Halo 2: False Prophets and Pharisees

Today we wrap up Halo 2 by exploring the solution to the problem of these zealously religious prophets.

Overly religious characters like the prophets don’t just appear in fictional games. Jesus squared off against religious zealots in his time on earth. They were called Pharisees and they were obsessed with rules and making rules for the rules. They were blind and deluded and they denied Jesus as God despite him being right there among them. Ultimately their religiosity was responsible for Jesus’ death. Some great stories of Jesus versus the Pharisees can be found here, here, and here. He fiercely combated their doctrines of salvation by works.

True Christianity, however, is a life based on grace. Grace offers for free what we could not have on our own. We can never by any stretch of the imagination do enough good, go to enough church, help enough old ladies across the street, donate enough money, or activate enough ancient space super weapons to earn or merit God’s favor. Grace is a gift that can only be offered through Jesus.

Romans 5:8 says “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus’ sacrifice was given because we perpetually wallow in our sin with no way out on our own. An attempt to try to gain salvation for ourselves only leads to pride, self-righteousness and further problems. That is what the Prophets in Halo’s story illustrate. In their blind and deluded devotion to the pursuit of The Great Journey, they were actually pulling themselves and the entirety of existence towards destruction. That is the result of a works-based religious ideology.

We have a hard time with grace because it takes the work of salvation out of our hands and recognizes that God is in complete control. We don’t like being out of control of anything. Our tendency is to manage and organize our lives in order to make things happen for ourselves. It is actually a great relief to find that we don’t have to carry the burden of maintaining our own righteousness or earning our own salvation. There is no way that we could ever possibly be good enough for any significant length of time to warrant something as amazing as salvation and an eternal reward. If our salvation depended on the consistency of our behaviors or our ability to find some relic or collect some item, we would be completely hosed.

But God is just that awesome. He knows how lost we are and shows mercy by doing all the work of salvation. The work of Jesus is to make up for our shortcomings by taking our sins and giving us his righteousness. That is something that no Covenant prophet or Master Chief, or anything in else creation could accomplish. Christianity does not depend on what any one person or group can do through works, but what God does in spite of our pride and over reliance on rules and religion. Jesus is the only one who can step in and bring us along with him on his Great Journey.

Questions to think about:

What experiences have you had with crazy religious people and what did they believe?

How do you distinguish between Jesus and religion?

Was there ever a time in your life when you were sure of something you believed, but found out you were way off?

Sound off your reactions in the comments. Next week we’ll dive into the epic conclusion of the story in Halo 3.

Halo 2: (Don’t Stop) Believin’ in the Great Journey

The three Prophets, known as the Hierarchs, represent the religious intensity of the Covenant whom they lead and control. These characters are used to convey a certain viewpoint of religion and religious people.

The three Hierarchs are given names that ironically describe their roles and fates in addition to revealing the worldview being presented by this story. We’ve already met the Prophet of Regret. First, he attempted to invade Earth, a decision which he came to came to regret. He was followed by Master Chief to the Delta Halo who then regretfully tracked him down. I’m sure he was further filled with regret when Master Chief jumped on his floaty Professor X chair and punched the crap out of him…to death.

In the future, courtesy towards the disabled does not extend to aliens. (Source)

Later in the game, the Prophet of Mercy is attacked by a Flood form in the presence of the Prophet of Truth and his guards. They could have easily saved him from becoming one of the Flood, but Truth in his pride and ambition showed him no mercy.

The most telling, ironic, and hypocritical name is of the Prophet of Truth. He claims to be the all-knowing and powerful leader who will lead the Covenant on their mythic “Great Journey.” They believe that by activating the rings they will all be sent on to their idea of higher existence and godhood. As it turns out, one group’s Great Journey is another group’s galactic apocalypse. The Prophet of Truth’s religious claims about the Great Journey and the Halo rings turn out to be a bunch of lies based on myth and conjecture. Truth is actually a false prophet.

The Covenant represents religion in its most crazed form. However, there is a distinction that needs to be made between “Christianity” and “religion.” Many equate them as the same thing, and in the general sense of the word, Christianity is a religion. But “religion” can be understood in a different way. Religion believes that “if I do good things and follow the rules, I’ll be rewarded and go to [fill in the blank].”

The Prophets and the Covenant seek tangible forms of salvation- relics, locations, and weapons. They believe that by manipulating these things they will reach their desired goal- access to the Great Journey. That’s the lie that religion tells, that by our efforts and our goodness, we can somehow please God and make him love us enough to accept us. Even if we were somehow able to earn our salvation, it would make us full of pride and self-righteousness and bring us right back to square one. Our innate depravity is precisely why religion doesn’t work.

Now that the problems has been identified, we’ll talk about the solution in the next post. Check back Friday for the final part on Halo 2.

Halo 2: A Monument To All Your Sins

This week we’ll be looking at the themes of religion, truth, and heresy in Halo 2. This post will center on a pivotal scene that highlights the fundamental differences between the humans and the Covenant; between Master Chief and the Arbiter. Instead of a clumsy and wordy attempt at a recap, go here for a plot summary of the events.

“I am a monument to all your sins.”

This simple and ominous declaration is how Gravemind introduces himself to those he has ensnared near the end of Halo 2’s story. Through various circumstances, he has gathered together Master Chief, the Covenant Elite known as the Arbiter, 2401 Penitent Tangent (the A.I. for Delta Halo), and the recently Flood-assimilated Prophet of Regret.

This scene shows a comparison between two very different worldviews that are both now facing the problem of evil. On the one side is the Flood-form and overly zealous Prophet of Regret, along with the Arbiter. On the other is Penitent Tangent and the one he calls the Reclaimer, Master Chief.

Gravemind describes Master Chief by saying, “This one is machine and nerve, and has its mind concluded.” And of the Arbiter he says, “This one is but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded.” I guess they decided to give the ancient intelligent space parasite a poetic bent.

What we have here is the classic man of science/man of faith contrast. The “man of science” perspective held by Master Chief, Penitent Tangent, Jack Shephard, etc. holds to reason, knowledge and objectivity. On the opposing side is the Arbiter, the Prophet of Regret, John Locke, and all of the Covenant who believe in advancing through a moral and behavioral code by the power of ancient relics and rituals.

Gravemind may as well be the smoke monster. (Source)

When Gravemind identifies himself as “a monument to all your sins” he seems to be talking to both sides of this situation. For Master Chief and humanity, Gravemind is the remnant of the scourge that was responsible for wiping out humanity’s predecessors. Gravemind is the deep dark secret of the universe that’s hidden away, just like all sin. Even though it’s not easily seen, it stays underneath the surface, plotting evil and infecting everything it touches. But even though sin is staring Master Chief right in the face, their only solution is to use science to blow it up.

On the other hand is the seemingly useless religiosity of the Arbiter and the Covenant. During this scene, the Prophet of Regret thinks he can save them from Gravemind by using some amazing speech. He is quickly shot down by Penitent Tangent who flat out states that sermonizing will do nothing. Despite all their grand religious claims and posturing, the Covenant can’t avoid the fact that sin is outside of their control. They think that by activating the Halo rings they will bring salvation, but they will actually bring only destruction to everyone. Their impotence to adequately deal with the issue shows the delusion of their beliefs.

Even though the representatives of both of these worldviews face the same threat, the game clearly favors one side- the man of science. The Covenant are shown to be overly zealous, deluded, and entirely ignorant of what is going on around them.

In the next post we’ll look more closely at this picture of religion and hypocrisy as presented through the depiction of the Covenant Hierarchs.