Star Wars is one of the most successful film series in
history. As a kid, I remember the epic battles between Luke Skywalker and
Darth Vader. In fact today I enjoy bringing my own kids to the most
recent Star Wars films. The cinematography, the special effects, and
storyline have captured generations. Star Wars also introduced the West
to the worldview known as pantheism.
As we have seen naturalism is the worldview that says only
physical things exist and there are no supernatural forces. By contrast,
pantheism is the worldview that says all is divine and there is no distinction
between creator and creation. Like naturalism, pantheism offers answers
to our four big worldview questions.
The first questions is,
“What is real?” In pantheism all is divine. God is not a
personal being who we know but is inseparable from the universe. God is
more like a cosmic energy that pervades all things. This is like the
force in Star Wars. In essence, all is one.
Our second questions is,
“What is man?”
If god is
one with the universe and all is divine then by necessity man is divine.
Man is god.
Pantheists will sometime refer to human beings as gods
or goddesses in embryo.
So rather than see human beings as uniquely created in the image of God, but
broken by sin, pantheists see human beings as essentially good and divine.
Our third worldview question is, “What happens at death?” The
goal in pantheism is to achieve enlightenment and to escape the cycle of
reincarnation and this is accomplished through practices such as channeling,
meditation, and yoga. And then like a drop falling into a river, we
achieve enlightenment and become absorbed into the oneness of the universe.
The fourth worldview question is “What is the basis for right
and wrong?” Since on pantheism all is one,
distinctions are ultimately artificial. There is no distinction between
creator and creation, between god and
man, between right and wrong. Morality is an illusion. Since good and evil don’t exist, ultimately,
morality is relative.
Like naturalism, pantheism is
nothing new. Some of the ideas we see in the Star Wars films have their roots
in ancient eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. In fact, Paul
likely addressed some pantheists in his speech at Mars Hill as recorded in Acts
chapter seventeen. Pantheism is not new, but it is direct conflict and contrast
with the Christian worldview. The biggest question is can it adequately
capture reality as we know it and experience it.
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