"Atlus has been accused of being "anti-Christian" or even "Satanic" in some circles; however, upon further inspection, that may not be necessarily true."
Warning: This article contains spoilers for multiple titles developed by Atlus, including the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series.
Before we can examine the accusations levelled against Atlus, we must look at the terminology of anti-Christian and Satanic and see if they apply.
Words have meanings, and throwing around accusatory words, especially when they are unfounded or only partially true, is not only unethical but, depending on the severity of the accusation, could border on libel.
With that in mind, let us examine games created by Atlus.
Indeed, many Atlus games (such as SMT and Persona) draw heavily from Judeo-Christian lore; however, they also draw from many other religions, including Greek mythology, African folklore, and Norse mythology.
Atlus games combine historical and religious figures into new narratives, which is unsettling on the surface. Personally, I feel some plot points are a little tasteless, at least on the surface level. However, upon deeper inspection, things are not as bad as they seem, at least not in every case.
While the “Creator God” of many Atlus titles (including SMT and Persona) shares many similarities with the One True God, there are also some startling differences, enough to warrant deeper examination.
While the character of YHVH appears in several Atlus games, this diety has very little in common with the Judeo-Christian God of the same name and is revealed in Persona 5 to be not YHVH at all, but an imposter known as Yaldabaoth.
Yaldabaoth is a mythological evil God and a prominent figure in Gnosticism, a bastardized version of Christianity that goes to great lengths to explain the differences between the God we read about in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the God revealed by Jesus Christ.
What is so interesting about this compassion is that in an attempt to explain this discrepancy, they revealed the reason it exists: mankind’s profound misunderstanding of God.
Before we proceed, we need to establish a firm foundation for who God is and who he is not.
While the false god of SMT and Persona seeks to control mankind and establish law through total control, in reality, God valued the importance of man’s right to choose so highly he gave mankind the gift of free will, in essence making them mini-gods, with the ability to make their own choices.
While many people choose wrongly and suffer the consequences of their choices, God provided a way for such sins to be atoned by sending Jesus Christ to die on behalf of the whole world.
In conclusion, while the YHVH (Yaldabaoth) of SMT seeks to dominate mankind, the real God seeks to save, a difference that, in essence, makes the god of Persona and SMT even more of an imposter than the narrative suggests.
While SMT and Persona titles allow players to battle different incarnations of “the devil,” unfortunately for players who choose to side with him, he is presented as a being who seeks only to elevate mankind with knowledge, even if his methods are less than savoury.
This is based on a misinterpretation of the story of mankind’s fall, with Lucifer tempting Adam and Eve with knowledge.
While some have used this to prove that Lucifer was trying to help mankind, when you look further into the tale, nothing could be further from the truth.
God bestowed upon Adam the “godship” of the Earth, and when Lucifer tricked Adam into surrendering that godship (dominion) to him, things got bad fast.
Mankind lost its immortality, innocence, and communion with its creator, and the Earth reacted to its new master by becoming more hostile to mankind.
Man now was required to toil to scratch out a living when previously all they could ever need was ripe for the taking.
Far from being a benevolent entity who sought only to elevate mankind, Lucifer is an evil being who seeks only to steal, kill and destroy, a far cry from Jesus, who came to offer fallen mankind a way to reconnect not with a sinless and holy God who could not physically look upon sin, less he destroyer the sinner (whom he loved) in the process.
This is not a matter of choice but reality, in much the same way a snowman could not stand before a furnace and endure; without Jesus Christ, mankind can no longer stand before a Holy God without the essence of his power consuming them.
Thankfully for those who follow him, Jesus Christ made a way back to God, a way that no one else could have created.
While all roads may have once led to Rome, Jesus Christ is the only way to God, and without him, there is no salvation or escape from external damnation.
One of the most critical reasons so many misunderstandings about the nature of God exist is that the topic is so controversial that uttering it will undoubtedly anger many people. Still, the truth is the truth, and it must be said.
The Bible is not the Word of God; Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
Before you pick up your pitchforks, let’s examine the Bible itself, as it literally states what (or rather who) the Word of God is.
Now, I never said nor even claimed that the Bible does not contain words spoken by God or at the direction of God; however, we know from Jesus himself that he only spoke what the Father told him to say.
With that in mind, let’s look at five times when Jesus corrects religious people by pointing out that the Old Testament incorrectly attributed statements to his Father (God) or incorrectly recorded his wishes.
Vengeance.
Tithing.
Divorce.
Holy Days (the Sabbath).
Dealing With Enemies.
These examples show that the Bible was never intended to be the comprehensive volume it is today.
It combines actual truth spoken by God, legends written about Godly people, and mankind’s attempts to rubberstamp their actions with divine approval.
It has become yet another attempt by mankind to establish a relationship with God on their own terms.
While it very well may have been a sincere attempt, in moving the focus of Christianity away from Christ and onto the Bible, Christianity has lost not only its moral authority but also its cornerstone.
Worse still, doing this has opened an avenue for people to decry a loving Father (God) as an evil god due to the promotion of the Bible as the perfect Word of God.
Effectively putting a seal of approval on heinous acts committed in the Old Testament (in direct violation of the nature of God revealed by Jesus Christ).
We know Jesus Christ only said and did those things God told him to say and do; therefore, we must conclude that these evil acts were not committed by God (YHVH) or some mythological imposter (Yaldabaoth) but rather by mankind rubberstamping their evil desires as being encouraged by God.
This is an evil action which we still see happen today as people from all religions claim that they do evil in the name of their God, and this includes many Christians who ignore almost the entirety of the Gospel by opting to embrace a selfish and twisted message that makes evangelists and politicians richer, while the poor suffer.
A recurring theme in the SMT and, to a lesser extent, Persona, in which all gods are manifestations of the human mind, is the concept of a God being able to die, such as in SMT V, which sees YHVH killed at the hand of Lucifer.
Now, I felt this was the most problematic aspect of any single game made by Atlus; we have established that Lucifer is not like the real Lucifer and that YHVH is actually the mythological Yaldabaoth and not the One True God. It is needlessly edgy and honestly a level of disrespect that should not be tolerated.
While I do not believe in the God of Islam, I would find it very distasteful for a game to be made that included a narrative point that existed purely to be edgy and offend followers of Islam.
Even if you do not believe in Jesus Christ, his words apply here
And before you say the words of Jesus do not apply to you, I must inform you that his words will judge every one of us and that your disbelief in Jesus or his words will in no way excuse your ignorance at the end of all things.
I will, however, add that while some found the death of fake-YHVH on Christmas evil, I feel it was unintentionally brilliant, as while Jesus did not start preaching his message from the manger, it was that blessed day that signalled the start of man coming to understand God as he really was, separating the false view of God promoted by mankind’s attempts to understand God (lets call that Yaldabaoth), from the one True God that was revealed to us through the life of Teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Living God.
One issue that plagues many Japanese games is the use of the word “demon,” which rightfully concerns some people.
However, things are not as they seem. While in the West, a Demon refers to evil creatures who serve the devil, in Japan, a demon (from the root word daemon) means any supernatural being, including angels, actual demons (which the Japanese call yokai), mythological beings, fairies, etc.
So, while some games do indeed promote evil entities, for the most part, in Western translations of Japanese games, demons refer to supernatural beings (good, bad and indifferent) and not fallen angels.
While some could say that Atlus games have a certain “hostility” towards Christianity, you must consider the dim view of Christianity held by many people whose nations were first introduced to it at the point of a sword (or musket).
Imagine someone knocked on your door, held a knife to your throat, emptied your pockets, assaulted your wife, beat your kids, and then said, “By the way, let me tell you about my god” It would only be natural to have a rather dim view of that man and his religion, and yet due to Christian tying the Gospel to politics that is exactly how many countries first encountered Christianity.
From declaring that God chose (often) terrible and corrupt medieval Kings to today’s widespread evangelical support for far-right rhetoric in the USA, time and time again, Christians have weakened the Gospel by tying it to the evil actions of evil men.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I hate watching American politicians get all weepy about their love for Jesus Christ while disregarding everything he ever said and did.
While I will not mention names, I saw an American senator gush about his love for Jesus Christ despite supporting a bill that would close soup kitchens and homeless shelters in his home state.
I just witnessed tens of millions of evangelicals vote for a man who represents everything Jesus Christ is not, and if I notice these things, you better believe the world is also; unfortunately for them, they do not know that the evil they are seeing is not only not endorsed by Jesus Christ, but is actively spoken against in the Gospels.
What is worse is when these people who are shown this evil version of God react to it and portray god in the same negative light that many Christians portray him, they get all riled up and call for boycotts.
This is absurd; not only do they not recognise that people are reacting to the terrible way that many Christians portray God, but they are claiming this negative portrayal as being like God.
This brings us back to the unflattering portrayal of YHVH in some Atlus titles; instead of pointing out that the portrayal is inaccurate and that they are sorry that they have portrayed God that way, many Christians yell, “Look, they killed god on Christmas Eve!”
This is like someone watching a documentary about a drug-using, child-abusing, wife-beating thug and some woman saying, “How dare you make a movie about my husband!” giving credence to their slander instead of showing the true nature of her husband by her words and actions so that people could see he was none of those terrible things that he was accused of being.
While some games developed by Atlus, I find tasteless, and some plots are irreverent, I would not level a charge of being “anti-Christian” against them; Japan is a nation with a tiny Christian population and ignorance of the deeper aspects of Christianity, especially the actual true Gospel of Jesus Christ and not the hyper westernised imperialistic religion to which Japan has been exposed to is understandable.
Jesus himself said that only those born again could see the kingdom.
Yet, Christians far too often get angry at non-Christians for not understanding or respecting Jesus Christ when we have done a terrible job of representing him and, in the case of politicized religion, done more harm to his reputation than anything that could be written or said by the most ardent enemy of the cross.
Does this mean I am saying that there is no spiritual danger in siding with evil in video games or playing games that promote Satanism? Of course not; people should be careful of their conduct in all spiritual matters.
However, for the most part, these statements do not necessarily reflect Atlus games, especially when you choose a righteous path, one that aligns with The God Who Was, Is, And Will Ever Be, and not The God Who Never Was, a false god created in the image of man. This dangerous and potentially damning paradox perhaps has never been more prevalent than it is today.
You can read for yourself what Jesus Christ actually taught on a wide variety of topics here.
The difference between his message and the one preached by many “Christians” today is so vast that it could be said that it is a different religion entirely, and for those that read with an open heart and mind, the experience will be life-changing.
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