Saga Biblical References in Star Wars?

Hello my name is Brutus. Being a nerd I think everything has math involved. I've noticed a massive amount of references to the Bible. Obviously, the good book is a great place to get stories from.

Please no hate mail for Christians. I'm also in love with Star Wars.

Here we go (I have to decode the rest - everything is biblical)

Forest moon of Endor - 1 Samuel (the witch of endor)

Coruscant 9 letters
Jerusalem 9 letters

Totooine 8 letters
Nazareth 8 letters

Palpatine 9 letters
Beelzebub 9 letters

Darth Maul - the beast with 10 horns

Rule of 2 - false prophet and the antichrist

Anakin concieved by the Force
The virgin Mary was inpregnated by the Holy Spirit.

I doubt this is a coincidence since the entire film series is like this. I have a disability so it's hard to type.

Any thoughts?

George Lucas is a genius.


Brutus

 

Afterlife

False prophet(s)

Worship an idol - some of the upper ranking officers in relation to the Death Star, Ewoks are primative and mistake C3PO for a god

Can Vader's death be viewed as sacrifice? Was his Mustafar experience a resurection?

 

Well, I don't know. There are multiple endings to the film. In Return of the Jedi, in my version, Anakin is showen as a redeemed jedi master spirit (see robes and hair), but he had to be on his death bed to be saved. Anakin died and became Darth Vader. When darth vader died, Anakin came back. If darth vader can be saved in ths fictional movie there is hope for anyone.

Brutus

 

Fixed.

 

I read the 1977 book called "Star Wars" and Ben Kenobi said he will become more powerful than Vader can imagine if he is struck down, but if Vader dies he ceases to exist. The second part of that was not in the film.

Brutus

 

Luke trusted the Force when he torpedoed the Death Star, as David trusted God when he slung his stone at Goliath.

 

Also many Buddhist influences.

http://www.livingdharma.org/Real.World.Buddhism/StarWars-Brenion.html

 

Eps IV to VI minimal references.
Eps I to III many similarites as do all Messianic/Chosen Ones stories (eg Matrix). To be honest Star Wars didnt it at all.

 

Good observations. I have always found it interesting to think of Anakin as a George Lucas "riff" of the Christ narrative. The messiah is born of virgin conception and demonstrates all the traits required to be "the chosen one", including a genuine selflessness and goodwill (as demonstrated in TPM). But unlike Jesus, who triumphed through the temptations of the broken human soul, Anakin eventually succumbs to them, and becomes a fallen messiah (If you want a glimpse of what this might have looked like in the context of Jesus, watch Scorsesse's Last Temptation of Christ. Beautiful movie.)

When Obi Wan shouts "You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them!" He's not merely yelling in anguish at a former friend. He's having a moment of severe religious breakdown. The man he had lifted up in faith as Messiah had completely and utterly failed. Of course, in the end Obi Wans original faith wasn't misplaced after all; Vader does destroy the Sith in a crucial act of self-sacrifice. Unlike Jesus, the act is an atonement for Vaders own sins as well as a gateway to freedom (indirectly) for the rest of the Galaxy.

One could speculate at length about what George Lucas is trying to "say" by having a messianic figure who falls, becomes the villain, and in the end needs his own son to find his way again. It's fascinating to think about, but I don't have the mental fortitude at 11pm to go that far down the rabbit hole

Star Wars as a whole, of course, pulls from a great number of religious narratives and cultural mythologies. It's that hodge-podge nature, in my opinion, that makes it such a potent modern myth in its own right. But, being a Christian man myself, I have to admit I'm particularly drawn to the Christ parallels.

 

From earlier drafts of SW, and was also included in the prologue to the novelisation. Not a reference to any actual Biblical content to my knowledge, but certainly a Biblical-styled quote, complete with the chapter and verse. I'd be curious to know if the content does match up with anything from the Bible, or any other religious texts.

 

One of the lines i really dislike in Star Wars is this one delivered by Han:

DECK OFFICER Your Tauntaun'll freeze before you
reach the first marker.

HAN Then I'll see you in hell!

The concept of hell spans many religions and mythos, but it's very "biblical" and perhaps that's why I dislike that line, not that I am anti-bible it's that it's a little bit to close to home to be uttered by Han. I had the same reaction with Obi-Wan when he mentions that he is for "democracy".

 

I've always found that line to be slightly jarring as well. It shouldn't be really, as the whole saga is filled with earthly stuff - language, accents etc, but it just doesn't sound quite right somehow.

 

I agree, but sometimes its fun to hear earth words in star wars. "Chewy give me the gun!" sounds a lot better than "Chewy hand me the blaster!" Would you rather hear "Younglings" rather than children? Even as a prequel defender that term makes me shudder.

 

1) Redemption
-- The selfless love of Luke freed Anakin from the snares of Palpatine's evil influence who is a symbol for the enemy. Sidious said the following: "By now you must know that your father can never be turned from the dark side." However, Luke proved this false. Instead, Luke's statement became true, "There is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully."

2) Holy Spirit
-- Yoda's speech from TESB can be seen as a metaphor for the Holy Spirit: "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere. Yes, even between the land and the ship."

 

I've often thought the force seems similar to the Holy Spirit too.

 

Great minds think alike! That's one big reason why the OT resonanted with me.

 

In the earliest versions of the Bible there was Abbadon who was at first a being then later a place then later removed. He was the Devil's right hand man but turned on him in the end throwing him into a pit. This was later changed to the archangel Michael who chained Satan to a rock and threw him in a pit for a thousand years. This is of course vader throwing Palpatine down the Death Star shaft.

 

Which is interesting as the duel was originally supposed to take place in the Emperor's Palace on the capital world "Had Abbadon" before GL put it on the Death Star.

 

Excellent catch.

 

For me it was the first time I'd ever thought of anything spiritual at all. Before that I was a very concrete 7 year old with a leaning towards science and a mad love of all things NASA. (In fact I wore a toy space helmet almost full-time at home for over a year!) The idea of the force blew my mind. It was a paradigm shift for me which opened my thinking up to the possibility of faith. Now, as a Christian, I look back and see the similarities between the force and the Holy Spirit, it means even more. I will never forget being in the cinema, seven years old, and watching the Tantive IV fly past and then that HUGE star destroyer which just got bigger and bigger. Our Odean had massive speakers and the whole place shook. It was amazing - love at first sight!

 

The Force will be with you, always. -Obi-Wan

I will be with you, always. -Jesus

Just caught this one again the other day, Obi-Wan's last words to Luke in ANH after he destroys the DS and Jesus' last statement to his disciples.

 

And from Lenny Bruce:

(Sorry, couldn't resist...)

 

Both newborn Jesus and Luke were taken secretly to live in the desert in a distant land in fear that they would be discovered and killed by the Empire.

John the Baptist and Qui-Gon Jinn both discovered and proclaimed the Chosen One and were met with skepticism from the prevailing spiritual figures of their time.

 

The Eastern traditions dominate Star Wars the most; countless Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Chinese mythology in the Saga. In fact, Hindu is the primary influence for the concept of the Force.

Joseph Campbell noted all the philosophical stories/dilemmas came from India. For example, Yoda might as well of handed Luke a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in ESB instead of training him; Yoda is very much so assuming the role of Krishna.