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One of the most significant themes of Harry Potter is sacrificial love. You could say it's a quality that runs strongly in the Potter family, since his mother's love created a protection spell for the infant Harry, making him the only survivor to ward off Voldemort's evil.

In his selflessness, Harry always looks out for his friends

Since then, Harry has regularly chosen what's right over what's easy by placing others ahead of himself. In the first book/film, Harry's selflessness allows him to overcome evil and recover the Sorcerer's Stone before the baddies do. In The Chamber of Secrets, his brave rescue of a friend nearly costs him his life. In Goblet of Fire, watch for an underwater sequence where Harry once again risks his life for his friends.

Mind you, Harry doesn't always come to these decisions easily. Most of the Potter series is told in "third person limited omniscient view," meaning we see what happens as Harry does, and we're privy to his thought processes. We come to understand Harry's inner struggles and why he arrives at the right decision nearly every time—and why he's so ready to do whatever he can to help his friends.

Themes of love conquering all and laying down one's life aren't unique in literature, but could those themes be common because they're timeless truths at the core of Christianity? "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

These examples just scratch the surface of the redemptive themes in Harry Potter. I certainly wouldn't suggest that it's an explicitly "Christian" series. Parents of younger readers should make sure their children understand that the witchcraft of the books is not to be confused with the witchcraft of our world.

But by the same token, parents should caution their children that we don't use lightsabers to settle our differences, that the magic in Lord of the Rings and The Wizard of Oz is equally fictional, and that, literally speaking, we don't worship an all-powerful lion. To borrow a phrase from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, none of these classics are perfectly "safe," but they're all very good. We just need to learn how to respond to books and movies, distinguishing between fantasy and reality—and I daresay that some adults seem to have a harder time with that than their kids.

Harry Potter admittedly blurs the line between fiction and reality because its heroes are denoted as "wizards" and "witches." But an understanding of fictional magic as opposed to real occult practices helps clarify the context of the series, and can thus lead to some rewarding interpretations and discussions for readers and filmgoers of any age.

For more about the Christian elements of Harry Potter, check out John Granger's Looking for God in Harry Potter and/or Connie Neal's What's a Christian to Do with Harry Potter? Meanwhile, there are also books disapproving of the series, including Harry Potter and the Bible by Richard Abanes.

© 2005 Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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