Series writings of M. Joseph Young:  these pages are article series or collections.  The title of each series or collection is provided first in alphabetical order, followed by the articles included, in the order published.

This is a sub-index page of the Index to the Writings of Mark Joseph Young, which cover many areas of thought and life, including law, bible, rpg's, time travel, fiction, and many other subjects.

Difficult Questions, answers to letters received about Christian faith.

Faith and Gaming, the Christian Gamers Guild monthly series about how our faith impacts our role playing games.

Game Ideas Unlimited, the Gaming Outpost subscriber series about creative thought.

Law and Enforcement In Imaginary Realms, published in Places to Go, People to Be.

Difficult Questions:  Questions and Answers for Christian Life and Thought:  Initiated by a letter from a friend of a friend, this series explores many concerns of Christians and non-Christians about the Christian faith.

1. Difficult Questions:  A Letter About Doubt:  This letter struggles with many of the issues that plague Christians.
   • Difficult Question:  What About Tongues?:  Coming from a fundamentalist background, the questioner doesn't understand the purpose of tongues; the answer suggests that they aren't really about what most people think.
   • Difficult Question:  Aren't the Words of Jesus the Only Important Part of the Bible?:  This goes beyond merely why we regard the Bible as we do to look at questions of the point of Jesus' message and whether it has been accurately preserved for us.
   • Difficult Question:  How Can Alcohol Be Evil If Jesus Turned Water Into Wine?:  The confusion of culture and faith is examined, showing that there are things which many Christians think for which there is little Biblical foundation.
   • Difficult Question:  How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?:  The issues of eternal punishment are examined in some detail, including why God saves some and not others, and what happens to those who are lost.
   • Difficult Question:  Why Doesn't My Pastor See the Discrepancies in the Bible?:  This looks at two aspects of the question.  It first considers why some people seem to face greater doubts than others, and then looks at whether there really are significant problems in scripture.
   • Difficult Questions:  Why is Religion So Confusing, and Who Decides What's True?:  The questioner covers much ground quickly, from whether religious truth is hard to understand to the place of the Law in our faith; the answers suggest that many Christians don't understand their own faith, but that it's really not all that difficult.
   • Difficult Question:  Why Do You Have to Go to Seminary to Understand This?:  Using science as a paradigm, the page looks at the difference between understanding the basics and being intimately familiar with the very complex questions, and also draws a distinction between knowing God and knowing about Him.
   • Difficult Question:  Why Doesn't God Talk to Us Today?:  Whether and how God speaks to people, and when, is looked at from several angles in this conclusion to the answers to this letter.
2. Difficult Questions:  Christian Life and Role Playing Games:  This letter raises issues of how to live a Christian life, and specifically touches a few concerns connected to role playing games.
   • Difficult Question:  What if Non-Christian Friends are Interested in Magic?:  The answer to this question considers what it is that actually attracts people to magic, and what Christians have to offer that would draw them away from this.
   • Difficult Question:  What Do I Do for a Stagnant Christian Life?:  All of us reach moments when we don't seem to be growing in grace.  A few ideas about how we keep our faith growing are shared here.
   • Difficult Question:  How Can Faith Be Expressed in Gaming?:  Beginning with some characters which have been used to express aspects of Christian faith in games, the article gives ideas that can be used from both sides of the referee's screen.
3. Difficult Questions:  How Can the Truth be as Young as Christianity?:  After commending an article about role playing games, the writer challenges the notion that Christianity is the only way based largely on his assertion that it is a relatively recent faith.  Answers follow on another page.
   • Difficult Question:  Why Should a Young Religion Be the Truth?:  Recognizing that Christianity is indeed exclusive, the article challenges whether it is really so young as suggested.
4. Difficult Questions:  Why Should Christianity Be the Only Way?:  Many of the common objections to the Christian faith are put forward, including the problem of evil, the paradox of free will and omniscience, and the reliability of the record.  These are all answered in linked pages.
   • Difficult Question:  Didn't Christianity Begin with Christ?:  The history of the first two centuries A.D. support the contention that Christianity is the continuation of the faith of Judaism, and that although Jesus is integral to the faith in a way that is unlike any other religious figure, it is still the case that those who looked forward to His coming from the dawn of history are as much part of the Christian faith as those who come after.
   • Difficult Question:  Couldn't God Have Prevented Evil?:  A few of the responses to the problem of evil are suggested, particularly that the possibility of evil was necessary for true good, and that the amount of evil in the world is a matter of perspective.
   • Difficult Question:  Doesn't Omniscience Eliminate Free Will?:  What God can and cannot do is discussed, and the nature of time considered from the perspective of whether a fixed future is incompatible with freedom in the present.
   • Difficult Question:  Hasn't the Message of Jesus Been Distorted Over Time:  A challenge to the accuracy of the biblical texts is quashed, although it is admitted that we do not necessarily fully and completely understand them.
   • Difficult Question:  What About the Writings of Eastern Religions?:  The value of writings of other religions is considered.
5. Difficult Questions:  Free Will and the Problem of Evil:  Two issues raised in the previous letter are broached again, in greater detail, in this one.
   • Difficult Question:  Don't Many Christians Hate Jews?:  The perils of evaluating a religion by the conduct and attitudes of the worst examples of those who claim it as their own are considered, observing that there have always been those who understood aright.
   • Difficult Question:  Could Christianity Exist Without Christ?:  The idea that Jesus is essential to the Christian faith is raised as a challenge to the suggestion that that faith dates back before his birth, and refuted.
   • Difficult Question:  What is the Central Truth of Christianity?:  There is a very short answer to the suggestion that Christianity is about striving to be like Christ, which suggests that this is not as Christians would see it.
   • Difficult Question:  What About T. V. Evangelists?:  In defense of television ministries, it is suggested that ministries within the church are different and cannot be judged by the same standards.
   • Difficult Question:  Couldn't God Have Prevented the Fall?:  The freedom to make the wrong choice is suggested as a necessary possibility for right choices to have any meaning.
   • Difficult Question:  Don't Good and Evil Both Come from God?:  This idea, popular in Eastern religions, is challenged and rejected.
   • Difficult Question:  Men Don't Agree About Morality:  Differences in standards from culture to culture don't mean that there is no real good and evil; in fact, these differences are most notable for the degree to which they are similar.
   • Difficult Question:  What Is Good?:  The answer is that good must be a positive presence, not merely the absence of evil.
   • Difficult Question:  Must Things Happen As Foreseen?:  The natures of time and choice are examined in arriving at a view in which God can know what we will choose without that being controling.
6. Difficult Questions:  Christianity and Console Role Playing Games:  A math teacher and video game player wondered whether Final Fantasy games were Satanic, and whether there were any games Christians should avoid.
   • Difficult Question:  What About Console Role Playing Games?:  The issues are considered, ultimately addressing it as a personal matter.

Faith and Gaming:  The Chaplain's Corner of the Christian Gamers Guild became the home of a monthly series of articles beginning in April of 2001.  A brief biography of the author of the series is provided on the site.

1. Faith and Gaming:  Preliminaries:  The purpose of a series on faith and gaming is considered, recalling the idea that being Christian is a total life commitment which should touch every aspect of life.
2. Faith and Gaming:  Fundamentals:  The effort to reach the most basic aspect of games discovers that there is something more basic than a game involved.
3. Faith and Gaming:  Mechanics:  An examination of the concepts which form the nuts and bolts of game systems discovers cause for caution alongside cause for glory.
4. Faith and Gaming:  Settings:  The question is asked whether it is wrong to imagine a world different from the one God created; the answer suggests that it may be wrong not to do so.
5. Faith and Gaming:  Bad Things:  The problem of evil raises its head in strange ways; in our games, we are forced to ask the limits on how much evil we can imagine.
6. Faith and Gaming:  Weaker Brothers:  A correct understanding of the "weaker brother" argument is discussed, and how that integrates with the freedom in Christ.
7. Faith and Gaming:  Magic:  October was a good month to talk about the inclusion of magic in our fantasy stories and games, and discovers that what the Bible condemns is nothing at all similar to what most games attempt to emulate.
8. Faith and Gaming:  In Vain:  Is it right to include a fictional version of God in our stories and games?  Is it right to exclude Him?  This entry in the series looks at the options.
9. Faith and Gaming:  Appearances:  The King James Version of the Bible tells us to avoid the appearance of evil; but this doesn't mean what some people claim.
10. Faith and Gaming:  Walking in Darkness:  What does John mean when he tells us to walk in the light, not in the darkness--and is that a reason to avoid role playing games?
11. Faith and Gaming:  Cults:  By considering what cults are and what characterizes cult activities, we discover that role playing games are nothing like these.
12. Faith and Gaming:  Making Peace:  Springing from James 3:18, this entry in the Christian Gamers Guild series looks at how we sow the seed whose fruit is righteousness by reaching out to others.
13. Faith and Gaming:  Christian Games:  The Christian Gamers Guild series article challenges the idea that we need Christian games, giving reasons why Christians should not be focused on making their own games.
14. Faith and Gaming:  Characters:  The monthly series at the Christian Gamers Guild continues with a look at how pretending to be other people enables us to live more effective Christian lives.
15. Faith and Gaming:  Devil's Game:  The monthly Christian Gamers Guild series picks one game which the author suggests truly is the devil's tool--and shows through the arguments how the Devil manages to use such things against us.
16. Faith and Gaming:  Mind Powers:  The Christian Gamers Guild Chaplain's Corner series continues with an examination of that which is called by some psionics and by others just another kind of magic.
17. Faith and Gaming:  Good Guys:  The Christian Gamers Guild series takes a new turn, beginning an exploration of how to bring our faith into our games.  This entry suggests playing characters who live lives expressing our beliefs, and how that might be done.
18. Faith and Gaming:  Bad Guys:  Having considered how playing good characters helps us bring our faith into our games, the Christian Gamers Guild series turns its attention to how we can focus on our faith by playing the villains.
19. Faith and Gaming:  Fantasy:  Continuing to explore the issue, the series suggests that magic may be one of the best ways to bring faith into games.
20. Faith and Gaming:  Justice:  The series suggests that our faith can become part of our games by making the world itself fair in an unexpected way.
21. Faith and Gaming:  The Best:  We can bring our faith into our games by being the best players we can be, according to the December installment.
22. Faith and Gaming:  Awe:  The series addresses the idea that an attitude of fearful reverence for whatever gods exist in a game world can help bring the ideas of our faith into our games.

Game Ideas Unlimited:  Gaming Outpost subscribers enjoy this series which explores creative thinking and the creation of game systems, worlds, characters, stories, and more.

1. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Introduction:  The series begins with promises of what it intends to do.
2. Game Ideas Unlimited:  An Amusing Dungeon:  The article recalls an adventure in which swords and sorcery characters were confronted by something completely outside their experience.
3. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Transmats:  The staple gadget of so much science fiction is often ill-considered in regard to the uses and applications which are overlooked.
4. Game Ideas Unlimited:&nbps; My North Wall:  Getting ideas from the mundane is the focus of the article, which also looks at hiding things in plain sight.
5. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Screen Wrap:  Ways to confuse the players with transporters and teleportation--and without--are presented.
6. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Pay Attention:  The way to capture detail in your descriptions is to observe and remember it in life.
7. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Living In the Past:  This somewhat nostalgic entry suggests that we not let the stories around us disappear until we have heard them.
8. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Snow Day:  This exercise in description is about mentally being there.
9. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Invisible Coins:  A quirk of tossing an imaginary coin teaches us much about running games.
10. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Empiricism:  Philosopher David Hume's assertion that we can't imagine what we've never seen is challenged, with an illustration by Multiverser artist Jim Denaxas.
11. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Aptrusis:  It's a scrambled word, used as a foil for examining puzzles in games.
12. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Monster Design:  Qualities that make for good creatures in games are discussed.
13. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Over My Shoulder:  The first quarter of the weekly series closes with a look at looking back, at holidays which cause us to remember.
14. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Who?:  The contrast between all the detail we know about our game characters and the gaps in our knowledge of ourselves is examined, along with ways to build a few of the kinds of surprises into our characters that we often find in ourselves.
15. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Left Hand:  The way we think about space and directions and how that affects our perceptions of the imagined reality of our games is considered.
16. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Learning:  The pursuit of knowledge through many media in many subjects is recommended.
17. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Deceased:  A funeral for a cat causes us to ask whether our game characters ever mourn the passing of their friends.
18. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Left or Right?:  The perception of choice is an important part of the adventure--but the reality of choice is not always a necessity.
19. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Embraces:  Romance is so much a part of our action movies and books that it could easily add something to our games--if done right.
20. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Believable Nonsense:  How to create superstitions and bring them into your game worlds is considered.
21. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Stitches:  The details of real or known settings are important, and have to be captured carefully if such settings are to be used in play.
22. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Sentience:  In many of our games it is necessary to emulate alien intelligence; but to do so perhaps we need to understand the many concepts we include in that.
23. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Motivation:  Having a reason for the character to be where he is may be one of the most difficult and basic aspects of creating the story.
24. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Edison:  Arguably the most creative mind of a generation gives us insight into one of the most important facets of creativity.
25. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Names:  Sometimes these are revealing, but sometimes they are misleading--and often they are difficult to understand.
26. Game Ideas Unlimited:  The Process:  This free article looks back at the previous quarter of the series and discusses how it is we truly do learn to be creative.
27. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Ives Loves a Parade:  Music is used as an example of how to bring diverse and discordant elements together in the same creative work.
28. Game Ideas Unlimited:  David:  Several people of that name, and several others, teach us simplicity.
29. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Procession:  The absurdity of the funeral of a local celebrity helps understand how to include incongruities in worlds.
30. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Pain:  The memory of flaming oil burning away the flesh on a hand inspires a consideration of how characters might react to pain.
31. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Dog:  The quest for alien intelligence takes us to a consideration of how animals think.
32. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Flirting:  Not about romance, this piece looks at how we use role playing to explore who people are, including ourselves.
33. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Map:  Comparing a few hours wandering through the halls of an unfamiliar high school with seeing the map of those same corridors gives ideas about how to design multi-leveled settings, and how to keep players from having that omniscient view from above.
34. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Value:  What something is worth is not easy to determine; but it can be controlled in a game world quite easily.
35. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Time:  Not all worlds have twenty-four hour days, and not all worlds would find hours convenient to measure time.  An example of how to build a time system gives alternatives and reasons.
36. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Multiple Staging:  Although Multiverser uses this idea all the time, most role playing games don't--yet it is a staple of the most exciting adventure books and movies.  Ideas for making it part of games are explored.
37. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Sense:  People do not all see, hear, smell, and taste the same way; but elves and aliens should be much different even from that.  How our characters perceive should impact our games more than it does.
38. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Senseless:  The stunning effect of that fear which comes from a complete disbelief of the reality in front of your senses is discussed from personal experience.
39. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Flashbacks:  Ideas for using this technique in role playing games, popular in other forms of fiction, are discussed in this thirty-ninth entry in the series, which also flashes back to the past dozen in reviewing them.  This entry is available to non-subscribers.

40. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Derivative:  Springing from thoughts on music, the Gaming Outpost subscriber series article considers whether something can be truly great yet derivative, and concludes that all truly great works are in part so.

41. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Wounds:  The Gaming Outpost subscriber series considers how to bring the negative affects of our adventures into character development.
42. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Faith:  The depth of character and courage that simple belief in God can bring is explored in this entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series.
43. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Vivid:  Recalling a few of the most memorable moments in past games, this entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series asks what makes them memorable, and provides some answers.
44. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Words:  This subscriber series article at Gaming Outpost looks at how language sometimes enhances our ability to communicate, and how it sometimes gets in the way.
45. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Wizardry:  A brief story is told, twice, from different perspectives; and from it this Gaming Outpost subscriber series article draws an important lesson about how to use magic in games.
46. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Knowing:  Looking at what we really know about ourselves and the world around us, this entry in the subscription series suggests ways of distancing players from that godlike knowledge of their characters.
47. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Tactics:  If you're going to play a fighter you should think like a fighter.  The subscription series tackles the concept of battle plans, and how to use them in role playing games.
48. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Possibilities:  The differences between deductive conclusions and the more common inductive ones is considered and applied to game situations, as part of the ongoing subscriber series at Gaming Outpost.
49. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Common:  Coming from, of all places, a Bible lesson, the Gaming Outpost subscriber series suggests that we can understand and play people who are different from us because in essential ways we are all very much the same.
50. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Uncertainty:  The weekly subscriber series at Gaming Outpost considers the tactical use of the fact that your opponents don't actually know how strong--or how weak--you really are.
51. Game Ideas Unlimited:  The Alien:  Deconstructing the Bah of Bah Ke'gehn in Multiverser:  The Second Book of Worlds, the weekly Gaming Outpost subscriber series shows how a truly alien being can not only be designed by made playable.
52. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Celebrations:  The first year--fifty-two weekly entries--in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series ends with a free look (available to non-subscribers) at what we celebrate, how, and why.
53. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Characterization:  A few referee tricks for creating distinct and memorable non-player characters are presented in the weekly Gaming Outpost subscriber series.
54. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Cash:  The weekly Gaming Outpost subscriber series traces what money was long ago, why it became what we have now, what it is likely to become next, and how that can be used in games.
55. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Shares:  Approaches to dividing "treasure"--money and equipment--among game characters are considered in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series.
56. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Props:  Why do gamers use costumes and props?  Certainly it sets the mood, but this entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series suggests it does something more.
57. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Comparisons:  Sandwiches and swords suggest that comparisons are only partly subjective, only partly objective, in this entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series.
58. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Name-monics:  The Gaming Outpost subscriber series has some ideas for ways to make the names given to people, places, and things in the game world easier to remember and helpful in recalling the things themselves.
59. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Expanding:  Multiverser lead author M. Joseph Young shares one of the techniques he has used to generate world and scenario ideas in this entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series.
60. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Stars:  Punctuated with poetry, this entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series attempt to get to the kind of awe our characters ought to feel toward the heavens.
61. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Paperwork:  In a more mundane entry to the Gaming Outpost subscriber series, ways of handling papers are presented, including notebooks, computer aids, folders, and more.
62. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Clones:  This is not a science fiction bit, but a way of building characters in our games by borrowing people we know.  The Gaming Outpost subscriber series has a number of points on how this works for us.
63. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Flies and Fairies:  The interrelationship of defensive values in game mechanics is illustrated, showing how to create a character that can be crushed with a single blow, but is not so easy to hit.
64. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Plague:  The Gaming Outpost subscriber series suggests that disease can become a basis for adventure in our games, if we can come to grips with the psychology of epidemic.
65. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Continuity:  This free entry in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series looks back over the past thirteen and discusses how to connect individual game adventures into a campaign or saga.
66. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Civil Planning:  Do roads always go straight?  When and why do they do otherwise?  What goes in the towns?  These questions are addressed in the Gaming Outpost subscriber series.
67. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Bits:  This idea about including things which can later be given meaning or function in a game or story was offered to Gaming Outpost subscribers as part of the series.
68. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Ephemeral Illusion:  The Gaming Outpost subscriber series looks at an interesting style of refereeing, but finds faults with the notion of designing an entire game around it.
69. Game Ideas Unlimited:  File Cards:  A few practical uses for a readily available role playing aid are presented.
70. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Peace:  The series suggests some alternatives to combat in role playing game situations.
71. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Child's Play:  The old idea that children's make-believe games don't have rules is challenged.
72. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Encounters:  The series raises a the idea that people tend to run into people they know, and this can add something to games.
73. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Food:  What characters eat, and whether they can eat and enjoy the same foods, is considered by the series.
74. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Kahanamaku:  We look at cultural heroes and what they say about us, and how we might include such aspects in our game worlds.
75. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Rivalry:  Some aspects of relationships don't come out in play.  The series considers the respect between enemies and competition between allies that sometimes make for interesting relationships.
76. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Spin:  Using nice names for bad things and otherwise disguising the real meaning of the world is considered.
77. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Occurences:  Things happen all the time, and sometimes they happen to the player characters.
78. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Reports:  This free installment of the series looks back at three months of articles and talks about the value of having player characters file reports.
79. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Attention:  The series suggests that the ability to notice is something people can turn on and off.
80. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Trust:  Who do you trust, and should you?  Should they trust you?  These character questions are addressed by the series.

    Game Ideas Unlimited:  Transition:  The series suggests setting games in worlds amidst great upheaval and change, to make the setting more interesting.

81. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Partnership:  Two conflicting conceptions of the notion of working together are considered.
82. Game Ideas Unlimited:  Language:  Some of the ways language limits what we can say are discussed.

Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms:  This three-article monthly series in the e-zine Places to Go, People to Be considers how our legal system works today, how legal systems have worked in the past, and how a legal system might be constructed for another world.

1. Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms:  The Source of Law:  Where governments and laws originate is considered, along with what form legal systems are likely to take when they spring from various origins.
2. Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms:  The Course of Law:  Nuances of legal process, such as arrests and trials, finders of fact and finders of law, and burdens and levels of proof, are compared.
3. Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms:  The Force of Law:  Theories and methods of punishment round out the series, and suggest possible adventures built off the differences between legal systems.

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