God vs. The Force
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, May 3, 2024
“May The Fourth Be With You”
Echoing off of the famous Star Wars line, “May the force be
with you”, May 4th, has become synonymous as Star Wars Day.
It’s hard to believe how much a science fiction movie series has captured the
world at large. It is rightfully listed among other highly influential
fictional series like Harry Potter (based on the religion of witchcraft), Lord
of the Rings (based in Christian-themed paganism), and others.
When Geroge Lucas’s Star Wars hit theaters in 1977 (it was
the first movie I saw in a theater!), incredible spaceships, realistic laser
weapons, and of course lightsabers had us in awe—not to mention the special
effects that transformed the world of movie-making.
But it was the Force that seemed to get people to stop and
think. An all-powerful “force” that binds the all things together, has
prophecies, and good and evil “prophets” if you will, who wield that power
(Jedi and Sith).
Western Culture In The Late 1970s
Now stop for a moment and understand the culture that we
were in at that time. 1977 was the emergence of the first fully immersed generation
in the USA that didn’t have the Bible in the classroom (yanked out in the
1960’s). No longer was the Bible viewed as the standard of truth in education
and culture at large.
When Christianity was kicked out of the classroom, religion wasn’t
kicked out of schools. It was replaced with godless religion of secular
humanism and its various brothers and sisters—like various forms of paganism and
eastern mysticism like New Age that were hitting the scene. In classrooms, evolutionism
was taught as fact and few realize this is just a rehashed ancient pagan
religion called Epicureanism. Paul argued against these Epicureans in Acts 17
at Mars Hill in Greece.
But the backdrop of the USA and other Western nations was a
secular and pagan takeover and Christianity was seen as “old news”. Now take an entire generation of kids who
have little basis in Bible knowledge (outside of their “Bible stories” at
Sunday school and church if they still attended) and have been taught years of
secular forms of humanism and paganism and see what happened when they watch
Star Wars.
Many loved it and immersed themselves into it. I loved it
but I had to remind myself it was fiction. But others, starting
thinking about it from a religious perspective very soon after the movie
release!
The Religious Love Affair of Star Wars
Frank Allnutt wrote a book in 1977 called The Force of
Star Wars.[1] In
the book, he draws out many comparisons to Christianity. Again, rightfully so:
· Good vs. evil (a Christian concept)
· Jedi are likened to prophets in one sense
· The force is likened to “God”
· Many other things
Although these concepts are borrowed from the Bible, this
doesn’t make Star Wars “Christian” by any means. Allnutt recognizes this
throughout the book, but uses these concepts as springboard to discuss Christian
things.
A closer look at Jedi and Sith reveal they are nothing like
the godly prophets of old. I’m reminded of the quote from Obi-wan in Episode 3,
“only a Sith deals in absolutes”, which is an absolute and thus self- refuting.
The Force is impersonal unlike the personal God of the Bible.
Like many false gods, they echo or model after certain
aspects of God (i.e., they counterfeit). But they are not God nor in a position
to be competition for the true God. The point is that even though there are a
few minor similarities between the Force and the God of the Bible, it is really
just a pagan religion. But in reality, it is more than that. Let’s evaluate the
religious thrust in Star Wars a little more closely.
The Jedi Church—A Dualistic Religion
Did you know that the Star Wars universe is now fully
religious. For example, in New Zealand, there is a registered religion call the
Jedi Church. This is not to be confused with church (the bride of Christ
discussed extensively in Scripture). But like the Church of Scientology,
they borrow the name from the Bible but church mean something different in
their belief systems.
Though pagan in many respects, Star Wars branches out and
mixes with other religions too. The Jedi Church website says in its welcome:
“The Jedi Church believes that
there is one all powerful force that binds all things in the universe together.
The Jedi religion is something innate inside everyone of us, the Jedi Church
believes that our sense of morality is innate. So quiet your mind and listen to
the force within you!”[2]
If this sounds like an Eastern religion like Hinduism or New
Age, there is a reason for that. It is an Eastern religion. Eastern
religions have an impersonal god who cannot communicate with man by revelation
(communication is a personal attribute). Morality is innate which is a common pagan
belief (i.e., you dictate your own morality and you are basically good enough
to do that). When they say that the “force is within you!”, this is part of monism, a common belief in Eastern mysticism religions.
They want to borrow from the Bible that the Force is all powerful
(an attribute of the God of the Bible) but the Force is not omniscience
(knowing is a personal attribute anyway).
Another aspect of this religion is that it is dualistic in its
fictional universe. Both good and evil are equal and opposite.
Some might mistakenly think Christianity is like this too—having
both God (good) and Satan (evil). However, this is not at all the case in light
of Scripture. God is all-powerful, and Satan, a created being, rebelled and
sinned and his power is next nothing compared to God who created him and
sustains his very existence. God wins and Satan loses. Satan has an eternity of
God’s wrath upon him in Hell.
Dualism is the name of this religious style (dualism is form
of paganism by the way going back to its leading proponent—Plato) and it is
intimately intertwined in the “Star Wars universe”. Although Allnutt recognized
that Star Wars borrowed certain Christian elements and themes, the fact is that
this is a pagan religion modelled after Eastern Mysticism.
Reminder—It’s Fiction
What we need to do is be discerning. Remember, Star Wars books
and movies are openly fiction. Nothing more. They rehash pagan ideas, Eastern
ideas, and even borrow Christian elements and themes for the purpose of
entertaining (and money making too!).
Can I sit down with some popcorn and enjoy a Star Wars
movie? Of course I can—the movies often offer great entertainment value. Simply
put, keep it at that. For at the end of the day, it is still fiction. And
remember God really does uphold and sustain all things into existence. With
that, I bid you farewell and , “May the Lord be with you”.
[1]
Frank Allnutt, The Force of Star Wars, Bible voice, Inc., Van Nuys, California,
1977.
[2]
Jedi Church, Welcome, accessed May 3, 2024, https://www.jedichurch.org/.
