Harry Potter - a Christian morality tale? (SPOILERS)

[aneeshm]

I thought the ending was very Christian.



Harry knows he has to die at the hands of Voldemort in order that Voldemort may die himself. He does this. And his motivation is that other innocents may not die because of his cowardice. Due to this act of sacrifice, and love, Voldemort is no longer able to kill or destroy in any way the people for whom Harry gave himself up.

In the books, the very speaking of Voldemort's name was enough to cause trouble, to draw his attention. In many old cultures, it was thought that the speaking of the name of Satan would bring bad luck.

Jesus consciously chose to die to save us from our sins, so that we may be free of the curse of Satan's hell. And through him, we are redeemed. As the son of God, and as was prophesied in the OT, he was the only one so capable.

Harry consciously chose to die to save his people from the curse of Voldemort's power. And through him, they were saved. As the son of a woman who had sacrificed her life for him, and as the prophecy foretold, he was the only so capable.

I haven't done a detailed study, but I'm sure sure there are many more parallels. These two were the most striking and obvious ones.

Hopefully, this will lead to more Christians understanding that HP isn't the spawn of the devil.

[Kuciwalker]

Re: Harry Potter - a Christian morality tale? (SPOILERS)

No.

Originally posted by aneeshm
I thought the ending was very Christian.

No.

[PLATO]

That was a profound debunking of a thoughtful statement there Kuci.

[Elok]

Well, duh. She also quoted Jesus for one of the gravestones in Godric's Hollow. There were other things I noted too, as I read (DH is the most overtly Xian of the seven IMO), but I've only read it through once so I can't recall more.

As for the Fundies no longer thinking HP is satanic, fat chance. I'll admit I'm curious as to how they'll explain it given that JKR practically gave the kid stigmata, but they'll find a way. My guess is that they'll say Harry is supposed to be a blasphemous parody of Christ.

There is no force greater than the closemindedness of a bible-thumper. Harry's power of love isn't even close. When the Narnia movie came out, www.capalert.com linked to a detailed article explaining how C.S. Lewis was not a Christian due to his use of Fauns, etc...

[aneeshm]

I missed another glaring obvious part: the Resurrection.

Just like Christ, Harry dies, and comes back to life.

[Kuciwalker]

aneeshm, the similarities exist because a lot of the traditional heroic cycle is related to Jesus' story (with the notable exception that Jesus was completely wtihout sin).

[Wiglaf]

This is why English majors should be shot.

[aneeshm]

Don't you think the resemblance was not a coincidence, given that the author had mentioned in some interview of the other that it was good that more people did not probe her Christian background, as it would reveal a great deal about the book?

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
This is why English majors should be shot.

Uh...

What?

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
aneeshm, the similarities exist because a lot of the traditional heroic cycle is related to Jesus' story (with the notable exception that Jesus was completely wtihout sin).

Or maybe it's the other way round - the story of Jesus was simply embellished into whatever fit the heroic cycle of the time, and that then became the standard?

[Nikolai]

Yeah, this is what I've said for years. Still some who won't accept it anyway, because Harry uses magic and magic is dangerous. I don't buy it. Thankfully, some do understand the potential. I read about a (hopefully I use the right word) congregation in the US that thinks like this: We have lots of children amongst us that knows little about the Bible. They do however, know lots about Harry Potter, without realizing that it's Christian influenced. Let's use that knowledge to tell them about the gospel!'

I like that kind of thinking, much more productive than "Harry is devilspawn, let's attack him, the writer, the readers and their grandma! On to glory!"

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Don't you think the resemblance was not a coincidence,

No, not really. We're a Christian culture. Even with that aside, the myth of the hero who dies for others and comes back to life is old and present in many cultures. One could as easily argue that HP is playing out the role of Quetzalcoatl in Mesoamerican myth.

[CrONoS]

On a side note; JK Rowling seem to use the archetype of the hero(which seems to be universal), but is there any other link to christiannity?

But overall, HarryPotter has much less influence from Christianity than... let say Tolkien and CS Lewis books.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Or maybe it's the other way round - the story of Jesus was simply embellished into whatever fit the heroic cycle of the time, and that then became the standard?

I thouhht that's what I said. Though the way I was taught, the canonical example is the Odyssey.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Aneeshm is STILL trying make HP fit into his cockamamie theories? Oy.