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.

 

[Leonel]

AHA! Just as I suspected! Harry Potter is an evil Christian conspiracy to force the clear thinking and rational children of the world to latch on to this vile, manipulative and down right stupid religion! /troll

 

[Gilder]

There's a slight flaw, Harry technically doesn't die. It's the part of Voldemort's soul on him that dies.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

yet harry has the choice to "go on," and chooses to come back.

 

[Gilder]

yet harry has the choice to "go on," and chooses to come back.

See, that section of the book is shakey. It isn't explictly said if Harry actually dies for a moment, or if he's just out cold. Plus, Dumbledore says at the end of the chapter that it was happening all in his head.

 

[aneeshm]

Goddamn! How could I miss something so obvious! Of course! Just like Christ, Harry dies, and comes back to life.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

See, that section of the book is shakey. It isn't explictly said if Harry actually dies for a moment, or if he's just out cold. Plus, Dumbledore says at the end of the chapter that it was happening all in his head.

i don"t know. the way i saw it was that harry was unconcious, but could have chosen to die. as he didn"t choose to, he was not actually dead, but only unconcious.

 

[Evie]

It's not like Christianty invented the concept of someone dying and being resurected.

Or of someone sacrificing themselves for others, for that matter.

Pre-Christian Roman litterature has plenty of the later, and Osiris (to name but one) "sorts" of preceed Jesus by a few millenium or so.

 

[Gilder]

Yes. Despite all the mentions otherwise from Dumbledore on how he was very obviously not dead.

But I don't remember Jesus having a monopoly over being a marytr and the being ressurected. That doesn't mean at once it's a Christian morality tale.

 

[TheBladeRoden]

I think I've seen this plot in Matrix, Starcraft, Independence Day, and Star Fox Assault

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Yes. Despite all the mentions otherwise from Dumbledore on how he was very obviously not dead.

i"m not too sure what you"re traying to say here.

But I don't remember Jesus having a monopoly over being a marytr and the being ressurected. That doesn't mean at once it's a Christian morality tale.

no, of course not. you"re completely right.

 

[Gilder]

i"m not too sure what you"re traying to say here.

During the King's Cross chapter, Harry asks Dumbledore if he's dead or not, and Dumbledore says no.

 

[Fifty]

Everything you need to know about Harry Potter.

 

[emzie]

I am Christian and this seems to offend the religious right far worse than if I said I thought there was no God. Every time I've been asked if I believe in God, I've said, 'yes,' because I do. But no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that and, I have to say that does suit me...If I talk too freely about that, I think the intelligent reader -- whether 10 or 60 -- will be able to guess what is coming in the books.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, to reporter Max Wyman, Vancouver Sun, October 23, 2001

http://dickstaub.com/links_view.php?record_id=5031

And I agree. Harry has the choice to die while he is still alive. He chooses not to.

 

[Elrohir]

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

Technically speaking, in Christian theology it is generally accepted that Satan doesn't run Hell, it isn't his playground - quite the contrary, the Bible rather clearly says that he will be punished there, and quite severely. The idea that Satan rules hell, and torments people there is a medieval superstition with no basis in actual Christian scriptures. Just a minor nitpicking.

I think there are certain comparisons between Harry Potter and Christ, but I don't think they are anything special - similar comparisons can be made between almost any hero of a fictional saga and Christ. In many ways, I think Christ's story is really the story of the ultimate hero, and thus it is unsurprising that we see similarities between His story and others when we tell stories about other heroes.

I'm not a fan of Harry Potter, by the way, but I agree that it isn't "the spawn of Satan", or anything like that, even though many in the Evangelical Christian community are very critical of it. (Although many are not, at least as many like the books are criticize it, even if they aren't quite as noisy about it)

 

[puglover]

I think Elrohir put it a lot better than I could.

 

[Evie]

Of course, heroes of fictional or mythological saga that *precedes* Christiany also share points in common with Christ.

 

[Kozmos]

Why does everything have to involve religion with you?

 

[Elrohir]

I think Elrohir put it a lot better than I could.

Thanks.

Of course, heroes of fictional or mythological saga that *precedes* Christiany also share points in common with Christ.

We are made in God's image - we are His children. Should it be surprising, then, that when we dream of the best that man can be, our dreams are in some ways similar to the One we are supposed to imitate and grow to be like? Our stories are our own pale imaginings, our own retelling of the Great Story, in which we all have our own part, for which we were all born to play.

Why does everything have to involve religion with you?

Are you talking to me?

 

[Cuivienen]

Are you talking to me?

I think he's talking to aneeshm, who has been trying to fit pretty much everything into various religions for the past few months. It's a stupid way of looking at the world; clearly people are influenced by religious stories as they are influenced by everything else, but not every story where someone dies or is resurrected or is a hero is a religious metaphor.