Despite its M-Rating, questionable use of nudity and dark story-lines, the Witcher 3 has two representations of the Gospel and you probably never even saw them.
The Witcher 3 gets the same kind of attention that Grand Theft Auto does among Christian circles; the moment you speak it, people immediately ask, “Isn’t that the game with sex in it”? While that is there and it is entirely avoidable; it’s the nudity that isn’t in some cutscenes and areas (and that’s a whole other post entirely). What people fail to bring up when discussing the Witcher 3 is its story: a dad searching for his daughter. It’s this story that leads Geralt through different story-lines, interacts with a wide variety of characters and more. It’s also a representation of the Gospel that folks seem to ignore.
Minor Spoilers Ahead
There are two quests, one we’ll talk about in another post, in particular that clearly depict the Gospel message in so subtle a way, that you almost don’t know it’s there. For those of us who are familiar with the Gospel, however, we can catch it a mile away. For those curious, let me explain the two quests.
Starting in Skellige, a vast land that is equal parts sea, mountains and monsters lurking in the shadows. After Geralt finishes helping a local with a nasty wraith problem, they’re confronted in a pub by two brothers who don’t take kindly to foreigners, especially witchers. A fight breaks out, leaving everyone dead save for Geralt; an awkward situation this makes for the hero. He is then thrown in jail to wait his trial. A few days pass before Geralt is brought before the ruler of the village to receive his sentence: a large sum of coin that no one can even pay, not even a rich man. Shocked, Geralt explains that that is a debt he could never pay. The ruler chuckles, agrees and then says, “That is why I’m paying the blood debt for you”. Geralt is shocked, yet again, thanks the ruler and carries on his quest to find Ciri.
Did you catch that? Geralt had a debt he could not repay and the ruler showed mercy and compassion by paying the debt himself. This is exactly what Christ did on the cross! When I saw this scene play out, I was surprised and had to put the controller down for a second. Did the developer mean to put this in there? Did they know they were writing a Gospel presentation? Irregardless, the fact that a Gospel presentation is in a video game is unbelievably #datpostmil.
It causes me to pause and consider what other games might have Gospel presentations in them. Have you come across any in a game? Let us know in the comments below!
GG & Amen
The Reformed Gamers 
You said there were two quests, yet only listed one. Is your only reason for saying that quest shows a Gospel message that a character shows mercy and compassion? Because if that’s the case, there are lots of religious texts that show mercy and compassion, not just the Gospel.
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Oops! Thought I had written about that second quest in the draft I copied in! I’ll have to add that in later this evening. Thanks for pointing that out!
Mercy and compassion is not my only reasoning for it but rather, it’s the setting and the dialogue that happens. Geralt is brought before a judge to account for his transgression, much like how in Romans, Paul details how we are all transgressors and stand accountable for our sins before God, our Judge. Geralt has a debt that he cannot repay; we, as sinners, have the debt of sin that no amount of work can repay and wash it away. The Judge knows this and pays the debt himself, taking Geralt’s transgression upon himself so that Geralt may be free and continue in life; God, knowing that we can never repay our sin, through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is both the expiation and propitiation of our sins, thus freeing us from our debt so that we may walk in newness of life. While there are other religious texts that talk/show mercy and compassion (which I’d love to read if you don’t mind sharing btw), the scope/worldview I am using is a Biblical one and thus, I’ll pull examples from that.
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Well all religious texts have mercy and compassion somewhere on them. What sacrifice did the lord make in tht quest?
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Sure! Was just asking in case you had in any mind to point me to. No worries! In that quest in the game, the ruler paid the amount to the family that was affected by Geralt’s actions. To be clear, while it wasn’t 100% exactly like the Gospel, word for word, coming from a Biblical worldview, the dialogue and scene that played out showed the Gospel in a clear, yet subtle, way.
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This is a nice explanation of God’s mercy in the Qu’ran
6.26 Moral Teachings of Islam- Compassion
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6.26 Compassion
Host: How does the Quran describe compassion or mercy as a divine attribute?
Jamal Badawi:
According to the Quran mercy or compassion as a divine attribute is one of the most notable and highly emphasized of the divine attributes. It suffices to say that when one opens the Quran the first line before any of the chapters even begin says “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” This same phrase is found in the beginning of all Surhas save one. Also this same phrase is repeated by Muslims before any act (work, study or any other activity).
In Arabic the phrase is Bismi Allah Arahman Araheem which is translated to In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Both words Arahman and Araheem come from the same Arabic root which is rahman which means compassion. Araheem means the kind, merciful and the compassionate. This trait can apply to any human being. Arahman, however, doesn’t really have a word equivalent in English, as it means the absolute source of mercy. Thus, it is erroneous to describe a person as being rahman. We can however say that a person is raheem which means he is kind, merciful and compassionate but not the source of these attributes. In the Quran in (7:156) is says “My mercy extendeth to all things. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right, and practice regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs.” The Quran also mentions compassion as a divine attribute when it talks about the angels prayers on behalf of the believers in (40:7) when they say “Our Lord! Thy Reach is over all things, in Mercy and Knowledge. Forgive, then, those who turn in Repentance, and follow Thy Path; and preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire!
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) described this divine attribute in moving way. According to Bukhari the Prophet said that he saw a woman in captivity who was looking among the people till she found a little infant whom she took in and started compassionately nursing him. He turned to his companions and asked “Would that mother deliberately throw her infant in the fire?” The companions replied “No!” He then replied “You should know that God is more compassionate towards you than that mother is towards her infant.” This is a divine attribute that has been emphasized in the Quran unlike what some may believe.
This is mercy in the Torah
The 13 Attributes of Mercy are found after the incident of the Golden Calf, when God threatened to destroy the people of Israel rather than forgive them (Exod. 32:10). According to the Talmud, Moses felt that Israel’s sin was so serious that there was no possibility of intercession on their behalf (Rosh Hashanah 17b).
At this point, God appeared to Moses and taught him the Thirteen Attributes, saying: “Whenever Israel sins, let them recite this [the Thirteen Attributes] in its proper order and I will forgive them.” Thus this appeal to God’s mercy reassures us that repentance is always possible and that God always awaits our return.”
It just seems like you’re looking for the Gospel to be in the game.
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Thanks for sharing! I have yet to get into reading the Quran during my seminary studies so this is helpful. Just to reiterate, the Muslim Quran, while good for this conversation, is not part of the worldview I am using when interacting with the games we play for our reformed Christian podcast and write about here.
I’m certainly looking for the Gospel in all the games I play, or some kind of Biblical ethic I see or discussion points to discuss from a Biblical worldview; that’s one of the things we do here and on the podcast.
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Ah, well good luck and God Bless
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