Mining Play for Pearls

Experiential Theology and Life Lessons Learned as a Gamer and Minecraft Server Admin

I was pleased to have the opportunity to present again at Doxacon Seattle last Saturday. This year’s theme was Extasis: Escaping Reality in Pursuit of Truth.

Computer games are often, within certain corners of the Christian tradition, derided - just as movies and fiction have also been - as largely devoid of value. My own experience, as both a life-long gamer and as a Minecraft server administrator for more than ten years, has been that, while perhaps an inefficient medium overall for learning deep truths, computer games can, through their provision of an immersive engagement of the player’s agency, reveal deep truths if we take seriously our playful engagement with the deep narratives and interpersonal interactions which they provide.

My full talk is now available on GeekOrthodox.net, with the full raw recording, including prefatory remarks and subsequent not-super-audible questions (which will probably also be posted by Doxacon Seattle shortly) available here, after the break.