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Summary
Apart from being the son of a wizard and a witch, Harry Potter is no ordinary boy. As a baby, he had his first terrible encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort (also known as 'You-Know-Who' by those who fear even his name), who killed his father and then turned on Harry. His mother gave her life to save her son, imbuing Harry with a mysterious power through this act of love. The curse Voldemort subsequently hurled at Harry rebounded, robbing him of his own dark powers and leaving Harry with a scar on his forehead in the shape of a bolt of lightning. Voldemort was reduced to nothing and went into hiding for many years.
In this fourth book, Lord Voldemort makes an unwelcome return to power, stopping at nothing to regain his strength. He makes sure that Harry is one of the contenders in a tricky tournament that takes place at Harry's school, involving a series of difficult and sometimes life-threatening tasks. One of his followers is disguised as a teacher at Hogwarts to ensure that Harry will get his hands on the cup - a single touch will transport him to a graveyard where Voldemort is waiting to take his blood. 'B-blood of the enemy ... forcibly taken ... you will ... resurrect your foe,' goes the spell. To prove that he has returned to full strength, Voldemort announces that he will kill Harry Potter in a magical duel. It takes all of Harry's skill and determination to conquer him in a spectacular battle.
Key Issue: Magic
The success of the Harry Potter series is beyond question. The first three books sold 30 million copies worldwide, and number four's initial print run of a million will no doubt follow suit. Adults and children alike have been snapping them up, enjoying the blend of humour, adventure and surprise.
Where Christians start debating is of course over the magic. At a fundamental level, the Harry Potter stories are powerful tales of the classic good versus evil battle, where the good very clearly wins. However, Harry the hero is a wizard and he is at Hogwarts to learn how to use magic for good. Hence he and his friends attend classes on spells, use cauldrons, collect weird ingredients and wear black cloaks as school uniform. The clashes between the goodies and the baddies are fought in the realms of magic, with spells and counterspells flashing from their wands.
Given the popularity of these books, how do we respond as Christians? Do we condemn them because of the magic? Or will we read them ourselves, and to our children? If we want to be relevant to our culture, we cannot just ignore them, when people we know will be reading them. Does the use of witchcraft negate the good/evil storyline? Is there a balanced Christian approach to the thorny subject of witchcraft in fantasyland?
Bible Study
Choose one question in each section
1. What are people looking for in the occult?
'My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars ... Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle ...' (p. 176)
Leaders: People are looking for some kind of control - they either want to know the future or they want to influence the present in some way. This may well be because of a basic need for security. In addition people are aware of a spiritual dimension to life and are looking for spiritual solutions that work.
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Read Isaiah 47:8-15. What are people looking for in magic, divination, and other occult practices?
Leaders: see also 1 Samuel 28:3-20
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Read Acts 13:6-12. Why does Paul react so strongly against Elymas?
Imagine that you are Sergius Paulus. What are you looking for in life that makes you have Elymas on your staff and want to listen to the visitors to Paphos, Barnabas and Saul? How do you feel about Elymas's response to them and what happened to him as a result?
Leaders: Note that the second part of this question invites people to imagine something of the background behind what Luke records for us in Acts 13. Putting yourself in the position of a character in the narrative can be a helpful way of thinking about what was happening in that character's life. Bear in mind, though, that this is pure speculation.
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2. Why is God so opposed to the occult?
...he couldn't help thinking about what she had just said to him. 'I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass ...' (p. 177)
Leaders: The fundamental problem with all magic, divination, etc. is that it looks to other spiritual forces for resources rather than to God. This is the root of all sin. In particular, it stops people listening to God (see Isaiah 8:19-20) and obeying him. It therefore threatens the distinctiveness, purity and security of God's people - and hence in the Old Testament (where the people of God are a nation) has the strictest penalties associated with it.
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Read Deuteronomy 18:9-16. Why does God find occult practices detestable (think about Israel's relationship with their neighbours and with the Lord)? What is the basic sin that is being committed? Try to find other Bible passages that address this fundamental sin.
Leaders: see also Isaiah 8:19-9:1; Micah 5:10-15; Malachi 3:5; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 18:21- 24; 21:8, 15
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Read Leviticus 20:6. Why is the prostitution metaphor so appropriate? What should our relationship to God be like?
Leaders: see also Nahum 3:1-4
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3. What's going on?
He had long since come to the conclusion that her brand of fortune-telling was really no more than lucky guesswork and a spooky manner. (p. 177)
Leaders: Both Old and New Testaments see occult practices as a mixture of trickery and real power drawn from demonic beings. The Bible is clear that ultimately they all fail. The second of the questions in this section explores this and broadens out to consider other things we do which parallel occult practices in that they rely on resources other than God.
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Compare Acts 8:9-13 with Acts 13:9-10. How does the Bible view the reality and power of occult practices? Contrast this with the power of the Holy Spirit in both passages.
Leaders: see also Jeremiah 27:8-10; Ezekiel 13:17-22
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List some of the ways in which magic fails in Isaiah 47:8-15. Try to summarise this passage in your own words. Are there ways in which our actions and attitudes parallel those described here even if we don't actually engage in magic or sorcery?
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4. But what about ... ?
Except, of course, for that time at the end of last term, when she had made the prediction about Voldemort rising again ... and Dumbledore himself had said that he thought that trance had been genuine, when Harry had described it to him ... (p. 177)
Leaders: In the context of the Bible's condemnation of occult practices, there are a couple of surprises. First, Daniel ends up in an extraordinary position as 'chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners' (see Daniel 1:8, 17-20; 2:27; 4:4-9; 5:10-12). Second, God brings the Magi to worship the newborn Christ through their astrology. The Magi were the priestly caste of the Persian Empire and may have been the successors of those Daniel worked with-at least after the fall of Babylon to Persia. The Bible doesn't give us any explanation for these surprises. Therefore the following questions are largely speculative but it is, however, worth giving a little thought to why this might be so.
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Read Matthew 2:1. Discuss what reasons God might have had for choosing some Magi to come and worship the young Jesus.
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Read Daniel 1:1-7. Put yourself in Daniel's position in the first few days of his exile:
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carried far away from home at a young age (maybe as young as 13)
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thrust into a vast, sophisticated, prosperous and very diverse city - Babylon
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stripped of his cultural identity - e.g. given a new Babylonian name
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forced to learn about Babylonian culture - full of idolatry and occult practices
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Read verses 8-21. How does Daniel respond? How do you think you would have responded?
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Daniel eventually became 'chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners' (Daniel 5:11). How do you think he was able to handle being a believer in God in such a position for all those years?
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Implications
That feeling of looking forward to lunchtimes, so I could read Harry's world of magic, is great, so I'd like to thank you for adding that touch of excitement to my day.
(12 year-old fan, inside cover)
Leaders: Some of these implication questions arise directly from the Bible study. Others are more immediately connected with Harry Potter but should still be informed by what you have discussed from Scripture. Don't discuss all of them! Encourage your group to discuss these issues at a practical level, not just in an abstract, intellectual way. You may also like to suggest that the members of your group talk to a child about Harry Potter books during the coming week.
Choose one of the following questions
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In what ways have we tried to take control of our own lives rather than trusting God (whether occult dabblings or otherwise)?
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>What would you say to someone who wants to go to or has been to see a medium, clairvoyant, tarot card reader or similar?
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In an interview with USA Weekend Online (14 November 1999), J K Rowling said, 'I don't believe in the kind of magic that appears in my books but I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.' How would you talk to a child about the Harry Potter books?
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How well do you think children are able to discern the difference between fantasy and reality? Should we be worried about children reading the Harry Potter books or are we simply projecting our own fears onto children?
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How would you explain the extraordinary fascination with Harry Potter? What are the implications of this for our evangelism?
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Prayer
Spend some time praying through these issues.
Background Reading
Links to some background reading
Download this set of Connect Bible Studies in Adobe Acrobat format
© Damaris Publishing, 2001 All rights reserved
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