The Sacramental World of Harry Potter

August 4, 2009 Posted by David NcloseAuthor: David N Name:
Email: dvnilsen@gmail.com
Site: http://reasonfromscripture.blogspot.com
About: In 2003 I graduated from high school with no set direction for my life. I spent a year in Iowa before returning to California to attend Junior College. I changed majors 3 times; from Physics to Business to Film (as you can see, no direction). I was a Christian, attending church regularly, but furthering the cause of Christ in this fallen world was not a high priority. In 2005 I picked up an issue of TableTalk magazine, and I was re-introduced to the work of R. C. Sproul (whom I had read once in high school). Later that year, while taking a biology class with an ardent atheist professor, I picked up a copy of Lee Strobel's "The Case For A Creator." In the Fall of 2006 I came to Biola University and was introduced to the works of J. P. Moreland and John Mark Reynolds. My fate was sealed. Just a few years ago, I was passionless. Now I have two passions: Studying the Word of God and engaging in the task of Apologetics. 1 Peter 3:15 exhorts all Christians to be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have. My goal is to be able to give my answer articulately and powerfully, but even more importantly, in love. There are many purposes for apologetics, but by far the most important is the opening of minds and the softening of hearts for the work of the Holy Spirit. If we don't care about and pray for those with whom we engage in apologetics, we fail to fulfill this purpose. As a wise man once said, "Take a stand for the Truth, but do it in love fool!" Education Info: --Currently: M.A. in Historical Theology student, Westminster Seminary California --2008: B.A. in Philosophy, Biola University --2006: A.A. in Liberal Arts, Palomar CollegeSee Authors Posts (75)

If you don’t know already, I love Harry Potter. This wasn’t always true. I hadn’t even heard of the books until the first movie was announced. Embarrassingly, while at my Aunt and Uncle’s house, I picked up Goblet of Fire (the newest book at the time) and, seeing the name “Harry Potter” in large letters across the top I asked, “What else has Harry Potter written?” Then I saw the movie and I was mildly entertained, but it was nothing special. It was no Lord of the Rings. That sentiment held true through movies two, three and four. Then two summers ago I saw Order of the Phoenix in theatres and something was different. This was a more interesting, slightly darker story about an epic struggle between good and evil. After witnessing the finale and the spectacular duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore, I was hooked, and I wanted to know what happened next. I went straight to Borders and bought a little paperback copy of Half-Blood Prince, which I spent the rest of my free time that summer reading. As soon as I was done I HAD to know how the series concluded, so I bought Deathly Hallows and spent every spare moment (when I probably should have been reading for Epistemology!) finishing the book. Now I was obsessed, so when I heard about John Granger, I couldn’t resist.

John Granger (aka the “Hogwarts Professor”) has practically made a career out of writing about Harry Potter. But his books aren’t the usual junk you find littering the shelves, claiming to find hidden Christian messages in the stories, or unlocking all the secrets of the Potter books that Rowling didn’t even know about! Granger is an expert in European literature and the symbolism in it. In 2004, Granger opened up the world of “literary alchemy” and introduced readers to centuries of symbolism in European literature in Looking For God In Harry Potter, now updated and expanded under the title How Harry Cast His Spell. Now Granger has released a brand new book, Harry Potter’s Bookshelf, which takes a closer look at some of the classics of English literature (like Dorothy Sayers’ detective novels, “Gothic Romances” like Jane Eyre and Dracula, and Rowling’s favorite author, Jane Austen) that have inspired many of the themes in the Potter series. Both of these books are utterly fascinating and well worth a read.

It would seem safe, then, to call the Potter books “Christian.” In fact it would be silly to deny the deeply Christian themes of the books. But I came across a very good post by Dr. Clark on the Heidelblog today that reminded me that I, as a Protestant, cannot simply accept the whole history and tradition of European fantasy fiction uncritically. His main point is this:

One of the more important things the Reformation accomplished, which is resented by docents across Europe and Britain as well as by Anglo-Catholics and Romanists everywhere, was the de-sacralization of the world. By “sacralize” I mean to “enchant” the world, to make creation per se more than it is, to make the world sacramental and to endow it with power to communicate divinity to us….The medieval church made the world a magical place by endowing it with power, either by nature or by divine fiat. In short, the medieval church tended to an over-realized eschatology.

The whole notion in classic fantasy literature of speaking incantations that affect a change in the natural world comes not from pagan, but from Christian roots. Of course, they are Medieval roots that the Protestants roundly rejected. The Reformers denied that a priest could, by speaking the correct words, affect a “magical” change in the ordinary substances of bread and wine that would transform them into the body and blood of Christ. And yet this sort of “sacramental” worldview is at the heart of books like Harry Potter. Dr. Clark concludes:

The truth is that what we need is not magic at all. What we need is grace and that grace is not divinity or even a semi-divine substance dispensed by priests. It is divine approval merited for us by our Mediator Jesus and given freely to unworthy and disobedient sinners and found only in Christ. That is true power. What we need is worship governed by God’s Word and not by sentimentality and smoke

Does this mean we dismiss Harry Potter as dangerous or evil (as, ironically, so many in the Catholic community have done)? Not at all. As long as we remember that we cannot actually do “magic” (even in a sacramentalized form), then we are free to appreciate the magical symbolism for the deep Christian themes that it expresses. When I read Dracula and the monster is warded off by crosses and communion wafers, I don’t take the symbolism seriously and rush out to buy icons and relics to protect myself from evil. I see the symbolism for what it should communicate (and, indeed, what even the Eucharistic meal did communicate before it was sacramentalized by the Medievals), namely, that Christ and His sacrifice on the cross has already affected the fallen world and is bringing about the ultimate “magical” change within the hearts of the elect, awaiting the day when that change will be complete throughout all creation at the consummation.

Read Dr. Clark’s full post here.

Related posts:

1. The Dark Side Of Divine Command Theory?: A Response To Erik Wielenberg
2. Discernment and Fiction
3. Could a Non-Physical Being Possibly Affect the Physical World?
4. Valuing Apologetics in a Postmodern World
5. The Dark Side Of Divine Command Theory?: A Response To Erik Wielenberg - Part Two
6. A Brief Response To Sam Storms - Part 2

Posted in Apologetics, Book Reviews, David's Posts, Movie Reviews, Theology