Natural Theology of Fun in Anne of Green Gables

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

James 1:17, NASB

When I started studying “theology of fun,” I was skeptical of anything that did not argue straight from the Bible. However, there is a place for learning from general revelation. In the beginning, God made everything, and it was all very good. We can learn a lot about God and His intentions for the world just by looking at the world with open eyes, even when God’s good creation is perverted by sin. Goodness and beauty are inseparable from truth, because God’s true intentions for the world can be seen in everything that is good and beautiful.

Anne of Green Gables seems to intentionally refute anti-fun Christians by showing that fun and creativity are good and beautiful, and therefore come from God. The foil for this perspective is Marilla, a woman obsessed with appearing proper in the eyes of her neighbors. Marilla is introduced with the best sentence of the book:

Here sat Marilla Cuthbert, when she sat at all, always slightly distrustful of sunshine, which seemed to her too dancing and irresponsible a thing for a world which was meant to be taken seriously; and here she sat now, knitting, and the table behind her was laid for supper.

Marilla fails to see the goodness of sunshine because she refuses to believe in one of its God-given purposes. The sunlight dances across the beautiful scenery, illuminating life and producing joy. The proper inference is that God intended for the world to be lively, to be actively enjoyed for His glory. If God made the sunlight to dance, perhaps he also made humans to dance, joining and observing the joyful movement of the cosmos. Marilla cannot see the goodness of dancing because she reasons from the bad premise that life should always be serious.

Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves; her dark hair showed some gray streaks and was always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively through it. She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience, which she was; but there was a saving something about her mouth which, if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor.

This description is an unflattering depiction of the rigidity that Marilla strives for; there is nothing attractive about hard angles. The thing that would make Marilla beautiful would be a sense of humor. The ability to lighten up and have a good time is not only socially appealing, but enhances a person’s physical appearance. This beauty shows the goodness of fun like a rose shows the goodness of sunlight. The beauty is a sign of life, and it is nourished by the enjoyment of friendship. A person without a sense of humor is not reaching her full potential, like a flower that fails to bloom in the shade.

I’ve only scratched the surface, but I think I’ve managed to make this point: God intended humans to actively enjoy His world together, to build community and glorify their Creator.

Theology of Fun: The Logos at Play

For the Logos on high plays,

stirring the whole cosmos back and forth, as he wills,

into shapes of every kind.

Gregory Nazianzen, quoted in Man at Play by Hugo Rahner

In chapter 1 of Man at Play, Hugo Rahner expertly traces the concept of “Logos at play” from Proverbs 8, to Greek philosophy and myth, to church fathers, to medieval thought. In Rahner’s words:

It is that both creation and incarnation are expressions of God’s love, and this love, though full of meaning and purpose, is a love that works in creative freedom wholly ungoverned by necessity or constraint…

God’s acts of creation and providence are play because they are meaningful but not necessary. They are done from joy, and not from any external constraint. God shows off what He can do, playing with men and making things for them to play with. The main Bible passage behind this doctrine is this statement from lady Wisdom:

then was I beside him as artisan;

A I was his delight day by day,

B playing before him all the while,

B’ Playing over the whole of his earth,

A’ having my delight with human beings.

Proverbs 8:30-31, NAB, chiastic structure mine

Observant readers might notice that I use a Catholic translation above, and this is because Protestant translations tend to use the mild word “rejoicing” instead of “playing” here. This is a mistake because “rejoicing” does not necessarily imply fun, but fun is never absent when this Hebrew word is used. It is variously translated “laugh” (the basis of Isaac’s name), “play,” “celebrate,” “dance,” “amuse,” “mock,” etc. Yahweh delights in His Wisdom as she has fun helping Him create the world.

But no translation is perfect, and I think the NAB makes a mistake by ending with “human beings” instead of the literal translation “sons of men” (or even “sons of Adam”). Since Adam’s sons were born after the fall, this literal translation continues Wisdom’s delight into the fallen world in which we meet Cain and Abel, Lamech and Enoch, Nimrod and Abraham. We are Wisdom’s workmanship and delight even today through God’s wise providence.

There is a long Christian tradition of applying this description of Wisdom to God the Son, the Logos. Like Wisdom, He was eternally begotten by the Father, the Father delighted in Him, and all things were made through Him. But whether or not Wisdom merely represents God the Son, this passage teaches that God’s acts of creation and providence are a form of play.

Application and Fun Encanto Reference

I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice… Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways.”

Proverbs 8:20, 32, NASB

Rahner explains that we are God’s play things, and the world is given to us as our play thing. God plays by making things from nothing, and we play by creatively using what He made. God delights in Wisdom’s play, and, when we walk in her righteous paths, God delights in our creative play as well. We were made to rule over creation in God’s place, taking the materials He made and bringing them to their telos. We create families, houses, graphics, and products. We write stories, software, music, and instructions. We invent recipes, dance moves, workflows, and games. Whether at home or at work, we play when we joyfully add creativity into our tasks.

The powerful fun of creation is illustrated in “What Else Can I Do?” in Encanto. During this song, Isabella casts off artificial constraints and creates with joy and self-expression instead of mere utility and “perfection.” She tests the limits of her abilities and creates a stunning variety. She also plays with her sister by dancing, taking risks, and getting messy; through this creative play they get to know each other better, and organically grow more fond of each other. On the surface it looks like a rejection of beauty, work, and femininity, but in reality these are brought to their potential as Isabella joyfully brings all of her creativity into her creation. There are no straight lines in nature, and this complexity adds to its beauty. The work that Isabella has put into being the stereotypically perfect young woman allows her to play with a very feminine agility, balance, and flexibility, like a master pianist who can express herself even while playing sheet music.

Theology of Fun: The Play of Creation

O LORD, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

There go the ships,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

Psalm 104:24-26, ESV

Creation as Play

In chapter 3 of Theology of Play, Jürgen Moltmann compares God’s act of creation to play. Like play, creation is unnecessary, because God does not need anything. God’s creation is a theater in which He displays and enjoys His glory. He shows off His abilities by making a variety of creatures with unique appearances and abilities. The ocean especially is full of bizarre creatures, and every one glorifies God in its own way.

The Play of Creatures

God’s creation glorifies Him by playing. When animals play, they show off the abilities that God gave them. A deer leaps, a bird swoops and sings, two dogs wrestle, a humpback whale does a cannonball, a gorilla steals something from a silverback and runs. A boy balances on a ledge, a girl takes care of a doll, a woman moves her hips to music, a man throws a 40-yard pass. In all of these actions, we see the goodness of God’s creation.

Play as Creation

As God’s image-bearers, humans imitate God’s act of creation in their play. Whether we are imagining, doodling, role-playing, or playing a game, play creates a little world with its own facts and rules. This can be seen in the games the children are playing in Matthew 11:16–17. They may pretend to be dancing at a wedding, or mourning at a funeral. A good playmate would enter the imaginary world and feel emotions appropriate to the story. Jesus condemns his generation for being like the spoilsports who won’t play any of these games.