Can God Be Found in Harry Potter?

An Interview with My Son About the Christian Themes of Harry Potter & Cautions

I know plenty of good Christian parents who do not allow their children to read Harry Potter, and I commend them for their decision. My preference is that children read The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, Pilgrim’s Progress, and other classics within the Christian tradition. However, I also know plenty of godly parents who do allow their children to read the series and are quite involved in the process.

Someone like Dr. Taylor Marshall does not think it wise to read the series while someone like Dr. Alex Plato, a philosophy teacher at Franciscan University, believes the books can be engaged. I know of parents who are from various backgrounds (Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox) who fall on both sides of the debate.

The King family does read Harry Potter. We have thrown birthday parties with chocolate frogs and ‘candied’ slugs (references from the books), and we have been known to dress up as some of the characters for costume parties.

Beyond the costumes and candies, the most important thing we do is to guide our children through the series to Christ and help them see how he is ‘re-enchanting’ the world through His grace and power. This process can only be successful IF the parents and the children know the Word of God better than popular culture. This is true even concerning the hit series, ‘The Chosen.’ People should be more grounded in the Jesus of the Gospels than the Jonathan Roumie version so that they can know what is true in contrast to what is imaginative or even possibly incorrect.

Quite powerful Biblical themes can be discovered in Harry Potter if a person has the ‘Christian’ eyes to see them. The Dark Lord is serpent-like who wants to destroy the ‘Chosen One’ who was prophesied to end his reign of terror. Throughout the series, Harry must often overcome evil temptations from the Dark Lord or his minions in order to save ‘Hogwarts’ each book. There are also powerful themes of friendship and even fatherhood (Dumbledore) from which we can learn. The final book also challenges the reader to think more deeply about the nature of the atonement, the resurrection, and final redemption. If a family is Catholic or Orthodox, it is also easy to find aspects of monasticism, relics, the sacraments, or even the communion of saints.

Is the Hogwart’s Universe a Christian One?

Unlike Narnia or Middle Earth, the Hogwart’s moral universe doesn’t always seem to be in complete harmony with a Christian one. For example, a friend should never kill a fellow friend no matter what the outcome could be. We find something similar to ‘mercy killing’ in the book which is not compatible with the historic Christian understanding. Of course, Christians have allowed self-defense in war or the death penalty for crimes, but it has never allowed ‘friendly fire’ or friends killing friends for the sake of mercy or to save the life of another. J.K. Rowling does cross this line as my son and I discuss in the interview. Warning: this clip contains major spoilers in the last two books if you have not read them.

Perhaps, Harry Potter should only be read by older children who are anchored in a Christian and Biblical worldview. Another option is to space out the 7 books so that the children are reading plenty of Scripture, the Lives of the Saints, and the Chronicles of Narnia in between =) Or you could simply avoid Harry Potter altogether as a family and simply read better literature in the classical tradition. This approach is completely commendable. Whatever you decide, be sure to keep the religious imagination of your children enchanted with Christ.

Be entirely His,
Kyle