"Star Wars" Loaded With Spirituality?

WACO, Tex. (EP) -- The Star Wars saga draws movie fans to theaters with high-tech special effects and themes of a spiritual quest, but its message is not essentially Christian, according to Baylor University religion professor John Wood.

Ever since George Lucas began telling his story from "long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away" 22 years ago, theologians have explored parallels between the vibrant "Star Wars" mythology and the Bible's account of the battle between God and Satan. That discussion has been renewed with the May 19 release of "The Phantom Menace," the latest in the Star Wars movie series.

"The main parallel is such a general thing: There is this cosmic struggle between good and evil," Wood told the Associated Baptist Press.

"One reason folks identify with Star Wars is we know there's a struggle in our hearts between good and evil," explained Wood, who teaches a class that explores Christian themes in movies. "But we like to see it in cosmic terms -- a gigantic transcendence far beyond the individual level. When you see it in cosmic terms, the good guys always win."

The Star Wars saga shares the Bible's assurance that God will triumph over Satan in the end. "For a long time, it looks like evil will triumph, but ultimately good will win out," Wood noted.

The fundamental spiritual flaw in the Star Wars series lies in the method by which good prevails. "Where the problems start for Star Wars is that evil is always overcome by violence," Wood said. "Non-violent confrontation won't work, because the evil forces are so intransigent. The way you defeat evil is to annihilate it. Violence is the only way."

That's not what the Bible teaches, said Wood. "The way God overcomes evil is by redeeming it." The New Testament teaches that a loving God overcame evil by sacrificing his only Son, Jesus, to save the souls of "whosoever" believes. That sense that salvation is available to everyone is another point of contrast between the gospel and Star Wars, Wood said.

"In Star Wars, the Force (a supra-human power) is only for a few elite, the Jedi Knights," he said. "Some people try to make parallels between the Force and the Holy Spirit or the power of God. In Star Wars, only the Jedi warriors have that Force. But the Christian faith says God's Spirit is available to everyone. There's elitism in Star Wars."

Wood said he appreciates Star Wars even though it misfires on Christian themes, because he considers Lucas a storyteller and not a theologian. "Lucas never claimed he was writing anything more than a fairy tale," Wood said. "But it touches all of us because of its cosmic scope."

Lucas has acknowledged that his movies are not an attempt to provide spiritual answers, but are instead a way of provoking spiritual questions. "It's designed primarily to make young people think about the mystery. Not to say, 'Here's the answer.' It's to say, 'Think about this for a second. Is there a God? What does God look like? What does God feel like? How do we relate to God?' Just getting young people to think at that level is what I've been trying to do in the films," Lucas told Bill Moyers in an interview for Time magazine.

Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson believes the mania over Star Wars grows out of "a cultural hunger for great and engaging stories ... stories that feed the imagination and give us models to emulate."

That hunger presents an opportunity for Christianity -- and a risk, Colson noted on "Breakpoint," his nationally syndicated radio broadcast. "If Christianity is not presented to them as an engaging story, they will turn elsewhere -- to stories on celluloid that reflect a sub-Christian view of reality."

Colson urged, "In the midst of all the hype and mania associated with 'The Phantom Menace,' why not tell your neighbors about an even better story -- one that has all of the drama of Star Wars and more." Read The Gospel of Luke Online Here!

For Sale Star Wars Books and other related items.

(EP -- Evangelical Press News Service)

(Post date: May 23, 1999)