Now I have read all the books and seen all the movies that are out. I have formed quite different beliefs than I had to start with and I have really tried too look into both sides. I also read two books called What's a Christan To Do With Harry Potter? by Connie Neal and Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger. I have learned a lot from them and I highly recommend both books even if you are not considering reading the Harry Potter books or letting your children read them!!! These books will help bring you understanding of why so many people including strong Christan adults love Harry Potter.
"I am convinced that the fundamental reason for the astounding popularity of the Harry Potter novels is their ability to meet a spiritual longing for some experience of the truths of life, love, and death taught by Christianity but denied by secular culture. Human beings are designed for Christ, weather they know it or not. That the Harry Potter stories "sing along" with the great story of Christ is a significant key to understanding there compelling richness."
-Looking for God in Harry Potter
These are some questions most Christan parents ask in concerns about the Harry Potter books.
Might kids be lured unsuspectingly into occult practices?
My answer is no. I think being afraid of occult involvement is a valid fear and the Bible warns about tampering with spirits and getting involved in sorcery but the Harry Potter books do not encourage "sorcery" or invocational magic. The magic in the Harry Potter books is incantational magic. The difference is?? Well invocational means "to call in" this kind of magic is usually referred to as sorcery and the bible is very against this!!! Incantational magic is magic that shows in a -story form- the human desire for magic beyond the real world we live in. Like wands, trolls, giants, unicorns, invisibility cloaks, talking hats, and other objects that are fictional.
Might kids learn disrespect for Adults and Authority?
Harry has many different authoritie's in his life and some he resents at first but towards the end of the books Harry realizes the importance of all those adults and sees how it would have been detrimental if he had not obeyed them (which he did).
Might kids come to think that Wizards and Witches are cool while non magical people are not?
On the contrary the evil characters are the ones who hate non-magical people. Harry and his friends acknowledge that non-magical people are just as important and interesting as they are. That is the main thing the whole fight is over. The dark Lord Voldemort wants to take over and make non-magical people slaves.
"Perhaps you're wondering if you should allow your children to read or watch the movies. In order to make responsible decisions, you need to know what is really in the stories." -What's a Christan to Do With Harry Potter?
7 comments:
I have never Harry Potter explained that way.
While I am very strong against witches and sorcery of any kind, and will probably never read the Harry Potter books, this has at least let me hear a different side of it.
I thought you might enjoy this post on another blog:
http://carrie.homeschooljournal.net/2007/07/24/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/#comment-21881
All you said is true. People do long for spiritual fulfilment, and they turn to Harry. I've never read the books.
Yes. I think that Harry points people to Christ especially in the last book when life after death is talked about and Harry’s life reflects Christ’s sacrifice and it even quotes scripture.
Kezzi,
Having read through the section on your blog about Harry Potter I found something in it that I would disagree with. To name my big problem with it, you said that they didn't use sorcery which the Bible addresses. But Harry does go to Hogwarths to become a wizard. The Bible also talks about wizards and what to do with them.
The first definition is from Webster’s 1828 dictionary and second as it is found in the Old Testament from the original Hebrew.
Wizard- A conjurer; an enchanter; a sorcerer
Wizard- A knowing one; a conjurer; a sorcerer
Using Abingdon’s Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible I did a word search on wizards and here is what I found.
Here are some Bible verses that deal with wizards.
Leviticus 20:6(KJV)
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a-whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Leviticus20:27(KJV)
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.
Now I realize that you said Harry Potter doesn’t deal with sorcery; but he does want to become a wizard of which the very definition means to be a sorcerer .
If you want you could even say that he is a soothsayer which in Hebrew means one who practices magic. Which the Bible also condones.
Now, I don't want to do this to say that you don't know what you are talking about or to condone what you wrote, but more to say that you might want to do a more in-depth search about what you write about or support.
The Saint
Who is The Saint? The Saint A.K.A Simon Templar is a homeschooler who searches the Bible to solve the problems of today with a biblical basis. Any questions for The Saint can be sent to thetemplarsaint@yahoo.com
Kezzi,
I read the section on Harry Potter,and I think the Bible is clear that we should not have anything to do with witches or wizards. (Lev.19:31)"Regard not them that have familar spirits, neither seek after wizards,to be defiled by them:I am the LORD your God."
Here are a few more verses on the subject.
Ex.22:18, Lev.20:27, Deut.18:10-11
2 Chr.33:6, Gal.5:19-21, Rev.21:7-8
Read these and see what you think.
John
"And ye shall Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:32
John,
I read the verses and I agree completely with them. I have also done all kinds of word searches on any subject that involves witchcraft in the bible. I have found that all of the verses talk about sorcery and calling in spirits. I think that magic in J.K. Rowling’s books is nothing like that and is completely fantasy and unreal. I can’t say that I will never change my mind or weather the books are right or wrong but I think it’s good to see both sides. Here are a couple good posts by other people who know more about it than I do :).
http://carrie.homeschooljournal.net/2007/07/24/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/#comment-21881
The last three paragraphs of this post.
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2007/07/books-read-in-july.html
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