Harry Potter: Is Harry Potter a Christian Allegory?
Friday July 18, 2008
When Christians talk about the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, it’s most often to complain about them - for example, their use of magic. A few Christians, though, argue that the Harry Potter books are not only compatible with Christianity, but in fact contain implicit Christian messages. They compare Rowling’s books with the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis or the books by Tolkein, all works imbued with Christian themes to one degree or another.
Read Article: Is Harry Potter a Christian Allegory? Does Harry Potter Teach Christianity?
Comments
Is this an old article? The Harry Potter series is finished-there are no more books to come. The final book, at least to me, pretty much makes it clear that it’s not a Christian allegory. It’s pretty clear that Dumbledore is gay, and I can’t see that being any part of a Christian agenda.
An interesting take on the Harry Potter subject. It’s funny how literature can be interpreted in so many ways. Lev Grossman of Time Magazine wrote an article just before the final book was released. Its title:
“Who dies in Harry Potter? God.”
In the article he claims that:
“Harry Potter lives in a world free of any religion or spirituality of any kind. He lives surrounded by ghosts but has no one to pray to, even if he were so inclined, which he isn’t. Rowling has more in common with celebrity atheists like Christopher Hitchens than she has with Tolkien and Lewis.”
Me — I just think they’re fun good vs. evil stories.
Now, if you want a Jesus Christ allegory, watch E. T.
“Something might happen in the final books which is much more explicitly Christian in nature…”
Have you not read the final books, or where you just not wanting to give away the ending to those who haven’t?
Rowling seems to use her epic tale to explore a lot of topics that are of interest to her. I have read where she said the main themes of her work were love and redemption. I thought she borrowed the personality types of her three main characters; one logical, one emotional and one heroic, from Star Trek, with the twist of making the logical character a girl and the emotional one a boy.
I wondered if Rowling had caved in to the complaints by Christian groups when (spoiler alert!) she had her main character sacrifice himself for the good of humanity, then be reborn to lead the forces of good in a final battle against evil. On the other hand, how else do you end an epic tale of the battle between good and evil if not through some superhuman action? And after all, Jesus was not the only, or even the first, mythical figure to die and be re-born.
“When Christians talk about the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, it’s most often to complain about them”
That’s a pretty big (and inaccurate) generalization. I think you mean conservative Christians. The vast majority of America is some kind of Christian, so if all or even most of them hated them, the books wouldn’t be nearly so popular.