Themes in Potter books make good outreach tools, some say

Themes in Potter books make good outreach tools, some say

J.K. Rowling isn’t likely to repeat John Lennon’s mistake. She probably won’t compare the record-setting popularity of her Harry Potter books to that of Jesus Christ, but the global reach of the title character’s adventures is undeniable.

The last book in the series by British author Rowling is currently the best-selling book in the world. The seven-book series has sold an amazing 325 million copies worldwide since 1997, making it the biggest children’s book series ever.

As with other icons of pop culture, the Harry Potter series has spawned no shortage of Christian critics, imitators and evangelistic entrepreneurs — including the Church of England — who are capitalizing on the success of the Potter franchise by using the stories to spread the gospel.

The Church of England recently published a guidebook, called “Mixing It Up With Harry Potter,” to show people biblical lessons within the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is a “hugely moral series of stories about good, evil, love, friends and everything else,” Owen Smith, the guidebook’s author, told The (London) Times.

The guidebook will likely anger some Christians — including the pope and psychologist James Dobson — who see the Harry Potter franchise as an endorsement of witchcraft. Dobson has consistently opposed the Potter books. And when The Washington Post mistakenly said otherwise in an article, Dobson quickly countered the claims on his Focus on the Family Web site.

“… [G]iven the trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology in the larger culture,” Dobson said, “it’s difficult to ignore the effects such stories (albeit imaginary) might have on young, impressionable minds.”

Other Christians see it differently — including Rowling herself. Shortly before the second Potter film was released, Rowling told The Vancouver Sun that she is a Christian — something many of her critics were surprised to learn.

Rowling told the Sun why she hasn’t made her faith more widely known: “If I talk too freely about that, I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what’s coming in the books.”

Connie Neal, a fellow author, said Rowling’s comments to the Sun only increased Neal’s belief in Harry Potter’s Christian connection. The Christian symbolism in Rowling’s latest and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is so obvert that the Christian connection should be apparent to everyone, Neal said.

She has written three books countering claims of Harry Potter’s pagan glorification. There are “unmistakably Christian themes” in the book, including “a clear picture of the gospel in symbolic form,” she said.

Identifying Christian allusions in popular books and movies is a common practice. “Star Wars,” “The Matrix” and “The Lord of the Rings” are enormously popular stories that all contain the Christlike elements of self-sacrifice, death and renewal.

But Harry’s wand seems to create more controversy with Christians than Luke’s light saber or Frodo’s sword. Neal, too, started reading the Potter books as a “concerned Christian parent,” but her concerns were quickly alleviated after she realized the magic described in the first book was similar to the kind used in fairy tales. 

Alan Jacobs, professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois, told Faith Today magazine that the magical skills of Rowling’s wizards are similar to the futuristic and improbable technology that science fiction shows like “Star Trek” rely on.

Neal said she felt called by God “to help the Christian community really discuss [the controversy] in a kind and Christian way.” And long before the Church of England printed its guidebook, she had used the connection between Harry Potter and the gospel for her own evangelical pursuits.

“I led a guy to Christ using Harry Potter,” Neal said.

Of the 32 books Neal has written, “The Gospel According to Harry Potter” has more Scripture in it than anything else. Unfortunately for her, the topic was so controversial that Christian bookstores wouldn’t carry it. Still Neal said the Christian backlash against Harry Potter isn’t as strong as it once was.

“I only get calls screaming at me that I’m leading people to the devil maybe once every three months now instead of once a week,” she said.

The lapse of time is another thing Neal uses as evidence that the Potter series isn’t harmful.

“It’s been 10 years since the first book was released,” Neal said. “If the book really did cause a mass of kids to join the occult, we would have noticed it by now.”

But some critics persist, no matter how much time has passed.

“Harry Potter may have some themes that relate to Christian messages,” Woodley Auguste, senior publicist of Strang Communications, said. “But when you factor in the evil associated with witchcraft, I think the bad aspects of the novel outweigh the good.”

Strang, an Orlando, Fla.-based Christian publishing company, offers a line of Christian fantasy books as so-called safe alternatives to Harry Potter. It’s not the first company to do so. Certain authors have produced successful Christian fantasy titles like “Shadowmancer” and “Fablehaven,” but none has come close to reaching the enormous success of Harry Potter.

Neal said Christians should embrace secular titles with positive messages like Harry Potter. She said most Christian fantasy authors don’t write on the same level as Rowling. “I’ve seen a lot of books claiming to be the Christian Harry Potter, and some of them have sold like crazy,” Neal said. “But when I read one of them, I thought there were more theological problems in that book than in Harry Potter. And the quality of it wasn’t even half as good.”

Time will tell whether Harry Potter can be used to promote Christianity, but the record 8.3 million U.S. copies the series’s final installment sold on its first day indicate that the Potter market will continue for a number of years.
It’s the “greatest evangelistic opportunity the church ever missed,” Neal said. (ABP)