The final "Star Wars" movie hit cinemas last weekend and broke box office records in the US with US$108.4 million in North America alone -- the second largest box office haul over an opening three days.
Biblical themes have been tied with Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith as many Christian leaders have commented.
Greg Stier, CEO and founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries, paralleled the Jedis as angels and the Siths as demons who are engaged in a battle between ultimate good and ultimate evil. "The Jesus Jedis want to recruit you, restore you, remake you and then unleash you as a weapon of righteousness. The Satanic Sith want to sear your head off with their naughty light sabers of sin," he stated.
Turning the film into a Bible study lesson, Stier encouraged youths to take up their "light sabers (the Word of God) and engage" in a "real battle using the real Force (the Holy Spirit)" for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
"The whole story is the redemption of Darth Vader. He falls to temptation and is redeemed by the son in Episode VI," said Jeffrey Perkins, author of a Bible study that focuses on the original trilogy.
Byron Barlowe, editor of Leadership U, drew a comparison between "Christian leadership" and "Jedi apprenticeship," saying that both are ways of modelling a person after an ideal.
He continued that the film "taps into the spiritual guidance that so many young people are looking for."
Sarah H. Lee
Christian Today Correspondent
