The Force and the Holy Spirit

S

sayhellotolane

New Member
So I'd just like to open up a discussion thread concerning this topic because it is such an amazingly easy way to bring up discussion with others in this game concerning faith.

In Game:
-The Force is always present, empowering us to do superhuman things as it dwells in us. It also seems to have a will of its own that it constantly works to impress upon the universe.

-As you become more attuned to the force you grow in your power and ability to use it.

-As you understand more and more the idea of the force's unlimited boundaries and powers, the more capable you become in wielding it.

-There are also two opposing sides to the force. (not to say the Holy Spirit has two sides, but to say that there is a spiritual battle between Good and Evil)

In Real Life:
-The Holy Spirit is always present, empowering and enabling us to do miraculous things according to God's purpose as it dwells in us.

-As you grow in your relationship with Christ, the more in tune you are to the Holy Spirit and its call. You become more willing and able to submit to Christ, and surrendering your life to Him.

-The more aware you become of God's limitless power and holiness, you enter into more genuine and powerful worship. You are less afraid of the world, as you have been released from it's chains and have been granted power over death itself.

-The enemy (Satan) fights to work against God. He wants you to give into to your passions and desires (darkside anyone?). To indulge yourself in the world, and fuel your life with selfish ambition.

So, how easy is it to simply say in a group...

"So The Force is supposed to be all around us, and giving us power to do cool stuff. Do you guys think there's anything in real life like that?"


I'll try to pull in some scripture later, otherwise I really don't have much of a foundation to make any of these parallels.
 
Yes "The Force" and the Holy Spirit has much in common, as you pointed out.
There has been a few books written about that very subject, search amazon.com for "Star Wars and Christianity"

Star Wars is ALL about Good vs Evil. I wonder if Lucas is a Christian?
 
I am pretty sure he is a Buddhist.

OP - I like the idea of posing a question in a group context that would spark a conversation where you could bring up your Faith. That is good stuff and we should challenge ourselves to try that a lot more when gaming.
 
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There are a few scriptures that come to mind when thinking comparing the "Force" to "Faith"...

Remember in Empire Strikes Back when Luke is trying to get his X-Wing out of the swamp and he's unable to do it? it relates to Matthew 17:20 (little faith)

Also, remember the Force encompasses ALL aspects. The Sith use emotion-namely hate- to dwell into the Force, perfect scripture, Luke 14:26(hate)

I'm pretty sure George Lucas renamed "faith" and called it the "force".
 
I would be vey careful not to compare the holy spirit to the force. The force is in and around everything, which is pantheistic. It can also be good or evil, which completely opposes the holy spirit. Any average college student who has taken one philosophy class would be able to make those observations, and throw them in your face. Furthermore, I would refrain from trying to use any kind of analogy to try and express any part of the Godhead. Nothing comes even close to comparing because nothing is more unique than the trinity! The best we can do is use analogies to teach the characteristics of each part of the trinity.
 
That's why it's a comparison, not a direct parallel.

When you walk constantly with the attitude of Christ its very common and natural for a person to start seeing the way God's design is pervasive in everything. That may range from something simple like "Oh wow, my Dad put a bandaid on my booboo and hugs me till I feel better, that's kind of like the way God loves me as a father and comforts me when I'm hurt" to the depths of a man's imagination (referring specifically to George Lucan and Star Wars) which was gifted him to him by God in the first place, whether or not he has faith or not.

Otherwise you might as well argue that comparing your Dad's love to God's love is dangerous because your dad isn't perfect and Holy like God is, so don't even compare the two or you might lead someone into the idolatry of their dad.

As for the Godhead, every analogy I've seen fall inconceivably short, in part because their is nothing that is remotely similar to it, and even more so because we don't ourselves full understand its nature as it is revealed to us in the scriptures. So on that point I'd readily agree.

In regards to midi-chlorians... did they not conceive Anakin in his mother's womb? Thus making it a virgin birth?
 
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Epikfail said:
Any average college student who has taken one philosophy class would be able to make those observations, and throw them in your face.
Click to expand...

The problem with that logic is that it can apply to anything you try to say to a non-believer. Any time you make any spiritual statement there is a chance that the person you are talking to will just throw it in your face. There's always a chance that you'll run into someone who has studied about this sort of thing more than you have or is smarter than you are and will know how to twist your argument around to serve their purposes. If that is what happens, though, the important thing is to be ready for it because it can still be an opportunity to share. You can admit that the analogy is imperfect, but that still gives you a chance to elaborate more on who God is. I agree that the connection between the Force and God isn't exactly a strong one, but you could do worse.
 
My point is, we live in an information based culture. so much so that many of the people in our culture today are educated beyond their intelligence level. 30 years ago, an analogy like this would have worked well, but in our culture, at least in my experience, it usually just hinders the conversation. It seems like a better strategy to just be up front with someone when trying to start a conversation about the gospel. once you build a relationship with someone, then analogies like this would be helpful. Remember, I said be careful not to compare, not don't ever compare.
 
On Wikipedia, Mr Lucas is said to describe himself as a "Buddhist Methodist". The Force was inspired more from Eastern religions. I have heard state that he believes all religions are true, they just see a different part of the elephant.

We can safely leave George in our imagination lands and out of the real world. :)
 
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