Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0617/2004027929-b.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0617/2004027929-d.html
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Summary
Summary
Written by award-winning radio personality Dick Staub, this compelling book is filled with anecdotes from the Star Wars films that serve as a launching pad into rediscovering authentic Christianity. Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters also contains quotes from revered "Jedi Christians" such as Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, the Apostle Paul, G. K. Chesterton, and other theologians, mystics, writers, and philosophers. The author sheds new light on the struggles and challenges of living faithfully in postmodern life and offers a reintroduction to what C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien called the "one true myth," Christianity.
Author Notes
Dick Staub is an award-winning broadcaster, writer, and speaker whose work focuses on interpreting faith and culture. The director of the Center for Faith and Culture and adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University, he is also the radio personality behind the Dick Staub Show, an award-winning, nationally syndicated daily broadcast he hosted for fifteen years. Dick's interviews are a popular feature on Christianity Today 's website, and his daily blog (www.dickstaub.com) draws thousands of visitors each month. He serves on the board of Image: A Journal of Religion & the Arts and plays a strategic role in the C.S. Lewis Foundation.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Biblically literate Star Wars fans have long recognized similarities between Jedi teachings and biblical wisdom. Staub, a broadcaster and director of the Center for Faith and Culture in Seattle, artfully lays out many similarities for Christians who want to claim Jedi wisdom as their own. After seeing a Star Wars prequel, Staub realized that a young man he was mentoring wanted "to be a `Jedi Christian,' " but Staub's generation had not produced a Yoda. To correct that, Staub takes on the role of a modern-day Yoda (the wise sage) by speaking directly to readers as aspiring Jedi Christians and doling out his understanding of Christian theology. Thankfully, Staub resists the urge to fit all-things-Jedi into a Christian framework, but instead picks and chooses from Jedi (as well as Buddhist, Jewish, Taoist and mystical) teachings, comparing what he finds with biblical wisdom. Because the book is so biblically oriented, it seems to be reaching out to young evangelical Christians, asking them to consider a more progressive tradition of Christian faith-one that embraces liberal Christian philosophers, theologians and mystics, and social and environmental activism. Using Jedi culture as a draw, Staub builds a number of bridges with this book that will keep coffeehouse theological discussions going at least as long as Star Wars films are popular. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Using Star Wars as his dig, Staub excavates the Christian meaning in pop-cultural artifacts. Like Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Luke Skywalker, Staub figures, is an everyman who is transformed into a heroic figure. Staub believes that as Christianity is Western culture's prevailing myth, Star Wars exemplifies a prevailing Western pop-cultural myth. In the cinematic story about the ultimate struggle between good and evil, Staub finds profoundly Christian wisdom. Christianity, he warns, is always one generation from extinction, since spiritual practices pass from generation to generation via individuals. The contemporary lack of spiritual mentors--Yodas--has led to an irrevocable decline in the next generation of Christians. Staub yearns for an authentic Christianity, such as he found in his youth but that now has virtually disappeared. Entertaining and very subjective--Staub refers to it as a journal of remembrances--this discussion of how Star Wars relates to Christianity also refers to such currently immensely popular writers within the Christian tradition as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. --June Sawyers Copyright 2005 Booklist
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments |
| Introduction |
| Part 1 The Lord of the Force |
| Chapter 1 Lord of the Force |
| Chapter 2 The Lost Sayings |
| Part 2 Seeking |
| Chapter 3 Believe |
| Chapter 4 ""Do. Or Do Not. There Is No Try."" |
| Chapter 5 Wake Up. Be Healed. Be Saved |
| Chapter 6 Seek First |
| Chapter 7 Will One Thing |
| Chapter 8 The Seeker Is Sought |
| Part 3 Knowing |
| Chapter 9 Enter the Cloud of Unknowing |
| Chapter 10 Don't Miss the Big Reveal |
| Chapter 11 Meditate |
| Chapter 12 Go Deep in a Shallow Age |
| Chapter 13 Aim High and Let Grace F |