Is it okay to read fantasy?

Yes.

 

I hope so. I'm currently reading the third LOTR book

 

Only if it's Tolkien. Or C. S. Lewis.

Yes, it is.

 

Don't know Adam, where is this suppose to be going?

There is no reason why you could not read fantasy. Its knowing the difference between fantasy and real life.

Sherrie

 

Fantsy or fiction? There is a difference. Even though both are made up, and could be said to be both, yet in writting there is a difference. I have read fantasy before, long ago, don't care for it. LOTR is fantasy.

 

Hey, not all fiction or fantasy is bad, but I think if it depicts witchcraft or sorcery in a positive way it goes against the Bible.

 

Books like Harry Potter that are about witchcraft would not gel with the bible when it states to have nothing to do with witchcraft. fantasy, if it is some type of make believe story is quite o.k.

I can not wait to see the Twin Towers installment of the Lord of the Rings epic.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

Would not the target audience need to also be considered? Harry Potter was aimed and most influential in the readership in the grade and middle school age. LOTR and the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, are more for an older readership, in the High Scool age, who are more able to discern between reality and fiction.

Another point would be that LOTR and Lion, witch, Wardrobe, are so fantasy that the stark contrast with reality is readily apparent. Harry Potter on the other hand blurs the line in that the Muggle's world is very modern and comparable to our own, ie. cars, motorcycles, trains, etc.

A disfunctional child can seek escapism more readily in HP and have a desire for empowerment in their lives drasticly reinforced. This can lead to an interest in witchcraft, and a strong potential to be influenced by occultic involvement.

 

Adam - follow where the Holy Spirit leads you.

 

Dr. Bob Griffin:

That's why I don't mind (though don't care much about) Star Wars. Pure fiction set in the future. But I do fuss with Harry Potter and even so-called Christian "Lion, Witch and Wardrobe".

Actually, Star Wars takes place "long ago in a galaxy far, far away," but even so, what is the moral difference between pure fiction set in the future, and pure fiction set in a fantasy world (e.g. Hogwarts, Narnia, Middle-earth)?

 

If picking up a stick (Harry's magic wand) and saying a mystical word, could make a feather float, then I think I could agree that it is wrong.

But the fact is that witchcraft has as much power to make something occur in a person's life as Harry's crooked wand. Soon all witches realize that they have gained nothing and will continue the spiritual search until they find God.

The empty spot in a person's heart can be filled with fantasy, fiction, witchcraft, job, sex, drugs, running away, computer games and a million other diversions. None of these can fill the bill, and is part of finding the truth. It is easier to see light when it contrasts against darkness.

 

Would not the target audience need to also be considered?

Yes, but you are largely mistaken about the target audience of each of these works. You are correc that Harry Potter is geared toward upper grade school children. However, the Chronicles of Narnia was not geared toward high-school children, but younger children, say, 8-11. Same with Tolkien's The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, was written for a decidedly adult audience - poet W. H. Auden, in his 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring for the NYT, said that "No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy than 'The Fellowship of the Ring.'" It seems to be found most frequently in the Young Adult section of the library, but I personally suspect this is due to the foolish idea that adult readers are beyond this sort of thing.

Most children know the difference between fantasy and reality. Judging by the people who write the most nonsense about Harry Potter and LOTR, on the other hand, it would appear to be the adults who have difficulty distinguishing the two. (I don't know how many very silly critiques of HP I have seen that claim it teaches authentic witchcraft. It is to laugh.)

Another point would be that LOTR and Lion, witch, Wardrobe, are so fantasy that the stark contrast with reality is readily apparent. Harry Potter on the other hand blurs the line in that the Muggle's world is very modern and comparable to our own, ie. cars, motorcycles, trains, etc.

I fail to see a difference between there being a gateway to Narnia at the back of a wardrobe, and entering the magical world of Hogwarts via a secret train platform. The "real" and "magical" worlds are equally distinguished in both.

And remember that LOTR is Tolkien's attempt to fabricate a mythology for England. Implicit in his story-telling is the idea that he is merely the editor of manuscripts written originally by Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. In fact, Bilbo's main motivation for disappearing from the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday was so he could get away from it all and get on with the writing of There and Back Again, which of course we know in our world as The Hobbit.

Lewis and Rowling, by contrast, make no claims, even fictional or tongue-in-cheek ones, to be writing a "true story."