Posted on 07/23/2007 7:04:00 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
If there’s a child in your house, then you probably know what’s going to happen when the clock strikes 12 tonight. The final Harry Potter book—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—will be unleashed on the world.
The big question that has millions of kids on edge: Will Harry live—or will he die?
But the big question many parents have is: Should their kids be reading novels about wizards and witches and magic?
A Christian expert on Potter mania says, “It depends.”
Connie Neal, a veteran youth pastor and mother of three, is the author of a book titled What’s a Christian To Do with Harry Potter? Neal says parents must use discernment in deciding whether to allow their kids to read Harry Potter. For example, kids with an unhealthy interest in the occult should probably not read these books. Other Christians believe their kids benefit from the moral lessons the Potter books teach.
Neal’s belief that it’s okay for Christians to read secular novels comes from her reading of the biblical book of Daniel. Daniel, you will remember, was a teenager when he was taken away from Jerusalem to live in exile in Babylon. There, he was taught the language and literature of the pagan culture. He studied at a school that trained Babylon’s magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers. The actual practice of sorcery and astrology was, of course, forbidden by God. But Daniel studied it well to understand it.
One day King Nebuchadnezzer called on his magicians and astrologers to interpret a dream; none could do it. In a rage, the king ordered that all of his wise men be put to death. Daniel asked to see the king, who then asked him, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel responded: “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery which the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.”
Daniel had immersed himself in his culture’s pagan literature in order to understand it. But, because of his deep devotion to God, he didn’t defile himself. As Connie Neal told BreakPoint, “God put Daniel in Babylon to be a light in the darkness—and he was. He was not afraid to read literature that resounded in the hearts of the people with whom he lived. He used his familiarity with this pagan literature to reveal the true and living God.” And Neal knows some kids who have done the same in our own post-Christian culture.
Now personally, I don’t recommend the Potter books. I’d rather Christian kids not read them. But with some 325 million of them in print, your kids will probably see them and hear others talk about them, and they’re probably going to read them anyway. So use this occasion to teach them to be discerning—like Daniel. Dare them to have Daniel as their role model, not Harry Potter.
And if your kids do enjoy Harry’s magical world, you should give them copies of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
These books also feature wizards and witches and magic, but in addition, they inspire the imagination within a Christian framework—and prepare the hearts of readers for the real-life story of Jesus Christ.
ROFL. You must have had a faulty funnel.
Those things were common knowledge at the time. Sort of like how a Christian living in aMuslim country doesn’t have to be kneeling toward Mecca to know the basic tenets of Islam.
As do I and many who enjoy God's creation and those he has blessed with the gift of writing.
Like I said, don't read them. Just be careful in your judgment of those who do.
Good for you! Sounds like you have really grounded kids. Congratulations to you and your wife for a job well done, and to the kids for listening! And thanks for allowing them to have a childhood!
I'm almost tempted to give my opinion of threads like this, but I'll stay polite.
That is the issue, though. "Christians" nattering on against the EEEEEeeeeeevilllll Harry Potter! do incredible damage to Christianity.
It makes Christians look narrow, and stupid -- especially given what the Potter stories are about. And the ones yelling loudest generally have never even read the books themselves, which is even worse.
Anybody who wants to make Christianity look bad, should look no further than the anti-Harry Potter morons who call themselves Christians.
Forgive me for tempting you. ;-)
Can somebody please explain to me why Lewis and Tolkein are OK, but Rowling isn’t, at least according to some Christians?
Mark
Jedi Knights are not real. Witchcraft is real. Huge difference.
Well I supposed a determined person could similarly find Christian symbolism in Cat in the Hat and the Bobbsey Twins.
Frankly, I don't see why people can't just enjoy literature for what it is.
It was. The "halfling" character class in D&D is hobbits with a different name. That doesn't reflect on Tolkien, however.
Because Lewis and Tolkein wrote before instantaneous internet access allowed groups of idiots to band together and trade hyperventilated opinions on stuff.
Unless you've been to a galaxy far, far away, you don't really know that.
I tried, but gave up after nearly electrocuting myself.
Heh! Well, you can’t argue with Truman Capote. You can yell all he wants, but he won’t argue back because he’s dead...
I love LOTR for what it is. And read it several times before ever taking a serious look at the symbolism.
But "what it is" is a classic work of good vs. evil, with strong Christian overtones.
*shudder*
I bought one for my son at Walmart last evening for 17.88.
,i>The inside cover price was a lot more!
I read that a lot of smaller "mom & pop" book stores aren't bothering to carry Deathly Hollows, because they simply can't compete on price due to the volume. I read that Amazon.com pre-sold more than 1.6 million copies, and every major national book seller was selling them for about that price... About 40% or more off.
Mark
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