Looking for God in Harry Potter

Looking for God in Harry Potter


Looking For
God In
Harry Potter

by John Granger
SaltRiver (Tyndale)
224 pages, $16.99

For nearly a decade, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series has been a litmus test of evangelicals' commitment to defying popular culture. Some churches have consigned Potter novels to bonfires because of the series' portrayal of magic spells and wizardry. For some Christians, it was as if an occult hand had nudged unknowing children toward pop witchcraft.

John Granger, a homeschooling father of seven, admits to feeling cautious about the series, which he had not heard about until Rowling published the fourth volume, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in 2000. When a pediatrician loaned the book to Granger's eldest daughter, Granger began reading Goblet of Fire for himself, and before long he was a convert.

Granger self-published The Hidden Key to Harry Potter in 2002. He now pursues a similar theme in Looking for God in Harry Potter, which is published by an imprint of Tyndale House. He promotes the books and related materials through a website, HogwartsProfessor.com, and teaches free online Potter courses through Barnes & Noble.

Granger's enthusiasm reaches a comic level after he quotes dialogue between Harry and Hermione:

"Harry, I can't believe it … You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That's very, very advanced magic. …"
"I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it. … Does that make sense?"
It makes sense, Harry, but perhaps only if you look at this as a Christian who is familiar with the Gospel according to John.

Granger has become such an enthusiast that it's tempting to call him the Comic Book Guy of Potterville, after the guardian of comics trivia on The Simpsons. Unlike Comic Book Guy, though, Granger can assemble his enthusiasms into a coherent argument. For instance, Granger draws a distinction between invocational magic ("calling in" evil powers) and incantational magic (the same play magic C. S. Lewis described in The Chronicles of Narnia).

"Scripture warns that 'calling in' demonic principalities and powers for personal power and advantage is dangerously stupid," Granger writes. "But there is no invocational sorcery in the Harry Potter books. Even the most evil wizards do their nasty magic with spells; not one character in any of the five books ever calls in evil spirits. Not once."

In Harry Potter, Granger sees not just an occasional Christian symbol but a virtual flood of such symbols. He argues that Rowling's symbols for Christ include a philosopher's stone, a red lion, a Gryffindor, a unicorn, a phoenix, a stag, a centaur, and a Hippogriff.

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Further, he sees Jesus' life and death reflected in Harry's repeated experiences of figurative death and resurrection.

He devotes a chapter to the series' allusions to alchemy, and to how various characters represent stages in alchemy. "Great writers in the English tradition use alchemical imagery because it helps them connect with that place in our heart designed to respond to the Great Story and promise of our life in Christ," Granger writes. "This is so much a part of us that, though we are largely immunized to this message by our culture and schooling, we respond with joy and longing to the imaginative shadows of it in fiction."

Granger observes that Potter books alternate between interior, psychological themes that appeal to introverts (Sorcerer's Stone, Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix) and those about Harry's exterior life, which appeal to extroverts (Chamber of Secrets, Goblet of Fire).

Drawing on his Latin, Granger is keen on discerning the meaning behind Rowland's use of names. The name of Severus Snape suggests a "severe rebuke," but it could also predict that character's eventual beheading. Voldemort, the demonic archvillain, could mean "willing death," "flight of death," or "flight from death." Harry Potter's name, especially if pronounced with a Cockney accent (Airy), suggests "heir of God" or "son of God."

Such details may be hearty meals for Christians who love the Potter series. Granger is more engaging, though, when he speculates on why the books are so popular. He explains one of the richer ironies in Christians' internecine warfare about Potter: "Like a judo master who throws his opponent by taking advantage of the opponent's aggression, the Harry Potter books have been able to deliver their message the world over. Because of the ironic—if well-intentioned—objections of many, this message of faith comes wrapped in a package marked 'not for Christians,' and is reaching those more resistant to Christian belief."

Granger is like the devoted fans of Bob Dylan who find theological meaning in nearly everything the man touches, from a throwaway song like "Under the Red Sky" to the bizarre, meandering film Masked and Anonymous. Is Granger decoding Rowling with great precision or engaging in frequent flights of eisegesis? In the end, I find his arguments plausible and convincing.

At the same time, he is consistently self-effacing and generous in his assumptions about opponents of the Potter series. No one is likely to stop another Potter bonfire by shouting "Halt, brethren" and reading aloud from these pages. But if any Christians have been hiding their Potter novels within leather Bible covers, or reading them only by flashlight after bedtime, Granger's book is the antidote. It not only will take away closet Potter fans' shame, but also ground their favorite novels in a Lewisian mere Christianity.

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Douglas LeBlanc is a CT contributing editor.

Related Elsewhere:

Looking for God in Harry Potter is available from Christainbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from the publisher.

John Granger likes to teach English literature at HogwartsProfessor.com.

Granger is also the author of The Hidden Key to Harry Potter.

Touchstone magazine has an essay by Granger on Harry Potter the alchemical tradition in English literature.

The author of Shadowmancersays Harry Potter contributes to witchcraft among kids.

Connie Neal has also written a book about Potter. In an interview posted on our website, she talked to Dick Staub about The Gospel According to Harry Potter.

Other Christianity Today articles on Harry Potter include:

Weblog: Most Evangelicals Like Harry Potter. Really. | We still like Harry Potter—and we're getting tired of being asked why we hate it (June 19, 2003)
Somewhat Wild About Harry | It's well nigh impossible to hate the warm-hearted Harry Potter. (Dec. 28, 2001)
Weblog: Frodo Good, Harry Bad | Why do Christian critics love Lord of the Rings and not Harry Potter? (Dec. 28, 2001)
Let Harry Potter Conjure Up 'Gospel Magic', Says Christian Magician | Andrew Thompson and others agree that some Christians have a false understanding of what Harry Potter is about. (Dec. 18, 2001)
Wary About Harry | Is the big-screen Harry Potter as delightful as the one in the book? And should you be worried about his witchcraft? Critics and viewers respond. (Nov. 21, 2001)
Potter's Field | Harry doesn't always make money magically appear. (Nov. 15, 2001)
The Perils of Harry Potter | Literary device or not, witchcraft is real—and dangerous. (Oct. 23, 2000)
Virtue on a Broomstick | The Harry Potter books, and the controversy surrounding them, bode well for the culture. (Sept. 7, 2000)
Opinion Roundup: Positive About Potter | Despite what you've heard, Christian leaders like the children's books. (Dec. 13, 1999)
Parents Push for Wizard-free Reading | Bestsellers now under fire in some classroom. (Dec. 13, 1999)
Why We Like Harry Potter | The series is a 'Book of Virtues' with a preadolescent funny bone. (Dec. 13, 1999)

More Harry Potter article from our sister magazines are available on our Potter page.

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