How many of you "Star Wars" fans have felt like the story is so much more than just a story? I've spent my entire life as a "Star Wars" fangirl and words still fail me when it comes to explaining why the films are so important to me personally. Everyone has different reasons as to why it means so much them, but this is one of many for me.
From it's epic war between good and evil to the omnipresent "Force", distinct parallels can be made between the "Star Wars" franchise and widely accepted Christian beliefs. While there are many many films that adopt the moral war story line, the "Star Wars" saga focuses on some very complex biblical allusions. "Star Wars" is, first and foremost, a Science Fiction franchise, also lovingly referred to as a "Space Opera", but here is why I, as a Christian artist, hold these films in such a high place within my personal library of spiritual film.
The Force can be seen as symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, in Christianity, is one’s guide throughout life. This guide helps us to make wise choices, to be able to "hear", or sense, the will of God, and to grow stronger in our spiritual lives. The force is very similar to this religious figure in the way that they are both all-knowing entities. Jedi Master Yoda states, “the Force is my ally. And a powerful ally it is.”
The Force is said to be a mystical energy field which connects every living being in the galaxy, made up of midi-chlorians that reside in the cells of all creatures. Qui-Gon Jinn explains, “without the midi-chlorians life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the Force.” The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit was sent to us by God in order guide and watch over us, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you…But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance…” (John 14:17, 26). This omnipresent, all-knowing entity speaks to the human race constantly, but only those whose hearts are open to it will understand it’s will, just as the Force is said to be.
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" features the character, Chirrut Îmwe. A blind warrior who is not at all a Jedi but is able to access the protection and guidance of the Force simply by believing in it's power. Îmwe speaks of the Force and it's will several time throughout the movie. The Force, or the Holy Spirit, has a will of it's own, and that will is for the salvation of the galaxy. The Force essentially creates it's own solution to the war which has taken hold of every being within it.
According to the Bible, as was spoken by an Angel to Mary, mother of Jesus, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefor also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35). Jesus, known by Christians as the Savior, was born of a Virgin. It was said in the Bible that the baby was conceived from the Holy Spirit itself. The child who is the Son of God, is to bring hope and salvation to everyone on Earth.
When Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn asked Shmi Skywalker, mother of the Jedi prodigy Anakin Skywalker, for the identity of Anakin’s father Shmi responded, “there was no father. I can’t explain it.” The Jedi Master found that Anakin housed far more midi-chlorians than any Jedi ever recorded, and believed that he was conceived of the midi-chlorians, by the Force itself. With this discovery Anakin is regarded as the chosen one, sent by the Force to fulfill its will, the Prophecy of the Son of Suns.
The dark side can be seen as a close relative to sin, causing pain, death and decay across the known universe. The Prophecy of the Chosen One, or the Son of Suns, tells of a being who will “destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force.” Anakin Skywalker, conceived of the Force as the Prophecy suggests, is believed to be the one chosen to restore peace to the galaxy. Jesus was sent to eradicate sin, just as Anakin was created in order to bring balance to the Force. After Anakin’s fall to the dark side, much of the galaxy lost faith in the Prophecy.
This point of view may be misread as blasphemous or a degradation of the Holy Word, based on the fact that Anakin Skywalker did not remain a Jedi as Jesus remained pure. Anakin fell to the dark side. He became a Sith Lord and murdered countless Jedi, letting down everyone that believed in him as the Chosen One. Why equate him with Jesus?
The interpretation of the Messiah that I grew up with says that Jesus lived a pure life so that he could carry our sins on his shoulders. Jesus, in the end, took our sins from us and covered himself in them, answering for them in our place so that we would not be forever lost. Anakin fell, and in falling was able to rid the Galaxy of the greatest Sith influences in existence. The idea is not in the complete demise of sin, or Sith, in that instant, but that they made the road to salvation possible.
Jesus gives us the option to allow him to carry our sins for us, even though sin still ravages the planet to this day. Anakin did not wipe out the Sith, but mortally wounded their Empire, giving the Resistance an advantage over them that did not exist before, a greater chance for peace.
There are several parts of the saga that can be seen as a good Christian message, but the most uplifting part of the "Star Wars" series is what I see in the purest form of Christianity. Having faith in something beyond your own understanding, living selflessly like the Jedi and holding your own against the evils that exist in the world.
