Quote:
Originally Posted by John of Woking
I think when CS Lewis and JR Tolkien were penning their works Britain was more rooted in Christian tradition.
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Regardless of the spirit of the times here in 2010, the English literary tradition itself is very Christian, and that is the tradition in which Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series. The works of critic John Granger have painstakingly and thoroughly documented this fact.
Collectively and individually, the novels' plot structure, character development, imagery, and symbolism are all unmistakably Christian both implicitly and - especially later on - rather explicitly. In particular, no one who hasn't been living under a rock for the last two thousand years of western civilization can possibly miss how blatant the Christian elements in the last novel (
Deathly Hallows) are.
A Christ figure saves the day in the climax of each work. The end of
Chamber of Secrets is a medieval morality play. Every book features both thematically and in its plot a journey from self-sacrificial spiritual death to resurrection and new life. Other examples abound, enough for authors like Granger to have published four or five books analyzing them.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows quotes the New Testament
twice: Matthew 6:19 and 1 Corinthians 15:26.
And the magic resembles real-world occult practices the way the exploits of Joyce's protagonist in
Ulysses resemble the wars of ancient Greek epics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John of Woking
I think the problem now is that kids are growing up with zero religious input. They are living in a relativist, moral vacuum. They are avidly searching to sate their spiritual appetite with whatever presents itself to them.
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Then we need to get them to read
Harry Potter - fast. It will ingrain in them a deep sense of the chasm between right and wrong and an appreciation for the value of self-sacrifice which will prepare their souls to accept Christ's challenge to take up their cross.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John of Woking
I know in the USA there is still a strong Christian bulwark but over here a lot of children are really easily influenced....I remember here in Britain the pagan federation really did experience a massive increase in interest as a result of the HP phenomenon. Harry Potter really did spark a wave of interest in Wicca.
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(a) I doubt that. The statistics behind such perceptions have proven spurious in the past, and it's literally more likely that
The Chroncles of Narnia would lead someone to occult magic than
Harry Potter. The latter doesn't even have invocational sorcery in it, whereas the former does mention it (though it always unequivocally condemns it).
(b) Every real-world practitioner of Wicca, witchcraft, or occult practices laughs when asked whether
Harry Potter resembles what they do. There was even one on this thread a few pages back.
(c) Ordinary humans can't even do any magic whatsoever in
Harry Potter anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John of Woking
Now I am sure all the good people here on CAF can read these stories and watch these films and extrapolate some moral virtue here and there. I am sure children in Christian families are quite rooted in the Truth to remain unaffected but the reality is for most people Harry Potter is their first introduction to anything vaguely preternatural/supernatural etc and they seem to be turning to Wicca rather than Christ as a result...I think this is what the exorcist was referring to...
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If so, then he was gravely mistaken.
Harry Potter is loaded with praise of solid virtue, powerful portrayals of the ugliness of vice, the heroism and efficacy of self-sacrifice, and impossible-to-miss Christian imagery and plot structures.
In another
Harry Potter thread on this forum, someone described how the series helped bring them back to Christ and the Church,
and in a documentary produced after
Deathly Hallows came out, Rowling even found it necessary to clarify that she wasn't intending to proselytize for Christianity with her novels.
Quote:
Originally Posted by takers
May I also through out the book titled "Finding God in Harry Potter" by John Granger.
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Yes, that's a great book. But the book has been updated for the whole series, since its first edition came out when there were only four or five
Harry Potter novels.
The title of the most up-to-date edition is
How Harry Cast His Spell. I highly recommend it for anyone who doubts that
Harry Potter can be anything but extraordinarily beneficial to a child whose spiritual faculties are still developing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by estesbob
I guess this wouldn't be a good time to start extolling the virtues of the stories of H.P. Lovecraft?  |
Oh, please do! That'd be hilarious to watch unfold.
Re: Warnings about Harry Potter
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