
The ground is covered in a carpet, a deep golden brown,
The wind blows gently, upsetting the earth’s autumn gown.

I found myself amidst this grove, this autumnal day,
Walking between the cedar columns, in silence they had much to say.
For soon these trees would be bare, the ground thick with snow,
Awaiting the longer days for new seeds to sow.

Their story was sad at first, for soon they were to die,
Their leaves all gone, nothing left but winter’s bitter sigh.
But in their death, beauty lay bright and strong,
As one leaf floats down, singing its dying song.

As I listened to their tale, I felt as though I should cry,
But I realized that there is no spring, if these trees did not die.
For truly in the beauty of death, life springs ever new,
The leaf has fallen, but our joy will come with the morning dew.