Comments on: Countdown to Harry Potter 7: 1 Day

By: Erised

Erised — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:33:45 +0000

Personally, I see many parallels of Christianity in Harry Potter. It’s all a matter of what you’re looking for. If “conservative” Christians are searching for the wrong within JKR’s books – they will interpret any idea or phrase into their fixed thoughts. If someone with an open, clear mind read the books – they’d find the messages that Jo layed beneath her words.
Most people will pre-judge based on the fact that “witchcraft” enters the picture. As a fan of Jo’s writing, all I found was the story of bravery and love, and good conquering evil straight to the end.
I’m a Christian myself, and I can read these books without feeling as if I’m engaging in anything sinister. Find the good in what Jo has written, the truth – and you’ll see the true magic of the story.

So, sure – Lumos turns a light on in the world of Harry Potter – But so does a lightswitch in the muggle world. Who defines magic?

By: danny

danny — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 10:15:19 +0000

I just finished reading the last HP book, and before knowing anything about this subject, it was obvious to me that the message of Scripture is in there.
For example the fact that Voldermort’s symbol is a snake, Harry has to sacrifice himself for his friends, the protective power of sacrificial blood.
Though in the other books is not so obvious, in this last book 2 Bible verses are quoted : “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” page 283, and
” Where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” page 281.
Is not a clear paralel between the book and the Bible but there are some important christian values transmited to the reader, values that are denied by the contemporary society.
As for the fact of hiding the message in witchcraft story, I think is the same as the Chronicles of Narnia of C.S. Lewis. Is a great way to give the message to millions of children who don’t have acces to the Bible story anymore.
My opinion.

By: Maria

Maria — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:21:21 +0000

commonsense, I’ll wait till JKR gives an explaination, she’s the best person to do that and, if she chooses, to explain her religious convictions.

And she finally did! I just watched a Dateline interview with her. Now that the series is over, she said she’d finally answer questions about whether or not there were “religious undertones”, in the books and her own religious beliefs. So what did she say? Well, for starters she said that there were indeed religious undertones in the books. She said that many of the religious undertones in the books mirrored her own religious struggles. When asked what those struggles were, she said her biggest struggle has been to “keep believing”. Looking back on the books, that makes a lot of sense, especially in book 7. Hope this answers some questions!

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:44:31 +0000

Death is the last enemy to be defeated. 1 Cor. 15:26

It is a very Christian statement. I think I’d be reading into the text to say that its an allegory, but it is useful, for sure.

By: olvlzl, no ism, no ist

olvlzl, no ism, no ist — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:11:17 +0000

commonsense, I’ll wait till JKR gives an explaination, she’s the best person to do that and, if she chooses, to explain her religious convictions.

The scene in King’s Cross Station is obviously a near death experience, Harry is told that he can choose to go back or “go on”. And the Dumbledore he meets there is able to explain things that Harry didn’t know beforehand. I’ve never been nearly dead but I doubt it’s the ideal time to be cogitating.

It’s remarkable that materialists reading a seven book series with the supernatural as one of the dominant themes try to find ways to bend it to their ideology. I think it’s Ann Druyan you’re looking for in the book store.

By: commonsense

commonsense — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:37:41 +0000

Read the 7th book and if she meant it as a christian allegory it is a failed one.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER – DON’T READ – DON”T READ – DON’T READ

There is a logical explaination for why Harry didn’t die (if he can be said to have died in the first place) – he didn’t survive because he walked to his death like a lamb to the slaughter, the same result would hold even if he went down figting as long as it was voldy that killed him. If someone else used a killing curse on him he would have died also because the protection he had was only from voldy. He didn’t die for all sinners (including deatheaters ) only for his friends.

I think Jo’s not a completely convinced christian – she set it up as christian allegory but couldn’t bring herself to write in (something as corny as) a higher power so went for convoluted logic instead – there are many holes in her reasoning – eg. James died for Lily and Harry too, why didn’t that protect them, what’s he, chopped liver?

What think you?

By: olvlzl, no ism, no ist

olvlzl, no ism, no ist — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:44:17 +0000

Becky, having read the 7th book, and against my own predictions, I’d say that it is clearly a Christian allegory. Not surprising, given what JKR has said about her intentions.

By: Infidel753

Infidel753 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:13:22 +0000

Good grief. If those qualify as parallels between Harry Potter and Jesus, how could one possibly write a long story with a central hero and avoid such parallels?

The most striking thing about the series is how totally religion is ignored. God and Jesus are never mentioned. Church is never mentioned. No character who is in trouble ever prays or calls on a deity for help. It’s not just a world where God has died, it’s a world where God was never imagined in the first place.

By: Becky Robinson

Becky Robinson — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:49:51 +0000

I am not saying I agree with with Time article, I just found it amusing that there are so many articles out there trying to turn Harry Potter either into a christian message, or in this case, against it.

By: olvlzl, no ism, no ist

olvlzl, no ism, no ist — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:24:37 +0000

Becky Robinson, Life is a magazine for people who can’t read, Time is a magazine for people who can’t think. It’s a smart move to take everything you read in Time with great skepticism, they’ll print any kind of tripe.

Maria is right, JKR is a Christian, it’s something I hadn’t known until she pointed it out here the other day. You would think that someone who is published in a major “news” magazine would know how to look something like that up on the internet.