This article is for fun, don’t take it too seriously.

The Expulsion from Paradise

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

In Minecraft, you cannot see into where you came from. When you look around there is only more and more of the world as it is now.

Before, you lived in harmony with the cosmos. Now you are hungry and mortal - you have a hunger bar and hearts. You are clothed as Adam was, though your garments are not garments of skin as Adam’s were.

You are alone, representing archetypal man in the fallen state. Unless your friend joins… she could be Eve.

This Harsh World

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The ground is cursed. Undead creatures, zombies and skeletons function as the thorns outside of Eden, an image of death and disunity.

This general difficulty of life is experienced throughout the entire game. You cannot go anywhere without the possibility of monsters attacking you, falling into a pit or getting lost. Collecting resources is laborious.

The Good Earth

The Mine-Craft cycle, going downwards and returning upwards with (hopefully) something valuable, is a very primordial pattern. This pattern of venturing out into the wilderness and returning with treasures or wisdom, or taking something from below and bringing it up, is contained within countless stories. This symbolism can also be described as a movement into chaos, the unknown, and returning after renewed or with something new.

The exodus account, Joseph and Mary traveling to Egypt, Christ fasting in the wilderness 40 days, Jonah in the sea monster, Joseph taken into Egypt, Christ descending into death and resurrection, Daniel in the lion pit, and more all contain this theme of a move downwards/outwards into chaos and then a return with something valuable or some new experience. Note, I don’t mean to speak without respect, I am simply pointing out this basic pattern in how reality works.

Technology

In Minecraft, because of your perilous state, you are always looking to use technology and knowledge to your benefit. You craft armor, tools, weapons, and build machines with redstone.

τέχνη, technology or knowledge, was historically understood to be connected with the path of Cain. Notice Cain’s descendants and the brothers of Enoch:

• Enoch – Cain’s son; Cain builds the first city and names it after him

• Jabal – “father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock” > nomadic shepherding

• Jubal – “father of all those who play the lyre and pipe” > music and instruments

• Tubal-cain – “forger of all instruments of bronze and iron” > metalworking, tools, weapons

Cain’s descendants develop this culture while outside the presence of God:

And Cain went out from the presence of God, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

And so, we see technology is sort of an artificial crutch of humanity that we need because of our condition. In Minecraft, this very well describes how technology is used, even more so when we consider the less humane uses like animal auto-farms and villager segregation.

Gehenna

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Without getting too far into the different words for death, destruction, condemnation and the correct understanding of this topic, we can easily see The Nether is influenced by various conceptions of hell, especially John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667.) In that work, hell is a vast, fiery kingdom of despair.

Ever since Zombie Pigmen were reworked into Piglins, the idea of hell as a place for those full of vice is more apparent than ever. Piglins’ crazed obsession with gold and wealth depicts them as consumed by greed. They will attack you if you disturb their riches, as they are carnal, pleasure-seeking creatures.

You will also notice that some Piglin are zombified and their behavior is different. The other Piglins are not bothered by this - as selfish creatures, they do not care for their own.

There is also no water in the Nether, and none can be placed there:

...their fire shall not be quenched...

Until recently, there was no proper food in The Nether, only rotten flesh from slaying Piglin & friends. This was further emphasizing the The Nether as a place you absolutely do not want to be.

There are other aspects we could speculate about, like soul sand blocks having faces and how Hoglins are pigs (unclean beasts) and how beds explode (no rest.) By now, this should all be clear to you and I needn’t say more.

The Villagers

The symbolism of the villagers has always been interesting to me. As of now, my analysis is something like:

• Divided languages/Tower of Babel

There is no way to understand the speech of villagers and we cannot speak to them. We can trade, though - and trading does not require much language.

• Canaanites (Or the Edomites?)

I would say the villagers have their own religious culture. We see this with the Pillagers who have Totems of Undying which are semi-magical items that will save you (once) from death. Also, there are cleric/clergy villagers who live in church-like structures which is interesting. Is Steve the first foreigner they encounter, or no?

Perhaps the more peaceful tribes that Israel interacted with could be associated with the villagers, while the Pillagers more closely fit the Canaanites, Amalekites, Philistines, etc… the Pillagers seem like they could get up to some weird stuff in those d̶i̶d̶d̶y̶ woodland mansions!

There is more mythology we could explore like the Iron Golems. Early rabbinic texts describe creation of artificial men who are mostly human, but cannot speak. Later centuries would have more this stuff, even golems that specifically protect people.

You could also connect villagers with the other groups of people in Genesis lacking clear explanations for their origin. Where did the villagers come from? How do they understand their own history?

The End

This one doesn’t fit our theme so well, but it is loaded with tropes and other mythologies that should be obvious, like slaying the dragon. Satan being cast into the Lake of Fire isn’t quite the same as killing the dragon and having it drop an egg.

There’s a great fear that the small egg you hold could give birth to a terrible dragon. Like, little things you ignore could give birth to a large problem that will terrorize your village. Also, dragons are serpents first and serpents lay eggs. An egg is a single point but the serpent that comes from it is a shifting chaotic creature you cannot get your hands on. Serpents slither into your garden - but the Enderdragon is content to stay in its own realm. In fact, the Enderdragon does not bother anyone, so killing it always felt weird. Unless the Enderdragon is like… the dragon within… Dude…

Moving on. The fact that the Elytra is found in The End is fitting as it is The End of the Game and so, you have overcome the limitations that the game has imposed on you since the beginning, like gravity.

Wings are also related to being an άγγελος, angel, messenger, or bird, or a spirit (birds fly in the air > air and breath > breath = pneuma = spirit) so there’s definitely some ascension symbolism going on here…

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

That’s all until I think of more. Thanks for reading!