Aliens and Avatars: The Christology of Science Fiction

By Rev. Daniel Woodring

Prior to his conversion, C.S. Lewis held that Christianity could not possibly be true because it “borrowed” so many themes from mythologies and religions that “supposedly” predated Christianity. He would, for instance, point to the myths about Greek and Roman gods taking human form. His Christian friends, J.R.R.Tolkien and Hugo Dyson, convinced him that those myths, even if distorted, could embody truth.

The fact that we can find parallels to Christian theology in non-Christian religions and myths should not surprise us. The God-man Messiah, for example, was prophesied to Adam and Eve. We can easily presume that their apostate descendants could incorporate parallel ideas to the true religion in their own beliefs and stories.

Nor should it be astonishing to us to find parallel themes in the modern mythologies depicted in movies, television, and literary fiction. The science fiction genre is no exception.

The television sci-fi series Stargate SG-1, based on the 1994 movie Stargate, is currently in its ninth season. The stargate, a piece of ancient alien technology discovered during an archeological expedition, establishes wormholes to other worlds throughout the galaxy, many of which are populated by descendants of ancient earthlings. SG-1 is the designation of one team of travelers who visit these worlds in search of alien technology in order to defend the earth against the Goa’uld, a race of parasitic, snakelike aliens, who invade the bodies of humans and pretend to be gods. The Goa’uld usually bear the names of the deities of ancient Egyptian, Norse, or other religious systems.

Not unlike our Lord, who has both a human nature and divine nature, yet is one Christ, these false gods have the divine nature of the Goa’uld parasite and the human nature of their enslaved hosts. While the Goa’uld are false gods bent on evildoing, thievery, and domination, the series provides no clear indication who the true God is or even if He exists. But using Martin Luther’s dictum that a god is “that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress” (Large Catechism), one can conclude that the true god in Stargate SG-1 is the knowledge of the Ancients, the race of beings that created the stargates and other advanced and powerful gadgets. Individuals who have gained this ancient knowledge can obtain celestial attributes by entering a higher plain of existence through a process called “ascension.” The human nature is united with the divine which, in this case, is the knowledge of the ancients.

Sci-Fi Channel’s new spin-off series Stargate Atlantis is based on a similar premise. The Ancients, who once lived in the aqueous city of Atlantis (located in a far away galaxy), had ascended. They abandoned the city to be found by explorers from earth, only to discover the threat of another race of life-sucking creatures known as the Wraith, who, in spite of their advanced weapons and spacecraft, seem to have no knowledge of facial skin products.

Another sci-fi series now airing on the Sci-Fi Channel is Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. The Andromeda Ascendant, a sophisticated starship, and her captain, Dylan Hunt, are rescued three hundred years after being frozen in time at the edge of a black hole. Hunt awakens in a universe in which the system’s commonwealth, which once brought order and civilization to the universe, had fallen and left the universe in anarchy. Enlisting the crew of his rescuers, Hunt tries to restore the commonwealth with the backing of his powerful ship. The god from which the crew “expects all good” and in which they “take refuge in all distress” is the Andromeda Ascendant.

But the Andromeda is not just a ship. It is also the ship’s artificial intelligence that takes on a human nature as a holographic image and android. This personality is called the ship’s “avatar,” which in Hindu mythology designates a deity which descends into an incarnate form. In fact, in one episode, Andromeda is called “the ship incarnate.”

Last, but by no means least, is the Star Wars saga. Regarding the initial Star Wars episode, A New Hope, George Lucas admitted, “There’s a mixture of all kinds of mythology and religious belief that have been amalgamated into the movie.” Subsequent episodes were more of the same, as the idea of the force became developed. The force is the divine power that, in the words of Obi Wan Kenobi, “surrounds us and permeates us. It holds the galaxy together.” While the force is omnipresent, it is found particularly strongly in the Skywalker family. In Episode 1- The Phantom Menace, a blood test reveals that Anakin has a high midichlorian count, demonstrating the potent dwelling of the force within his human body. While some fans have objected to this uniting of the force with human flesh, preferring Yoda’s platonic aphorism, “Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter” (Episode 5), it is strangely reminiscent of the uniting of the divine and human nature in the person of Christ. Another striking parallel is Anakin’s virgin birth through the power of the force.

This is not to suggest that Star Wars in any way portrays a Christian worldview. It doesn’t. While Christians may appreciate Star Wars and other science fiction as entertainment, it must be recognized that theologically there is usually a lot to be desired. But examining the religious motifs in modern mythologies can help us understand the cultures in which we live, and perhaps also find embodiments of the Truth that, in reality, fills the universe.

Rev. Dan Woodring is pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in New Buffalo, Michigan, Earth and supreme galactic chancellor of Higher Things. His email is woodring@higherthings.org.