My wife informed me the other day that the latest "Harry Potter" book was actually advertised in one of her "Christian" homeschool magazines.

Add to the fact that with all the millions that are being sold there is probably a good representation of gullible, uninformed "Christian" parents who have bought it just so their kids wouldn't be "left out."

I'm sorry....but has anyone besides me happened to notice.....THAT HARRY IS A WIZARD?!?!?!

And....does anyone remember what happened to wizards in the O.T.???

I would suggest the same thing be done to the book!!

I heard one public "educator" say the other day...."Well....at least the children are reading."

Fine....let's get the Bible back into school and let them read something that will keep them out of hell!!

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

Answers

Michael....

Concerning C.S. Lewis....someone else brought this up to my wife. But if memory serves us correctly, was not the only one who practiced magic the witch of Narnia?

I do not remember any of the children being called on to do incantations or practice magic or sorcery of any kind. Were they not called on simply to "believe in Aslan?"

Robin....the same applies to Oz.....if memory serves we correctly, Dorothy never used magic spells or incantations to get what she wanted.

I will agree, consistency is needed which is why my family was neither allowed to watch "Sabrina the Teenage Witch".....or "Bewitched."

I do not find the distinguishment between "good" and "bad" witches in Scripture.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

Michael.....

To be perfectly consistent then........I will not recommend the reading of the "Chronicles of Narnia" anymore.

To me......this is a black/white issue. There is no such dichotomy in Scripture between......good magic/bad magic....good wizards/bad wizards....good witches/bad witches.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

So.....as long as the references to magic, spells, and wizardy are "Christian".....that makes it OK??? Scripture for that??

Can't buy that one.

I'll let my kids read the Bible....and read the substance as opposed to the forbidden symbolism couched in Christian genre.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

John....

Rather than short little snipets that do nothing to answer my assertions.....why not help me out and explain your rational that allows you to read these things.....while at the same time being very aware of the extremely clear statements in Scripture about the use of spells, incantations, and wizardy??

Personally, I'm trying to work through what Michael pointed out as an inconsistency.

As far as Aesop's Fables or Grimm's Fairy tales....no problem here as our homeschooling program has done very well without them.

Are we wrong then to condemn (as I have heard other do).....the playing of "Dungeons and Dragons?" If so....based upon what?? Aren't kids just having fun??

How much can we "dabble" without crossing the line??

Some Scriptural guidelines would be nice as all I can find is....."Don't do it!!"

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

OK....let me see if I got this straight.

In essence, the ends justifies the means. Hmmmmmmmm.......

OK.....I'll take kids to a "Metallica" concert because that's what they like. Then.....somewhere along the line I'll introduce them to "the real thing"......(fill in the blank for whoevers "hot" among Christian "headbangers" today).

Nah....don't think so.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Danny,

Just heard a good expose' on Christian radio regarding the Harry Potter books.... (Not being a parent... I confess to never having heard of them.) They would surely agree with you.

So does this not apply to "The Wizard of Oz" also? Another confession... I haven't watched it or read it... but I'm sure some of you have....

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

Danny,

As a preface to my remarks, I remind you of my conservative nature in the realm of books/movies/TV. BUT, let me say that also I have not read any of the four Harry Potter books.

One of the most cherished characters of fantasy is a wise old wizard named Gandolf in the beginning book "The Hobbit" and then through the rest of the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings." Tolkien was a wonderful author and "The Lord of the Rings" is by far my favorite all-time fantasy book set. There are wizards, witches, spells, and magic. There is good and evil. They are great stories of fantasy.

There is also the Chronicles of Narnia which is absolutely overflowing with witches and spells and magic. It is fantasy.

Now will I let my children read Harry Potter? Probably not. But I will read this latest Harry Potter book myself to see what kind of fantasy it is.

My hesitation would be that we have digressed much since the days of the fantasy born out of the minds of Tolkien or Lewis. And today's fantasy can be really dangerous and not comparable with Paul's admonition to think on the "good things."

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is not a witch, and only incidentally uses magic (the ruby slippers) when they are kinda forced on her; she really isn't given a choice. She is a normal girl from Kansas who finds herself in a magical world. And notice: she doesn't want to stay there, she wants to go home.

In the Chronicles of Narnia we find a similar thing. The children are children of an ordinary sort (and even of a baser sort; we see their dark sides very clearly) who have stumbled upon a magical world. A world which, it can be argued, is the world of children's fantasies, nothing more. But also a world where witchcraft is virtually always worked by the forces of evil; the good people rely on their wits and their trust in Aslan (analogous to Christ).

In J.R.R. Tolkien, we again have magic. But not much of it, really, with the exception of the magic Gandalf uses and the magic of the rings. But anyone who has read the Silmarillion (Tolkien's "Genesis" of Middle Earth) comes to realize that Sauron is analogous to a demon, and Gandalf is very likely an angelic being sent to combat him.

In the Harry Potter books (though I have not read them, I have read about them and have been involved enough in Dungeons and Dragons to know pretty much what's going on), Harry is a wizard who actively uses magic, and goes to a school where it is taught. In fact, I just read that they wanted to do a movie based on the books and wanted to use England's Westminster Abbey as the setting of the wizard's school, but the Church of England wisely said no, we don't want to be associated with witchcraft, thank you very much.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

I might add that, if memory serves me correctly, the "wizard" of oz was exposed at the end as just some fat guy behind a curtain...

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

Dorothy: You're a very bad man!
Wizard: Oh no, my dear, I'm a very good man! I'm just a very bad wizard!

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

Danny...

Sorry it took a little while in responding. You are totally wrong about the Narnia books. In the "Lion, Witch..." there is the reference at the end of the book to the "Deep Magic" which brought Aslan back to life.

In "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" Lucy goes into a room where there is an ancient book of magic full of spells like how to cure a toothace, or how to hear what people say about you and she ends up doing a couple of the spells (one with Aslan's permission, the other not).

In "The Magician's Nephew" (the title alone gives something away) there is lots of magic performed by the kids. And not bad magic either.

In the "Silver Chair" there is lots of magic again (some bad, some good).

You are wrong about Narnia and whoever made the comment about Tolkien is way off as well. His books are absolutely overflowing with magic from the elves, to the dwarves, to magical amulets of all sorts (not just the ring) and the ring a magic amulet which makes it's wearer invisible is always worn by the hero (either Bilbo or Frodo). As much magic as there is that is seen positively in Narnia, there is literally double the amount in the "Rings" books.

The use of magic in the context of fantasy is not unhealthy for kids to dwell upon and think about...its been done for as long as kids have had imaginations. Now, again, I haven't read "Harry Potter" but I will.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

Your loss then...I can't wait until my children get to read about Narnia and Tolkien's Middle Earth. Aslan presents a great symbol of Jesus and gandolf is a great representation of good fighting evil forces.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

If I remember correctly, it was hinted at that the so-called "deep magic" was the creative force of God.

The Narnia books were written as a largely as a spiritual allegory, by a very Christian man (C.S. Lewis). Aslan is analogous to Christ, being called the King, and even suffering a sacrificial death for the children (the "sons of Adam" and "daughters of Eve") and coming back to life again (with the "deep magic" from beyond the dawn of time that the witch knew nothing about). In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader he is momentarily seen not as a lion, but as a lamb; and he hints that he is also active in our own world in another form and that the children must seek him there as well.

J.R.R. Tolkien was also a Christian (Lewis and Tolkien were good friends), and while the themes in his books are not as overtly Christian as Lewis', there are underlying tones, as Michael noted, of good triumphing over evil, spiritual forces. Both men chose the genre because they were literary professors and were emulating somewhat the magical epics of early English literature (such as Beowulf).

I think Lewis believed (as near as I understand it from his writings) that God had indeed "set eternity in the hearts" of men, and one of the ways this became expressed through time was through myth. Especially prevalent in mythology is the "dying god" myth. Lewis said he had come to Christianity not because of any well-reasoned arguments (which is surprising, considering the well-reasoned arguments he makes), but because he realized that in Christianity, myth had become reality.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

Grimm's Fairy Tales and Aesop's Fables are out too then? Cause, egads! There's magic in them thar stories, too!

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

Some of the early (300's?) church writers wrote against studying pagan writings, though their writings may have actually been influenced by Homer's writings. I beleive Tertullian was an example of this.

I read a little about this while I was in college and was taking a classics course in either Greek or Roman mythology (I had both) and was studying the Marabharata in Sanskrit (good thing I was just auditing because I hadn't learned enough Sanskrit to do anything.)

I think i read every one of the Chronicles of Narnia books except for the _Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In my elementary school mind, it made sense to skip that book since I had seen the cartoon. The cartoon is what turned me on to those books in the first place.

While the books do have analogies to Christ, they are still full of magic. Some people think magic is harmless, but a lot of people that think that don't realize that magic is real.

I know a couple of people here in Indonesia that suffered because of alleged magic spells. One went crazy for a while before some Christians did 'deliverance' on her, and another was an expat who was innocently friendly to his maid, and gave her extra money. he had good intentions but she misinterpreted it, and did witchcraft involving hanging a bag of urine over his door. He got a kidney stone.

I don't know how this stuff works, but there are demons, and they do work through some forms of witchcraft. Some witchcraft may just be 'hocus pocus' but there is the real thing.

I'm wondering about all this now. When I was a kid, I liked to read fantasy novels and Greek and Norse mythology. Later, I got interested in Dungeons and Dragons, until I got more zealous about the Lord and burnt everything having to do with magic and paganism about the time I went to middle school.

I wonder about all these things now. We are not under the law, but I wonder if we tolerate a lot of things that are not 'expedient' passing htem off as harmless fantasy.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Link, and all,

I agree that what children read is extremely important.

Also, the featuring by churches of magicians and even clowns is a little strange to me.

We kept our children's noses pretty much to the grindstone with studies (their Christian school was not afraid of assigning homework) and sports activities (even our daughter played basketball).

If there is one activity which will somewhat keep children away from the world, it is sports. They're too tired to go out and get in trouble.

But today, there is far too much television and evil fantasy. I am thankful that my children and their wives (daughter isn't married) are careful what my grandchildren watch and read. Only my son Tim and his wife Sue have children who might read 'Harry Potter' and they are VERY careful about what their children read.

Not that being careful will completely keep children away from the world. Unfortunately, it sometimes won't. And if we make too much of not watching television or 'engaging the culture', that is sometimes what children, when they can make the choices themselves, will want to do.

Something which we didn't do enough of, is just sit and read the Scriptures with ours (we tried, but with five were very busy). Deuteronomy 6:4-9 was our school motto.

I think because we thought that the school was doing a lot of the teaching, we didn't have to do as much, but that is wrong. It was our responsibility. I think we got tired, and made a wrong assumption.

Rearing children to honor God is the most difficult responsibilty there is. But it's not over 'til it's over.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Don't look now (I told you not to look!) but coming up a close second behind [heh heh heh ... he said "behind"] Harry Potter is ...

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS!

Captain Underpants is about a BVD-clad superhero, with lots of references to bathroom humor: typical gross 1st-grader stuff. Now we have a choice between Potter and potty. <grin>

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Is William Jefferson Clinton the main character?

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

No, you're thinking of Captain Negligee. :P

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2000

The following inserted for your info.

BreakPoint with Charles Colson Commentary #000714 - 07/14/2000 Harry Potter and the Existence of God: Sehnsucht and the Bookstore

So what's the buzz among kids these days? A new video game? A spectacular movie? A hip new music CD? Not even close.

The hottest selling phenomenon of the summer is a BOOK. As all of us know, it's the latest Harry Potter novel by J. K. Rowling.

It's surprising, but the Harry Potter craze is much more than a marketing phenomenon. It's more than just a popular page-turner. The fervor surrounding the Potter books is evidence of the human yearning for something beyond the mundane world of our daily experience.

In fact, you could say that Harry Potter is proof of the existence of God.

Kids were so anxious to get their hands on the recently released HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE that millions of the books were pre-ordered over the Internet. Thousands of parents suspended bedtimes to take their kids to the bookstores that opened at 12:01 A.M. last Saturday to sell the book.

Not only did the book smash sales records, it sent the publisher "back to the printing press" immediately for 2 million more copies. That's in addition to the 3.8 million already distributed in this country. Gallup has found that almost a third of all parents with kids under 18 have children who've read a Harry Potter novel. And there are already plans for a Steven Spielberg film version.

What is it about Harry Potter that has kids turning off the TV and devouring books? The latest novel, while easy to read, is not an easy read: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE weighs in at over 700 pages. So much for marketing experts who tell us kids lack the attention span to read big books!

What the fascination with Harry Potter really illustrates is what C. S. Lewis meant by Sehnsucht -- the longing for the mysterious, the wonderful, the other-worldly that our daily experience does not satisfy.

Classical Christian thinking understood that every desire has a corresponding real object. Hunger, for example, indicates that there is such a thing as food. But in our hearts there is a desire for something we will never find in the world. Blaise Pascal called it the "God-shaped" void in the human soul. Similarly, Augustine spoke of the restlessness of our hearts that could only be satisfied by God.

The appeal of other-worldly stories like Harry Potter is that they tap into our hunger for God's wonder. The banal world of video games, television, the pursuit of wealth, and other diversions can never satisfy this longing. The Potter craze reflects the longing in our kids' souls for God.

But Harry Potter is not the real thing. Which is why many Christian parents are concerned about it. Nor is it the best way to satisfy our kids' desire. But you can use the Potter craze to get kids and grandkids into something that leads them to the real thing.

Take this occasion to introduce to them to C. S. Lewis's THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, J. R. R. Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and George MacDonald's THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN. These books not only recognize this yearning for wonder and magic, they also reflect a well-developed understanding of the majesty and mystery of God.

If you do this -- and put your kids on to stories that recognize the real thing we all yearn for -- the Harry Potter phenomenon may turn out to be a pretty good thing indeed.

Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Ok, Danny .... what's wrong with Christian rock music? I really think we're talking apples and oranges now. I mean, I will agree with you that there is a scriptural prohibition against witchcraft, and we can debate whether and how much it applies to fiction and/or fantasy. But I don't see any scriptural prohibition against a backbeat rhythm or a blues riff on an electric guitar.

Personally, I am for anything not specifically prohibited by Scripture that gets the youth of today into the church. A hundred years ago, two men scandalized Christianity when they not only preached in the pubs where the youth of that day hung out, but they had the audacity to take drinking songs, of all things, and make Christian music out of them! Such scandalous riffs as "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" and "A Mighty Fortress is our God." *gasp!*

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

OK....let me see if I got this straight. In essence, the ends justifies the means. Hmmmmmmmm.......

Danny, this is not at all what Colson is saying. He's saying . . .Are your kids interested in Harry Potter? Then point them to stories in a simlar genre that point to the truth, rather than pointing them to lies. If they're interested in the mystic, then give them the TRULY AND TRUE otherworld power -- the one true God, who exhibits true and pure supernatural being that Harry Potter could never even dream of.

Use their interests to point them to the Truth.

That is NOTHING like "the end justifies the means."

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000