Finding God in Harry Potter?

Can you see Christian lessons taught in Harry Potter?

Here is a research paper I wrote about how harry potter can really promote christian beliefs and that wiccan witchcraft is not present in the books. It is a real interesting though process I went through and my teacher really enjoyed reading it... as I enjoyed writing it. By the way, I wrote this before the 7th book was released.


Does Harry Potter Promote Witchcraft?

What question arises into the youth's head when the subject of literature is brought into perspective? Every year it's the same one. When is the next Harry Potter book being released? The story of the eleven year old wizard who was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has captivated the hearts of millions of adolescent minds across the world. However, is that a good or a bad thing? Parents are worried that the books will lead their children into the hands of witchcraft and occult practices. Practices that are clearly against that of Christianity beliefs. But does it really? The question being raised is: Does Harry Potter really promote witchcraft? Well, in an overall perception, the story line of Harry Potter does not promote witchcraft but it is mainly a make-believe version to what some recollect to be "dark arts".
First, witchcraft or Wicca is a religion based on the worshiping of a deity. From this deity, witches receive power for their magic. The Goddess, the Wiccan Deity, gives them either good or white magic or evil or black magic. The black magic was thought to seek revenge on people who treated them informally. In a nutshell, this religion practices the art of invocational magic. This is the magic that invokes the spirit of the deity, magic not used in any of the Harry Potter books. Harry Potter never portrayed the art of deity pronounced magic. The witches in the Potter world portrayed wand waving incantational magic, also used in stories such as Cinderella. Also, the use of muggles in the books show how some people can not use magic unlike in Wicca where anyone can be a witch. This is a main key that is often overlooked.
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, wanted to write a fantasy series that would get minds wandering, wandering into the realm of imagination. Her intentions of the magical books were not to have people believing that she practiced or promoted Wicca but to have a spark or interesting storyline. Rowling, being a strong Presbyterian follower, only used about 1/3 of real alchemy information in her books. Alchemy, the chemical study in which things could be turned into gold, was used to help promote imagination and morality. Not in any way was it used to promote children to take up witchcraft.
What most Christian followers are worried about is what the bible tells them. In Deuteronomy 18:10-12, the bible says that "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his sons and his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because these things are an abomination, the Lord your God drives them out from before you." Well, yes, it is wrong for Christian believers to promote or engage in anything that would be found as witchcraft or Wiccan, but how can reading a story like Harry Potter be wrong if the witchcraft analogy being using is fiction and can not be practiced. Rowling's type of witchcraft is wand waving and broom stick flying. Has anyone ever seen either tasks actually performed? No. So, how could Harry Potter be put under a category with Wicca if the magic being used is not real? It can't, that's the synopsis.
What a lot of people overlook is what is written right on the cover. Harry Potter is a fiction book series. This important factor tells everyone that the books are not real and should not be taken as anything other than. Just like a lot of other fantasy works such as The Wizard of Oz and Hansel and Gretel , Harry Potter is mainly just used for fun reading and promotes courage and friendship. You can't ride brooms or wave wands to produce shiny beams. "If this subject offends people, that isn't what I want to do, but I don't believe in censorship of for any age group , and this is what I wanted to write about. The book is really about the power of imagination. What Harry is learning to do is develop his full potential. Wizardry is just the analogy that I use. If anyone expects it to be a book that seriously advocates magic will be disappointed. Not least because I do not believe in magic in that way," writes Rowling in response to the accusations pushed at her books.
It is all fiction and should be taken as such.
In a lot of libraries and stores across the world, people are fighting to have Rowling's books taken off the shelf. What would banning the books do for the literature readers all over? Nothing. Banning the book would just make people want to read them even more. It's like when parents tell their children that they can't have cookies until after dinner but the kids try to sneak past that one little chocolate chip before it's even ready. The desire to read the books would grow rapidly higher and it would be wrong to take them away. People should see that they are only fiction and that it is nothing different than what past fantasies have already written.
When the story of the pre-teen wizard hit the shelves, people began to worry about the idea that the books equaled all things evil and people believed that the books were Satanist and should be banned. To some people, reading Harry Potter is detestable to the Lord. Actually, the books could be used to distribute a strong, symbolic story of Christian beliefs just like that of C.S. Lewis.
In the summer of 2006, a church in Charles Town, West Virginia, taught Christian lessons using the pronounced Harry Potter series. The sermons taught kids to art of good morals and character. Also, what one found is that the books got more children involved and interested in the church. It was a book that kids have read and the talks yanked at their interests. Since then the church's youth group has doubled in size.
Lessons that can be taught through the Harry Potter books are very symbolic. In the story, Gryffindor represents the good things in life alongside courage and bravery. It represents heaven. In ancient mythology, a griffin is a creature that consists of half lion and half eagle; The lion was known to be king of the land and the eagle known to be king of the skies. This represented how God is king of heaven and earth. In the books, the Gryffindor house wants to triumph over evil and do the good things that count. Slytherin, on the other hand, is another house at Hogwarts. To get into this notorious house, it would call for extreme wit and cleverness. What makes Slytherin seem bad is the way that the wizards from it use their wit and cleverness to trick people. That represents God's gift of free will to the world. The sorting hat(God) just told the students(world) which house to go to based on their choices and emotions. What resided in their mind. When Harry chose not to want to go to Slytherin, that made him different from the rest and it was based on his free will. Just as Jeremy Bowlby said in his sermon, "What House are you in?", "We are not chosen by the hat, we make the choice ourselves".
Another lesson that the books portray are their abilities to be compared to biblical references. From the beginning of the series, the storyline follows the event where Harry's mother saved his infant life from the wrath of Lord Voldemort with her loving nature. The Shield of Faith protects one from the enemy. By having faith in God over the enemy, the enemy can not get to believers because their faith is strong. God protects them with his love. This can be compared to Lily's love for Harry and how it protected him.
The Sword of the Spirit on the other hand is the word of God. The Sword is the power of knowledge. Just like in Matthew 4:11 where Jesus is tempted by the devil in the desert. Jesus knew the scriptures and followed them. The devil also studied the scripture but did not obey it. This made the difference. Just like in Harry Potter where Hermonie could get the trio out of trouble because she had studied the spells and followed them when needed. Just like Hermonie, people can use the word of God to defeat the enemy.
In some instances, Harry Potter would allow it's readers to see symbolism of God's love through objects that Harry himself would use. The invisibility cloak, a piece of clothing that Harry had inherited from his father to be able to appear invisible, was a main key point used throughout the entire series. We learn that God wants us to triumph over evil just as Jesus did at the beginning of his ministry. From that, the choice between good and evil becomes a little easier. Furthermore, we learn that Jesus is righteous and following in his steps protects us from evil just as Harry invisibility cloak kept him safe and invisible.
Another question people rise up on their stampede to wondering whether Harry Potter is a good reading choice for their children or not is : Why does death occur in each of the books if they are not dark and wicked? Well, the answer is, yes, death is a main key point but what is important is what we learn from it. In the books, love triumphs over death and makes the stories more moral. Just like how Dumbledore, Lily, and James all died out of love. The morality teaches kids that yes, death is apart of life but love is just as strong. In the end, the story teaches that love can fight over the bad things in life, even death.
One of the most important lessons that Harry Potter, a book that many people think to promote witchcraft, teaches is the Helmet of Salvation and how it reminds us that Jesus died for us. In the books, Dumbledore uses a mind pensive to keep and recollect his thoughts. This can be compared to remembering Jesus' death to Dumbledore's mind pensive.
There are many more lessons that can be taught using the fun filled Harry Potter books. Kids and even adults find them interesting and moralizing. The few, however, that overlook the fact that the books are fiction and filled with moralizing values should see for themselves that Harry Potter is not a bad reading choice. How can a book that is filled with so many life lessons and trials be so bad? Just because the use of magic is being portrayed does not makes the books horrible. The magic used in Rowling's books are not any different than that of the prestige Disney movies. People just seem to want something to point fingers at and accuse of doing wrong. Overall, Harry Potter and JK Rowling do not promote witchcraft at all, but only the fault of people overlooking the word fiction on the cover.