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Star Wars for the Unimpressed by John Nunley I've yet to see a full feature of any of the Star Wars films. But due to its theological themes, I think it's just as well. Since the first Star Wars came out when I was only twelve years old, I immediately sensed what I now call "replacement theology" - not the replacement theology of replacing Israel, at least not in the direct sense, but the replacement of the God of the Bible. When I first heard my youthful peers relishing the terms "The Force" and "The Force be With You" I was intrigued for its strong implication. I sensed the movie's "playful" effort to discard the exclusive claims of the Bible for a value-neutral generic replacement for the God of Israel. I had little to nothing to do with such talk of The Force, even if for fun. As the movie's Trilogy unfolded I heard or read nothing to alter my initial impression, indeed my suspicions deepened. With the advent of the last of the Trilogy I consciously avoided buying products featuring Star Wars themes, such as could be found on breakfast cereal boxes. From my reading of this, the last, movie, it is as clear as ever that the movie carries theological themes. The movie is good in that it champions the power of love and self-sacrifice over evil and physical power. Indeed this message proves that this New Testament focus of power in death, i.e. lest a seed dies it can not live, has conquered public morality, at least as an acceptable ideal in modernity - that's a powerful testament to one of the most important themes in the Brit Chadasha. Yet all is not well. For the Star Wars story-line borrows from a broad "messianic mythology", as secular The man who is against-Messiah will likewise borrow good themes from the Word even while failing to acknowledge the exclusivity of the Word, yet claiming he is the Word. And with the reinforcement of the public by such affirming stories as Star Wars, should he come in our time he won't have a hard time finding a large following. For the reasons I have shown here plus more, I continue to reject and regret the Star Wars series. Below are three interesting links. The first is from a Christian outlet that serves as an example of how one mainstream Christian outlet slobbers over the Star Wars "affirming" theology. (this is very, very long) The second reveals a minister's double minded feelings on the movie series This last one is short yet reveals the writer's spiritual depth, a depth that can only come from a very good understanding of Messiah and submission to Him, but also from an extremely valuable perspective that can only come from knowing history. Even though I strongly dislike this writer's use of the word "heresy" (often a hateful word), this writer, in my view, hits bull's-eye in his analysis. |
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