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Harry Potter Series

I've read the Chronicles at least half a dozen time since I was a child. I'm aware of the Christian symbology and am also aware that they are much better written than Harry Potter. That doesn't change my aforementioned position though.
 
Heidi Mighty Mo said:
Now, when it comes to scripture, there is no picking and choosing, you believe it all or not at all.
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Well I can't say I agree with that but thats another forum :D

Scofield said:
cubedbee, you should read the Chronicles of Narnia before saying they are similar to the Potter books. :D
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Well let me pick up then where cubedbee left off. I in fact have read the Chronicles of Narnia, LOTR, and the Harry Potter books and consider them all excelent reads. I agree with cubedbee that it is all or none as far as reading anything with witchcraft or wizardry in it. How many people cheer for the bad guys? Also with children they are not going to understand the allegorical part of the Narnia series they are just going to see more fantesy book in which they can read and explore who they are. I think the only true danger that lies in the Harry Potter books is that if parents aren't takeing the time to teach their children that it is make believe then the believe it. So in the end I see it as the parents responsibiblity to explain. If you haven't read the HP books than I would suggest you at least try to read them. There is not a demon lurking on every page so don't worry enjoy the story for what it is...make believe. :D
 
Yep!

And I have to say, it applies in all areas, I know I had been desensitized to much myself. As my relationship with the Lord grows though, I have noticed that things that didn't bother me before really bother me now. Last time I watched Beverly Hills Cop, I was shocked at the language, though I had seen it many times, I didn't remember it being THAT bad! Same thing with violence, those little inuendos to acceptance of homosexuality, etc... in movies and books I used to really enjoy. I take that as a good sign though...the change is in me and it is for the better.
 
Could someone please list exactly what is evil about Harry Potter? All I've seen in this thread is the fact that it portrays an antagonist who is a witch. This make the Lord of the Rings evil as well. I believe your point about Narnia is right--while the entire realm is magical, the antagonists of the stories do not generally practice magic.
 
Scofield said:
Your right, we can tell by the other posts.
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I'm sorry but what do you mean by this statment? Are you refrencing me? :D

Heidi Mighty Mo - I'm glad for you that God has moved you to a place where you are sensitive to these materials. God however has not moved me to that place, actually he has moved me out of that place. I understand that you are against 'witch craft' but there are few answers if you just leave it at that. Yes God may have moved you to another stage, and yes the bible does speak about staying away from real evil, my question would be what then is real evil? Make believe - no, actual incantations - I would tend to say yes.

However I have to say that the biblical authors wrote in their time period with the knowledge they had of that day. They believed that everything had spiritual roots example - a lighting strike was a sign that God was angry. We on the other hand have 'evolved' if you want to use that term to know the meaning behind certain things. I agree some things are permissible and some are not. Reading a book like HP is (to me) harmless, reading a wiccan book that has spells in it, well thats a little different :)
 
Heidi Mighty Mo said:
Yep!

And I have to say, it applies in all areas, I know I had been desensitized to much myself. As my relationship with the Lord grows though, I have noticed that things that didn't bother me before really bother me now. Last time I watched Beverly Hills Cop, I was shocked at the language, though I had seen it many times, I didn't remember it being THAT bad! Same thing with violence, those little inuendos to acceptance of homosexuality, etc... in movies and books I used to really enjoy. I take that as a good sign though...the change is in me and it is for the better.
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Heidi, I know exactly where you are coming from. I also experience the very same thing in some od the music I used to listen to.
 
O, I know, me too! I have actually thrown out quite a bit of stuff (Aerosmith, Green Day, Eve6, etc...) but I still can't seem to get rid of The Doors, John Cougar, Bruce Springsteen, and a few others, but I am still working on it! Ugh! I am coming along, it really helped to find some great Christian music to replace it though. :D
 
I do not think Harry Potter is Satanic nor evil. However, I personally do not like the series. Nor do I like Lord of the Rings. I've given that up for the glory of Christ. One thing I found is that I do not like secular things as much and a lot of that has to do with my mom's experience at Cruseo & the changes that have been happening in my mind. :)
 
Harry Potter is mostly focusing on satan fighting with what is good so harry is the good soldier
 
I hardly think the magic in Harry Potter constitutes Wiccan practices.

In Harry Potter the characters produce magic by waving a wand and uttering latin incantations that will produce a result. The only magic that resembles Wiccan in symbol and in ritual is the dark magic practiced by the antagonists of the story.

Additionally, if you can draw Christian allegory from LOTR, you can certainly draw allegory from Harry Potter. Take for the example at the end of the last book where Harry dies after receiving the killing curse from Voldemort and meets Dumbledore in what appears to be the afterlife. Dumbledore tells him he has a choice - one option is easiest and has him stay here and the other has him return to life and fight the good life and be back in a world of death and sorrow. This is similar to Gandalf who also died and was sent back to return the task that was appointed to him. I'll let you paint any biblical connections to these stories.

Reading stories about magic is not evil, nor does it lead down the path to evil. People lead themselves down the path to evil. The boys who were "influenced by doom" likely would have killed even if they hadn't played that video game. Something else just would have "influenced them". It is up to parents to give children the tools to see what is right and what is right and what is wrong and how to rationalize it in this crazy place.

The world is filled with lewdness, debauchery, sadness, suffering, hate, anger, joy, love, and laughter. Censoring everything is impossible. All parents are accomplishing when they do this is sheltering their child to the point where they can't control them anymore. Some of these kids will have learned on their own how to rationalize the world, but others will be totally unprepared for avoiding excess of the "bad" things in the world. If parents expose their children to vices and other potentially "sinful" things at a young age, while simultaneously rationalizing them, the children, in my opinion, will grow up much better adjusted an prepared to make logical judgements on their own.

By the way, I believe Rowling is a Christian.
 
abrown9 said:
I hardly think the magic in Harry Potter constitutes Wiccan practices.

In Harry Potter the characters produce magic by waving a wand and uttering latin incantations that will produce a result. The only magic that resembles Wiccan in symbol and in ritual is the dark magic practiced by the antagonists of the story.

Additionally, if you can draw Christian allegory from LOTR, you can certainly draw allegory from Harry Potter. Take for the example at the end of the last book where Harry dies after receiving the killing curse from Voldemort and meets Dumbledore in what appears to be the afterlife. Dumbledore tells him he has a choice - one option is easiest and has him stay here and the other has him return to life and fight the good life and be back in a world of death and sorrow. This is similar to Gandalf who also died and was sent back to return the task that was appointed to him. I'll let you paint any biblical connections to these stories.

Reading stories about magic is not evil, nor does it lead down the path to evil. People lead themselves down the path to evil. The boys who were "influenced by doom" likely would have killed even if they hadn't played that video game. Something else just would have "influenced them". It is up to parents to give children the tools to see what is right and what is right and what is wrong and how to rationalize it in this crazy place.

The world is filled with lewdness, debauchery, sadness, suffering, hate, anger, joy, love, and laughter. Censoring everything is impossible. All parents are accomplishing when they do this is sheltering their child to the point where they can't control them anymore. Some of these kids will have learned on their own how to rationalize the world, but others will be totally unprepared for avoiding excess of the "bad" things in the world. If parents expose their children to vices and other potentially "sinful" things at a young age, while simultaneously rationalizing them, the children, in my opinion, will grow up much better adjusted an prepared to make logical judgements on their own.

By the way, I believe Rowling is a Christian.
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As Christians we have to be very careful about such things. I'm not a HP hater, but I remember reading up on HP on wiki (simply to learn about the storyline before i watched a movie) and I stumbled onto the "spells" page and was incredibly shocked by what I read and saw.

We must be very very careful about such things! Some who are weaker in the faith will need to stay away from HP, others are able to handle it.

It's all about respect for each other :)
 
PS - Rawlings seems to simply be a member of the Church of Scotland.

TS Eliot was a true God loving believer (as evidenced in his other works)
 
Hey guys You do know that Wicca and Druidism is just another religion, It's non-abramic but that doesn't mean it's demonic, or somehow occult.

And also that HP magic doesn't bear any real link to the reality of what it would be like to be a practicing Wiccan I don't know any wiccans but I do have a Druid friend.

It's nothing like what you seem to be implying. She's and her faith is no more evil than your.
From what I've gotten from her religion she's mostly about ceremonies and rituals to various gods on the summer solstice, Whitch is like her version of a big religious holiday. *shrug*

Positions reversed, If there was a similar film with a christian undercurrent it would be that praying to Christ gives you the power to shoot lightning bolts from your hands.
 
In response to above: The occult at its most basic form is "the knowledge of the hidden". This, taken in a spiritual sense, is to have some sort of knowledge or connection with a higher power. In a Christian sense, the occult consists of anyone trying to communicate with god outside of his teachings through the bible. This means ANY religion can be considered "the occult". Druidism and Wiccan practices are simply other religions that are less prominent now than they used to be (especially after the Romans bled druidism out of the isles). I hardly see them as tempting to sin, whatever that is.

Christmas trees, the holy grail, and numerous other symbols involved in christianity are actually borrowed from pagan religions, such as druidism. If you guys think Harry Potter is blasphemous I wouldn't ever let your kids read any King Arthur novels!!!
 
Our definition of the occult, as Christians, greatly differs from yours ;) We're talking about apples and you're talking about oranges...
 
Tragically many children and teens today are obsessed with Harry Potter and are actively seeking Harry’s power. What exactly is Harry’s power? Where does it come from? In this teaching we will take a closer look at the effects of Harry Potter on this generation. Dan 8:25a speaking of the antichrist says: “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand…†Well that is exactly what the world is being set up to embrace: Witchcraft. We will also be going over an article published by Christianity Today Magazine entitled “Why We Like Harry Potterâ€. But Christianity Today is not the only mainstream Christian media source to endorse Harry Potter, among the others are: Chuck Colson, Wheaton College etc. The seduction is virtually complete. Most (if not all) of Christianity’s top leaders have now gone over to the dark side. Many today openly endorse and embrace witchcraft, magic and other devilish arts and devices. Most others, by their marked silence, are now acquiescing and joining in on this ghoulish, latter day’s conspiracy. Taken from the book ‘We Love Harry Potter and We’ll Tell You Why,’ here are a few kids’ ideas: ‘I’d like to go to wizard school, learn magic and put spells on people. I’d make up an ugly spell, and then it’s payback time!’ — Catherine (age 9) ’I feel like I’m inside Harry’s world. If I went to wizard school, I’d study everything: spells, counterspells and defense against the Dark Arts.’ — Carolyn (age 10)

Read the PDF exposing the Harry Potter series here:
Harry Potter Exposed!
 
Reading Harry Potter no more makes you a Wiccan than reading Pilgrim's Progress makes you a Christian.
 
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