Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, and it had nothing to do with “love one another” sorry. That was the second most important.

It is VERY clear in the Bible that there is NO other way to be saved than ONLY through Jesus. “Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”

There is also a very good reason as to why this is the ONLY way we can be saved which Romans 3:27 shows us: To prevent us from boasting. No one can say that they saved themselves by being good (being 100% good is impossible as well, as I’m sure you know)

Trying to spot the “right” things in other religions is definitly not the way to go… there is not. If the basis is flawed, everything is flawed.

Sure most religions say “do good and good will happen to you” or something similar, you can read the “religious neutral” Proverbs and see the same thing.

Also speculating about the spiritual realm is dangerous.

That being said, I think the playing of this game falls under the “meat” rule. If it does not cause my internal alarm to go off (Holy Ghost) I can enjoy it, if however it causes me to have a bad conscience, or causes someone else to stumble, then no, I’m not touching it.

I’m not offended by what you’re saying. I still disagree with some of it though. Here’s why (I hope I don’t offend anyone either).

1. “God is love.” I totally agree with you 100% on this. However I disagree with you if you’re saying that Okami is some elaborate scheme of the devil to twist what is really truth and love. Okami is a video game with a message of hope, love, faith and trust, etc. You fight evil where you must while redeeming certain fallen/corrupted things where possible. You don’t save evil simply because evil doesn’t want to be saved! Also, if it was a scheme of the devil this wouldn’t make sense cause you spend much of the game reversing evil actions in trying to spread a positive message. Again, it’s sort of similar to Zelda’s plotline of “good vs. evil” in that way.

2. God is one (but triune), omnipotent and omniscient. Obviously in Okami’s mythology this is NOT the case. I disagree with the game on this point then and I also see it as a reason why I would never believe in Shintoism. It is not the fullness of truth for sure, but I find it interesting and worth noting where it does converge with the truth in Christianity. Think of it this way: Clover may just be pointing out that maybe we have more in common with this ancient Japanese religion then we realize and maybe then we could work with this in mind to convert them to Christianity. Sure certain things would have to change for them (in terms of morality and in theology in general) but I think there’s also some common ground to take note of that might make it easier for them to understand what makes Christianity so great while we can appreciate certain expressions of the truths of our religion in their religion. This is what I was talking about when I made reference to Christian inculturation.

Make no mistake: I am very much a Christian and will be no matter how much I play this game. Willow700 is probably right though- it takes a mature understanding of our religion which sees what’s wrong and right in eastern spirituality in order to play this game in a proper Christian perspective. If you feel it conflicts with your spirituality and you don’t like it then by all means don’t play it. However I tend to appreciate how unusually positive this game is in terms of overall gameplay mechanics and the messages of the game. It’s not Christianity to be sure but then again (and oddly enough) most games aren’t even as close to the positive truths of Christianity as Okami is (in my opinion).

I do however agree with the review about the spiritual undertones. True a kid playing the game may not pay attention to it, but they will be exposed to it non the less. And if you as a parent doesn’t sit and explain that mythology/what’s wrong with it/how it goes against Christian beliefs, you are asking for trouble.

#1: God is love. That was mentioned up there, and it is true. The religious veiw in Okami might look like love… but what better way to trick someone then to make something look good? Many things look like love that are not. A list so big that it would not fit on my little post And yes, spreading good things and helping people IS good. But a pagan god is NOT. What does Okami lack? In the game, you fight evil… What about saving evil? A man will hardly do something for a good man (which Okami does) but while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. THAT is love. And when someone does something good for an evil person in a story like this, it’s usually because there is supposedly a little good in everybody. A nice thought, but not true. And remember, this is not really what people of those religions do. They do not just run around throwing flowers to everyone. They clearly have a glimps of the truth- Satan can only twist what already exists- but it’s not the truth. In every religion, the truth can be found SOMEWHERE in it, but it’s only based on the truth. Every religion but following Jesus Christ as our savior and Lord is false.

#2: I don’t know if this is true or not, but it seemed to me like you were talking about things being LIKE Christianity. As if Christianity were something to just make you a “good” person, or just an item of “Western” culture. This is SO wrong. More wrong perhaps than the pagan religions themselves. They are on the right track but fooled into going the wrong way. People who just do ‘religion’ to make them ‘good’ are seriously missing the point! God is real, folks, and we need to spread that news! Jesus lives! He’s not a character from a self help book. He’s not a saying on an inspirational poster- He lives and He’s coming back for us!

About the connection to the game, I think we should think on things that are good, lovely, and TRUE. Of course I do not deliberately say that it is completely wrong to play it. Things like this REALLY depend on your motives. Are you buying the pagan beliefs? Let it be COMPLETELY disconected from your veiw of the world and Truth, because Okami is NOT the truth.

-Jordan

Oh I’m not blaming you for anything; no apologies are necessary. I just disagreed. I respect everyone’s opinion, including those who choose to disagree with me. All things considered, I may have just misinterpreted what you wrote.

I was speaking on the actually playing of the game. Not quite until the end and within a few sections of game is Amaterasu praised as the sun-god; as most people see her as just an odd, white wolf. Plus… I spent most of my time using the brush techniques to play around with everything, lol.

I supposed I should been clearer though, my fault.

And I agree. Although I’m not quite sure how much, if not a ton, influence Zelda had. The similarites are undeniable. Then again.. that may be expected for two great action adventures.

Josh you said, “Combining a unique art style, exploration, and a boatload of Japanese mythology, Okami is different from almost any adventure game before it.” I’m glad you said that Okami is different from almost any adventure game before it because it’s quite clear that this game is very much influenced by Zelda games. In fact this very relationship is something I wish to discuss a little.

Okami does have elements of Shintoism in it, and I would have to disagree with K-Lover who said that the game has nothing really to do with religion, but instead is about Japanese folklore. I’m no expert, but playing as a important Shinto deity in a game (a long with encountering other deities in the game) seems to carry along quite a bit of religiousness to the game. The fact that many people are looking up and finding out about the religiousness that this game contains I think is evidence to the fact that it does contain religious elements. So I would say that shintoism is very much present in the game. However, it does present it through a story inspired by japanese folklore. The game manual itself says so on page 34 of it:

“The game draws much of its imagery and characterizations from established Japanese legends and stories. A wealth of further information on these tales can be accessed via the internet or at your local library or bookstore…”

Also on page 34:

“Amaterasu (alternately called Amaterasu Omikami) is a central figure in the native Japanese religion known as Shinto.” It then proceeds to explain this deity in Shinto mythology.

So what I think we can conclude is that there is both Japanese folklore and shintoism present in the game; a sort of interweaving of the two.

The only thing Buddhist I remember is a certain Buddhist character who hangs around outside one of the towns and plays a flute. Nothing offensive there I think.

This all relates to Zelda though in that that game itself has its own mythology- the triforce. The triforce deities often are involved in aiding Link’s quest and seeing that good prevails. Okami adds a lot more of religious elements to the genre than Zelda ever did; the very name of the game itself attests to its religious basis. Zelda, admittedly wasn’t really about religion nor was it really inspired by any real world religions (except perhaps the heretical tritheism). Okami is based on Shintoism and Japanese traditions; the manual itself explains that it draws on Shintoism and Japanese folklore. One of the distinguishing aspects of Okami then is that it takes the whole mythology aspect of Zelda and infuses into it an actual world religion, in the context of Japanese folklore. Therein, the game comes off as being a lot more Eastern than Zelda, and a lot stronger in its mythology.

Also, more similarities between the games are in gaining more vitality (a sort of heart container thing that is very similar to zelda), battling of good vs. evil, but really in just the way the game plays. The dungeons, puzzles, etc. they all feel zelda-influenced. This however is not really an inherent weakness but, I think helps in making it open to an audience familiar to Zelda games. And it improves on what it took from Zelda as well, as many of the characters seem a lot less flat than in Zelda, the dungeons are less confusing (nothing in it is as annoying as the water temple in Ocarina of Time), the fishing mini game feels less tacked on, etc.

“Call me “narrow-minded” “conservative” or “consricted,” but “wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”

Before you start to have fit, you need to calm down. According to the bible, God is love, correct? Jesus and God are one and the same, that is; Jesus is God in mortal form, correct?

Thus it is right to say that Jesus is love and the most important commandant is to “Love ye one another” correct? Therefore it can be said that those who love, unconditionally, are the one’s who will make it into heaven.

The narrow path; that route is the route of love. If you look around you in our world, how much actually love do you see today? That line you said, about the road that leads to destruction.. what that means is that it is easy to fall into destruction, it is easy to not love somebody. The narrow path is tough; it takes a lot to love.

Now, on the topic of God and gods…. “You shall have no other gods before Me”…. that’s before Him. No one said Amaterasu or any other seraph (that’s basically what I’ve found them to be through my studies. What WE would call lower gods.) was above God. In the bible, God calls man the god of his home. What this means, is that the man is the leader of his home, true enough, but even he most obey God. And, according to my deeper studies, Amaterasu is respected and the sort, but she is not the one that is worshipped.

Of course, this brings me to my next point.. you’re missing the point. The story was about keeping prayer and faith in a higher power. I supposed if they had used Jesus, you’d say that they were committing blasphemy, even though he is purifying the land? Of course not. But, other people would have a fit and thus, those people would miss out on a wonderous game. A game which, btw, is not at as macho and as violent as most games are these days. A game that has a deep story about being connected to nature and yet, it is simple enough for a 14 year old to play without concern about the story.

Now, to make a few notes:
1- I didn’t say they may lead to True Lord God. I said, they all have a central figure; a figure that basically is one of all power and knowledge, and is one that we cannot comprehend, no matter how hard we try.
2- “We should not rob God of His glory and give it to anybody else, even if it is just to be “fair.” ….I don’t know where you’re going with this, but let it be known that I didn’t say anything about lower gods receiving more worship or any worship these days over God. So, let there be no mistake. Robbing God of His glory is not what being promoted here.
3- Lastly, other than underlying buddhism, what little there is in the game, this game has nothing to really do with religion. It’s based on Japanese folklore, not the shinto and buddha religions. Instead of approaching it as a religious game, something that it isn’t; it should be approach as new approch to art and innovation within gaming.

And I leave with this. The road to destruction is indeed wide and broad, but the number of those who goes into heaven is uncountable. I’m not saying this to start an issue or anything (if anyone feels that way, get at me e-mail and yahoo IM davidsaverem@yahoo.com. I enjoy these talks, personally.), I’m just saying…..
…..
…..from what I’ve experienced within my life, through study of the bible, the people I’ve met, and the studying of other doctrines (what little time I’ve had to do so), it’s come to my knowledge that God is just and merciful. It would not be just to punish a human, who loves unconditionally and does as much good as they can in the world. God has more mercy than that, through my own forgiven sins, I know that to be true to this day. There is truly only one way to reach Him, and that is to love one another with all our hearts. I’m not saying stop following what you believe. That’s NOT what I’m saying at all. I’m just saying that I believe love to be key, that religion is an organized systematic way of expressing belief, but when it’s all said and done; no matter what religion or belief. If one does not love, one does not make it into heaven.

Simply put, what I’m trying to say is that, God’s will is love. Love… do that and the rest will take care of itself.
Once again, if you must get at me about my belief, please feel free to contact my e-mail. It also works with my myspace, if you care to go there.

I don’t wanna start a debate here, I’m just sharing my thoughts and beliefs. Thank you and Peace.