Sign up for our free newsletter:

You've undoubtedly heard of Harry Potter: loyal friend, expert athlete, boy wizard. For today's young readers, Harry Potter has become something of a hero, with enough charisma to force even a nonreader to turn off the TV or put down the joystick and open a book.

With kids tearing through the pages and begging for more, it's clear author Joanne K. Rowling has created quite a stir. She's sold more than 18.5 million copies of the first three books. The fourth book in the series, The Goblet of Fire, reached the New York Times bestseller list weeks before its July release.

But even though the Potter craze has turned thousands of television junkies into readers, for some Christian parents, Harry's no hero. In fact, some even claim he's "pure evil" and have called for a ban on all Harry Potter books in their schools and libraries.

As the parent of two young children myself, I wanted to know more about this amazing phenomenon so I did a little research, hoping to find some answers. What I came up with is this: there is no easy answer.

So, rather than simple solutions, we offer you the following guide to the mysterious Harry Potter. You can use it to wade through this literary phenomenon and get the information you need to draw your own conclusions about the Harry Potter series.

Who is Harry Potter?
We first meet Harry in The Sorcerer's Stone. He's a 10-year-old orphan living with relatives who despise him. It's not until his 11th birthday that Harry learns he has magical abilities and a rather interesting past. When he was only a baby, his parents were both killed while trying to fight the most evil wizard on earth, Lord Voldemort. Miraculously, Baby Harry escaped the wicked wizard with only a lightning bolt scar on his forehead and little memory of the incident.

As a wizard, Harry is invited to enroll at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's here that Harry realizes the significance of his past.

Hogwarts is an enchanted place, invisible to Muggles (nonmagical people). Hogwarts offers classes like broomstick riding and care of magical creatures. During his first year at Hogwarts, Harry begins to develop his skills and comprehend the depth of his talent. He quickly becomes a top player of Quidditch, a game similar to soccer but played on flying broomsticks.

But Harry learns more than just the mechanics of wizardry at Hogwarts. Beyond the spells and potions, Hogwarts is a place for students to learn the importance of friendship, honesty and loyalty. Here, Harry gains self-confidence as he learns to think for himself and make important decisions. He battles the class bully and eventually comes face to face with his archenemy Voldemort. In the end, with sizeable strength and courage, Harry prevails.

The next three books in the series, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Goblet of Fire take Harry on new, sometimes frightening adventures, and we are allowed a glimpse into the inner struggles he must go through to develop into a mature young man.

What's to love about Harry
Not only are the Harry Potter books creative, insightful and well-written, they're downright funny. From portraits of people who talk and often leave their picture to wander around, to candy that tastes like earwax, to staircases that lead to different destinations on Fridays, Rowling's imagery ignites the imagination. For a generation raised on computers and quick-moving animation, Harry Potter provides creative fuel for growing minds.

Although the books aren't Christ-centered and don't promote Christianity, they still offer powerful lessons in compassion, courage, self-sacrifice and doing the right thing despite the risks. The characters are very real, experiencing real emotions and forming meaningful relationships with one another.

What's wrong with Harry Potter?
Although many educators and parents have praised the series, some Christians are still wary, claiming that children are being lured into believing in witchcraft and the occult.

"They're trying to disguise things as fun and easy that are really evil," Elizabeth Mounce told school board members in Columbia, South Carolina. Mounce, the mother of two, was the first to speak out publicly against the Harry Potter books. And she's not alone. A quick search of the Focus on the Family Web site yields a host of objections and arguments against Rowling's work. The primary concern is that Harry Potter is marketed to children and presents witchcraft as something attractive. Critics are fearful of the kind of influence the books might have on impressionable minds.

"By disassociating magic and supernatural evil, it becomes possible to portray occult practices as good and healthy," says John Andrew Murray in a recent issue of Teachers in Focus magazine. "This, in turn, opens the door for less discerning individuals to become confused about supernatural matters."

These are legitimate concerns. The Bible clearly condemns witchcraft and tells Christians to "avoid every kind of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22). But for the most part, Christian experts agree that the world of wizards and spells created by Rowling is not the same as the occult-type practices Scripture condemns. "The magic in these books is purely mechanical," says Charles Colson, Christianity Today magazine columnist and head of Breakpoint ministries. "Harry and his friends don't make contact with the supernatural world." The magic serves as a framework for the story, a technique used by writers as far back as Shakespeare, Tolkien and de Troyes (the creator of the King Arthur tales).

According to Italian theologian Massimo Intovigne, "Magic is the main metaphor for life in fairy tales. If one should ban Harry Potter, one should also ban Peter Pan, Cinderella and Pinocchio. Harry Potter, unlike a number of cartoon superheroes, doesn't win because he's more proficient at magic than the bad guys. He wins because he's intelligent and brave, and more human than his opponents. What the bad guys utterly lack is human feelings and basic human values."

Alan Jacobs, professor of literature at Wheaton College in Illinois, even goes so far as to defend the Potter series as "a kind of spiritual warfare."

"Harry Potter offers the possibility for serious moral reflection," he says. "And the question of what to do with magic powers is explored in an appropriate and morally serious way."

As with much of classic children's literature, the world of Harry Potter is a world where good and evil coexist in constant tension. There's little doubt that Harry remains on the side of right, battling the dark forces of evil. Children know that Harry is the good guy in these stories and can be confident that right will prevail in the end.

Where to be careful
As Christian parents, it's important to be aware of the things our kids are reading, watching and listening to. The best way to determine if Harry Potter is right for your family is to read the books for yourself. Then filter their content through your own family's value system.

Modern witchcraft is indeed a scary, seductive force that we must protect our children from. These books can provide a great starting point for talking to your kids about the evils of this world.

Parents who decide to read the Potter books with their children should also point out ways in which the power Harry uses to defeat evil is much different from the power we have in God.

"It bothers me that so much emphasis is on Harry's inner strength, his own abilities," says Sue Kramer, mother of three. "I want my kids to realize that our power comes from God, not ourselves. We read these books together and talked about how Harry might have behaved differently if he was a Christian. I think it was a good talk."

While kids—and adults—of all ages seem to enjoy the series, the books really are written for older children. Parts of the books are frightening and intense, particularly the ending of The Goblet of Fire. Rowling claims the books will get darker in coming releases. In The Goblet of Fire, Harry and his friends also begin to feel the first hints of romantic curiosity, moving the story beyond the interest of very young readers and more toward the area of middle school. And there are a few scattered instances of crude or profane language found in the first four books such as damn, crap and Gawd. This alone is reason enough to limit the books to kids older than 10 or 11.

Although the Potter books are morally based, they don't always present black and white answers to life's difficult questions. Al Hsu, who's written extensively about Harry Potter for InterVarsity Press, says the books are "sometimes morally ambiguous. Though the mythology sets up the conflict between good and evil, it can be difficult to determine who is on which side."

But viewed another way, says Hsu, this moral ambiguity actually strengthens the series, making it more real.

As with every decision you'll face as a parent, the Harry Potter question really comes down to this: what's best for your child? You know your child better than anyone else and only you can predict how he'll be affected by these books. Whether you choose to say no to the books or read them aloud before bedtime, it's important that you make your decision based on facts, not fear.

	We'd really like to know what you think about this article!
	Is this the kind of article you'd like to see more of? Is there a topic you'd like us to cover? Please send your response to

				Try Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Order a gift subscription!

FREE MOMsense Newsletter Subscribe to the MOMsense Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help