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Board Game Theology:
Two Common Board
Games That
Illustrate Complex
Theological Positions

by Dan Kotler


 


Chutes and Ladders: Divine Grace and Mercy, and Predestination

Good and Evil are very real concepts, with very real consequences. We mortal sinners are desperately trying to navigate the treacherous path to salvation (i.e., the end of the board) while bypassing the temptations that lead to our downfall. God is merciful: even after the furthest slide down the chute of temptation, it always possible to begin again on the quest for salvation.

Unfortunately, we mortals have absolutely no control over whether or not will fall into temptation. Whether or not we can avoid sin depends entirely upon Divine Grace (i.e., the spinner). We humans have no actual control over our lives or our ultimate fate.
 


Scrabble: Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism)

Kabbalah places a great deal of emphasis on the letters of the alphabet. Each letter has a numerical value, so various combinations of letters have various mystical and numerological significances.

Kabbalah also contains the concept of the Sephirot, the ten emanations or aspects of God. These Sephirot emanate from the Ein Sof , the undifferentiated, primordial, and divine nothingness which is nothing and everything at the same time. The Ein Sof is the blank tile on the Scrabble board of creation: nothing, and yet everything at the same time.

(Of course, for the Scrabble allegory to really work, the Scrabble game ought to be in Hebrew. But we can compromise.)

 
 
 
 

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