What do you think of Harry Potter Novels?

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Mperea75

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Ok with All hallows eve (Hollowene) coming up I have seen a great rise of people reading and re-reading the Harry Potter novels. I have seen the movies and even read parts of the books printed however, I just believe that is does glamorize the Occult and teaches our young people that it is ok to dable in magic just as long as you know your limits. To me that is like telling a 5 year old ok you can go ahead and play with a little bit of fire but just do not touch it.
 
Please do a search on Harry Potter in the forums. This has been discussed several times and usually gets into an argument between the “it’s fiction, anyone with a sound upbringing that realizes it is just fiction can read it.” and the “anything that mentions witchcraft is evil” groups.

Here is just one example of a previous thread among many.
 
If you are going to forbid “Harry Potter” Then you should forbid “The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe” and “The Wizard of Oz”.

Why must we take FUN so seriously? Should we forbid fairies then? Or angels?
 
I had been on the fence about Harry Potter (my kids are 5 & 2 so I felt like I had some time to decide) until I read Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger. He’s a teacher of classical literature and a Christian father who read the books so he could tell his kids why they couldn’t read them and found the plots, themes and symbols amazingly consistent with a Christian worldview. He does address the magic issue and reminds us that CS Lewis and Tolkien had the same criticisms for their books. I have read all the books and enjoyed them, maybe not as much as LOTR, but still as fun stories. I’m looking forward to reading them again soon with these themes and symbols in mind.
 
wisdom 3:5:
… until I read Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger. He’s a teacher of classical literature and a Christian father who read the books so he could tell his kids why they couldn’t read them and found the plots, themes and symbols amazingly consistent with a Christian worldview. He does address the magic issue and reminds us that CS Lewis and Tolkien had the same criticisms for their books. I have read all the books and enjoyed them, maybe not as much as LOTR, but still as fun stories. I’m looking forward to reading them again soon with these themes and symbols in mind.
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👍 :amen:
 
Loved the novels and didn’t like the movies all that much. As noted above, there’s a huge amount of Christianity intertwined in these stories (down to celebrating Christian holidays). The entire good vs evil, getting to know your friends and identifying negative influences, protecting yourself from evil and keeping yourself incorruptable are all solid messages coming from these books. When I read the novels with my kids we talked about every chapter and related everything to solid Christian teaching. Dumbledore is a parallel for the benevolent God/Valdemort obviously the devil (down to the snake imagery). Harry is an average child subjected to great evil who manages to identify right from wrong every time and keeps his head even when evil tries to overtake him. Don’t knock them til you read them…they’re phenomenally well written.
 
One thing I’ve noticed about Harry Potter vs. LOTR and the Chronicles of Narnia is that the human characters in the latter do not perform magic whereas Harry Potter has the human characters performing magic. Maybe that is a difference to consider???
 
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IrenkaJMJ:
One thing I’ve noticed about Harry Potter vs. LOTR and the Chronicles of Narnia is that the human characters in the latter do not perform magic whereas Harry Potter has the human characters performing magic. Maybe that is a difference to consider???
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Given the age group involved, I don’t make a serious distinction. There’s less “magic” and “occult” in HP than there ever was with Elizabeth Montgomery in *Bewitched *or The Wizard of Oz. Yet I’m not aware of anyone being corrupted by either one.
 
loyola rambler:
Given the age group involved, I don’t make a serious distinction. There’s less “magic” and “occult” in HP than there ever was with Elizabeth Montgomery in *Bewitched *or The Wizard of Oz. Yet I’m not aware of anyone being corrupted by either one.
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The distinction I’m referring to is human characters doing magic, performing spells, etc… Elizabeth Montgomery’s character was, again, not human. She was a witch, not mortal. Dorothy, in Wizard of Oz, didn’t perform spells or magic except at the end where she used the ruby slippers, to get home. That might be why Harry Potter, where human characters are using magical powers, is controversial.
 
I loved the books and so did my son. I didn’t even hear about the controversy until I had already read them. I saw nothing wrong with them since they are so obviously fiction. I like doing to Disney also. I am able to keep it in perspective. Magic is just fun, but not a religion for me.
 
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dhgray:
I think they would make a good door stop.
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That would be a good thing for those HP books. There are so many good novels out there, its a shame to see so many children wasting time reading garbage.
 
Catholic church stands up for Harry Potter

Staff and agencies
Tuesday February 4, 2003

A Vatican spokesman has defended the Harry Potter books and films, saying they are consistent with Christian morals.

The Rev Peter Fleetwood, a member of the Vatican’s council for culture, was speaking at the launch of a document warning of the dangers of “new age” spiritual beliefs to the Catholic faith. The draft document is designed to counter a perceived drift away from the church toward belief in crystals, feng shui and other practices not based in Christian teaching.

Asked whether the Harry Potter books fell into the same category, Mr Fleetwood said, “I don’t see any, any problems in the Harry Potter series.” He went on to say that the good v evil message of the books was consistent with Christian morality.

Countering suggestions from some evangelical groups that the tales of magic school add glamour to occult beliefs, he said, "I don’t think there’s anyone in this room who grew up without fairies, magic and angels in their imaginary world. They aren’t bad. They aren’t serving as a banner for an anti-Christian ideology.

“If I have understood well the intentions of Harry Potter’s author, they help children to see the difference between good and evil. And she is very clear on this.”

Finally, he said JK Rowling was “Christian by conviction, is Christian in her mode of living, even in her way of writing.” The fifth Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, is released on June 21, with the third film expected later this year.
 
Vatican backs Harry Potter
By Nicole Winfield in Vatican City

THE Vatican is giving two thumbs up to the Harry Potter series.

The Reverend Don Peter Fleetwood told a Vatican press conference today the good versus evil plotlines of the best-selling books were imbued with Christian morals.

“I don’t see any, any problems in the Harry Potter series,” he said.

Fleetwood was responding to questions following the release of a new Vatican document on the New Age phenomenon, which he helped draft as a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Fleetwood was asked whether the magic embraced by Harry Potter and his pals at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was problematic for the Catholic church.

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Dorothy, in Wizard of Oz, didn’t perform spells or magic except at the end where she used the ruby slippers, to get home.​

Well, there you go. She used “magic”. That is occult, and there were WITCHES!!! Good and BAD using MAGIc!
 
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Lilyofthevalley:

Dorothy, in Wizard of Oz, didn’t perform spells or magic except at the end where she used the ruby slippers, to get home.​

Well, there you go. She used “magic”. That is occult, and there were WITCHES!!! Good and BAD using MAGIc!
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Sigh…:confused: Again my point is that the witches are not human, and Dorothy was not in training to become one. That is a real difference between HP and LOTR, Narnia, etc… That is a fact whether one likes it or not. All I’m suggesting is that maybe it is something to think about.
 
“Chronicles of Narnia” was written by a Christian Theologian.
 
Lilyofthevalley said:
“Chronicles of Narnia” was written by a Christian Theologian.
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Yes! C.S. Lewis! While the children, in his books, experienced a fantasy world they did not perform or do magic.
 
This is an article written by the man who wrote the book “Finding God in Harry Potter”…

touchstonemag.com/docs/issues/16.9docs/16-9pg34.html

This is a link to the Introduction and the first chapter of this book. You might note that the first chapter deals specifically with Magic.

Invocational Magic vs. Incantational Magic.

It is his premise, that Invocational magic (meaning “to call in”) requires the person to perform magic with powers being summoned to the person. He goes on to describe how people call on spirits (whom we assume are evil) for personal power.

Incantational magic (meaning “to sing along with, or to harmonize with”), and that the magic used in good fiction parallels the use of magic, as reflections of God’s work in our lives and the miracles of the saints.

Granger goes into more detail and sifts through more aspects of HP magic vs. Narnia, and Middle Earth magic. But in the end he reiterates that they are all of the same ilk, that is, incantational magic.

The whole book itself is worth the read- especially if you are biased against HP just because of the magic/occult. But at the very least, read the Intro and first chapter on the following link, to familiarize yourself with the beautiful imagery and reflections of God in these stories…

tyndalebooksellers.com/firstchapter/pdfs/1-4143-0091-3.pdf
 
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