Book Review: The Gospel According to Star Wars by John C McDowell

I know what you are thinking, then again, I am not God who knows the minds of all. You might be thinking why am I doing a review of a book that is trying to apply the gospel to Star Wars. For starters, I love Star Wars. I was born one month after the release of the first movie. I have been a fan of the films since I was a kid. The only Star Wars film I can remember seeing as a kid was "Return of the Jedi" before the special editions came out in 1997. So when this book, The Gospel According to Star Wars came out, my curiosity was killing my cat so I decided to review it.

I wish I had some clever way to make this book sound like it is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it really is not. What the author tried to do was take elements of the films (Episode 1 to The Force Awakens) and put some biblical application to it. It sounded like a good idea, but the more I read the book, the more confused I was getting. Where was the author going? What was the point?

I get what the author was trying to do, but as the same time, I just gave up. Yes, I gave up on a book because it seemed it was going nowhere. The gospel does apply to everything in our lives but not everything needs to be applied to the gospel. Can we get the gospel from a song by a non-Christian band? Can we get the gospel while attending a sporting event? The gospel helps us response to what God has done through the finish work of Christ and how we are to live our lives for the glory of God.

In regards to my review for The Gospel According to Star Wars, I would pass on this one.

Thanks Westminster John Knox Press for letting me review this book.