Harry Potter

[evangelist6589]

The couple that I am staying with is really big on Harry Potter. I sense an evil in the films and have refrained from watching them with them, however to be courteous and professional I do not say anything just try to be polite and go to my room. What say you of Harry Potter?

 

[Deacon]

An early lesson kids should learn is to differentiate between fantasy and reality.
Parent should read to their kids and as they grow, kids should be encouraged to read a wide variety of literature.

I was raised on The Wizard of Oz - the story theme: good against evil.

I enjoyed reading Harry Potter - good reading for 10+ year olds - story theme: good against evil.

Rob

 

[Scarlett O.]

If you are not comfortable watching, then excusing yourself to your room to read is perfectly fine.

I've watched them all and read the last two.

 

[JonC]

Never read the books. Liked the movies (except where they were drawn out). Rowling, an professing Christian, has stated that the books were heavily inspired by Christian themes and things over which she wrestled in her own walk. But I don't know about all of that. I can see the good vs evil theme (reminded me of Owen's "be killing sin or sin will be killing you" quote...which some will find very ironic here). But I also liked Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia ..... and Mary Poppins. Harry Potter at Universal Orlando was also cool.

 

[kyredneck]

The couple that I am staying with is really big on Harry Potter. I sense an evil in the films and have refrained from watching them with them, however to be courteous and professional I do not say anything just try to be polite and go to my room. What say you of Harry Potter?

16 Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
17 Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? Ecc 7

 

[Jerome]

John MacArthur sermon, "The Essentials of Handling God's Word Part II":

fantasy...is just dominating our culture, just dominating it. By the way, that’s a sign of nihilism. That’s a sign of abandoning everything. That’s the bottom rung of the ladder that leads to decadence....a ploy of Satan to disconnect people from reality.

Harry Potter, it’s loaded, first of all, with h - - - - - - - - l innuendos. It’s packed full of the cult of death. Why, that’s so far different from our message of resurrection and life. Mystical movements, charismatic movements, relying on emotion, intuition, personal interpretations, feelings, experiences antithesis to the cultivation of the mind.

 

[TCassidy]

Harry Potter, it’s loaded, first of all, with h - - - - - - - - l innuendos.

Really? Where? I must have missed it.

When I see this type of thing I immediately remember the old saying, "It takes one to know one."

 

[Baptist Believer]

John MacArthur sermon, "The Essentials of Handling God's Word Part II":

Personally, I don't "get" fantasy or fantasy literature/films. It leaves me completely cold.

I couldn't get past the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book and can't stand Lord of the Rings, many of the Star Trek series where they move into fantasy, and a fair amount of the Star Wars mythos.

That being said, it sounds like MacArthur is letting his opinions and tastes determine what he believes is good and evil again. My wife loves fantasy literature and has a rich imaginative mind in a way that I cannot understand, but I fully appreciate it. I also have an imaginative mind, but it tends to stay only in the realm of rational thought. My wife is also a good rational thinker and knows the difference between fantasy and reality.

Many conservative religious people are afraid of imagination - both in fantasy and rational thought - because it can lead to new ideas and undermine the old ways of being. But God has given us imaginations and called us to love Him with our minds, and imagination is part of the mind. I have had 2 Corinthians 10:5 quoted at me more than a few times for the sin of actually studying philosophy and doing a copious amount of reading outside of the Bible. But that's a complete misuse of what Paul is saying - we are to pull down everything that militates against the knowledge of God, and that involves engagement (in an appropriate way) with it and bringing in understanding and appropriate critique.

 

[blessedwife318]

I have decided that the fastest way for any book to make the best seller list is to have the church condemn it. I read Harry Potter because people made such a big deal out of it but could never give a good answer as to what the problem was. I had people say the problem was it had witches in it and than suggest the Chronicles of Narnia as a replacement, never seeing the irony. Another issue I would hear is well the hero does wrong things, but that is a bad argument in my opinion. Only Jesus is perfect so for any other chracter to be realistic they have to have flaws and mess up on occasion. I have even seen people take quotes that Voldemort says and say that it is teaching wrong things. Well of course what Voldemort says is wrong since he is the ultimate bad guy in the series. That is like taking things Satan says in the Bible and building doctrine around it, disregarding that he is the father of lies.
In the end I found the books to be good stories that held my attention, and had many layers to think about.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Deacon]

Personally, I don't "get" fantasy or fantasy literature/films. It leaves me completely cold.

I couldn't get past the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book and can't stand Lord of the Rings, many of the Star Trek series where they move into fantasy, and a fair amount of the Star Wars mythos..

I almost gave out my first dislike
I've got a whole bookcase devoted to fiction.

...but the rest of you post was spot on.

Rob

 

[Baptist Believer]

I almost gave out my first dislike
I've got a whole bookcase devoted to fiction.

Fiction? Love fiction. Fantasy? Nope. Can't make it work.

 

[annsni]

Fiction? Love fiction. Fantasy? Nope. Can't make it work.

I'm pretty much with you although I did love the Chronicles of Narnia.

 

[Baptist Believer]

I'm pretty much with you although I did love the Chronicles of Narnia.

I enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia as allegory, but I got bogged down in the swamp somewhere around the second or third book and couldn't go anymore.

 

[Don]

I seem to recall somewhere in the first book Hagrid telling Harry that it was okay to lie to his step/foster parents; finished the book anyway, but disregarded any so-called Christian themes. Wish I could find the exact quote, but I don't have the book. Borrowed it from the MWR tent while on a deployment, and gave it back when I was finished.

 

[Yeshua1]

The couple that I am staying with is really big on Harry Potter. I sense an evil in the films and have refrained from watching them with them, however to be courteous and professional I do not say anything just try to be polite and go to my room. What say you of Harry Potter?

Would say that you should do what your comscounce dictates to you rreagrding this...

Also think that it is wise to be up on current culture vents such as that and say star wars, to be able to reason with and show them that the true "force" is the Holy Spirit, and use that message to show what good and evil really represents...

 

[Reformed1689]

I seem to recall somewhere in the first book Hagrid telling Harry that it was okay to lie to his step/foster parents; finished the book anyway, but disregarded any so-called Christian themes. Wish I could find the exact quote, but I don't have the book. Borrowed it from the MWR tent while on a deployment, and gave it back when I was finished.

I actually don't recall that from the book.