Less Darkness, More Lessons in Fifth Harry Potter

i agree with the teenager's comment. let kids be kids. i have an 11 year old boy that reads harry potter books and watches the movies. his faith in Christ is strong, he knows that hp is all fantasy, he's never asked me to buy him a wand or anything related to witchcraft.

i mean, c'mon, we all grew up hearing and then reading stories about witches that poison apples and wolves that eat little girls!!! that's witchcraft and horror all in one! lol. no, it's not, we call them fairy tales. they are all twisted, crazy, the name of God is never metioned, most of them don't even have a good lesson to be learned (some of them do though)and yet we all love them. cinderella, snow white, hansel and gretel, little red riding hood, the list is endless...

some times we overestimate the enemy. yes he is real, but our faith is also real and so much stronger. if we teach our kids right, they won't depart from the truth. i didn't.

FYI. . . I have three children (8,6,4) and they do not watch or read Harry Potter due to their maturity level. I take seriously the tremendous stewardship that God has given me in raising my children. The real issue here is maturity in Christ (Freedom in Christ) found in Romans 14:1-23.

I read my Bible everyday and read it to my children. It is filled with real life examples (Biblical Characters) of murder, adultery, deception, witchcraft, sorcery, sin of every form, etc. I don't keep the Bible from my kids because it is filled with sin.

I tend to stay away from certain passages (i.e. Song of Solomon, David's adultery and murder of Uriah) due to the maturity level of my kids. I keep them from Harry Potter because they have a hard time discerning fantasy (magic in Harry Potter) from reality. When I feel that my children are mature enough, I will use Harry Potter as an opportunity to answer their questions Biblically and help them develop a Christian worldview in the real world.

I am also trying to understand some of the arguments made early. Are you saying that it’s ok to read Harry Potter’s books because it’s fun just reading and that it has no influence on what you think, or that it’s ok to watch movies about Harry Potter because its entertaining and that’s just it, that it doesn’t affect how you feel or what you think. The bible talks about how we cannot do evil so good may come from it. Wrong is wrong. Evil is Evil. Sin is Sin. A witch is a witch good witch or bad witch. I just don’t want us to start condoning sin. Again I’m not the one who determines what sin is God is and that is found in his WORD. Please don’t take issues with me I am not giving you my opinions but everything I have said is and can be found in the WORD OF GOD.

I think that some of us are allowing our opinions to determine how we feel. So let me start off by saying that how I feel about Harry Potter's Movies and Books, matter's not. We should allow the WORD OF GOD to determine that. I made a statement early and I stand by it. Harry Potter is a witch and according to the WORD OF GOD witchcraft is wrong. It doesn't matter if he is a good witch a witch is a witch. This is very dear to me because I am raising children, and I work with children. Having young children I know how movies, books, and music can influence them, and how these things can desensitize them to the things of the GOD.
Someone made a comment earlier (reading Harry Potter is not practicing the occult) Guess what you are absolutely right, but reading it endorses the sin in it, and it also makes us especially our children think that good wizards (witches) is right as long as they defeat the bad ones.

Reading Harry Potter is not practicing the Occult. It is reading excellent literature from the fantasy genre. J.R.R. Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Ring Trilogy and and C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia are Classics from godly christian authors. J.K. Rowling is also a professing Christian and member of the Church of Scotland. She (like J.R.R. Tolkien in Lord of the Rings) states that Harry Potter was in no way to be considered a Christian allegory.

Should a Christian avoid reading the classics? Harry Potter will definitely be considered a classic?

There are wonderful godly, Christians who love reading good literature like Harry Potter. They are not practicing witchcraft and the occult. They are reading classic fantasy literature. We are free in Christ, not bound in Pharisaical legalism. View the post by rddtf7 7/12/2007 1:22 AM a solid Christian teen.

Christians should be discerning in what they let their kids read and help them develop a christian worldview.

Dear laubachs,

calm down there lil fella, take a deep breath...
The answer is, they shouldn't. All three of those authors fall into the genre of occult fantasy and should be tossed into the trash along with your war hammer and D&D and tarot cards.

Dear Beckie7

Please understand the difference between legalism and discernment. Legalism is the obtaining of salvation by obeying the laws or commandments of God. It is a false doctrine. Accusing someone of legalism is very serious.

Discernment is using God's words to discover the truth on a certain matter (in this case, witchcraft) and warn others so that they in turn can better serve the Lord that saved them.

Amos 8:11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Stop dodging and answer the question:
Why should a Christian read or watch Lord of the Rings, but not Harry Potter?

Or answer this question:

Why should a Christian avoid JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis fantasy books?

Do you realize that all three of these authors are/were professing Christians?

You feedback on this article was full of straw man arguments that's why I am asking questions for clarification to see if there is any logical substance to your critique of this article.

Did I endorse the Lord of the Rings somewhere in my comment? In logical circles, this inquiry would be quickly dismissed as a poor and unimaginitive example of what is defined as "the strawman fallacy."

Wallen? Did you make the same scathing review when Christians flocked to Lord of the Rings? If you didn't or wouldn't, your comments would leave me to believe you to be somewhat hypocritical.

Harry Potter is some of the best literature to come out since J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Harry Potter will be considered classics (along with Tolkien and C.S. Lewis). That is why so many people are reading it and attending the movies. Tolkien's books are much darker than Harry Potter and filled with just as much wizardry.

Why should a Christian read or watch Lord of the Rings, but not Harry Potter? Please respond to this question.

melanie777 is correct.

you must be kidding me. since when has Christianity been about age appropriate content. witchcraft is glamorized and the response of the Christian community is a statement supporting Harry's stand against evil. were all the admonisments and cautions warning against false teachers and familar spirits spoken for nothing? is our discernment as a community completely diminished at this point? the Lord states without reservation that witchcraft is wrong, yet we find it difficult to make any sort of firm stand against popular culture. is it the seeming innocence of the child hero (Potter)? or is it that our kids want to view the film so badly and we are beaten down to the point of no resistance. perhaps it is the desire to conform or an unwillingness to take a stand.

I appreciate all of the comments on this article and on Harry Potter in general. I have not read any of the books or seen any of the movies, so I don't feel that I'm qualified to speak one way or another. I am a Baptist minister, and I thank God that all of those who have made comments have made thoughtful comments without being hateful or degrading of others. Thank you.