/jp/ - Otaku Culture

[Anonymous No.]

Calling all Christian Anons to ponder on important questions.
God exists and Christianity is true in Touhou.
But how to reconcile Gensokyo's seeming "gods" and conflicting religions with this fact and the rest of Christian cosmology? There is but one true God, Jehovah, and surely Kanako, Suwako, Kanako and others would not be as foolish so as to condemn themselves to eternal damnation through hubris and delusions of idolatry, would they?
How do magic and other abilities work?
What of Touhou's hell and heaven? Are they the same the Bible describes?

>B-but Christianity doesn't exist in Gensokyo-
>God is fake lol
>But muh canon1!
No ZUN fanboys.
Pagan anons should reconsider their ways. God loves you.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
Gensokyo exists not only in Touhou, but also in real life, and most Touhous can be converted to Christianity. Pray for the salvation of the denizens of Gensokyo!

also, don't misuse quote marks

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
Kuso thread. Play SMT if you want to know how Christian cosmology would operate with reference to the setting, since Touhou practically copies its mechanics.
>What of Touhou's hell and heaven? Are they the same the Bible describes?
>No ZUN fanboys.
If you're this much of a secondary you shouldn't even bother trying to discuss lore implications.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
I love Remilia

[Anonymous No.]

Hello fellow Christian anon.
The characters aren’t really ‘gods’, they’re demons from hell who take on the form of women with funny hats to seduce the unguided residents of Gensokyo. As cute as they are, pretty much every character in Touhou is either a demonic entity or a pagan sinner. Remilia and Flandre might be the only Christian characters in canon, considering they’re from 16th century Europe and aren’t harmed by crucifixes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44800131
Liar. The only characters that are sinners are those that either declare their atheism, insult our faith or serve false gods.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44800172
That’s pretty much every every single character in Touhou, anon…
If they aren’t a Youkai (demon), they either choose to serve false gods like Reimu, or are either unaware of Chistianity at best or are aware of it and choose to reject it by practicing magic like danmaku. It’s just a game about funny magical girls, though, so I don’t expect the characters to be directly proclaiming or rejecting Jesus Christ. But, if we’re looking at the game from a purely theological perspective, like we are now, every single character is going to Hell.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799947
Please refrain from getting triggered by the threads topic.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44800131
>>44800219
> But, if we’re looking at the game from a purely theological perspective, like we are now, every single character is going to Hell.
This could indeed be the case if we are to take the games and media as they exist literally in our world, but I would like to propose something, anons.
What if the media we have are corrupt representations of a Gensokyo where everyone, or at least a majority, is a devout Christian? Of course, there would still be the need to reconcile things like shrines and so-called gods for this to work (and them not to be worshipping idols), but if we accept that omissions or corruptions in the current media exist, we can also think of what a more ideal Christian Gensokyo would look like, while still preserving its aesthetic and lore essence.
Perhaps somewhat of a hot take, but it is precisely why I said no ZUN fanboys: most people I have met will immediately jump at such proposals and say that anything an author says is absolute truth, because apparently subjectivity in art does not exist and the author thought first of these worlds, so he must be right.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
>There is but one true God, Jehovah,
That is the modern interpretation, but it's precisely that. An interpretation.
Notice how the commandment isn't "thou shalt not have other gods." It is specifically "thou shalt not have other gods before me."

Judaism was originally receptive to the idea of other gods, with YHVH's only requirement being that he was worshipped first and foremost (this is also why he would have a reason to be a "jealous god"). It was only after the Babylon captivity or so that it became aggressively monotheistic in practice, even though, formally speaking, there's still no such claim as far as scripture itself goes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44800434
That’s an interesting interpretation, but I think the very nature of the world of Gensokyo at its core doesn’t really align with Christianity. It’s a world of monsters and magic users. If it didn’t have those two things, it wouldn’t really be Touhou.
Though, going to Catholic mass at the Scarlet Mansion chapel with Remilia and Flandre would be comfy.

Well, now that I think about it, the concept that Gensokyo is a real place, and the media we get about it is just Zun’s corrupt depiction can open some interesting ideas. What is Yukari is a powerful demon, perhaps even Satan himself, and somehow created Gensokyo as a safe haven for demons on Earth, and they disguise themselves as traditional Japanese youkai and spirits to draw power from the human villagers who worship and believe in them as false Gods. Reimu and Marisa might not literally use magic to dispel them as the games suggest, but instead use Christian faith to expel them when they cause incidents. Danmaku could just be Zun’s metaphor for exorcism since it would work better for gameplay purposes.
This all just food for thought, though.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
I'm not Christian but I am an enthusiast.

>surely Kanako, Suwako, Kanako and others would not be as foolish so as to condemn themselves to eternal damnation through hubris and delusions of idolatry, would they?
They absolutely would. Plenty of humans would willingly choose guaranteed damnation for a moment of glory in the physical world. Pagan gods, going by their depictions in their own source materials, are not much better than humans when it comes to psychology and behavior. They would make the same mistakes we would and for reasons just as bad.

>How do magic and other abilities work?
The same way they do in Christian sources. There are plenty of examples of magicians and witches in the bible. Even after the time presented in the bible, most European occultists up until the past 300 years or so operated within a Christian framework of the cosmos and were Christians themselves. There was nothing inherently blasphemous about it and was seen, at least by the occultists themselves, as getting a better understanding of the world that God created and the systems within. Characters like Patchouli are most certainly Christian or at the very least were at some point in their lives.

As for the powers that youkai have, I believe they are inherent and not quite the same as magic despite appearances. Magic can be taught and learned but the abilities used by youkai are something only they have. They wouldn't be able to teach it to humans any more than humans would be able to utilize the information if they did.

>What of Touhou's hell and heaven? Are they the same the Bible describes?
Maybe, maybe not. Most faiths have a concept of heaven and hell. If we go by the idea that the Abrahamic faiths are the only true ones then we can also assume that all other faiths are rooted in the same core cosmology as understood by the local populace. If that is the case then the eastern understanding of heaven and hell is a local take on the "true" heaven and hell, meaning that the dead would ultimately still end up in the same place as those in the west do.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
What if the Touhou girls are playing a game themselves, and they know it? Think of the /For Busy Person/ series, and you will not go far wrong. Duelling is an elaborate, formal system, even in supposed ambushes. They can rip aesthetic and jargon from Shinto because they are filthy weebs and sneak in Easter eggs that would horrify any real pagans or devils in the audience for good measure. Yukari is as anti-Christian as a D&D player.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
Remilia my beloved how have you been?

[Anonymous No.]

>>44801207
She saw your message but chose not to respond.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
>surely Kanako, Suwako, Kanako and others would not be as foolish so as to condemn themselves to eternal damnation through hubris and delusions of idolatry, would they?
Why wouldn't they, thats been the downfall of mankind for uncounted generations

[Anonymous No.]

>>44802201
You telling me they are agents of Lucifer trying to lead the people of a heathen land astray? Were they behind the mass rejection of Christianity when it was brought to their shores at last?

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
Gensokyo exists not only in Touhou, but also in real life, and most Touhous can be converted to Christianity. Pray for the salvation of the denizens of Gensokyo!

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
I don't think christianity would have as much strength in gensokyo or it would be one of the older forms that is no longer practiced, I think that their versions of hell and heaven are different since they're based on different religions, and the same goes for how the magic and abilities work, it would most likely be based on a belief that parallels that of gensokyo, but then again there are more western creatures and styles in gensokyo. My guess is it'll be either a mishmash of religions and beliefs or just whatever you think it might be.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
Idolatry is the act of worshipping, what Kana and Suwa experience would be closer to self-Idolatry than anything.

[Anonymous No.]

>>44800434
sounds like a cool concept for a fan work

[Anonymous No.]

>>44799923
Early Christianity was actually pretty henotheistic, sonething it inherited from Judaism. The idea of pure monotheistic Christianity is, amusingly, younger than Jesus and may have been something the Christians copied from their neighbours, particularly the Zoroastrians.