just curious about the subject
Paladins yes, as they were one of the primary troops of the holy Crusades. The light not so much, they seem to be generic âself righteous cosmic force #1246789â like the light side of the force. Even Bastion seems more Greek than biblicalâŚsame with the hell Maw comparison, several geographical features of The Maw suggest itâs actually a Tartarus in-universe equivalent.
so they created paladins from the inspiration of Christianity?
2 Likes
I mean, thatâs a broad question youâre asking. Holy crusaders and divine empowerment are not a solely Christian theme, historically or fictionally. There might be aspects of WoW Paladins inspired by Christian doctrines or events, but asking âwas it all inspired by Christianity?â isnât really a sensible question.
11 Likes
Itâs the basis, sure. Itâs a trope, just like orcs, âsavageâ trolls, elves being woody, etc.
2 Likes
hmm ok i just heard that blizzard confirmed that the light was based on Christianity and paladins being infused by light was based off the holy spirit
1 Like
I always wondered what those books the paladins carried were. Who wrote in them? Were they saints? Just regular clerics? some sort of pope? Does the church of light even have a pope? I think I have seen cardinals but thats about it.
1 Like
Well Warcraft is based of warhammer which was inspired by other fantasy universes/D&D which probably used real world religion as a trope for its clerics/magic
Do I think blizzard specifically chose to use the Light as a reference from Christianity. No.
what makes you think that?
what about paladins and the infused with light holy spirit such
idk i just heard they confirmed that christianty had a thing to do with the light and paladins
On a high, theological level, the Light isnât really comparable to the monotheistic notion of god. Itâs too vague and lacking in agency or personality.
The human religion constructed around the Light, however, is very obviously based on Christianity, because it pretty much has to be. Stormwind is a broad depiction of medieval European kingdoms, and those kingdoms are utterly inseparable from âThe Church.â
It would be incredibly disingenuous to look at the giant cathedrals in Stormwind and Gilneas and pretend not to see the influence of Christianity.
18 Likes
- During the Behind The Scene TBC video for the origin of the Draenei as they came to be and in a Kaniuga video from a few years ago also on TBC concept art, they admitted the Naaru were imagined as âthe angels of WoWâ
(fun fact, they admit the concept art for the architecture came before the concept art for the Naaru, they used the geometric motifs created by Kaniuga to create the naaru)
- Yes the Church of the Holy Light is meant to be a parallel Anglican/Episcopal Church
- Stormwind Cathedral aggressively resembles a composite of various Gothic Churches, but in particular Canterbury Cathedral IMO
- âCrusadersâ, Argent Crusade, etc, gesture to the Crusades of the Catholic Church (and a few times, the Eastern Orthodox Church) upon the Middle East or against the Ottomans
- âArchbishopâ âBishopâ etc are all Christian Church titles among the Apostolic Churches
- Scarlet âMonasteryâ, monasteries are traditionally gender segregated spaces for the religious (as in, those who take certain vows), often cloistered
- Archbishop Benedictus going insane and evil and taking the side of the tentacle monsters could arguably be gesturing to the various modern day conspiracies of the Catholic Church controlling the world but also some old anti-Catholic art from the early 20th century:
https://weirdcatholic.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/octopus2.jpg?w=1000
- The Church of the Holy Light breaking off from eachother in various sects resembles both the various Apostolic Schisms and then the Protestant Reformation and subsequent atomization of Protestantism
Whatâs different is of course the theology: the principles of the Holy Light have zero to do with real-life Christian theology.
EXCEPT:
The idea that the Light responds to the strength in your faith in the Light; ergo why Uther and Tirion and the Scarlets and etc could all wield the Light for different causes.
This notion that Strength Of Faith = Power Of Light, that Faith alone (rather than any specific act) empowers you in the Light.
That is derived 1:1 from Protestantism, in particular Evangelical and Calvinist theology and their interpretation of Lutherâs âsola fideâ.
26 Likes
Without a doubt.
Metzen even talks about his Catholic upbringing and lapse during his interview with Scott at Frog Pants (The Instance). You can see where the former inspired the Light, and his research into the occult during his lapse the warlock magic we see.
2 Likes
Iâve never played the original WC1 and 2, but I think Iâve heard that they used more explicitly Christian terminology? And then that got fictionalized into âthe Holy Lightâ?
That said, the current version of The Light, as itâs been presented for the last several expansions in WoW, has been moving further and further away from that basis. Iâm firmly convinced that what theyâre going for now is the Vorlons, not Christianity.
6 Likes
Both/and
Naaru are def chandelier Vorlons slapped onto some strange amalgamation of bits of Islam and bits of Judaism (Prophet Velen, 2 Draenei ships named parallel to the first 2 books of the Bible/Tanakh, the use of Russian accented English, various Dranei names are either straight up Arabic or Hebrew eg Malik).
But Human Church of Light is very much WoWâs version of âHigh Church Protestantismâ
And now you have Light The Cosmic Force, and who knows where that will end up.
Iâm expecting some heavy borrowing from Gnosticism.
4 Likes
This, a thousand times.
Stormwind and Lordaeron both borrow a lot from medieval Europe when it comes to sociopolitical structures and overall art design. Within that context, the Church of the Holy Light has a lot of power and influence, not unlike the roles that the Church held in real-life European history, and the art design of many of the elements associated with the Church of the Holy Light clearly takes a lot of inspiration from real-life church art and architecture. However, the tenets of the Church of the Holy Light are extremely broad, and generally canât be pinned down to any one particular real-life religion.
2 Likes
No. Dungeons & Dragons created paladins from the inspiration of Christianity.
Warcraft created paladins by ripping off D&D.
5 Likes
Also important is the fact that there is no requirement that someone be good in any way in order to use the Light, as the Light operates on Green Lantern principles alone. Even if youâre a heinous, murderous criminal thatâs committed atrocities, the Light will still answer you as long as you are convinced that you are doing what is righteousâperhaps better called âGeorge Costanza principlesâ, eh? As such, if you lose faith in yourself, the Light will abandon you even if youâre a good person. Really, the Light is just a magic that is based on some strange physics.
The Christian religion indeed had huge influence on the aesthetics of the Light, but ever since Of Blood and Honor was released, the similarities end there.
1 Like
Of Blood and Honor was the 2nd mention of the Light.
The first mention in WC2 mentioned Light and Purity as separate concepts both used by Paladins and Light as only a force designed to protect the Heavens with no story to it!
Velenâs a Prophetâs lesson seems pretty tied to one of the tenets of Christianity. Service. It is hard not to notice the virtues of humility and compassion for others.
The Church of the Holy Light is based on Catholicism. Cathedrals are specifically catholic churches where a bishops throne is. The robes of human priests look catholic, and they have an archbishop leading them, which is primarily a catholic title.
1 Like