Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The sequel to the surprisingly good 2014 film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the tale of the eclectic band of misfits as they traverse the galaxy doing "something good, something bad, or a little bit of both."  After a successful mission, the crew finds itself at odds (again) with powerful foes.  On the run, they come across the unexpected: Peter's father, who has searched for him for years.  Meeting for the first time, Peter and his dad have a lot of catching up to do- but a suspicious menace lurks that may ruin the party . . .

This film caught me off-guard.  There were similarities to the first- zany humor (deliberately silly in places), odd characters, great music, and amazing effects.  But while the first film seemed light on meaning, this one was deep, introspective, and poignant in places.  It dealt with serious issues: the need for (and characteristics of) healthy relationships, sacrifice, and even touched on the ultimate meaning of life.  I don't recall any other film that balances silly with serious in this way.  And to boot, it played off the first film perfectly while dishing out multiple surprises.  It certainly breaks the mold, in a most pleasing manner.  I heartily recommend this one.

Rating: A

Sea of Clouds

Today's game review is of the 2016 release, Sea of Clouds.  For 2-4 players, it plays in 45 minutes.

Overview
You are a pirate of the sky, aiming to rule the sea of clouds.  To do so, you'll need to collect rum, relics and objects, obtain the most doubloons, and assemble a formidable crew to fight your opponents.  There's much loot to go around, so you have to choose your haul wisely.  Are you up to the challenge?

Simplified Gameplay
The game is played in rounds.  In a round, each player takes a turn gathering loot (located in 3 piles below the main game board).  Once each player has gone, the next round begins.  Some rounds will feature boarding actions (explained below).

On your turn, you look at the first pile of loot.  If you want it, keep it, and replenish that pile (with the top card of the draw deck).  If you don't want it, put it back and add the top card from the draw deck (or, if there are already 3 cards, add 1 doubloon), and look at the next pile.  Continue the same routine through 3 piles.  If you don't want the third, draw the top card of the draw deck.

Whatever card(s) you end up with, you must play them, placing them on the appropriate spot around your game board.  This is a set collection game, so generally you'll want to collect piles of loot with cards that synergize well with your existing haul.

If you're in a round with a boarding action, you compare your crew's strength to those immediately adjacent to you on the right and left, and you may gain (or lose) doubloons (or other things) based on that result.

At the end of the final round, each player's score is tallied based on their cards and doubloons.

game in progress; image from here

The rule book is available here.

Review
This game is okay, but left me wanting more.  This game seems to be a combination of 7 Wonders, Biblios, and Archaeology: the New Expedition.  As I'd rather play any of those games than this, I suggest looking elsewhere.

Rating: B-

The Unquenchable Flame (Michael Reeves)

Michael Reeves delivers a succinct (200-page) overview of the Reformation in The Unquenchable Flame.  He covers the background to it, followed by treatments of major players (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, etc.) and concludes in Britain with the Puritans.

This is a good introduction.  Quite similar in approach and scope to Stephen Nichols' work, you could read either and get the same major points.  This one is slightly longer, flows a bit better, and gives a tad more background.

Rating: A

Denominations

image from here

The below captures the essence of a 5-minute talk on denominations given at our recent annual men's retreat.  The speaker was Pastor PD Mayfield; he used some graphics that I include below.  These are reproduced here with permission from Kyle Dillon, a Teaching Elder in Covenant Presbytery (PCA) and theology teacher at Westminster Academy in Memphis. Kyle also writes at Allkirk Network.

A 'denomination' is "a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church" (definition from google).  Christianity has many such denominations; here's an overview.

The Church never had pristine unity- she experienced schism throughout her entire history.  Examples:
- the New Testament Church had divisions between Jews & Gentiles, circumcised & not
- 1054: the Great Schism separates the Eastern & Western Churches
- 16th Century: The Reformation results in Roman Catholics & Protestants
- Among Protestants, four main branches developed (Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican, Anabaptists & other non-conformists)

Why this division?  What separates us?  Generally, three things:
1- Authority (priority and relationship between scripture, creeds/councils/confessions, tradition, etc.)
2- Structure (hierarchy- be it Congregational, Presbyterian, etc.)
3- Identity (doctrine, practices, who is part of the Church, etc.)

What causes splits?  A myriad of reasons, some warranted and others less so but all lamentable for the Body of Christ. Here are some categories, definitions, and spectrum for understanding existing splits or discerning present conflicts within the Church.  Again, these are used with permission from Kyle Dillon.

Here and here are interesting websites on denominations.

The Reformation

Martin Luther

This past weekend, we had our annual men's retreat.  The speaker this year was Steve Huffman, who spoke on the Reformation.  It's a suitable topic, as we approach 500 years (this October) since Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door in Wittenberg and ended up sparking a movement that had been brewing for some time: the Reformation.  The below summarizes Steve's talks.  For brevity, where possible I link to topics and personalities rather than explain them in full.

The Coming of the Reformation

Christianity began in the Middle East, of course.  After the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed (AD 70), though, the center of Christianity shifts to Rome.  Early Church leaders start to gain power (Clement sends letters indicating authority), which in time would grow into a papal structure.  Early Christians were persecuted until the time of Emperor Constantine (312-337).  He made all religions legal and called the Council of Nicea, which set the foundation of orthodoxy.  Over one hundred years later (476), the [Western] Roman Empire falls; barbarians invade but the Church stays put and provides the foundation for rebuilding.  Slowly but surely, the Church starts to get a bureaucracy, structured like the Roman Empire, and starts claiming more authority in civil matters.  To aid their case, the Church uses the so-called "Donation of Constantine" (later proven to be a forgery), which claims that Constantine gave the Pope authority in the west after Constantine shifted his capital east to Constantinople in 330.

As centuries pass, things go really awry and the Church continues to gain civil authority.  Gregory the Great (540-604) starts talking about purgatory and other non-Biblical doctrine.  Around 800, the Pope crowns Charlemagne, showing a remarkable degree of civil authority, and starts to acquire land (just like a king).  By 1500, the Papal States (in modern Italy) exist, and Popes start to turn more and more to civic matters; religion takes a back seat.  Around 1000, the idea creeps in that the Church is infallible, and in ~1200, Pope Innocent III acts like the Pope is infallible, getting into a fight with English King John and John relents, showing how the Pope can use authority in civil matters.  Around this time the doctrine of transubstantiation is declared.  The progression continues.  Pope Boniface VIII says "all authority derives from me."  Popes are becoming more worldly and wield more secular power.

That's not to say that everything was bad.  Theology in 1100-1300 enjoyed a good and stable time, with diverse schools of thought (from scholasticism and Thomas Aquinas to nominalism).  This diversity would be shut down after the Reformation.

The fourteenth century was disastrous in many ways- the black death, little ice age, hundred years war, and other disasters.  Everything is affected, including the Church.  During this time, a French Pope moves from Rome to Avignon, causing Rome's decline.  The papacy would move back to Rome in 1377, which upset some, who elected another Pope and put him back in Avignon, setting up the great western schism.  In 1409, the Council of Pisa tried to end the schism and elected a 3rd Pope; the Council of Constance (1414-18) would depose all 3 and elect another.  The overall effect: the church gets discredited.

A line of horrible Popes are in power leading up to the Reformation  Among them is Leo X, an agnostic who became priest at age 7.  Since Rome declined, he spent money like water to re-build and beautify it, including St. Peter's Basilica.  He needed money to do so- lots of it.  So he started charging for offices, and Italy began sucking money from northern Europe.  As can be expected, northern Europe doesn't care for this.

For Christians 500 years ago, they believed the basics of what we do, but with some notable differences.  First, the concept of purgatory.  Second, the general principle that they didn't need explicit faith in Christ; implicit faith (signified by obeying the Church) was fine.  Priests were needed to get to heaven.  Since the Roman Catholic Church was the only show in town, this resulted in a significant amount of control over the populace.  You get the picture.

It was clear the Church needed reform.  And indeed, there were calls for Reformation well before the Luther in 1517.  John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, and others set the stage decades/centuries before.  Jan Hus, as he was being burned for heresy, would say "you can cook this goose, but a swan is coming."  One hundred years later, Martin Luther would arrive- but it wasn't just him.  Erasmus called for reform of morals and ethics (not doctrine); he'd produce a Greek New Testament in 1516.  The Renaissance was a cultural movement which (among other things) called people "back to the source," which helped spur the Reformation.  New technologies- like the printing press- did as well.    New education was undermining the Church and secular authority as well- both were under fire.  Greek and Hebrew were big in education, so people could read the Bible in its original (not the Vulgate, the accepted Latin translation with several notable faults).

The Crux- Justification

In 1500, the Church taught that you must clean sin off of you, needing the Church to do so.  Baptism cleansed, but subsequent sins must be cleansed through works of merit (congruous, condign, supererogatory).  Supererogatory merit was extra merit that went into a 'treasury of merit' that the Pope could dispense- hence indulgences.  There are multiple things you can do to obtain this merit- to include paying for it.

Luther wants righteousness, and so does anything he can to gain merit, but he couldn't escape/get over his sinfulness.  His teacher decides he should start teaching the Bible to help him through this time.  Luther looked at Latin translation inaccuracies that led to some unbiblical practices.  He also gets more in the Word and it's on verses like Romans 1:17 or 3:21-28 that Luther finds his hope- God justifies us through faith, not works.  This changes everything.  Justification is not imparted, it's imputed.  There's no point in trying to gain merit.  And, if we can pay for sin, it's not that bad; this diminishes Christ.  So it's about faith, and not by works.

Luther was angry about the practice of indulgences that was sweeping through Germany to help Princes raise money (to reclaim what they lost through giving to the Pope).  He nailed 95 Theses to the door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, knowing they'd be seen the next day at All Saint's Day.  He wanted to debate and course correct; he didn't intend to start a movement.  But, by (effectively) attacking the Church's revenue stream, he raised the ire of the Pope and many others, leading to things like the Heidelberg Disputation, the Diet of Worms, and other events attempting to silence Luther.  It was too late.

Authority

Who has authority over us?  In the Roman Catholic Church, it's the scriptures + Church's teachings/traditions.  The Church's translation of the scriptures- Jerome's Latin Vulgate- was generally good, but had some weird choices that affected doctrine.  Luther and many others would get back to the original Hebrew & Greek texts and realize this.  The Reformers believed that only Scripture was the ultimate authority- not the Church- and so it started getting translated into common languages that everyone could understand (rather than Latin only).  As an aside, today we have the complete Bible in 636 languages; work is ongoing in 2422 languages (~98% of the world population has at least part of Bible in their native language).

Going to scripture alone (Sola Scriptura) was revolutionary.  Translating it into common tongues renewed interest in literacy.  It changed how the worship service was conducted, now focusing on preaching the Word and not Mass.  Scripture would be used to interpret scripture- another revolutionary idea.  Several catechisms and confessions would be created (from 1523-1647), summarizing teachings and distilling the scriptures.

As might be expected, the Catholics didn't like this, and reacted in 1546 at the Council of Trent, which condemned all but Vulgate (and, incidentally, laid down Catholic doctrine for the first time).

Working out the Reformation

The Reformation was positive in many ways, but not exhaustively so.  As Catholics warned, once Church authority was eroded, chaos ensued.  Some Protestants behaved badly, smashing statues, destroying art, and harassing priests (Luther didn't approve and told them to cease).  There was lots of upheaval- in events like the Peasant's War (where 100,000 peasants are killed), some participants pointed to Luther as inspiration.  And finally, with no main authority, many different interpretations of Scripture came to light, dividing Protestants amongst themselves (sacraments like the Lord's Supper and baptism were central issues, but there were others).  They tried, at the Marburg Colloquy, to agree, but could reach accord on 14.5/15 things.  They showed love to each other, but disagreed, and this would result in denominations.  They agreed on the following principle:

in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity

But of course, who said what was essential or not?  And so the controversy continues to this day.

image from Steve Huffman

Gifts of the Reformation

The Reformation gave us many things.  Among them:
- The priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5); we don't need a priest to interpret for us
- To God alone be the glory (Psalm 115:1)
- Vocation and this idea that everything we do matters (1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Peter 4:11), and we should use our gifts to serve others
- Freedom of a Christian; because works don't save us

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all.

God doesn't need your works, but your neighbor does.

- Role.  We are co-creators with God.  As Abraham Kuyper once said, 'There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!'
- Art.  After the Reformation, we see art of common people doing common tasks
- Assurance.  We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), so we can be assured (1 John 5:13).

Reformers gave us back grace, faith, and scripture.  The 5 Solas summarize it nicely, so we'll end with that.

image from here

Machi Koro

Today I review the 2012 release, Machi Koro.  For 2-4 players, it plays in 30 minutes.

Overview
In Machi Koro, you are a mayor trying to build the biggest city.  Starting with just a few establishments (like a bakery, wheat field, etc.), your goal is to be the first to build 5 landmarks.

There are several colors of establishments, each having an activation number (the dice roll that activates it) and cost:
Blue establishments: when the activation number is rolled, get income from the bank during any turn
Green: when rolled, get income from the bank only on your turn
Red: when rolled, take coins from the person who rolled the dice
Purple: when rolled, get income from all other players, but only on your turn

Simplified Gameplay
On each of your turns, you have three phases:
- Roll dice
- Earn income
- Construction

Roll one die (to start- it can increase to 2 or 3 dice as you go).  The number rolled activates any effects on the board with a matching number and appropriate color.  You'll earn (or lose) income based on that roll.  If you have enough, you can then spend income to construct an establishment or a landmark.  Since establishments can help you earn income, you'll probably buy many of them.  But landmarks can give powerful abilities, too, and they're how you win- so plan carefully.

Turns proceed clockwise, with players potentially gaining and losing significant amounts as the game goes on.  The first person to construct 5 landmarks wins!

some components; image from here

See the rule book for more information.

Review
This is a nice little game.  It reminded me, in a way, of Settlers of Catan.  As in Settlers, you maximize your chances of winning by securing items that will benefit you on different rolls of the die.  If you diversify your establishments, you stand a good chance of gaining income you need to succeed.  As with Settlers, you can be robbed, which gets annoying.  But overall, this is fun.

Rating: A-

King of Tokyo

Today I review the 2011 release King of Tokyo.  For 2-6 players, it plays in 30 minutes.

Overview
You are a monster.  Or robot.  Or alien.  Whatever you are, your goal is to be king of Tokyo.  Only one creature can be in the city at a time, so you want to take control of the city (becoming king) and fend off opposing creatures until you gain 20 victory points.  But beware- when you're king, the others will focus on knocking you off your throne and occupying the city themselves.  If your life points (initially 10) get to 0, you're out.  When attacked, you'll take damage and can choose whether or not you leave, but you can't heal while in town.  So stick around, or let someone else be king so you can recover and take them on later?

Simplified Gameplay
Each turn, you roll 6 dice, which allow you to do one or more of the following:
- gain victory points
- gain life points (heal wounds- only if not king)
- gain energy cubes (which you can use to buy power cards)
- smash monsters (make others lose life points, and possibly take over the city)

You can roll the dice up to three times on your turn, giving you a few chances to get the ideal combination.  If you have enough energy cubes, you can buy power cards and improve your monster.  If you roll the 'smash monsters' (and you're not king), you can damage the current king and take his place (if the owner chooses to leave the city).  If you are king, you damage everyone else.

game components; image from here

Review
This is an elegant, simple, and fun game.  It's press-your-luck; every turn you're king in Tokyo, you gain victory points, but being king opens you up to attacks from all directions and precludes you from healing.  So you have to know when to stay or go.

The rule book explains more.

Rating: A