Harry Potter
Many people have written a great deal about
the Harry Potter books, so my comments may seem like a poor addition to an already
well-worked area. However, in response to a request for my opinion, I submit
the following, and encourage the reader to look elsewhere for a more
comprehensive and detailed review
A brief synopsis of the first book
We first meet Harry in The Sorcerer’s Stone. He’s a 10-year old orphan living with parents who despise him. It’s not until his 11thbirthday that Harry learns he has magical abilities and a rather interesting past. When he was only a baby, his parents were both killed while trying to fight the most evil wizard on earth, Lord Voldemort. Miraculously, Harry the baby escaped the wicked wizard with only a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead and little memory of the incident
After the death of his parents, Harry is
forced to live with his aunt and uncle. They don't want him. They find him to
be an irritating intrusion, and do not like anything associated with Harry or
his parents
Identified as a
wizard. Harry is invited to enroll at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. The Dursleys, Harry's relatives, are more
than happy to get him out of the house. It's here that Harry realizes the
significance of his past
Hogwarts is an enchanted place, invisible
to Muggles (non-magical people). Hogwarts offers
classes like broomstick riding and care of magical creatures. During his first
year at Hogwarts, Harry begins to develop his skills and comprehend the depth
of his talent. He quickly becomes a top player of Quidditch,
a game similar to soccer but played on flying broomsticks
But Harry learns more than just the
mechanics of wizardry at Hogwarts. Beyond the spells and potions, Hogwarts is a
place for students to learn the importance of friendship, honesty and loyalty.
Harry meets two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione
Granger, as well as the class bully, Draco Malfoy. Here, Harry gains self-confidence as he learns to
think for himself and make important decisions. He battles the class bully and
eventually comes face to face with his archenemy Voldemort.
In the end, with great strength and courage, Harry prevails just as we knew he
would because, after all, he’s the hero
The next three books in the series, The
Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and the Goblet of Fire, take Harry
on new, sometimes frightening adventures, and we are allowed a glimpse into the
inner struggles he must go through to develop into a mature young man
I
have been to the first two Potter movies, and enjoyed them thoroughly. They
were full of fun, humour and visual delights, and the
main characters were all very entertaining, though rather stereotypical. In my
opinion, the Potter stories are on much the same level as the Enid Blyton Famous Five stories. Rather innocuous, slightly
shabby, and uninspiring but a good read for a normal, balanced kid. Their
equivalent is found in the adventure annuals of the past, and the Indiana ones
type stories, Biggles and so on, which have been the
main diet of millions through the years. Full of froth and bubble, signifying
very little
As a conservative Christian I was initially
concerned about the Harry Potter stories, so initially I looked for direct or
clear occult teachings in the movies, but after some careful examination I had
to admit that I could not find any, although I can see how some other Christians
have inferred occult teaching by interpreting certain scenes that way. The
magic I encountered through both movies was simply a re-run of already
stereotyped magic pointed hats, spells, magic words, owls, elfish characters,
invisibility blankets, magic mirrors, wands and so on all the tools of the
trade when it comes to kid’s entertainment.
On the other hand, if one looks, one can
find examples of courage, loyalty, and a willingness to sacrifice one’s self for another, the bonds of
friendship, forgiveness, reconciliation, and there is always the age-old
pattern of evil being vanquished by good. The heroes always triumph over great
odds, and the stories always have a happy ending. If it was otherwise I would
be disturbed. The whole universe is part of this pattern. God is Good, and His Will is invincible. Satan and all his
followers will one day be destroyed, leaving goodness to reign. Harry’s stories follow the same pattern
The author, J.K.Rowling
has said she has no intention of drawing children into the occult. Of the magic
and wizardry she says she, My wizarding
world is a world of the imagination. I think its a
moral world. Of course we don’t have to believe her, but the proof is in
her stories, and they certainly seem to verify her words. When we compare what Harry’s
books tell us about the occult, with what the Bible says, the difference
is very clear. The Bible warns us against certain things, which are quite
specific, whereas one would have to look very hard to find these things in
Harry’s adventures
The Bible definition of a witch
There shall not be found among you anyone that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch Deuteronomy 18:10
A man also or woman that hath a familiar
spirit, or that is a wizard,
shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood
shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:27
Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard,
or a necromancer. Deuteronomy 18:11
The Hebrew for witchcraft is mkhasepah, or mkhaseph, which
means an evil sorceress or sorcerer, a person who uses spoken spells in secret
to harm or kill other people. They were greatly feared by the Israelites
because they believed there was no defense against the spells
What the Bible here strictly denounces is
the real occult. What
we find in Harry’s books is a low
level, stereotypical type of magic.
Magic is not the occult. To confuse the two is to: 1. Do J.K. Rowling a
disservice, 2. Reveal a poor understanding of the real occult. I think
Christians who jump in and start shouting occult! without
thinking first, lose credibility. Harry’s world is kid’s stuff. It is full of traditional, and quite silly magic, on par with Santa Claus,
the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, elves, goblins, dragons and other
fantastical characters and creatures that have entertained children for
hundreds of years. When some extreme-view adults come along and find sinister
and occult aspects in Harry’s books, they are
following the same inappropriate path that some people followed a few years ago
when they tried to ban Noddy because it supposedly
depicted racism and immorality. To the pure all things are pure, and to the
unclean all things are unclean. In other words, people tend to see what they
want to, and what people see is usually a reflection of what is already in
their hearts. In another useful illustration, Two men
looked from the prison bars, one saw dirt and one saw stars. What we are trying
to say here is that sometimes the observations we make are more a revelation of
what we are like rather than what we are observing. When it comes to Harry
Potter the principle holds true. Those who are overly liberal will see no harm
in most things, while those who are rigidly orthodox will see potential danger
in almost everything
An example of the rigid orthodox view comes
from a Mr. Armstrong, “The Harry Potter
books are full of enchantments and evil spells. These enchantments and spells .
. .are produced by the aid of demons which are evil in
the sight of God.” And this from a
man who said he has never even read the books. Furthermore, where in any Potter
book do we find Potter calling on demons for help
A Christian magazine, the Crusader said, “I think the Harry Potter books are
an attempt by Wiccans (i.e. witches) to recruit young
children into the practices of witchcraft.”
Another anti-Potter writer put the
following words on the Internet, “Why do we allow our
children to wear Potter’s evil lightning
bolt tattoo on their forehead? The lightning bolt represents a powerful curse.
This symbol is of the wicked Voldemort. It is
interesting also to note that the lightning illustration is found also in the
Book of Luke as a symbol of Satan Luke 10:18.”
Frances Donovan, hostess of the About Guide
to Pagan/Wiccan Religion, says the following:
"First of all, let me say that witches, Wiccans,
and pagans are absolutely not interested in "recruiting" or
converting anyone to our religion. We believe that all religious traditions
have merit and celebrate the fact that there are so many different ones to
choose from. Those who are called to the path will come when they're ready. I
have read one of the Harry Potter books and found it good fun, but it has
almost nothing to do with what witches actually do. Pagans do not, in general,
possess any "special powers". We certainly don't enchant flying cars
or travel through our fireplaces. We simply celebrate the magic and energy
inherent in Creation.
Patricia Allgeier,
a 57year old witch in
A third opinion comes from Chad Anctil of the Witches' League for Public Awareness.
"It (the Potter story) portrays witches in positive ways ... but it does
not portray my religious beliefs. It is difficult for the religion to be taken
seriously when books like this portray it as magic.”
Where are the real dangers
Some Christians keep their children away
from books with talking animals; some guard them from stories where animals
wear clothes. I have met people who reject Rupert the Bear, and Asterix, because of the magic in the stories, or, in the
case of Asterix, the magic potion. Extreme Christian
parents will not allow their children to watch cartoons, or enjoy anything with
fantasy in it, including Fairy Stories and Nursery Rhymes. I am not criticizing
these parents, because that is their business, but it seems to me that it is
quite unreasonable to reject, in the case of Potter, what is actually a fake
occult, when it is the real occult the parents ought to be focused on. True
occult practices are not found in Harry’s books. One might
as well label the classic
And here is a very curious thing. While it
would be most unusual for a Christian bookstore to place Potter books on its
shelves, because of the so-called occult connection, what do we actually find
on the shelves of many Christian bookstores? We find books about theistic
evolution, and books which attack and undermine the faith - written of course in the best intellectual
language, by professors and the like. We find kid’s books, which portray the
This is such an inconsistent attitude - an untenable duality. Surely children are
not so stupid as to know that animals do not wear clothes or talk? Surely the
context of the magic in the imaginary tales is obviously spurious? And when it
comes to the fantastical rubbish sold in some Christian bookshops, doesn’t this point out how lazy and
apathetic many Christians must be when it comes to real Bible study
One sorcerer
mentioned in the Bible was called Simon
“But there was a
certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of
Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: Acts 8:9
The Greek for “sorcery” is pharmakia
(from which we get Pharmacy). A sorcerer was someone who used medicine, drugs,
spells and occasionally poisons. These people were criminals in that they
murdered people by administering poisons. Sorcery is listed as one of the “works of the flesh” in Gal.5:20. Some versions
translate this to mean participate in demonic activity. Vines says, “In sorcery, the use of drugs,
whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals
to occult powers, with the provision of various charms, amulets, etc.,
professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and
power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious
resources and powers of the sorcerer.”
There are spells in Harry’s books, but no
appeals to occult powers. There are incantations, but they are silly words,
drawn from the Latin, such as “Illuminus” to make the end of a wand light up,
or “Riddikulus” to make an ogre (a boggart) turn into something silly. These incantations are
as silly as “Open Sesame!” to make a cave door roll aside
Witche
There are many types of witch. Some people call themselves by this name but really have no idea what it means. They are fake witches who enjoy feeling a bit special, and different from other people. Then there are witches who dabble with the fun and excitement of the idea. They wear traditional clothes, and they follow the storybook traditions, but once again, they completely miss the reality. The third kind of witch is also called wiccan, which is a word carrying the meaning of wisdom - hence wickerwork baskets and furniture
The wiccan
religion is earth-based, and it worships various deities. They
follow a rule known as the Wiccan Rede:
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole
of the law.” In modern
language, this rule translates to “Do your own thing.” Some people say something similar, “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want
with it.” Kids say, “I’m the boss of me!” Unlike the true wiccans,
or witches, Harry’s stories never
show any loyalty to any deities, or gods, or occult rulers. There is no mention
of them, and no worship of them. Wiccans believe the Rede, so they do whatever they CAN do. There is no
restraint for true wiccans. If they can do it, they do do
it. Harry’s books are quite
different. The Hogwarts school program is designed to teach the young witches
and wizards the proper and responsible use of their powers, and the
consequences of misuse
Wiccans are very
interested in the environment. There is nothing in the Potter books so far)
which would indicate environmental awareness. True wiccans
are pantheistic. Potter books avoid the subject of God or gods. Wiccans usually never put spells on other people because
they believe in The Law of Threefold Return which says that whatever spell they
may cast will also return on themselves with interest.
Potter characters show no such fear
True wiccans have
nothing to do with flying carpets, dragons, trolls, magic wands, pointy hats,
clothes with stars and moons on them, and broomsticks, as the Potter characters
do. But when some Potter characters do share activities with wiccans, the practices are ridiculed. For example Professor
Dumbledor points out to the students that the
divination teacher makes the same unsuccessful predictions year after year
Wiccans believe they are
channeling the natural energy of the Earth and living things. The Potter
characters never try to draw power from the Earth - they have the power in them. They go to Hogwarts
because they need to understand and discipline their powers, and while there
they are taught such things as personal responsibility for their decisions. The
school is as much about character development as training in proper use of
power
So what does a real witch look like
I happen to have met a few true wiccans. They were nice people - nice in the sense of being intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and environmentalist. They wore ordinary clothes, they had jobs, they were interested in the world, they mixed with non-wiccan people. If they had pets, they always cared for them. You may possibly pass a wiccan every time you walk through a busy street. They don’t have flying cars, and they don’t catch trains inside brick walls. One wiccan woman I knew very well was one of the nicest people you could meet, and though (obviously) not a Christian, had high moral standards, and was dearly missed when she died because of her benevolence. Her funeral was just a memorial. Her body was donated to medical science. She was a vegetarian. Her home was very thin on furniture and possessions but her treasures were photographs and mementos of people (and places) she had known
The purpose of the
Potter books.
To entertain kids
To make money for the author
The stories so far all follow well-worn
ethical paths. They show that it is better to do good than evil, that evil
cannot ultimately beat good, that it is important to be true to yourself, that
courage, loyalty and so on are worthwhile, that actions have consequences, that
to be good at something you must study and practice hard, that cheats never
prosper . . . all these qualities can be found in all good stories. The Famous
Five always demonstrated these qualities. You’ll also find them in The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Dumbo, King Arthur, Chronicles of Narnia,
Wizard of Oz, Sleeping Beauty, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lilo
and Stitch, Jack and the Beanstalk, Monsters Inc, Ice Age, Cinderella,
Pinocchio, Noddy and so on
Harry Potter books work on mainly one level
only. They are rather mediocre, very stereotypical, and superficial. Here is
not much underneath the stories, but that may also be a strong point. Many kids
don’t want to read something which
forces them to see more than just a good story. Harry’s adventures are not allegorical
like the Chronicles of Narnia. When you finish a
Potter book you go away with a good story, a ripping yarn and probably a smile.
When you read a Narnia book you start to understand
deeper things, about God, about Christianity, about our place in the universe.
There is no Aslan in Potter’s life, no thrones, no resurrection,
no scenes of Christ breathing creation into being. Potter is just Potter, and
as such he reflects much of the flat, materialistic attitude many people have
about life today. Materialism and hedonism combine to produce an hour or two of
entertainment in a theatre, and everyone leaves with a smile - no wiser about the meaning of life than
when they went in
Some real dangers
in the Potter books.
Many kids will spend days and weeks reading
them, to the exclusion of better quality material. Like comics, and TV
cartoons, Potter is going to consume large chunks of millions of children’s lives. This may be a great waste
of time compared to what these kids might have done with the same time. (This
is a relative argument and very difficult to qualify or defend.
Potter stories sometimes (but infrequently)
depict adults as stupid. Non-magic people are called muggles
and as such are derided. This is unfair discrimination. Magical people seem to
be that way by inheritance, not by sheer training, so there are no grounds for
such discrimination
The ability, or
power within the Hogwarts students seems to be neutral, as in the Star Wars
force. This is deceptive in that it implies that there is no such thing as good
or evil, just a neutral force which can be used either way
As a Christian father, I have warned my two
children many times about counterfeits and deceptions, and tried to show them
the Christian worldview. I believe if children are grounded in the Scriptures
they have nothing to fear from the world or Satan and his tricks. I have also
promoted alternative material, such as the Chronicles of Narnia
and many other good books, songs, events, productions, trips, movies and so on.
After all, life is short, and if we are going to use it up we might as well
spend our time in company with the best quality input we can find. What we are
as people is partly a result of what we feed into our minds
Having said this, I would not heartily
recommend the Potter books to children, because I think there is much better
material available to keep them occupied, but if they must read Potter, then I
will not be one of those extremists who shouts “occult!” at them. As an
evangelist I can always find some way of using Potter to point kids to Jesus,
so rather than ruin my chances through ignorant comments, I will look for ways
to build bridges.
This essay is one of those ways.