What Can you Learn About Truth From Star Wars?

Well, I'm sure someone has come up with many lessons from the Star Wars movies, but this blog is not one of them. However, I am going to use Star Wars images in order to make my point.

In our book we share about three truth lenses (glasses that manage our assumptions about truth) that are most common in the the Western world today. One of the examples that our mentor Dr. Paul Hiebert gave us was that of a picture.

The first truth lens is Positivism. A Positivist believes that all truth is knowable and can be objectively defined. They view the world like a photograph. This means that they spend their days trying to fill in the photo and get it as clear and crisp as possible.

The second truth lens is Instrumentalism. This lens rejects the idea that all truth is objective and says that emotion, story, and personal experience are key to understanding truth. They also say that truth is defined by such personal things that it cannot be shared with others because they do not have the same experiences as you have. Instrumentalists view their world as a collage. No two collages are the same. They each take on the perspective and approach of the artist and become unique representations of how they view the world.
The third truth lens is Critical Realism. This truth lens believes that there is objective truth but that it is understood and acted upon subjectively. That means that there is truth that we know and truth that we are learning together. This lens is best described using a montage. A montage is many small pictures that add up to one large picture. The unique parts look different, but they all make sense when seen in the larger context. A montage has a common view of reality but each piece of that picture approaches it in a different way.

So with this example in front of you, how do you view truth? What lens is defining how you approach your faith, relationships and outreach? We would love to hear your input.