Parenting: Putting Harry Potter to Rest

The debate previously mentoned re the be-speckled Harry Potter on Phil Bakers Blog continued to 160+ comments, but I feel that at least for me it has finally allowed me to put the matter to rest in my own mind by thinking through the issues and articulating my thoughts to determine where I stand– along-side issues I have struggled with such as Sabbath observance, Baptism, the True Church, the Trinity and the Historicity of the Scriptures.

Here is my new current position:

“I think that answer lies in testing the Spirit that is behind HP (1 John 4:1-2) to determine whether its intent is to brings people to Truth in Christ. The first question should be then “Does HP point people to the True God by confessing Christ?.” HP appears to be more closely aligned with the Occult practices that both the Scriptures and the Early Church condemned. For me “it smuggles the Occult” more so than “it smuggles the Gospel”. Granted it promotes good values and virtues – but anyone who involved in the Occult will tell you that their beliefs are ultimately for ‘good’ – just ask a committed ‘Freemason’ what their fraternity “is all about”. The overt Occult themes in HP should not be neither be under- or over-played, So yes, - I think that left to its own devices - Harry Potter “will (naturally) influence (some but not all) non-Christian young people to go down a path that could eventually lead them to investigate Wicca and such things”.

Because HP is really pushing the envelope with regard to the Occult themes (more so than any other Children’s tales) we need to be really diligent and responsible over the things that we let into our minds and that of our children - and also what we are seen to be endorsing.
I will very cautiously let my own kids watch and read the books with a level of supervision as I do believe there is a fine line between the fantasy and the entry point at which one enters the Occult of which we need to be careful.

The second question should then be “CAN it be used to point people to the True God?” I believe so as “ALL THINGS can be used for good for those who love God” (Rom 8:28). Paul used the idols in Athens for evangelism (Acts 17). But having said that - I will place a caveat upon its use as a “Christian Resource” (…I abhor that term). There is always an inherent risk that the use of Harry Potter as a Christian resource will be seen to endorse or legitimize Occult practices unless this risk is explicitly managed. To use it to promote “wholesome values”, “good virtues” or “keys for living” alone is dangerous and will only leave people in their present state of darkness - unless it is used to point people directly to the True God. In Athens, Paul used the idols as springboard to point people directly to the “Unknown God” – and not to teach anything else. So in a nutshell, because of its content and the risks that I mentioned - I would be disappointed if it was used to preach anything but Christ alone.

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By the way - by coincidence - my 6 year old asked if could see Harry Potter yet...I said yes - we will watch it together this weekend.