I have a confession to make, though it’s not a very dirty or juicy one: I read the 7th Harry Potter book within 48 hours of its public release. Furthermore, I confess that I enjoyed it. And no, I’m not about to run out and join a Satanic cult, wear black eyeliner, or start casting silly spells. (I know at least one of you wondered about that!) In fact, I learned several lessons about the Bible while reading Harry Potter. Raised your eyebrows, have I? Well, follow along as I share the lessons:
1. How to read in context
In ‘Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows,’ the characters talk about a book that’s been written regarding their friend, Albus Dumbledore. The book is largely lies, and it’s excerpted for a few pages of the larger work, the Harry Potter book. If you would pick up the book and read those few pages, you’d get a totally inaccurate picture of the overall plot. Similarly, if you read the Bible carelessly enough, you’ll find that it says there is no God. A glance at the context, though, will tell you that this message isn’t the intent of the author. What he really said looks more like, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ (Psalm 14:1)”. I wonder how many people are savvy enough to pick up the context clues in the Harry Potter book but still insist on cherry-picking the Bible to make it match their pre-conceived notions?
2. The power of narrative
I read the Harry Potter book on the first weekend it came out. That means I read all 784 pages in two days. I wanted to finish the story before I went back to work on Monday, so I read it all day Saturday and Sunday. This left me in the interesting position of going to church Sunday morning, right in the middle of my Harry Potter weekend. The worship and the story of Christ and his sacrifice for me were so much more meaningful, and it’s because I was tuned into another deeply-felt narrative. The themes of sacrifice, struggle, quest and the search for truth were close at hand, since I’d been treading those paths with J.K. Rowling’s novel all weekend. It was easy for me to turn those thoughts to the cross and the ultimate struggle of good and evil.
It’s true that these themes are more read into the text than read out of it. But such is the result of reading with a redeemed mind. It’s not what Harry Potter brings to me, but what I bring to Harry Potter that shapes my conclusions. That’s why I’m not scared to read Harry Potter or any other controversial material: because I read it with a redeemed and, hopefully, informed mind.