Looking for God in Harry Potter
By John GrangerTyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2004 John Granger
All right reserved.ISBN: 1-4143-0091-3Contents
Introduction A Parental Shift from Alarm to Approval....................................................................................................xiii1: Magic, Fantasy, and the Christian Worldview The "sorcery" in Harry Potter supports biblical teaching, not practice of the occult.....................12: God's Army versus the Servants of Satan? The Harry Potter novels revolve around the central conflict of good and evil................................113: The Hero's Christlike Journey Harry's adventures take him through life, death, and resurrection......................................................194: The Alchemy of Spiritual Growth The story cycles are built on the stages of transformation...........................................................255: One Person, Two Natures Doppelgngers point to the struggle of dual natures-and their resolution in the God-Man......................................376: Christian Answers to Big Questions Surprise endings suggest a remedy for the evils of prejudice......................................................497: The Triumph of Love over Death The mystery of death meets the ultimate answer........................................................................598: The Question of Identity Harry defines himself through choices, change, and destiny..................................................................719: Evidence of Things Unseen The symbols in Potterdom are powerful pointers to Christian reality........................................................8310: Fun with Names The character names are delightful puzzles with hidden Christian meanings............................................................10111: The Purification of the Soul Christian keys to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone................................................................11712: Dangerous Books and Edifying Books Christian keys to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets........................................................12713: Despair and Delivery Christian keys to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.....................................................................13714: Girded with Virtue Christian keys to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire............................................................................14916: Dark Night of the Soul Christian keys to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix..................................................................15917: The Power of Christian Artistry Keys to the future and legacy of the Harry Potter series............................................................171Appendix: Speaking of God in Harry Potter................................................................................................................183Endnotes.................................................................................................................................................195
Chapter One
MAGIC, FANTASY, AND THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW
The "sorcery" in Harry Potter supports biblical teaching, not practice of the occult.
More than any other book of the last fifty years (and perhaps ever),the Harry Potter novels have captured the imagination of the readingpublic worldwide. Hundreds of millions of copies have beensold to date. However, although the books have been wildly successful,no one as yet has been able to explain their popularity.
The Harry Potter books, in case you too have lived on thePlanet Zeno since 1997 or have recently come out of a coma,recount the adventures of an English schoolboy as he advancesfrom grade to grade at Hogwarts School. Hogwarts is no ordinaryboarding school, however, and Harry Potter is no typical student-the former is a school for witchcraft and wizardry, andHarry is not only a wizard-in-training, but the target of attack bythe worst of evil wizards, Lord Voldemort, and his followers, theDeath Eaters. Each book ends with a life-or-death battle againstVoldemort or his servants and enough plot twists to make youdream of saltwater taffy.
I am convinced that the fundamental reason for the astonishingpopularity of the Harry Potter novels is their ability to meet a spirituallonging for some experience of the truths of life, love, and deathtaught by Christianity but denied by a secular culture. Humanbeings are designed for Christ, whether they know it or not. That theHarry Potter stories "sing along" with the Great Story of Christ is a significantkey to understanding their compelling richness. I take hits from both sides fordaring to make such a declaration-from Potter fans who areshocked by the suggestion that they have been reading "Christian"books and from Potter foes who are shocked by the thought thatthere could be anything "Christian" about books with witches andwizards in them.
As the magical setting of the books has caused the most controversy,I'll start with the setting and several formulas Rowlingobserves in every book.
MAGICAL SETTING
Some Christians object to Harry Potter because Christian Scripturein many places explicitly forbids occult practice. Though readingabout occult practice is not forbidden, these Christians prudentlyprefer (again in obedience to scriptural admonishments to parents)to protect their children because of the books' sympathetic portrayalof occult practice. These Christians believe that such approving andcasual exposure to the occult opens the door to occult practice.
Other Christians, whether Harry fans or sideline observers ofthe controversy, point out the books are "only stories" and thatmany stories beloved by Christians (usually the Narnia or Lord ofthe Rings books are invoked as examples) have portrayed witchesand wizards in a positive light.
These two groups square off with compare-and-contrast sessionsabout Frodo, Aslan, and Harry-arguments as much abouttaste and prejudice as about substance. Both responses miss themark, I think. With a clear lack of charity, both camps have madeHarry Potter into something of a litmus test-of fidelity to principleon the one hand and of human intelligence on the other.
Given this impasse, I think it pays to note three observations:
1. Occult practices are universally denounced by major world religions. Every major religion-Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (not to mention animism)-prohibits invocational sorcery and individual (or unguided) exploration of the spirit world. Why? Calling down occult forces and demons is dangerous, and the world's traditions protect their own by condemning it. Invocational magic and sorcery never work according to human plans (the dark forces always have a different agenda for the sorcerer and his community). Being concerned about the occult is not a silly, parochial Christian concern restricted to "ignorant fundamentalists"; it is a prudent human concern evident in the faiths of the whole world.
2. Scripture itself contains material about occult practices. The Bible nowhere forbids reading material with occult elements in it. As there are witches, soothsayers, and possessed prophetesses in the Bible (almost all negatively portrayed), it would be more than odd if Holy Writ spoke against itself. If anything, the New Testament slams those who charge the righteous with sorcery (see Matthew 12:24-28 and Mark 9:38-40). I know devout Christians who hate Harry as well as many who love him; both groups read their Bible daily and enjoy fantasy stories with occult elements and magic in them-stories as diverse as Shakespeare's The Tempest, L. Frank Baum's Oz stories, Lewis's Narnia and Ransom novels, and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
3. Whether or not to read Harry Potter from the logical, human view, then, is a question of whether reading Harry fosters a curiosity in the occult or in a rewarding spiritual life. Scripture forbids occult practice and tells us to "train a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6). The much debated question, then, is not whether we are allowed to read these books but whether the depiction of magic in them lays the foundation for future involvement in New Age "spirituality." The issue boils down to this: Does Harry foster an interest in the real world occult or doesn't he?
Despite initially having forbidden my children from reading theRowling books, reading them myself has convinced me that themagic in Harry Potter is no more likely to encourage real-lifewitchcraft than time travel in science fiction novels encouragesreaders to seek passage to previous centuries. Loving families havemuch to celebrate in these stories and little, if anything, to fear.
I say this without hesitation because the magic in Harry Potter isnot "sorcery" or invocational magic. In keeping with a long traditionof English fantasy, the magic practiced in the Potter books, by heroand villain alike, is incantational magic, a magic that shows-in storyform-our human thirst for a reality beyond the physical worldaround us.
The difference between invocational and incantational magicisn't something we all learned in the womb, so let me explain.Invocational means literally "to call in." Magic of this sort is usuallyreferred to as sorcery. Scripture warns that "calling in" demonicprincipalities and powers for personal power and advantage is dangerously stupid. History books, revealed tradition, and fantasy fiction(think Dr. Faustus) that touch on sorcery do so in order toshow us that the unbridled pursuit of power and advantage viablack magic promises a tragic end. But there is no invocational sorcery inthe Harry Potter books. Even the most evil wizards do their nastymagic with spells; not one character in any of the five books evercalls in evil spirits. Not once.
The magic by spells and wands in Harry Potter is known asincantational wizardry. Incantational means literally "to sing alongwith" or "to harmonize." To understand how this works, we haveto step outside our culture's materialist creed (that everything inexistence is quantitative mass or energy) and look at the worldupside down, which is to say, God-first.
Christianity-and all revealed traditions-believes creationcomes into being by God's creative Word, or his song. As creaturesmade in the image of God, we can harmonize with God's Wordand his will, and in doing so, experience the power of God. Themagic and miracles we read about in great literature are merelyreflections of God's work in our life. To risk overstating my case,the magic in Harry Potter and other good fantasy fiction harmonizeswith the miracles of the saints.
C. S. Lewis paints a picture of the differences between incantationaland invocational magic in Prince Caspian. As you may recall,Prince Caspian and the Aslan-revering creatures of the forest areunder attack from Caspian's uncle. Things turn bad for the whitehats, and it seems as if they will be overrun and slaughtered at anymoment. Two characters on the good guys' side decide their onlyhope is magic.
Prince Caspian decides on musical magic. He has a horn thatAslan, the Christlike lion of these books, had given to Queen Susan inages past to blow in time of need. Caspian blows on this divinely provided instrument in his crisis. By sounding a note in obedience andfaith, Caspian harmonizes with the underlying fabric and rules of theEmperor over the Sea, and help promptly and providentially arrives.
Nikabrik the dwarf, in contrast, decides a little sorcery is inorder. He finds a hag capable of summoning the dreaded WhiteWitch in the hope that this power-hungry, Aslan-hating witch willhelp the good guys (in exchange for an opening into Narnia).Needless to say, the musical magicians are scandalized by thedwarf's actions and put an end to the sorcery lickety-split.
In the Narnia stories and other great fantasy fiction, good magicis incantational, and bad magic, which is contrary to Scripture, isinvocational. Incantational magic is about harmonizing with God'sWord by imitation. Invocational magic is about calling in evil spiritsfor power or advantage-always a tragic mistake. The magic inHarry Potter is exclusively incantational magic in conformity withboth literary tradition and scriptural admonition. Concern that thebooks might "lay the foundation" for occult practice is misplaced,however well intentioned and understandable, because it fails torecognize that Potter magic is not demonic.
Perhaps you are wondering, If Harry Potter magic is a magic in harmonywith the Great Story, why are the bad guys able to use it? Great question.
Just as even the evil people in "real" life are certainly created inGod's image, so all the witches and wizards in Potterdom, goodand bad, are able to use incantational magic. Evil magical folkchoose of their own free will to serve the Dark Lord with theirmagical faculties just as most of us, sadly, lend a talent or power ofour own in unguarded moments to the evil one's cause. As we willsee, the organizing structure of the Potter books is a battle betweengood guys who serve truth, beauty, and virtue and bad guys wholust after power and private gain.
Some fans of Lewis and Tolkien contrast their use of magicwith Rowling's, arguing that, unlike the world of Harry Potter, thesubcreations of these fantasy writers had no overlap with the realworld. They suggest that this blurring of boundaries confusesyoung minds about what is fiction and what is reality.
But Lewis and Tolkien blurred boundaries with gusto in theirstories-as did Homer, Virgil, Dante, and other authors whoseworks regularly traumatize students in English classes. Certainly theassertion that Middle Earth and Narnia are separate realities is questionable,at best. Middle Earth is earth between the Second andThird Ages (we live in the so-called Fourth Age). Narnia overlapswith our world at the beginning and end of each book, and in TheLast Battle is revealed as a likeness with earth of the heavenly archetype,or Aslan's kingdom. Singling out Rowling here betrays a lack ofcharity, at least, and perhaps a little reasoning chasing prejudgment.
That the magical world exists inside Muggledom (nonmagicalpeople are called "Muggles" by the witches and wizards in HarryPotter), however, besides being consistent with the best traditionsin epic myth and fantasy, parallels the life of Christians in theworld. I don't want to belabor this point, but C. S. Lewis describedthe life of Christians as a life spent "in an enemy occupied country."What he meant is that traditional Christians understand thatman is fallen, that he no longer enjoys the ability to walk and talkwith God in the Garden, and that the world is driven by God-opposingpowers. Lewis's Ransom novels illustrate this idea.
Christians believe that their resistance to the occupying powersand their loving service to God qualify them as a peculiar people whoare "in the world" but not "of the world" (John 17:13-16). Thoughthe church has left the catacombs (except in some Muslim and totalitariancountries in which Christians still worship in secret and at riskof their lives), Christians true to their revelation and tradition understandthat they serve a different Lord than the lord of the world.
The magical and secret world inside Muggledom is not cause forconcern so much as it is a parallel to celebrate. I am not offeringthe magical world as an allegory (shudder) for the church; Rowlingsatirizes every institution-media, government, courts, schools,hospitals, families-and most human foibles in her subcreation.But I do think that her secret world within our world coincideswith rather than contradicts the worldview of Christians.
Which brings me full circle. I started by saying that understandingincantational magic requires turning the modern worldviewon its head, putting God first rather than last. I hope you seethat the magic by spells and wands requires that we understand our world as acreated world dependent for its existence on God's creative Word.
We live in a time in which naturalism, the belief that all existenceis matter and energy, is the state religion and belief in supernaturalor contra-natural powers is considered delusion. The incantationalmagic in Harry Potter, because it requires harmonizing with agreater magic, undermines faith in this godless worldview. And byundermining the materialist view of our times, it can even be saidthat the books lay the foundation not for occult practices but fora traditional understanding of the spiritual life.
The magic in Harry Potter is consistent with and even fostersa worldview affirming spiritual realities because
it is incantational rather than forbidden invocational magic;
it illustrates the right and wrong uses of power and talents;
its world inside Muggledom parallels the Christian worldview;
it reinforces the Christian view of the world as a creation rather than a natural accident devoid of meaning.
Have you heard stories of children being sucked into witches'covens because they want to be like Harry? Reports of rising membership in occult groups since these books were published inevitablyturn out to be generated by proselytizing members of thesegroups. People who track the occult for a living explain that,despite Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter, membershipin these groups in Europe and the United States are minuscule andare in decline despite a decade of Harry, Buffy, and occult milieuentertainment.
Continues...
Excerpted from Looking for God in Harry Potterby John Granger Copyright © 2004 by John Granger. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
