War in Heaven Discerning the spirit of computer games

...In fact, Herz's book argues that 1735 I.,~Ran• Avc„ue "videogames are perfect training for life Berl;elev, CA 94709 in fin-de-siecle America, where daily ex- 510.549.5000 istence demands the ability to parse six- tell-frec &00.S24.0122 Jesuit school teen kinds of information being fired at fax 510.S-L1.8536 you simultaneously...

...Relying on this advice and the frenzied use of my laptop's space key, which blocked blows from the bikini-clad devils, I passed intact through the first room, penetrated a mysterious, scrollfilled library, and immediately plummeted off a ledge...

...einail: adrnissionsijsth.edu of Theology Perfect training for the secular life, Www.;s t h.ecku perhaps, but not for the life of the spir- at Berkeley it...

...twelve levels of difficulty, each incor- ing what appeared to be green bikinis...

...Their aim, while demonic conscripts absorb the My second attempt ended in a similar in launching War under the aegis of their progressively more distasteful knowl- bloodbath...

...On each side, players forge through bushed by two winged demons wearetrate-are maddeningly monotonous...

...Celia Wren Tempted by the promise of such theologically edifying diversion, I set out a POINT, CLICK & CHEAT few weeks ago to learn what The War of Heaven had to teach...

...To this end, Beale than I could take...

...rapidly trussing up the world...

...al warfare, and connect directly to the $i x$821865, FA...

...I had never experienced a computer game behe other week I found my- This mission is set out clearly on one fore, and the creepy music I unleashed self in Hell, contemplating of the CD-ROM's introductory screens, by launching the program-a lugubriT a giant potbellied frog that which announces, "It is our purpose to ous drone like an organ played by Bela shot Day-Glo green light- provide Bible-based entertainment to Lugosi-preyed upon my beginner's ning bolts into the heights of a blood- Christians while at the same time intro- nerves...

...ducing nonbelievers to the eternal truths ing into a satanic foot soldier was more This is the infernal landscape you of the Word of God...

...0 Commonweal 2 1 March 24, 2000...

...The prospect of metamorphosred hall...

...Peek around them, in case something's lying in wait...

...multi-cultural setting next to the Herz makes a convincing case that the ethos of computer games is rapidly per- University of California meating every aspect of modern life- • Enjoy the pleasant climate & geographical corporate executives use game-like sim- richness of the San Francisco Bay area & ulations to evaluate business strategies, Northern California for example, and the military feeds off the technological advances of game de- Renewing the minister for the renewal of ministry signers...

...Jesus Christ leads to eternal life, while the other leads inevitably to the destruction of oneself and others...

...READ THIS BOOK...

...Dame, lAm 46556-0428...

...demonstrate "how the one true path of looked over my shoulder...

...Heaven can opt to join either the ranks satisfying whooshing sounds with a Despite occasional enigmatic land- of the divine (using weapons like the sword, before I stumbled on a kind of marks like a faceless chartreuse lashing Sword of the Spirit and the Trump of catacomb...

...And they prob- dignity as human beings is at stake in conably did not mean to give me such an temporary corporate America...

...ALE The Eternal Warriors company, pre- J. Murray Elwood sumably, did not intend that I would What can you do when your job is taking over your life...

...On the 1-893732-13-4 • 128 pages, $9.95 software company's Web site (www.eter- A SORIN BOOKS Publicalian nalwarriors.com) you can order Greg Boyd's books from amazon.com, read a hemywrfetalrehg1oa6noksloreor AffA ave maria press chatty sermon (by Boyd) about spiritu- PD.Box 428 - Hone...

...In Not For unnerving vision of the computer-game Sale he brings years of experience as an industry, which, it turns out, fits seam- attorney and corporate consultant to help lessly into the web of media that is readers reclaim their soul and their sanity...

...Whichev- brother, whose many talents include sumavens while at the same time provid- er camp the player chooses, the lessons perior computer-game skills, as he ing a little spiritual enlightenment...

...i - Fox 8002$2.5681 - E-Mail ovemartapress.1@nd.edu media outlets that have covered The War In Canada: Order from your local 6ooksiore or B. Broughton Co., Ltd., 2105 Danforth Ave., ToroNo, ON M4{ IX in Heaven...

...And for those who are still in the book age, a novel version of the game is being published by Pocket Books this spring...

...In The game's Christian creators, Theodore porating a spiritual lesson-good guys a matter of seconds my numeric health Beale and Andrew Lunstad, have set take in fear of the Lord, obedience, faith, score plummeted to zero and I was ejecttheir minds on higher things than virtu- forgiveness, righteousness, and love, ed back into the Lugosi fugue...

...But even cheating could not get me through the second level, damned or divine-I couldn't type that code fast enough, just for starters...

...Ready for renewal...

...I am sorry to report that it was only by incessant cheating-involving a panacea-like computer code that restored me to full health every minute or so-that I eventually navigated past Commonweal 2 0 March 24, 2000 demon-cluttered staircases, courtyards, and gardens, eventually reaching a Saving your soul and sanity cathedral that awarded me a flashing yellow victory icon for the game's first in today's corporate world level...

...At least not my spirit...

...and battle with chunky angels whose Lewis's Mere Christianity...

...al-reality window dressing...

...Greg Boyd nothing to fear from the evil spirits I was able to pass through a dissolving wall, (evidently the inspiration for the game), about to encounter, because the Lord skulk through a pit-ridden labyrinth, and, for intrigued nonbelievers, C. S. would be with me...

...Should you warfare," a subject whose further com- "The fear of the Lord is the beginning have the smarts to ignore the frog and plexities they suggest players pursue of wisdom," observed the text that consult a volume flanked by funereal with the help of a short reading list- popped up, reassuring me that I had candles a few yards away, you may be the Bible, two books by a Dr...

...Eventually, exasperatingly wedged into a wall near NOT FOR a Tree of Life as a demonic hawk hovered overhead, I gave up on The War in Heaven...

...You've got to go around software design firm, Eternal Warriors, edge, disobedience, treachery, corrup- those corners slowly," admonished my has been to satisfy computer-game tion, defilement, and murder...

...Sallying down a passage, I tentacle, or a cluster of empty teepees, Light) or of the fallen angels (try Cor- emerged into a room containing a stone the dark realms of The War in Heaven-at ruption Spells and the Claw of Abba- table and, almost instantly, was amleast the ones I had the patience to pen- da...

...Choosing sides for `War in Heaven,' the computer game the first round was a no-brainer...

...I spent the next twenty minutes or so aim is to boot you back to the game's Cybersoldiers-that means prospec- lurching through a deserted Stonehengemenu page so you can start all over tive players-enlisting in The War of like meadow, using my mouse to make again...

...J. emerge from their game with a new ap- Murray Elwood believes that our spiritual preciation for cheating...

...Computer games may require a mind-boggling investment of time and We recommend a JSTB sabbatical...

...I moved the cursor meet when you log onto the Christian and Lunstad have crafted a software ad- (shaped like a cross) to the gothic letters computer game The War in Heaven and venture around the idea of "spiritual that spelled "divine" and double clicked...

...join the forces of darkness...

...patience, not to mention specialized knowledge ("Peek around those cor- Individually-tailored, holistic programs ners") from participants, but they are ~-/,~y= • One or two semester options available thriving, as J. C. Herz demonstrates in • Outstanding faculty in spirituality, her witty, eye-opening book joystick Na- theology & pastoral studies tion: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Supportive community • Vibrant Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds...