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Many people discount science fiction, believing it is merely a creative work that lacks any significant value to mankind. These people may fear exploring the application of themes found in science fiction, or they may simply fail to see a message or moral that is not directly stated.
Many of these people don't realize how intuitively science fiction is based in reality. The inventive ideas stem from contemporary technology and the themes are extracted from very real and honest emotions that result from the struggles of trying to understand the world.
While it is true that some science fiction writers fail to meet the high standard of knowledge-based, thematic science fiction in their art, Star Wars creator George Lucas clearly does not. In author Mary Henderson's work, Star Wars: the Magic of Myth, she demonstrates how Lucas used a time-honored literary formula to create one of the all-time greatest works of science fiction to date. She shows through this formula and through Lucas' deep commitment to scientific, literary and religious research how Star Wars is more than just a science fiction work. Its themes resonate with the very foundations of our quest for understanding, acceptance, and sense of purpose.
This is why Star Wars and the literary formula Henderson explores (the elements of this formula are listed in blue in the text below), work so well to reveal the reality of the gospel, even if Henderson and Lucas were unaware of how their works relate to the greatest truths ever revealed. The following argument will extend this literary formula and the Star Wars masterpiece to show how. . .
In 1977, Lucas released the trilogy with the first installment A New Hope, Episode IV, a very fitting title in terms of the spiritual analogy that follows. In a world entirely different from Luke's existence on Tattoine, a battle between the forces of good and evil rages. This battle continues today as God battles Satan and his legions of demons. Through destiny, a young farm boy named Luke Skywalker is invited to join in the fight, much like each of us has an opportunity to start the greatest adventure of our lives if we accept God's invitation.
As in life, the call is often heralded by a person or event. God uses specific events or people, with or without their knowledge, to communicate his desire to have a relationship with each of us. Henderson shows how, in Luke's case, the invitation to start his destiny journey was projected through an astromech droid named R2D2 who purposefully sought him. God sometimes uses the unknowing person or unpleasant event to deliver his call on our lives like the Jawas were used without their knowledge to deliver the droids with the universe's plan of salvation to Luke,
In Star Wars, the future hero initially rejects R2D2's message and Obi Wan Kenobi's invitation to get involved. Though he desires to leave the remote desert rock planet of Tattoine, he fears deserting his family. This initial struggle mimics John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progess as Pilgrim must decide whether to let his family keep him from seeking out his destiny. Likewise every person alive must decide whether the great adventure God has to offer is worth giving up the seeming comforts the world offers.
As is common in life, tragedy often strikes. When Satan discovers people who are considering God, he will send entry resistance to prevent the person from crossing the threshold into God's spiritual world. From sand people who try to grind him to a pulp to stormtroopers who kill Jawas and his aunt and uncle, Luke faces this initial resistance that seeks to dissuade him from the battle. Ironically, when Luke finds his family dead, he realizes he has no choice but to enter the battle. As much as many people try to ignore the spiritual battle that goes on around them, sooner or later each person must decide to continue in his or her current existence or to get involved in the great adventure God has in store for him or her. Responding to this call on life is where the battle begins.
Probably the best known victim in Bible is Job. Since Job was following God, Satan arranged an onslaught of tragedy to strike him, forcing him to lose everything. This initial resistance could have forced some away from the adventure of God's will but Job persevered like it was his job. (Pardon the pun!) He passed the first threshold and held on for what would come.
After passing the initial threshold, Luke connects with his wise and helpful guide, Obi Wan-Kenobi. "Old Ben" leads Luke off Tattoine on a voyage to Alderaan. Ben even begins Luke's Jedi training on the Millennium Falcon, discussing the power of the Force despite his inability to physically see it. In the scriptures, Paul shares a similar revelation about God to the Romans.
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -his eternal power and divine nature -have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
As a wise and helpful guide, Paul led numerous people to a relationship
with Jesus. His relationship with Timothy was one such example.
After his guidance, Timothy became like a son to Paul. One of
Paul's strongest admonitions to Timothy was to rightly divide
the Father's word of truth, the sword of the Spirit.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In a similar manner, Ben offers Luke his father's sword, a Jedi
lightsaber. He warns him to proceed with caution and to not be
swayed by the dark side.
Many people seek spiritual power, yet fail to heed the warn they
are given about pursuing the wrong spiritual avenues. Some end
up following false doctrine or get involved in occult activity
as they flippantly pursue the wrong spirituality.
Heroes come in pairs. In Star
Wars, Chewie and Han work hand in paw, and R2D2 and C3PO make
heroic strides in saving the Rebel Alliance from within the Death
Star.
In the gospel, early missionaries followed this common practice
in the early church. Paul initially sets out with Barnabbas. Even
after Paul and Barnabbas separate after a difference, both men
hook up with new partners, Paul with Silas and Barnabbas with
John Mark.
Likewise, when Han is frozen in carbonite, Lando hooks up with
Chewie and Luke and Leia work together in Han's rescue attempt.
While many christians are wary of the mysticism in Star Wars (and
are probably shocked that I am using Star Wars to reveal the truths
of the Gospel!), the movie's mystic insight parallels the gospel's
spiritual insight.
In Star Wars, Luke must learn the ways of the force and how to
learn what is right according to the unseen Force. In the spiritual
adventure of Christians, they must discern the will of God even
when they can't see God or have the will spelled out for them.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Ephesians 1:9
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
Luke, Han, Chewie and
Ben must split up to conquer the Death Star maze and escape from
the evil Empire. As each Christian encounters daily life experiences,
he or she must unravel the mystery of Godliness on his or her
own terms.
I Timothy 3:16
Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
While the guide has
been wise and helpful to the sojourners, at some point the guide
will be taken away. Luke loses Ben when Kenobi realizes that he
has found a reliable replacement to carry on his work and he lets
Vader cut him down. The disciples undergo the same trauma when
they lose Jesus at the crucifixion. Both Ben and Jesus accomplished
a greater work through their sacrificial deaths. Likewise, Luke
and the disciples were forced to meet an incredible challenge,
but were given greater strength because of it. Ben told Vader,
"if you cut me down, I will become more powerful than before"
and Jesus told the disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts
1:8) just before he
ascended.
As in every great legend,
the hero must slay the dragon. Luke must destroy the Death Star,
the galactic dragon, before it breathes fire and destroys another
planet like it destroyed Alderaan. Later he must face Vader and
even the Emperor himself. The dragon also known as the beast seeks
to devour and destroy the Christian, but he or she must destroy
Satan's Grendel-like hold on his or her life.
Daniel 7:19
"Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws -the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.
Daniel 7:23
"He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.
Revelation 12:4
His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.
Revelation 12:7-9
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down -that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Luke loses his friends
and even his hand on the dark road of trials that lead to his
knighthood as a Jedi.
Though he was God, Jesus sheds many of his attributes of deity
to take on human flesh and to serve as a sacrifice for humanity.
He also suffered trials and temptations in that flesh. Satan tempted
him for 40 days in the desert, and he was mocked and beaten on
the Via Delarosa. Despite the obvious temptation to use his power
to command angels to his rescue or to strike his opponents with
lightning bolts, Jesus walked the dark road of trials as an example
to the Christian follower.
While it may not be desirous, each Christian must walk this road
and trust God to build his or her character and carry him or her
on the journey.
Matthew 3:16-17, 4:1
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
The Empire strikes
back opens with bounty hunters tracking down Han, and Luke attempting
to evade Wampa on his hunger hunt on Hoth. Likewise, People need
to be prepared because Satan seeks to destroy human lives and
to separate them from God.
I Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Revelation 12:17
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring -those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Like the history of the world,
Star Wars is filled with the consumption motif. In Star Wars,
Luke is nearly consumed by the trash compactor monster, Ben must
go into the belly of the Death Star to release the tractor beam,
and it is obvious that Vader is consumed with evil. In Empire,
Han flies the Falcon into the stomach of giant space slug that
tries to devour the ship and its cargo as an appetizer. In Jedi,
the slimy Jabba consumes small animals for snacks and is entertained
by watching the Rancor consume "incompetent" dancers
and any "foolish" Jedi knights it can try to catch.
Jabba even ventures out of his dungeon-like abode to see his opponents
devoured in the Sarlacc Pit.
With Jabbas consuming and Jedis nearly being consumed. The letter
"J" seems thematic here. The Scriptures also have a
series of "J"s being consumed. Jonah was swallowed by
the whale. Judas was consumed with the love of money and Jesus
was thrown into the "belly of the beast", a stone tomb,
to be consumed by death. Judas is completely devoured, but Jonah
gets spewed out.
Furthermore, Jesus overpowers the grave and rises three days later,
as he foretold. This struggle with consumption continues in the
Christian's life today. From the love of money and pleasure seeking
to the immoral media, the world sets up a trap to consume the
people with sin. Only once the Christian realizes how he or she
is consumed by sin, can he or she force open the jaws of death
and crawl out.
Seemingly ironic when the universe is at war, Han and Leia reveal their romantic interest and begin a rather uncharacteristic courtship. It doesn't look good for the couple with their apparent hostilities toward each other, but such a relationship is modeled after the hostility-riddled love relationship that God has with humankind. As sinful creatures, humans prostitute themselves to other gods and idols, incurring the wrath of God, yet God still loves us and seeks the church as his bride. It is essential that the church prepares to present itself as an acceptable bride to the bridegroom.
Ephesians 2:3-5
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
2Cor. 11:2
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
Revelation 19:7
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
In Henderson's formula, a sacred grove serves as the place of decision. Luke must decide to face Vader on the swamp planet of Dagobah, home of Yoda, the Jedi master. In the gospel, Jesus makes the decision to see God's plan through in Gethsemane. For me, my point of decision came on Vesper Hill. The grove may not initially be sacred, but once God moves in your life, it will probably be so afterwards.
Matthew 26:36-39
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
As Henderson notes, Luke sees
the future and his friends in pain and sacrifices his training
for his friends. He falls prey to the illusion that Cloud City
symbolizes. By doing so, he ends up losing his hand.
Han is betrayed by Lando, who sold him out to Vader and the bounty
hunters.
In the gospel, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and Peter, and left
by all of the disciples but one. Jesus even realizes that God
has turned his back on him in the last despairing moments on the
cross, when he cries out in a loud voice, {"Eloi, Eloi, lama} {sabachthani?} "-which
means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" in
Mark 15:34.
New Christians often will be betrayed or left by friends or family
who do not understand their new commitments. These betrayals are
natural and necessary sacrifices for the new believer who has
found the truth cannot turn back. Even Peter realized that once
He knew the truth, he could not deny it. Jesus does, however,
promise that those who follow will be rewarded.
Matthew 19:27
Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
The phrase "caught
in the act" seems to follow the entombment motif of Star
Wars and the gospel. Luke had been entombed in a snowy grave before
Han found him, and Han ends up frozen in carbonite before Luke
and Leia lead the rescue to thaw him out.
In the gospel, entombment is often a result of sin. Lot's wife
is entombed in a pillar of salt for disobeying and looking back
on the city. The Egyptians were entombed at the bottom of the
Red Sea for maliciously pursuing Moses and God's people, and ultimately
Jesus is entombed for three days for the sins of the world. As
Christians mature, they find themselves trapped in the Romans
7 tomb.
Romans 7:9-25
Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God -through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The Hero's Return, acceptance of his opposite
In the passage above,
Paul acknowledges the power of sin trying to control his life.
He accepts the fact that he cannot beat it without the ultimate
higher power, God. In Star Wars, Luke acknowledges that Darth
Vader is his father, and returns to confront him. He realizes
that without the force, Vader and the Emperor could easily destroy
him.
Each person must acknowledge his or her sinful self and helplessness
to overcome it with God before Him. Then and only then can he
or she truly return to God.
While Luke tries to win back his father, Vader earnestly invites
Luke to join him in power and "his destiny". Satan likewise
tempted Jesus to join him in power to rule the earth. Jesus' refusal
to submit to Satan has fueled the spite in his "heart"
and the desire to get Christians to abandon God. Jesus has promised
victory to those who stand their ground and resist the devil.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The most miraculous event in
Star Wars the resurrection of Anakin Skywalker. Luke's love for
his true father Anakin cuts the persona of Darth Vader until Anakin
is once again revealed.
Likewise, the real life crucifixion, death and resurrection of
Jesus cuts through our sin and allows us to discover the real
people we were created to be, children of God, as Paul attests
in Romans and Phillipians.
Romans 1:1-6
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God -the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Phillipians 3:10-11
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
It seems that everyone has their own monster to combat. In the skiff scene, Luke fights off Jabba's henchmen while Lando and Han battle the Sarlacc. Leia fights and kills Jabba. In the gospel, Christians are warned never to let down their guards as monsters are lurking, waiting for the time to make their next advance.
As good resurrects, evil resurges.
Despite destroying the Death Star in A New Hope and freeing Han
from his imprisonment at Jabba's palace in the Return of the Jedi,
the hero is left to face the ultimate evil, the Emperor himself.
Christians face the same evil. While sin's shackles are destroyed
at conversion, the gospel promises trials, tribulations and persecutions,
even martyrdom. Only one of the twelve disciples escaped being
murdered for his faith.
While American Christians enjoy very little physical persecution
now, the day is coming when evil will resurge and take over as
prophesied in Revelation. In fact, in the end times, the evil
one will be destroyed and will appear to rise again.
I John 4:3
. . .but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Revelation 13:3-4
One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"
Both Star Wars and
the gospel have the "enchanted forest and helpful animals"
motif as well. Specifically in Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks serve
as an unexpected ally in the fight against the Empire.
Throughout the Bible, God has unexpected helpers to the Christians.
These are often angels, though many times unknown to the Christians
encountering them.
In one episode, God even used a donkey to try and help Balaam get on the right path.
Numbers 22:21-23, 27-35
Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road. (27) When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" No," he said. Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back." The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Much like Luke realizes that he must descend into the underworld
of the second Death Star to face Vader, a half man, half machine
barrier to destroying the real evil, the emperor. Jesus realized
that he would have to become half God, half man and take the sins
of the world on his back at the cross, die the worst human death
possible. This descent from heaven and the experience of God turning
his back on Jesus and the sins of the world was literally going
to hell and back at his resurrection in order to save the world.
Phillipians 2:6
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!
To find atonement with his
father, Luke must master his own worst instinct of hatred and
refuse to obey the Emperor's command. He does so by casting away
his saber and enduring the wrath of the Emperor's zapping. Luke
then appeals to his father for help, realizing that he can not
defeat the Emperor alone.
While God has never (and will never) succumb to evil as Anakin
did, he stands ready and willing to save us if we are willing
to call out to him.
Luke 11:9-13
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
As Henderson points out, the
theme of Jedi is "the stripping away of disguises to reveal
the true being within." Leia appears as Boushh, only later
to reveal that she is the real princess. Lando appears as a skiff
guard to gain access to the palace and Chewie even allows himself
to appear bound for the second time to save his best friend. Most
noticeable of all, Darth Vader asks Luke to remove his mask and
reveal his true identity, even though it will kill him.
Christians face the same issue. By revealing we serve the risen
Savior, we set ourselves up for Satan's attack and the persecution
of others who do not know better.
Matthew 24:9
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."
In the end, Luke burns what is left of Vader, just his armor, as everyone celebrates the destruction of the Empire. He has completed the journey and brought others along with him, and even brought some back you were once lost.
The Christian undergoes the same final victory sequence. The world will be destroyed by fire and all true believers will celebrate the destruction of Satan's empire. Each Christian who completes the journey successfully will have brothers and sisters who he or she has encouraged along the way, and through the Lord's grace, a host of sheep who have returned to the fold because the Christian cared to share the truth with the lost.
Hebrews 10:27
. . . but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
II Peter 3:7
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Jude 23
Snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear -hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Revelation 20:14-15
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
While some degrade the value of science fiction, Lucas' Star Wars is more than just a film of entertainment; it is a medium that forces the viewer to ask some of the most important questions about life. For the Christian, Star Wars is a strong reminder of the battle that must be fought each day and victory God has promised to those who persevere to the end.