Description

Scholars have been arguing for years that Star Wars is more than light sabers, Wookies, Millennium Falcons, and troubling familial relationships. Star Wars is an exciting space fantasy that we can explore from multiple academic perspectives, such as philosophy and psychology. This volume adds to that conversation by asking, “what would it look like if we analyzed the Star Wars universe theologically?” In Theology and the Star Wars Universe, contributors from various theological traditions take on this task by exploring the nature of the Force, the spiritual role of the Jedi, nonviolent and liberationist readings of the Franchise, and the enduring power of hope. Written for the restless, curious academic but accessible to diehard fans, Theology and the Star Wars Universe is an exciting foray into the study of theology and popular culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Theologizing Star Wars: Engaging the Galaxy Far, Far Away
Benjamin D. Espinoza
Opening Essay
1 The Word of God and the W(h)ill of the Force: Canon and Authority within the Star Wars Universe
James F. McGrath
Part II: Theologies of the Jedi
2 Use (the) Force: Jedi, Monks, and Unexpected Violence
Zachary B. Smith
3 And What More Shall I Say? Heroism in Hebrews 11 and Star Wars
Bethany Keeley-Jonker and Robert Keeley
4 Rediscovering the Sith and the Jedi: A Spiritual Analogy in Renaissance Humanism and Desert Asceticism
Nathan Garcia
5 From Padawan to Jedi: The Theological Premise for the Necessity of the Master-Apprentice Relationship in the Path of Spiritual Ascension
Abdallah Rothman
6 And Also With You: An Examination of the Demystification of the Jedi and the Clergy
Nettie Brock and Josiah Brock
Part III: Political Theologies
7 Subverting the Ancient Religion: The Gray Ecclesiology of Ahsoka Tano and Old Man Luke
Timothy Posada
8 In Defense of the Nonviolence Luke: A Confron

Product details

Published 11 Jul 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 250
ISBN 9781978707238
Imprint Fortress Academic
Dimensions 221 x 169 mm
Series Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Benjamin D. Espinoza

Contributor

Josiah Brock

Contributor

Nettie Brock

Contributor

Shaun C. Brown

Contributor

Edward Dunar

Contributor

Ryan G. Duns

Contributor

Nathan Garcia

Nathan Garcia is Assistant Professor of Theology a…

Contributor

Robert Keeley

Contributor

Rostislav Kurka

Contributor

Andrew J. Kuzma

Contributor

Tim Posada

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