Video games are big business, generating billions of dollars annually. The long-held stereotype of the gamer as a solitary teen hunched in front of his computer screen for hours is inconsistent with the current makeup of a diverse and vibrant gaming community. The rise of this cultural phenomenon raises a host of questions: Are some games too violent? Do they hurt or help our learning? Do they encourage escapism? How do games portray gender? Such questions have generated lots of talk, but missing from much of the discussion has been a Christian perspective. Kevin Schut, a communications expert and an enthusiastic gamer himself, offers a lively, balanced, and informed Christian evaluation of video games and video game culture. He expertly engages a variety of issues, encouraging readers to consider both the perils and the promise of this major cultural phenomenon. The book includes a foreword by Quentin J. Schultze.

Two significant events, or the recent beginnings of ideas about play-

A deeply thoughtful, deeply irreverent look at the mythology of play, Gods and Games ties together Joseph Campbell's approach to myth and religion with Johan Huizinga's view of our species as Homo ludens — "Man the Game-player" — which suggests that play is a central aspect of the human spirit and human culture. "A comprehensive and clear review.... loaded with quotations both pertinent and entertaining that may be eye-openers both to traditional religionists and readers who may never have thought about play in a philosophical or religious sense." —Publishers Weekly

Let the games begin! In their (overabundance of) free time, the gods grew bored and decided to create challenging battles of wits to spice things up! Their opponent? Humanity! A select few players called “apostles” meet the gods on the spiritual realm’s playing field to beat the deities at their own games. A former god named Leshea has woken after sleeping for thousands of years, and her first demand is to meet “this era’s very best player!” She is introduced to Fay, an acclaimed rookie apostle. Together, they plan to challenge the gods and win the ultimate prize, but no one in human history has managed to clear ten games—because the gods can be capricious, outrageous, and sometimes downright incomprehensible! In the face of absurdity, what can the apostles do but enjoy the contest to its fullest?

After the fierce battle with the competitive apostle Dax, Fay and the crew planned to face the Bookmaker and get the god to reinstate their comrade, Nel—a retired apostle. Unfortunately, the cunning god turns the table on them. However, Fay provokes the god and with a masterful plan for a comeback, Fay takes on the Bookmaker, one-on-one. Meanwhile, apostles all over the world are unable to return from the Gods’ games. And Fay’s game is about to enter a new phase with the appearance of another irregular apostle!

APOSTLES VS APOSTLES WITH THEIR CITIES’ PRIDE ON THE LINE! Fay and Leshea’s spectacular performance has attracted the attention of people all over the world. Their wins against the gods are so inspirational that Dives are completely booked in Ruin, and they can’t enter any more games! To prevent former god Leshea from wreaking havoc, they travel to another city to Dive. As it happens, that city is home to another apostle named Dax, whose reputation is on par with Fay’s—and Dax considers Fay his rival. Time for some “friendly” competition! Fay has to choose a partner who can handle strategy, so of course, his top pick is...Pearl?! How will Pearl face this new challenge, and what god awaits them in their next Dive?

Fay loves to play games. He learned how to play by a beautiful woman, Onee-chan, who had a long, red hair. In the world he is living, Gods--spirits, demons, angels, dragons--are bored and they make humans play games with them. Human players are called Apostles...and if they win ten times, Gods will grant any wish for them. Fay, winning three games a row even though he is a rookie, is said to be the best player among all Apostles. He just wishes to meet Onee-chan again if he wins ten times. But he never expected to be paired with a red-haired girl--looks just like Onee-chan!--who is a former God just awoke from a long sleep. The two of them seems to be a really good pair, but can Fay win seven more times and have his wish granted!?

Fay loves to play games. He learned how to play by a beautiful woman, Onee-chan, who had a long, red hair. In the world he is living, Gods--spirits, demons, angels, dragons--are bored and they make humans play games with them. Human players are called Apostles...and if they win ten times, Gods will grant any wish for them. Fay, winning three games a row even though he is a rookie, is said to be the best player among all Apostles. He just wishes to meet Onee-chan again if he wins ten times. But he never expected to be paired with a red-haired girl--looks just like Onee-chan!--who is a former God just awoke from a long sleep. The two of them seems to be a really good pair, but can Fay win seven more times and have his wish granted!?

Games of the Gods, The Mythological Greek Ancient Gods, employ The Youth Video Gamers to fight The Diabolic and Sinister Zoombies, Deadly Spiritual Demons that have burst out of transport waves of the Earth’s Atmospheric Spheres to corrupt the minds of humans. The youthful Video Gamers use their incredible skills, controlling their Joy Stick to a Live War-time Video Battle with Gaming Applications. The Greek Gods, through their Portals on Earth, employ youth throughout the world to FIGHT and KILL their Enemies. Humans were given the ability by the Gods to expertly control the Video Games from implants into their DNA made untold ages ago from The Fox-47, which was placed in the Gene Cell Genome, knowing one day the Gods would return to save Mother Earth. The War of the Galaxy/Gamers begins. Games of the Gods is the second novel in the Gene Factor trilogy. When the implants in the Human Genome, the FOX-47 genetic cell factor that was placed into Man’s DNA awakens, the Gods return into their Portals on Earth to direct the youth who will fight through Video War Technology to kill the enemy. Following the first novel, The Gene Factor; this second book explores the ancient mystery – that Mankind was visited by Alien Gods millions of years ago – and those Gods implanted into the Genome of the DNA the skills to fight Deadly Forces that would be needed one day on Earth. That Day Has Arrived in the novel Games of the Gods.

Drawing exclusively on the evidence from urban Rome up to the age of Constantine, the book analyzes the pagan, Jewish, and Christian concepts of "god" along the lines of space, time, personnel, function, iconography and ritual.