• Binding Of Isaac Sacred Heart

I've been looking all day for this stupid item and it won't spawn in none of the Angel rooms, i even tried using the exploit to go through all the.

1. The Binding of Isaac: Instant Start Mod I personally haven't played very much Isaac lately, but the racing community has chugged along making new mods and coming up with new ideas for races. I saw the details for an upcoming race (tonight at 6pm EST) that really got my brain churning.
2. Sacred Heart is a community of faith, which shares in the teaching mission of Christ as proclaimed by the Catholic Church. Its primary purpose is to create an environment permeated with the Gospel spirit of love and freedom.

The Binding of Isaac (Hebrew: עֲקֵידַת יִצְחַק‎) Aqedat Yitzhaq, in Hebrew also simply 'The Binding', הָעֲקֵידָהHa-Aqedah, -Aqeidah)^[1] is a story from the Hebrew Bible found in Genesis 22. In the biblical narrative, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. Abraham begins to comply, when a messenger from God interrupts him. Abraham then sees a ram and sacrifices it instead.

This episode has been the focus of a great deal of commentary in traditional Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources, as well as being addressed by modern scholarship.

• 5Modern research

Biblical narrative[edit]

According to the Hebrew Bible, God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.^{[Gen 22:2-8]} After Isaac is bound to an altar, a messenger from God stops Abraham before the sacrifice finishes, saying 'now I know you fear God.' Abraham looks up and sees a ram and sacrifices it instead of Isaac.

The passage states that the event occurred at 'the mount of the LORD'^[2] in 'the land of Moriah.'^[3]2 Chronicles3:1 refers to 'mount Moriah' as the site of Solomon's Temple, while Psalms24:3; Isaiah2:3 & 30:29; and Zechariah8:3 use the term 'the mount of the LORD' to refer to the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the location believed to be the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Jewish views[edit]

In The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah, Lippman Bodoff argues that Abraham never intended to actually sacrifice his son, and that he had faith that God had no intention that he do so. Rabbi Ari Kahn (on the Orthodox Union website) elaborates this view as follows: Isaac's death was never a possibility — not as far as Abraham was concerned, and not as far as God was concerned. God's commandment to Abraham was very specific, and Abraham understood it very precisely: Isaac was to be 'raised up as an offering', and God would use the opportunity to teach humankind, once and for all, that human sacrifice, child sacrifice, is not acceptable. This is precisely how the sages of the Talmud (Taanit 4a) understood the Akedah. Citing the Prophet Jeremiah's exhortation against child sacrifice (Chapter 19), they state unequivocally that such behavior 'never crossed God’s mind', referring specifically to the sacrificial slaughter of Isaac. Though readers of this parashah throughout the generations have been disturbed, even horrified, by the Akedah, there was no miscommunication between God and Abraham. The thought of actually killing Isaac never crossed their minds.^[4]

Binding Of Isaac Sacred Heart

The Jewish Publication Society suggests Abraham's apparent complicity with the sacrifice was actually his way of testing God. Abraham had previously argued with God to save lives in Sodom and Gomorrah. By silently complying with God's instructions to kill Isaac, Abraham was putting pressure on God to act in a moral way to preserve life. More evidence that Abraham thought that he would not actually sacrifice Isaac comes from Genesis 22:5, where Abraham said to his servants, 'You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you.' By saying we (as opposed to I), he meant that both he and Isaac would return. Thus, he did not believe that Isaac would be sacrificed in the end.^[5]

In The Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides argues that the story of the Binding of Isaac contains two 'great notions'. First, Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac demonstrates the limit of humanity's capability to both love and fear God. Second, because Abraham acted on a prophetic vision of what God had asked him to do, the story exemplifies how prophetic revelation has the same truth value as philosophical argument and thus carries equal certainty, notwithstanding the fact that it comes in a dream or vision.^[6]

In Glory and Agony: Isaac's Sacrifice and National Narrative, Yael S. Feldman argues that the story of Isaac's Binding, in both its biblical and post-biblical versions (the New Testament included) has had a great impact on the ethos of altruist heroism and self-sacrifice in modern Hebrew national culture. As her study demonstrates, over the last century the 'Binding of Isaac' has morphed into the 'Sacrifice of Isaac', connoting both the glory and agony of heroic death on the battlefield.^[7]

In Legends of the Jews, rabbi Louis Ginzberg argues that the binding of Isaac is a way of God to test Isaac's claim to Ishmael, and to silence Satan's protest about Abraham who had not brought up any offering to God after Isaac was born,^[8] also to show a proof to the world that Abraham is the true god-fearing man who is ready to fulfill any of God's commands, even to sacrifice his own son:

When God commanded the father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham said: 'One man tempts another, because he knoweth not what is in the heart of his neighbor. But Thou surely didst know that I was ready to sacrifice my son!'
God: 'It was manifest to Me, and I foreknew it, that thou wouldst withhold not even thy soul from Me.'
Abraham: 'And why, then, didst Thou afflict me thus?'
God: 'It was My wish that the world should become acquainted with thee, and should know that it is not without good reason that I have chosen thee from all the nations. Now it hath been witnessed unto men that thou fearest God.'

The Book of Genesis does not tell the age of Isaac at the time.^[9] Some Talmudic sages teach that Isaac was an adult aged thirty seven,^[8] likely based on the next biblical story, which is of Sarah's death at 127 years^{[Genesis 23:1]}, being 90 when Isaac was born^{[Genesis 17:17, 21]}.^[10] Isaac's reaction to the binding is unstated in the biblical narrative. Some commentators have argued that he was traumatized and angry, often citing the fact that he and Abraham are never seen to speak to each other again; however, Jon D. Levenson notes that they never speak before the binding, either.^[11]

Christian views[edit]

The Binding of Isaac is mentioned in the New TestamentEpistle to the Hebrews among many acts of faith recorded in the Old Testament: 'By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.' (Hebrews 11:17–19, NKJV)

Abraham's faith in God is such that he felt God would be able to resurrect the slain Isaac, in order that his prophecy (Genesis 21:12) might be fulfilled. Early Christian preaching sometimes accepted Jewish interpretations of the binding of Isaac without elaborating. For example, Hippolytus of Rome says in his Commentary on the Song of Songs, 'The blessed Isaac became desirous of the anointing and he wished to sacrifice himself for the sake of the world' (On the Song 2:15).^[12] Other Christians from the period saw Isaac as a type of the 'Word of God' who prefigured Christ.^[13] This interpretation can be supported by symbolism and context such as Abraham sacrificing his son on the third day of the journey (Genesis 22:4), or Abraham taking the wood and putting it on his son Isaac's shoulder (Genesis 22:6). Another thing to note is how God reemphasizes Isaac being his one and only son whom he loves (Genesis 22:2,12,16).^{[non-primary source needed]}

Muslim views[edit]

The version in the Quran differs from that in Genesis. In Islamic sources, when Abraham tells his son about the vision, his son agreed to be sacrificed for the fulfillment of God's command, and no binding to the altar occurred. The Quran states that when Abraham asked for a righteous son, God granted him a son possessing forbearance. When the son was able to walk and work with him, Abraham saw a vision about sacrificing his son, Ishmael. When he told his son about it, his son agreed to fulfill the command of God in the vision. When they both had submitted their will to God and were ready for the sacrifice, God told Abraham he had fulfilled the vision, and provided him with a ram to sacrifice instead. God promised to reward Abraham.^[14] The next two verses state God also granted Abraham the righteous son Isaac and promised more rewards.^[15]

Among early Muslim scholars, there was a dispute over the identity of the son. One side of the argument believed it was Isaac rather than Ishmael (notably ibn Qutaybah and al-Tabari) was that 'God's perfecting his mercy on Abraham and Isaac' referred to his making Abraham his friend, and to his rescuing Isaac. The other side held that the promise to Sarah was of a son, Isaac, and a grandson, Jacob (Sura 11:71–74) excluded the possibility of a premature death of Isaac. Regardless, most Muslims believe that it is actually Ishmael rather than Isaac despite the dispute.^[16]

The submission of Abraham and his son is celebrated and commemorated by Muslims on the days of Eid al-Adha. During the festival, those who can afford and the ones in the pilgrimage sacrifice a ram, cow, sheep or a camel. Part of the sacrifice meat is eaten by the household and remaining is distributed to the neighbors and the needy. The festival marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

In Islam, the site of al-Marwah near the Kaaba is identified with the Moriah mentioned in the Book of Genesis.

Modern research[edit]

Redactors and narrative purpose[edit]

Modern scholars operating under the framework of the documentary hypothesis commonly ascribe the Binding's narrative to the biblical source E, on the grounds that it generally uses the specific term Elohim (אלוהים) and parallels characteristic E compositions. On that view, the second angelic appearance to Abraham (v. 14–18), praising his obedience and blessing his offspring, is in fact a later Jahwist interpolation to E's original account (v. 1–13, 19). This is supported by the style and composition of these verses, as well as by the use of the name Yahweh for the deity.^[17]

In Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, the literary critic Erich Auerbach considers the Hebrew narrative of the Binding of Isaac, along with Homer's description of Odysseus's scar, as the two paradigmatic models for the representation of reality in literature. Auerbach contrasts Homer's attention to detail and foregrounding of the spatial, historical, as well as personal contexts for events to the Bible's sparse account, in which virtually all context is kept in the background or left outside of the narrative. As Auerbach observes, this narrative strategy virtually compels readers to add their own interpretations to the text.

Ethical responsibility[edit]

More recent studies question the analysis of E and J as strictly separate. Coats argues that Abraham's obedience to God's command in fact necessitates praise and blessing, which he only receives in the second angelic speech.^[18] That speech, therefore, could not have been simply inserted into E's original account. This has suggested to many that the author responsible for the interpolation of the second angelic appearance has left his mark also on the original account (v. 1–13, 19).^[17]

More recently it has been suggested that these traces are in fact the first angelic appearance (v. 11–12), in which the Angel of YHWH stops Abraham before he kills Isaac.^[19] The style and composition of these verses resemble that of the second angelic speech, and YHWH is used for the deity rather than God. On that reading, in the original E version of the Binding Abraham disobeys God's command, sacrificing the ram 'instead of his son' (v. 13) on his own responsibility and without being stopped by an angel: 'And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son; but Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and beheld, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son' (v. 10, 13).

By interpolating the first appearance of the angel, a later redactor shifted responsibility for halting the test from Abraham to the angel (v. 11–12). The second angelic appearance, in which Abraham is rewarded for his obedience (v. 14–18), became necessary due to that shift of responsibility. This analysis of the story sheds light on the connection between the Binding and the story of Sodom (Genesis18), in which Abraham protests against God's unethical plan to destroy the city, without distinguishing between the righteous and the wicked: 'Far be it from you to do such a thing: Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?' Abraham's ethical rebellion against God in the destruction of Sodom culminates in his disobedience to God, refusing to sacrifice Isaac.^[20]

The Binding also figures prominently in the writings of several of the more important modern theologians, such as Søren Kierkegaard in Fear and Trembling and Shalom Spiegel in The Last Trial. Jewish communities regularly review this literature, for instance the recent mock trial held by more than 600 members of the University Synagogue of Orange County, California.^[21]Derrida also looks at the story of the sacrifice as well as Kierkegaard's reading in The Gift of Death.

Possible child sacrifice[edit]

Francesca Stavrakopoulou has speculated that it is possible that the story 'contains traces of a tradition in which Abraham does sacrifice Isaac.^[22]R.E. Friedman argued that in the original E story, Abraham may have carried out the sacrifice of Isaac, but that later repugnance at the idea of a human sacrifice led the redactor of JE to add the lines in which a ram is substituted for Isaac.^[23] Likewise, Terence Fretheim wrote that the text bears no specific mark of being a polemic against child sacrifice.^[24]

Some scholars also point at the genealogical snippet (verses 20–24) as containing a hint to the question whether Abraham sacrificed Isaac or not.

• First of all, the description of a rash of newborns placed right after the main story suggests the existence of some direct cause-effect connection between the two. From the perspective of a sacrificial economy, such a numerous progeny could not have been conceived without the preceding payment in an appropriate ‘currency’.
• Secondly, the said passage is problematic due to its onomastic content. The verses 20–23 list the progeny of Nahor and Milkah while v. 24 adds the offspring conceived with Re’umah, said to be his concubine.

However, whereas verses 20–23 have some significant links with other parts of the Hebrew Bible as well as with the historical and cultural entourage of the ancient Near East, such connections are absent in v. 24. The very name of Nahor's concubine appears here exclusively and in no other place in the Hebrew Bible is Re’umah mentioned. The same applies to her children's names with the exception of Ma‘akah which is sometimes utilized in the historical books. The extreme rarity of these appellations demands some alternative interpretation with regards to its purpose.

Contradictory, the Hebrew name list of the children born after the sacrifice, may contain some 'coded' explanation refuting any possible child sacrifice:

• Re’umah (ראומה) – 'see what'
• Tevah (טבח) – 'slaughtering of animal' or 'slaughtered animal'^[25]
• Gaham (גחם) – 'flame' or 'burning'
• Tahash (תחש) – 'animal skin' ^[26]
• Ma‘akah (מעכה) – 'blown' or 'crushed'

In other words, v. 24 begins with an interpretational invitation and continues with the names which seem to explain the cause of the rash of newborns present at the conclusion of the pericope: An animal (not Isaac) had been blown, slaughtered, put on the tabernacle, and burned.^[27]

Rite of Passage[edit]

It has been suggested that Genesis 22 contains an intrusion of the liturgy of a rite of passage, including mock sacrifice, as commonly found in early and preliterate societies, marking the passage from youth to adulthood.^[28]

See also[edit]

• Phrixus in Greek mythology, child sacrifice thwarted by ram
• Vayeira, the parashah containing the Binding of Isaac

Notes[edit]

1. ^Jewish Virtual Library. 'Akedah'. Accessed March 25, 2011
2. ^Genesis 22:14
3. ^Genesis 22:2
4. ^http://www.ou.org/torah/parsha/rabbi-ari-kahn-on-parsha/never-crossed-mind/
5. ^Hebrew-English TANAKH., Page 39, The Jewish Publication Society, 1999
6. ^Maimonides. The Guide of the Perplexed, Vol. 2, Book III, Ch. 24. English translation by Shlomo Pines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963.
7. ^Feldman, Yael S. (2010). Glory and Agony: Isaac's Sacrifice and National Narrative. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN978-0-8047-5902-1.
8. ^ ^abcGinzberg 1909.
9. ^Levenson, Jon D. (2004). 'Genesis: introduction and annotations'. In Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN9780195297515.
10. ^Jon D. Levenson, Lecture Oct 13, 2016: 'Genesis 22: The Binding of Isaac and the Crucifixion of Jesus, starting at about 1:05:10
11. ^Levenson, J.D. (2012). Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Library of Jewish Ideas. Princeton University Press. p. 59. ISBN978-1-4008-4461-6.
12. ^See Yancy Smith, 'Hippolytus' Commentary On the Song of Songs in Social and Critical Context' (Unpublished PhD Dissertation; Brite Divinity School, 2008), 312.
13. ^Origen, Homilies on Genesis 11–13
14. ^Quran37:100–111
15. ^Quran37:112–113
16. ^Encyclopaedia of Islam, Ishaq.
17. ^ ^abG. J. Wenham. (1994). Genesis 16-50. Dallas, TX: Word Biblical Commentary.
18. ^Coats, G.W. (1973). Abraham's sacrifice of faith: A form critical study of Genesis 22. Interpretation, 27, pp. 389–400.
19. ^Boehm, O. (2002). The binding of Isaac: An inner Biblical polemic on the question of disobeying a manifestly illegal order. Vetus Testamentum, 52 (1) pp. 1–12.
20. ^O. Boehm, O. (2007). The Binding of Isaac: A Religious Model of Disobedience, New York, NY: T&T Clark.
21. ^Bird, Cameron (12 January 2009). 'For 'jury', a case of biblical proportions'. The Orange County Register. 105 (12). p. 11.
22. ^It may be that the biblical story contains traces of a tradition in which Abraham does sacrifice Isaac, for in Genesis 22:19 Abraham appears to return from the mountain without Isaac. Stavrakopoulou, F. (2004). King Manasseh and child sacrifice: Biblical distortions of historical realities, pp. 193–194.
23. ^Friedman, R.E. (2003). The Bible With Sources Revealed, p. 65.
24. ^Terence E Fretheim in The Child in the Bible edited by Marcia J. Bunge, Terence E. Fretheim, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, pg. 20
25. ^https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.22.24?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
26. ^https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.22.24?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
27. ^Kosior, Wojciech (2013). ''You have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me'. Some arguments for the consummated sacrifice of Abraham'. The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. 8 (5/2013): 73–75. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
28. ^T. McElwain (2005) The Beloved and I: New Jubilees Version of Sacred Scripture with Verse Commentaries pages 57–58.

References[edit]

• Berman, Louis A. (1997). The Akedah: The Binding of Isaac. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN1-56821-899-0.
• Bodoff, Lippman (2005). The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah: Seeds of Jewish Extremism and Alienation?. Devora Publishing. ISBN1-932687-52-1. ISBN1-932687-53-X.
• Bodofff, Lippman (1993). 'The Real Test of the Akedah: Blind Obedience versus Moral Choice'. Judaism. 42 (1).
• Bodofff, Lippman (1993). 'God Tests Abraham - Abraham Tests God'. Bible Review. IX (5): 52.
• Boehm, Omri (2002). 'The Binding of Isaac: An Inner Biblical Polemic on the Question of Disobeying a Manifestly Illegal Order'. Vetus Testamentum. 52 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1163/15685330252965686.
• Boehm, Omri (2007). The Binding of Isaac: A Religious Model of Disobedience. T&T Clark. ISBN978-0-567-02613-2.
• Delaney, Carol (1998). Abraham on Trial. Princeton University Press. ISBN0-691-05985-3.
• Delaney, Carol (1999). 'Abraham, Isaac, and Some Hidden Assumptions of Our Culture'. The Humanist. May/June.
• Feiler, Bruce (2002). Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. HarperCollins. ISBN0-06-083866-3.
• Feldman, Yael (2010). Glory and Agony: Isaac's Sacrifice and National Narrative'. Stanford University Press. ISBN978-0-8047-5902-1.
• Firestone, Reuven (1990). Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis. State University of New York Press. ISBN0-7914-0332-7.
• Ginzberg, Louis (1909). The Legends of the Jews Vol. I : Satan Accuses Abraham(PDF). Translated by Henrietta Szold. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
• Goodman, James (2015). Abraham and His Son: The Story of a Story. Sandstone Press. ISBN978-1-910124-15-4.
• Goodman, James (2013). But Where Is the Lamb? Imagining the Story of Abraham and Isaac. Schocken Books. ISBN978-0-8052-4253-9.
• Jensen, Robin M. (1993). 'The Binding or Sacrifice of Isaac: How Jews and Christians See Differently'. Bible Review. 9 (5): 42–51.
• Levenson, Jon D. (1995). The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity. Yale University Press. ISBN0-300-06511-6.
• Ravitzky, Aviezer. Abraham: Father of the Believers (in Hebrew). Hebrew University.
• Sarna, Nahum (1989). The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis. Jewish Publication Society. ISBN0-8276-0326-6.
• Spiegel, Shalom (1967). The Last Trial: On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac As a Sacrifice: The Akedah (1993 reprint ed.). Jewish Lights Publishing. ISBN1-879045-29-X.

External links[edit]

• Mystery play texts in the cycles from Chester, Wakefield, York and n-Town

The Binding of Isaac is an indieroguelike video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl, initially released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows; the game was later ported for OS X, and Linux operating systems. The game's title and plot are inspired by the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac. In the game, Isaac's mother receives a message from God demanding the life of her son as proof of her faith, and Isaac flees into the monster-filled basement of their home where he must fight to survive. Players control Isaac or one of six other unlockable characters through a procedurally generated dungeon in a roguelike manner, fashioned after those of The Legend of Zelda, defeating monsters in real-time combat while collecting items and power-ups to defeat bosses and eventually Isaac's mother.

The game was the result of a week-long game jam between McMillen and Himsl to develop a The Legend of Zelda-inspired roguelike that allowed McMillen to showcase his feelings about both positive and negative aspects of religion that he had come to discover from conflicts between his Catholic and born again Christian family members while growing up. McMillen had considered the title a risk but one he could take after the financial success of Super Meat Boy, and released it without much fanfare to Steam in September 2011, not expecting many sales. The game soon gained popularity partially as a result of various Let's Play videos showcasing the title. McMillen and Himsl released an expansion 'Wrath of the Lamb' in May 2012, but were limited from further expansion due to limitations with the Flash platform. They had started working with Nintendo in 2012 to release a 3DS version, but Nintendo later backed out of the deal, citing controversy over the game's religious themes.

Developer Nicalis worked with McMillen in 2014 to complete a remake of the game, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, bringing additional features that McMillen had planned that exceeded Flash's limitation, as well as to improve the game's graphics and enable ports for other systems beyond personal computers, including PlayStation 4 and Vita, Xbox One, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and the Nintendo Switch. McMillen is working with James Id to develop The Legend of Bum-bo, which will serve as a prequel to The Binding of Isaac.

The Binding of Isaac has been well-received, with critics praising the game's roguelike nature to encourage repeated playthroughs. By July 2014, McMillen reported over 3 million copies had been sold. The game has been said to contribute to renewed interest in the roguelike genre from both players and developers.

• 3Development and release

Gameplay[edit]

The Binding of Isaac is a top-downdungeon crawler game, presented using two-dimensional sprites, in which the player controls Isaac or other unlockable characters as they explore the dungeons located in Isaac's basement. The characters differ in speed, amount of health, amount of damage they deal, and other attributes.^[1] The game's mechanics and presentation is similar to the dungeons of The Legend of Zelda, while incorporating random, procedurally-generated levels in the manner of a roguelike game.^[2] On each floor of the basement dungeon, the player must fight monsters in a room before continuing onto the next room. This is most commonly done by the character's tears as bullets in the style of a twin-stick shooter, but the player can also use a limited supply of bombs to damage enemies and clear out parts of the room.^[1] Other methods of defeating enemies become possible as the character gains power-ups, items that are automatically worn by the player-character when picked up that can alter the character's core attributes, such as increasing health or the strength of each tear, or cause additional side effects, such as for allowing charged tear shots to be fired after holding down a controller button for a short while, or a means to fire tears behind the character. Power-ups include passive items that improve the character's attributes automatically, active power-ups that can be used once before they are recharged by completing additional rooms in the dungeon, and single-use power-ups such as pills or Tarot cards that confer a one-time benefit when used, such as regaining full health, or increasing or decreasing all attributes of the character. The effect of power-ups stack, so that the player may come into highly-beneficial power-up combinations.^[1][3]

Once a room is cleared of monsters, it will remain clear, allowing the player to re-trace their way through the level, though once they move onto the next level, they cannot return. Along the way, the player can collect money to buy power-ups from shopkeepers, keys to unlock special treasure rooms, and new weapons and power-ups to strengthen their chances against the enemies. The player's health is tracked by a number of hearts; if the character loses all his hearts, the game ends in permadeath and the player must start over from a freshly-generated dungeon. Each floor of the dungeon includes a boss which the player must defeat before continuing to the next level.^[3] On the sixth of eight floors, the player fights Isaac's mother; after defeating her, Isaac crawls into her womb. Later levels are significantly harder, culminating in a fight against the heart of Isaac's mother on the eighth floor. An optional ninth floor, Sheol contains the boss Satan. Winning the game with certain characters or by certain conditions unlocks new power-ups that might appear in the dungeon or the ability to use one of the other characters. The game tracks the various power-ups that the player has found over time which can be reviewed from the game's menus.^[1]

Plot[edit]

The Binding of Isaac's plot is very loosely inspired by the biblical story of the same name.^[4] Isaac, a child, and his mother live in a small house on a hill, both happily keeping to themselves, with Isaac drawing pictures and playing with his toys, and his mother watching Christian broadcasts on television. Isaac's mother then hears 'a voice from above', stating her son is corrupted with sin, and needs to be saved. It asks her to remove all that was evil from Isaac, in an attempt to save him. His mother obliges, taking away his toys, drawings, and even his clothes.

The voice once again speaks to Isaac's mother, stating that Isaac must be cut off from all that is evil in the world. Once again, his mother obliges, and locks Isaac inside his room. Once more, the voice speaks to Isaac's mother. It states she has done well, but it still questions her devotion, and tells her to sacrifice her son. She obliges, grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen and walking to Isaac's room. Isaac, watching through a sizable crack in his door, starts to panic. He finds a trapdoor hidden under his rug and jumps in, just before his mother opens his bedroom door. Isaac then puts the paper he was drawing onto his wall, which becomes the title screen.

During the game's loading points, Isaac is shown curled up in a ball, crying. His thoughts are visible, ranging among rejection from his mother and humiliation from his peers to a scenario involving his own death. The game features 13 possible endings, one after each major boss fight. The first ten endings serve as introductions to unlocked items and mechanics, while the final three suggest that Isaac climbs into a toy chest and suffocates.

Development and release[edit]

The Binding of Isaac was developed following the release of Super Meat Boy, which McMillen considered a significant risk and a large time effort. When Super Meat Boy was released to both critical praise and strong sales, he felt that he no longer had to worry about the consequences of taking risks with his finances supported by its sales. He also considered he could take further risk with the concept.^[4]

The Binding of Isaac's main concept was the result of a weeklong game jam that McMillen had with Florian Himsl; at the time, his co-contributor on Super Meat Boy, Tommy Refenes, was on vacation. The concept McMillen had was two-fold: to develop a roguelike title based on the first The Legend of Zelda game's dungeon structure, and to develop a game that addressed McMillen's thoughts on religion.^[4] McMillen had been inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer of the original Zelda games.^[5]

Random rooms were created for each floor of the dungeon by selecting ten to twenty rooms from a pre-built library of 200 layouts, adding in the monsters, items, and other features, and then including fixed rooms that would be found on each floor, such as a boss room and treasure room.^[6] In expanding the gameplay, McMillen used the structure of Zelda's dungeons to design how the player would progress through the game. In a typical Zelda dungeon, according to McMillen, the player acquires a new item that helps them to progress farther in the game; he took the same inspiration to assure that each level in Isaac included at least one item and one bonus item on defeating the boss that would boost the character's attributes.^[4] McMillen also wanted to encourage players to experiment to learn how things work within Isaac, mirroring how Miyamoto had done with the original Zelda game.^[4] He designed the level progression to become more difficult with the player's progression in the game, as well as additional content that became available after beating the game as to make it feel like the game was long.^[4] McMillen designed four of the selectable characters based on the main classes of Dungeons & Dragons—fighter, thief, cleric and wizard.^[2][7][8]

On the story side, McMillen explained that the religious tone is based on his own experiences with his family, split between Catholics and born-again Christians.^[4] McMillen noted that while both sides born out faith from the same Bible, their attitudes were different; he found some of the Catholic rituals his family performed inspiring, while other beliefs they had were condemning of several pastimes McMillen had participated in like Dungeons & Dragons.^[4] He took inspiration from that duality to create Isaac's narrative, showing how religion can both instill harmful feelings while also bringing about dark creativity.^[4] McMillen also considered the scare tactics used by the Christian right to condemn popular media of the 1980s, such as heavy metal and video games.^[7] McMillen noted how many of the propaganda films from this period features satanic cults that would sacrifice children, and he noted how many Biblical stories mirrored these concepts, subsequently building the story around that.^[6] He also stated that he also tended to like 'really weird stuff' relating to toilet humor and similar types of off-color humor that did not sit well with his family and which he had explored in previous games before Super Meat Boy.^[9] While Super Meat Boy helped to make his reputation (including being one of the featured developers in Indie Game: The Movie), he felt it was a 'safe' game considering his preferred type of humor, and used Isaac to return to this form, considering that the game could easily be 'career suicide' but would make a statement about what he really wanted to do.^[9]

Within the week, they had a working game written in Adobe Flash's ActionScript 2. The two agreed to complete it out as a game they could release on Steam though with no expectations of sales. Completion of the game from the prototype to the finished state took about 3 months with part-time development.^[4] During this time, they discovered there were several limitations on the size and scope of both Flash and ActionScript that limited how much they could do with the game, but continued to use the tools as to release the title.^[4] McMillen said that because they were not worried about sales, they were able to work with Valve to release the game without fears of censorship or having to seek an ESRB rating. Releasing through Steam also enabled them to update the game freely, several times on its initial release, an aspect that they could not do with other consoles without significant cost to themselves.^[4] They did release without significant end-user testing, as it would have taken several hundreds of users to go through all the various combinations of items that a player could collect, and McMillen recognized they had released the title with their buyers being playtesters for them.^[4] A week after the Steam release, McMillen released a demo version via the website Newgrounds.^[10] Merge Games produced a physical edition that included the game, soundtrack, and a poster, for stores in the United Kingdom in 2012.^[11]

Soundtrack[edit]

Danny Baranowsky, the game's composer and who previously worked with McMillen on Super Meat Boy, was involved early on with the project shortly after the completion of the first prototype. McMillen and Baranowsky worked back and forth, with McMillen providing artwork from the game and allowing Baranowsky to develop the musical themes based on that; this would often lead to McMillen creating more art to support the music as it progressed. Baranowsky had been drawn to The Binding of Isaac as though the game puts forth a dark tone, he stated it had rather silly undertones underneath and such that one could not take it too seriously.^[12] Some of the songs were inspired by classical choral music but modified to fit the theme of the game. Other works were inspired by boss fight songs composed by Nobuo Uematsu for the Final Fantasy series.^[13] Baranowsky also had additional time after finishing the main songs for the game to craft short additional tracks that were used for special rooms like shops and secret areas.^[13]

Cancelled Nintendo 3DS port[edit]

In January 2012, as the game has surpassed 450,000 units sold, McMillen stated that he was approached by a publisher that had interest in bringing the title to the Nintendo 3DS as a downloadable title through the Nintendo eShop, though McMillen had reservations given Nintendo's reputation for less risque content.^[14] In late February, McMillen stated that Nintendo had rejected the game because of 'questionable religious content'. He believed this stemmed from Germany's classification board rating the existing Windows version of the game as 'age 16+' due to potentially blasphemous content, the first such time a game was rated in that manner in the country.^{[15][4][16][17][18]} McMillen noted that Nintendo executives he spoke to before this decision had noted some blasphemous content would have been acceptable, and were more concerned with overtly religious content. He also noted that he was approached about his willingness to make some changes to the game to make it more suitable for the 3DS, but never was given a list of specific changes. McMillen speculated that Nintendo was worried about its reputation; because of the game's resemblance to The Legend of Zelda, an unknowing child could potentially have downloaded the title and been shocked by the content, which would have reflected poorly on Nintendo.^[19]

Several game websites were outraged at Nintendo's decision.^[17][18] Though disappointed with Nintendo's decision, McMillen did not think the loss of the 3DS port was a major issue, and saw a brief sales burst on Steam as the news was covered in gaming website.^[19] McMillen further praised the flexibility of the Steam platform, which does not require games to obtain ESRB ratings to be published on the service, and the freedom it gave to the publishers regardless of the game content.^[17][18]

Nintendo would later allow the Rebirth remake to be released on both the New Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U in 2015; this came in part for three executives within Nintendo—Steve Singer, the vice president of licensing; Mark Griffin, a senior manager in licensing, and Dan Adelman, the head of indie development—that championed support for The Binding of Isaac.^[20]

Wrath of the Lamb[edit]

An expansion to the game, entitled Wrath of the Lamb, was released through Steam on May 28, 2012.^[21] McMillen was inspired to create the expansion not only due to the success of the base game, but because his wife Danielle had fully completed the base game, the first game he had written in which she had shown significant interest.^[4] The expansion adds 70% more content to the original, and contains more than 10 bosses, over 100 items, over 40 unlocks, two additional endings, and two additional optional levels.^[22] This expansion added new 'alternate' floors, which can replace the normal floors, creating an alternate route through the game. These floors contain harder enemies, and a different set of bosses. Other features include a new item type, Trinkets, which have a variety of passive or triggered effects when carried, as well as new room types.^[23] McMillen had plans to release a second expansion beyond Wrath of the Lamb, but was constrained by the limits of Flash at this point.^[4]

Setup multiple monitor windows 10. I have the slide show set up so the picture changes every 10 minutes. But now in Windows 8, each of my monitors displays a different picture,. I have just recently gotten a second monitor and I already have it set up so that the monitors have different backgrounds, but what I want to. I've had no problem with using multiple displays with Win10 in extended mode, but I would. I migrated from Windows 7 and both screens displayed the same background in. Your interest in Windows 10 is much appreciated. I want to set the desktop slideshow with the same background on all monitors.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth[edit]

Sometime in 2012 after Isaac' release, McMillen was approached by Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis who asked if McMillen was interested in bringing the game to consoles. McMillen was interested, but insisted that they would have to reprogram the game to get around the limitations of Flash as to include 'Wrath of Lamb' and the second planned expansion, remaking the game's graphics in 16-bit instead of vector-based Flash graphics. Further, McMillen had wanted nothing to do with the business aspects of the game, having recounted the difficulties he had in handling this for Super Meat Boy.^[4] Nicalis agreed to these, and began work in 2012 on what would become The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, an improved version of the title.^[4] It was released on November 4, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita,^[24] with versions for the Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, and Xbox One released on July 23, 2015.^[25] The game introduced numerous new playable characters, items, enemies, bosses, challenges, and room layout seeds for floors. A content pack, entitled 'Afterbirth' was released for Rebirth starting October 2015, adding new alternate chapters, characters and items, as well as wave-based Greed mode.^[26] A second update, 'Afterbirth+', added further additional content and support for user-created modifications, and was released on January 3, 2017.^[27]

Other games[edit]

McMillen is currently working with James Id to develop The Legend of Bum-bo, which McMillen expects to release during the first half of 2019. Bum-bo is described as a prequel to Isaac, and Isaac and Gish will appear as characters in the game.^[28] Isaac also appears as a playable character in the fighting game Blade Strangers and the puzzle game Crystal Crisis.

On June 27, 2018, Edmund McMillen announced a card game adaptation in cooperation with Studio 71 titled The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls^[29].

Reception[edit]

The Binding of Isaac received generally favorable reviews from game critics. On Metacritic, the game has an average of 84 out of 100 based on 30 reviews.^[30]

The Binding of Isaac has been received by reviewers as a game with high replayability with the extensive range and combinations of power-ups that the player can encounter during a run-through, while providing an accessible Zelda-inspired framework that most video game players would recognize and easily come to understand.^[31][36][34] John Teti for Eurogamer praised the game for its replayability through the randomization aspects, calling it 'the most accessible exploration of the roguelike idea' that he had seen.^[31]Edge's similarly commented on the lure to replay the game due to its short playthrough time, calling it 'an imaginative and quick-witted arcade experience that manages to be both depraved and strangely sweet by turn'.^[32]GameSpot's Maxwell McGee stated that the game smartly has removed extraneous features such that 'what remains is a tightly focused game that continues to feel fresh even after multiple completions'.^[1] Though the game is considered to be accessible to new players, reviewers found the game to be a difficult challenge, often set by the randomness of what power-ups the player happened to acquire during a single run.^[36][34][33] Writers for The A.V. Club rated the game an A on a grading scale, and favorably compared the title to McMillen's Super Meat Boy, requiring the player to have 'masochistic patience in the face of terrible odds'.^[37] This difficulty was considered mitigated by the large number of possible power-ups that the game offers, most would not be seen by players until they have replayed the game many times.^[31] McGee noted that while players can review what items they have discovered prior to a run-through, this feature does not explain what each item does, leaving the effect to be determined by the player while in game.^[1]

Game Informer's Adam Biessener noted that while The Binding of Isaac had a number of software bugs on release that may briefly detract from the experience, 'McMillen’s vision shines through' in the game's playability, art style, and story.^[33] Neilie Johnson for IGN found that some players may be put off by the game's crudeness but otherwise 'it's totally random, highly creative and brutally unforgiving'.^[35] Similarly, Nathan Muenier for GameSpy noted the game had some shock value that one must work past, but otherwise was ' imaginative' and 'utterly absorbing'.^[34] Alternatively, Jordan Devore for Destructoid considered the visual style of the game one of its 'biggest selling points', following from McMillen's past style of dark comedy from Super Meat Boy.^[36] Baranowsky's soundtrack was found by reviewers to well-suit the themes of the game, and used appropriately to avoid extensive repetition during a playthrough.^[1][36] Kirk Hamilton of Kotaku called the soundtrack as the combination of several genres and the musical styles of Danny Elfman, Muse, and Final Fantasy that created something 'dark and unique'.^[13]

The Binding of Isaac was nominated in the Best Independent Game category at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, but lost to Minecraft.^[38]

McMillen had only expected the game to sell a few hundred copies when he released it on Steam. For the first few months of its release, sales were roughly a few hundred per day, but shortly thereafter, McMillen found sales suddenly were boosted, a fact he attributed to numerous Let's Play videos that had been published by players to showcase the game and drove sales.^[39] This popularity also drew interest by players that wanted to create custom mods for the game, which would become a factor in the design of the sequel to better support modding.^[39]

By November 2012, the game sold over one million copies, with at least one-quarter of those having purchased the 'Wrath of the Lamb' extension.^[4] As of July 2014, the game has sold over 3 million copies.^[40] By July 2015, following the release of Rebirth, the combined games had over 5 million units sold.^[5]The Binding of Isaac is said to be a contributing factor towards the growth of the roguelike genre since around 2010, with its success paving the way for later games that used the roguelike formula, such as FTL: Faster Than Light and Don't Starve.^[40][41]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdefghMcGee, Maxwell (November 21, 2011). 'The Binding of Isaac Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
2. ^ ^abScheirer, Jason (September 19, 2011). 'Nightmarish Indie The Binding of Isaac Shooting Up Steam Next Week'. Wired. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
3. ^ ^abThursten, Chris (December 17, 2011). 'The Binding of Isaac Review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
4. ^ ^{abcdefghijklmnopqrs}McMillen, Edmund (November 28, 2012). 'Postmortem: McMillen and Himsl's The Binding of Isaac'. Gamasutra. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
5. ^ ^abWorking, Sam (July 22, 2015). 'The Binding of Edmund McMillen'. Good Times. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
6. ^ ^abJagielski, Rachel (September 2, 2011). 'The Binding of Isaac: Interview with Team Meat's Edmund McMillen'. VentureBeat. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
7. ^ ^abHolmes, Jonathan (July 21, 2011). 'How a killer Christian shmup roguelike came to Steam'. Destructoid. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
8. ^McMillen, Edmund (September 17, 2011). 'Progression?'. Blogspot. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
9. ^ ^abGrayson, Nathan (June 26, 2012). 'The Binding of Edmund McMillen'. Eurogamer. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
10. ^Haas, Pete (October 9, 2011). 'The Binding Of Isaac Demo Released, Big Update On The Way'. Cinema Blend. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
11. ^Brown, Fraser (January 28, 2012). 'The Binding of Isaac gets a grotesque retail edition'. Destructoid. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
12. ^Cooper, Hollander (October 24, 2011). 'The Binding of Isaac, Cave Story 3D, and crying at poop: an interview with composer Danny B'. Games Radar. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
13. ^ ^abcHamilton, Kirk (December 22, 2011). 'The Best Game Music of 2011: The Binding of Isaac'. Kotaku. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
14. ^O'Conner, Alice (January 6, 2012). 'The Binding of Isaac 'mega expansion' incoming'. Shacknews. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
15. ^'16er-Einstufung wegen.. Blasphemie' [16 rating because of.. blasphemy] (in German). January 4, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
16. ^Kollar, Phil (February 29, 2012). 'Binding Of Isaac Blocked From 3DS Due To 'Questionable Religious Content''. Game Informer. Retrieved March 1, 2012. In a follow-up tweet, McMillen confirmed that the decision was 'due to the games [sic] 'questionable religious content.' He then took the opportunity to praise Steam for being such an open and supporting platform for independent and digitally distributed games.
17. ^ ^abc'Nintendo won't allow Binding of Isaac on the 3DS eShop'. Destructoid. February 29, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012. It's a disgusting and sad situation, and I can only hope that something is done soon to change the way both Nintendo, and the industry in general, views the role between the hardware developers and software artists.(..)'All this stuff has opened my eyes so much more to the freedom devs have with Steam. Censorship like this doesn't pop up that often in games, and there are only a handful of 'banned video games' or highly censored ones. It's nice to have the freedom to publish something that speaks its mind about religion on a platform like Steam.'
18. ^ ^abcGroen, Andrew (February 29, 2012). 'Nintendo blocks 3DS Binding of Isaac for 'questionable religious content''. Ars Technica. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
19. ^ ^abOrland, Kyle (March 6, 2012). 'Binding of Isaac creator: Nintendo rejection shows internal divisions over company's image'. Ars Technica. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
20. ^Crecente, Brian (April 3, 2015). 'How a love of Nintendo opened the door for The Binding of Isaac and why it's only coming to New 3DS'. Polygon. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
21. ^Fletcher, JC (May 7, 2012). 'The Binding of Isaac's Wrath of the Lamb begins May 28'. Joystiq. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
22. ^Marchiafava, Jeff (May 7, 2012). 'The Binding of Isaac Expansion Dated'. Game Informer. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
23. ^Proctor, Lewie (January 30, 2012). 'McMillen details The Wrath Of The Lamb, as Binding Of Isaac sells 450k'. Gamasutra. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
24. ^Hillier, Brenna (November 4, 2014). 'The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth out now on Steam, PSN'. VG247. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
25. ^Machkovech, Sam (July 23, 2015). 'Sacrilegious Binding of Isaac: Rebirth finally launches on Nintendo systems'. Ars Technica. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
26. ^Phillips, Tom (September 8, 2015). 'The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth's meaty Afterbirth expansion pushes out a release date'. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
27. ^Matulef, Jeffrey (December 8, 2015). 'The Binding of Isaac to receive mod tools DLC'. Eurogamer. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
28. ^Mersereau, Kevin (September 5, 2017). 'Binding of Isaac prequel on target for a 2017 release'. Destructoid. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
29. ^'The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls Announcement'. Twitter. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
30. ^ ^ab'The Binding of Isaac for PC Metacritic Score'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
31. ^ ^abcdTeti, John (October 7, 2011). 'The Binding of Isaac Review'. Eurogamer. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
32. ^ ^ab'The Binding of Isaac Review'. Edge. October 7, 2011. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
33. ^ ^abcBiessener, Adam (October 3, 2011). 'Equal Parts Gross, Disturbing, And Fun – The Binding of Isaac – PC'. Game Informer. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
34. ^ ^abcdMeunier, Nathan (September 30, 2011). 'GameSpy: The Binding of Isaac Review – Page 1'. GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
35. ^ ^abJohnson, Neilie (October 11, 2011). 'The Binding of Isaac Review – PC Review at IGN'. IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
36. ^ ^abcdDevore, Jordan (October 2, 2011). 'Review: The Binding of Isaac'. Destructoid. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
37. ^Anthony John Agnello, Noah Cruickshank, Russ Fischer, Steve Heisler, Rowan Kaiser, Gus Mastrapa, Samantha Nelson, Tasha Robinson, and John Teti (October 10, 2011). 'Sawbuck Gamer, October 10, 2011'. The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 14, 2016.CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link)
38. ^Bradford, Matt (November 17, 2011). '2011 Spike VGA nominees announced, Zelda to become first Hall of Famer'. GamesRadar. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
39. ^ ^abMcGlynn, Anthony (June 5, 2018). 'How mods made The Binding of Isaac a phenomenon, and why Edmund McMillen's laying it to rest'. PC Gamer. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
40. ^ ^abMahardy, Mike (July 4, 2014). 'Roguelikes: The Rebirth of the Counterculter'. IGN. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
41. ^Johnson, Mark (July 22, 2015). 'Before Spelunky and FTL, There Was Only ASCII'. Paste. Retrieved April 14, 2016.

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