While books with a faith perspective on music and film have been available for some time, Christians have only recently, and very slowly, begun to think about the ubiquity of video games in popular culture. A few have waded in, but in his book Of Games and God Kevin Schut jumps into the deep waters.
He doesn’t avoid the conversations about violence, escapism, sexism, and addiction that are a part of this emerging subculture. Schut skillfully avoids the traps of immediate condemnation and naive optimism that new technologies seem to set. Instead he recognizes that life in God’s good but fallen creation demands that we celebrate the good while always keeping our eyes and ears open for how sin will distort.
Schut gives Christians a great guide to the terrain, pointing out often overlooked benefits: Video games can help support good learning, creativity, imagination, and the community for which humans were created. Most importantly, he argues that to understand video games we must engage them. Not from God’s omniscient point of view—a perspective we can never attain—but rather with our hands on the controllers and with a discerning spirit, helping others spot both the good and the bad that we see and hear as we play, just as we do all other things, for the glory of God. (Brazos)
