Panes of Glass

I finished the final installment of J. K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series this past Saturday morning at 3:30 am. It fulfilled all of my hopes, and Mrs. Rowling did a tremendous job on the entire series. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows combined at once the many myths I’ve enjoyed reading since high school: Norse, Greek, Middle-Earth, Narnia, Arthur, and even Christianity. I won’t say more, though, as I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.

If you are interested in spoilers or have read the book, I recommend reading two articles. The two articles are about as far from agreement as it is possible to go, but they inspire a great amount of thought about what relays the message of Christ through media. Bob Smietana posted his article “The Gospel According to J.K. Rowling” on Christianity Today last Monday (7/23/2007). Lev Grossman posed a different view in his Time article “Who Dies in Harry Potter? God.” How can two people reading the same book have come to such a drastic disagreement?

Spoiler Warning!

I think some see the witchcraft aspect of the Potter series as a definite reason to disassociate the series from Christianity from the outset. Indeed, Grossman certainly seems to think that the emergence of a “sacrificial lamb” story in the midst of a book filled with magic, witches and wizards kills God. That seems quite a drastic oversimplification. However, anyone that has read much on Wicca and focused on the story elements of Harry Potter will likely see that the two are not really all that similar. From what I’ve read, and I could be wrong, Wicca sees nature as working with humans not against them. I don’t think Harry would agree with this worldview, nor does he really agree with a positive outlook either.

Star Wars, The Wheel of Time, and others have much more akin to witchcraft and Wicca than Harry Potter could ever dream. In the end, I heartily agree with Smietana’s article. I think Christ has whispered Himself into the Harry Potter stories, and the Spirit will use this to His advantage. C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay, I believe titled On Myth, in which he stated he thought that all myth points to the true myth of Christianity. Madeleine L’Engle commented in one of her books that all great art whispers of the creator. I think, in Harry Potter, Christ is indeed to be found, if not now, then when the Spirit calls to those who have read the books.