To answer this question for Ulfred, I need to give a little background, so bear with me.
It is my (Nigel's, not Ulfred's) belief that man is made in the image of God, and God is a creator. When we create imaginary worlds, we can only do so because we are of this image (J.R.R. Tolkien would tell you the same). As such, while I do believe that a person can imagine a world in which they don't see Jesus Christ, I don't believe that he is really absent from any world anyone imagines. If I didn't believe this, I would have no reason to play RPGs.
You no doubt believe differently, but that is all by the way as far as Ulfred is concerned. He worships Jesus Christ. He worships Jesus because only in Jesus can he find someone who accounts for both the love in the world (it is His love), and the pain in the world (it is our choice, but He chose to suffer it with us on the cross). Ulfred's knowledge of the deeper questions of theology is a little hard to measure, since I am under the impression that there is no such thing as a Bible in Warhammerland, but prayer and the Holy Spirit have done well for those with no other recourse before.
He does not openly dislike other deities, because they are no competition for Jesus in terms of power. He would obviously not want to support a diety who plotted evil.
If this is not sufficient to earn me the XP mentioned, I would be glad to expand upon it, although I acknowledge that it doesn't give much of a handle for the GM as far as plot, as Ulfred wouldn't fall for a GM created "Jesus", knowing the voice of the Real Thing.
I haven't brought this stuff up before, because I didn't think you guys cared about it, but XP are XP, and you did ask.
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4 comments:
Well, I'm a little confused about that answer. I mean, I understand it on a metaphysical level, ie your contention that Jesus by his very nature is present in all of our personal creations. But in terms of the fictional world with fictional characters, I don't understand how a person who has no possible way of learning about Jesus could worship him.
To take a real world example, suppose a primitive tribesman in a deep jungle of Africa or South America (this could be today or 200 years ago, whatever) who has never had communication with the outside world. Or suppose an alien intelligence on a planet far from this galaxy. Not only do they have no Bible to reference, they have never heard of Jesus or had any concept of him. So how could they worship him? As far as I know there are no examples in the real world of people spontaneously erupting in Christian worship without any previous contact with representations of Christianity. In the Warhammer world, of course, there is no way for anyone to have ever had Christian contact, unless of course you are positing that Ulfred is recieving direct visions. Which could be interesting in a way. Or is it that he simply has his own ideals which happen to coincide with Christianity without his actually being aware of the nature of his beliefs?
Or do your personal convictions proscribe you from playing a character who worships false gods? Could you play a character in a stage play who worshipped false gods? I'm just curious. If that is the case, it's your right of course. It probably would never affect game play anyway.
Actually, there are cases of people who have worshipped Jesus yet claim that they had no previous contact with missionaries or the like. I always wonder what to make of those claims, but there is nothing I know of about God to make them impossible.
It's not per se a question of the worship of false gods. As a Christian, I should do everything I do to the glory of God. Like most people, I have trouble living up to this ideal, but in role-playing I can use my characters to deepen my relationship with Jesus. I can run an NPC who doesn't acknowledge God with no trouble, but I wouldn't want to pretend for the length of a conventional RPG arc that I didn't believe in Jesus, because that would draw me away from Him. For me, RPG characters have always been about exploring aspects of my own personality, and I am striving to bring every part of that personality into conformity with Jesus.
As you say, it shouldn't have much impact on game play. Here it did a little bit, because if I was going to answer Matt's question honestly, I had to say something I figured you guys would find a little odd.
I get your answer. At least, I understand what I think you're trying to say.
What I was really looking for, without saying it in so many words, was this - this module revolves quite a bit around religious strife, and so I wondered where you as PCs came down. Sigmar? Ulric? Neither?
Your answer leads me to believe you would come down on one side or the other not because of religious affiliation but because of which side you thought was in the right (if, in fact, you believe either side was in the right). Ulfred would probably not be concerned with tension between the two churches so long as it didn't boil over into violence.
Note that this isn't what I specifically interpret your posts to mean. I extrapolated to fit my needs. I'm fine with your answer, and perfectly willing to offer up the XP.
As a note, I have always interpreted the Sigmar worship portrayed within Warhammer to be analogus (sp?) to the Christian Church, with Sigmar being Jesus Christ.
Understanding the desire to explore some aspect of your personality in this character, you could look on Sigmar as just another name for Jesus in this case.
If in looking at it you disagree, that of course is fine also.
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