Window on the World - The Fall of Lord Vader

Dr. Ryken discusses the spirtual themes contained in the most recent and final installment of the Star Wars series.

Excerpt: 'As the director of Star Wars, George Lucas is a man with a spiritual agenda. Heavily influenced by the philosophy of the universalist Joseph Campbell, Lucas believes that all religions are equally true. The viewpoint of his films is essentially Buddhist. There is no personal God, only an impersonal cosmic force. Good and evil are eternally poised in a fine balance.

What is strange about this is that the story Lucas tells is essentially Christian in its morality. This is not surprising. In a world that was created good, fell into sin, and is being redeemed by the grace of God, it is hard to tell any good story without echoing the good news of the gospel. George Lucas's New Age Buddhism may be unbiblical, but his story still tells us some of the truth about sin.'

The Window on the World is our weekly opportunity to examine our culture from the vantage point of biblical Christianity.

Many of these are now published in 'My Father's World: Meditations on Christianity and Culture', 2002, and 'He Speaks to Me Everywhere', 2004, both by Philip Graham Ryken, P&R Publishing.

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