God and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
I’m a Harry Potter fan.
I’ve read all seven books. I’ve seen all eight movies. I own most of the DVDs and then bought them again digitally if I didn’t have them. I’ve even been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando and the Making of Harry Potter Warner Bros. Tour in London! And yet, somehow, AMAZINGLY, I turned out to be a Christian. I don’t believe in witchcraft. I don’t play Quidditch. And I don’t cast spells. Despite the influence of Harry Potter on my life, I turned out okay and you did, too. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I don’t do animal sacrifices, much to the relief of my three dogs. But if you were to read all of the stuff on the Internet, you’d think it was a blessed miracle I didn’t turn out differently. Apparently, Harry Potter is EVIL![1] Harry Potter will make you turn away from God. Harry Potter will turn you to witchcraft. For a fictional character, apparently Harry Potter has a lot of power. One woman in Georgia even tried to blame Harry Potter for a school shooting saying that having the books in the school library created an “atmosphere where violence is possible.”[2] She suggested instead that children read the Bible. Now, I’m not opposed to people reading the Bible, but maybe she’s unaware of the thousands of people killed in the name of God from READING the Bible or of the excessive violence we read about IN the Bible or the stories of things people did that I would never want my children to emulate that comes FROM the Bible. If that’s our criteria, then I’m not sure the Bible would pass the test either.
Most Christians who oppose Harry Potter do so because they claim it promotes the occult.
This is the same claim that people made about the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. And the same claim made about the card game Magic: The Gathering in the 90’s. Simply the inclusion of supernatural elements like ghosts, goblins, and ghouls supposedly promotes the occult. But let me share with you a secret. By definition, the BIBLE promotes the occult. Seriously. It does. So, when people make the claim that something is evil or wrong simply because it promotes the occult and the Bible is against it, I think they haven’t read their Bible very well. It makes me wonder if these people even know what “occult” means. To quote Inigo Montoya from my favorite movie, The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” So let’s look at the definition of “occult.” According to the definition, the word “occult” means “Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena. Beyond the realm of human comprehension; inscrutable.”[3] Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena. Beyond the realm of human comprehension. That’s what it means. And people would be hard-pressed to say that the Bible doesn’t deal with the supernatural.
The truth is, I believe in ghosts[4].
I do. And in the spirit of Halloween, indulge me for a few minutes as I tell you about a real-life ghost story. Way back in 1716, a preacher, his wife, and his children were all living inside a parsonage provided the church. On a cold December day, the maid, who only helped out occasionally, came rushing in to the room where the family was and told them that she heard loud groans and moans in the dining room. They laughed at her and ignored the warnings. But soon thereafter, one by one, they each heard the ghost. They heard the strange sounds, the moans and groans, and other noises the ghost would make; everyone that is except for the pastor himself. The women of the household didn’t say anything, particularly their mother who was worried that her husband would simply laugh at her and pass it off as something attributed to her imagination. Eventually, though, she had to tell him and she told him about the many incidents that had happened, and sure enough, he reacted just as they thought he would and ignored the warning. But then, nearly three weeks after the ghost began haunting the parsonage, the pastor, Sam, began to hear loud thumping against the bedroom wall. He searched all around the house and couldn’t find the cause and so went to bed. But five days later, on the night after Christmas, the knocking returned. Sam knocked back, hoping to stop whoever it was from bothering him, but every time he knocked, the ghost would repeat the knocking even louder than before! Finally, it got to be too much, and Sam invited some people over to investigate. As they attempted to enter the house, the door suddenly pushed back against them hard! But nobody was there. Nobody could explain the strange disturbances, except to say that there was indeed a ghost. One of Sam’s daughters, Emily, was the first to name the ghost and called him Jeffrey. She would write to her brothers who were away, about Jeffrey’s exploits in the house and what strange things occurred. The ghost would leave for a time and then come back, never hurting anyone, but at times they could almost feel him passing by and hear the rustling of clothing as he went. Jeffrey the Ghost did grant one strange request. The children’s mother asked that she not be disturbed during prayer time, and the ghost never did. Emily’s brother blamed their father for the hauntings, claiming that it was simply punishment for how poorly Sam had treated his wife. The family never did find out the cause of the haunting that lasted for over ten years.
What makes this story even more interesting is that like I said, it is a true story.
It is in fact, one of the most well-documented hauntings in history. There have been many letters and written documents attesting to this as something that actually happened. Now, some of you will scoff and say ghosts don’t exist. Some of you will say ghosts are just figments of our imagination. Some might even say tories about ghosts are the work of the Devil himself, but you would be hard-pressed to say that about THIS ghost story, because the person who wrote about THIS ghost was none other than John Wesley himself, the founder of Methodism. The parsonage belonged to his father Samuel who had “deserted” his wife Susanna for a time over an argument about the “true King of England,” and John always thought Jeffrey’s appearance was punishment for his father’s bad behavior.
Still is it really that hard to believe that there might be such things as ghosts?[5]
After all, we believe in at least one. We even say it in worship. “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Also called the Holy Ghost. So, belief in at least ONE ghost is part of our heritage and tradition. But that’s not the only supernatural thing we believe in. In fact, one of our most fundamental beliefs we have as Christians is that first and foremost a man came back from the dead to lead us to salvation. You HAVE to believe in the supernatural because by the very definition, our God is a supernatural God. So even if you believed that things like Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons had a connection to the supernatural, that doesn’t make it bad or evil. Being supernatural can be good, too. It’s the choices we make that determine if something is good or evil, not the things themselves. People say money is evil. But the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy that it’s the LOVE of money that is the root of evil (1 Timothy 6:10) not the money itself. THINGS are not good or evil. What people do with them IS.
Listen to this story.
We begin our Scripture reading in the church at Antioch. This is the beginning of Paul’s first missionary journey as he is about to be sent forth by the Holy Spirit. While you listen or read along, notice what the Holy Spirit is doing in Paul.
2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 4The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. – Acts 13:2-12
Elymas became blind by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But what’s more important is why. He didn’t become blind because he was a sorcerer. In fact, the word “sorcerer” here doesn’t have anything to do with magic. This guy is into astrology. But Elymas became blind because he was attempting to lead the proconsul away from the faith. Sergius called for Paul and Barnabas because he wanted to hear the Word of God. And that probably made Elymas worried. Think about it. If the procounsel decided to take advice from God instead of Elymas, he’d be out of a job pretty quickly. I mean, if you’re making a living off of giving people advice based on the supernatural and they start relying on the source of all things supernatural, well you don’t have much to offer. Elymas was probably worried about losing his job so he tries to convince the proconsul not to listen to these two guys and it completely backfires on him. Instead of convincing him NOT to listen to them, he helps convince him that God is real. The Bible warns us against things like divination and astrology not because they have magic or even necessarily deal with something evil. The Bible warns us against these things because they lead us away from God. They influence where we place our faith and they turn our faith away from God and place it in something else. That’s the real danger. That’s what defines sin – a separation from God. That’s what defines sin – a separation from God.
The supernatural is not something we have to be afraid of.
It is a part of our tradition and heritage as Christians. It is often the way God works in our lives, to use us as vehicles for his grace. We don’t need to be afraid of things like Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons, or anything else that deals with magic. After all, magic is simply defined as “the use of means believed to have supernatural power over natural forces.” We are a people who believe in ghosts and spirits and the power of faith – all supernatural things. And to me, there is no supernatural power greater than love and our God who embodies love. But it’s the choices we make that determine if something is being used for good or evil. It’s the choices we make that determine if something is being used for God or against God. So choose God. Choose love. Choose God. Choose love. So as long as you have a heart for God and continue to look for Christ in all things, the supernatural – God – is our ally. God works wonders in the world everyday. When I think about the extraordinary circumstances that bring me before you today, when I think about how God was able to bring Cassie and I together, when I think about the miracle of birth I witnessed when Emma was born, I believe in magic. I believe that when a person finally comes to accept Christ as His Lord and Savior, that there is magic in that act, because it means that God’s influence touched that person’s life and brought him out of the world today. I believe in everlasting life, I believe in the Holy Spirit, and I believe that a man rose from the dead to bring salvation to the world and if that isn’t magical, I don’t know what is.
[1] There are many websites and many stories on the Internet decrying the “evil” nature of Harry Potter, but I don’t want to give them any publicity. If you’re curious, just google search “Harry Potter is evil” or some other search term and you’ll understand.
[2] http://atheism.about.com/b/2006/10/07/harry-potter-books-to-blame-for-school-shootings.htm
[3] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/occult
[4] http://www.annecdalton.com/civic.html, http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/dreamX10.htm, and http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/JohnWesley.htm provided background for this story.
[5] http://www.new-life.net/magic.htm Interesting article on this site about the use of magic and what it means to Christians.
Craig's Corner 