Harry Potter: Blasphemy or not?

[jesusfreakoutloud]

I personally think that Harry Potter is very blasphemous, saying that these people can perform "magic" and are therefore aere stronger than God. This is a danger to children, who are very suseptible to these things.

 

[Brance]

I hesitate to use the word blasphemy to loosely, but I would agree that the entire Harry Potter empire, movies and books, is ungodly and should be avoided. I would suggest that parents should closely guard their children from such influences that teach witchcraft as something desirable and good. It's a lie and is repulsive to God.

 

[AHollingshead]

It's just a story. Don't take it too seriously. I think it's funny that the first LOTR came to movie theaters at the same time the first Harry Potter did. Everybody lambasted Harry Potter, but there is more sorcery in LOTR than in Harry Potter. And in LOTR they all kill each other, too. But Tolkien was a Christian so we didn't touch Gandolf & Co.

I'm not saying we should have - I loved the LOTR books and movies. I just think the church has been a bit hypocritical when it comes to Harry Potter. Of course not that we've all overreacted towards anything like that before. (Can we say Last Temptation of Christ? How about DaVinci Code?)

The irony is that Rowling is laughing all the way to the bank - her books would have never sold nearly as much if Christians had just ignored them.

 

[GeraldNC]

Instead of running from such things and attempting to hide children from them and just sit back and say "you shouldn't go see that/read that kind of stuff", you should preview and then decide, and then if you show your children, how bout talking with them about it. Explain the differences and why this or that is wrong. I agree fully with AHollingshead, we make too much of a deal about these things. We all grew up watching road runner, bugs bunny, some of us even watched He-man lol, She-rah type stuff, I don't think those things had any lasting effects on most of us lol.

Focus on the relationship and heart of the children, not the petty things such as HP or LOTR. I can even see good in showing them "The Davinci Code" cuz to me....I just watched it this weekend...it's easy to refute and have a good Scriptural debate about it You can teach the kids a lot using the movies and tv shows of today! Don't shelter them from the world, help them navigate it!


Disclaimer: Now yes, there are some movies and shows we should avoid, but make an informed decision first instead of basing it on nonsense and fear.

 

[Sharky]

Harry Potter, PC games, RPG etc and the like all have their fair share of fictional realities. None should be taken seriously. It comes down to personal conviction.

 

[Babel Fish]

I personally think that Harry Potter is very blasphemous, saying that these people can perform "magic" and are therefore aere stronger than God. This is a danger to children, who are very suseptible to these things.

Honestly do you really think that kids are more likely to be corrupted by some fictitious book than the reality that they have to wake up to. All of you people that put so much effort into condemning a book, why don't you put your efforts into something that changes the reason for the idea to even exhist. I bet you haven't even read the books. "People always fear what they don't understand."

 

[eolculnamo2]

This is ridiculous! Harry Potter is just a story. You sit here and attack Harry Potter, but completely ignore all the other popular shows with magic in them.

Mickey mouse and his wand that makes brooms dance
LOTR like AHollingshead said
ANd many other shows.. The list could go on and on

And JesusFreakoutloud, Not even magic in that movie could possibly be more powerful than God because God is stronger than we could possibly imagine and Harry Potter came out of someone's imagination.

If anything, this argument about Harry Potter has just made the whole Church look silly! Don't make a big deal out of things that aren't a big deal! If you want to make sure that your kids know there's no such thing as magic, then tell them, but don't go and make the Church look like a sillly organization when you do that.

Titus 3:9 says:
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

This whole thing about Harry Potter is an excellent example of that verse.

 

[JLSgurl]

It's just a story, I mean I don't think the author meant to hurt anyone by writing it; I think she was just writing.

 

[Eleknar]

It's just a story? Well music is "just music" too but guess what, music is what led me into Satanism before I got saved. Stories, like music, are very influential. Especially to children. Please think about this stuff before just putting it off as nothing more than a story. And the Lord of the Rings? If you know anything about Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings you would know that it IS Christian themed, I've learned alot from the writings of Tolkien. There is nothing okay about Harry Potter.

 

[eolculnamo2]

It's just a story? Well music is "just music" too but guess what, music is what led me into Satanism before I got saved. Stories, like music, are very influential. Especially to children. Please think about this stuff before just putting it off as nothing more than a story. And the Lord of the Rings? If you know anything about Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings you would know that it IS Christian themed, I've learned alot from the writings of Tolkien. There is nothing okay about Harry Potter.

and yet it uses magic in it? What's the difference?

And what do you mean by lord of the rings is "Christian themed?"

Are you saying that the message it portrays is a good one that God would approve of?

Lord of the Rings has very similar messages to Harry Potter, One being that Good conquers Evil.

Both Gandalf and Harry were portrayed as "the good guys"

You can't condemn one without condemning the other.

Are you sure you don't believe this because your minister or your parents told you to? Think about it.

I don't see how you could possibly argue any of this unless there are other reasons other than Magic and Violence.

 

[SuperMike]

To me personally Harry Potter is just a book. I don't believe just by reading a single story a child is going to turn away from God. Many Christians have read these stories, me being one, and haven't been corrupted. I think as long as a kid is told that this stuff is fake and he is properly educated in Christ, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[eolculnamo2]

To me personally Harry Potter is just a book. I don't believe just by reading a single story a child is going to turn away from God. Many Christians have read these stories, me being one, and haven't been corrupted. I think as long as a kid is told that this stuff is fake and he is properly educated in Christ, you have nothing to worry about.

Exactly, I've read them too, and they're really good books!

 

[Meshavrischika]

Just to pick and poke... I've read all 6 books, and have ordered the 7th... there is no mention at all of Harry Potter being more powerful than God...

That aside, they're fantasy. Somehow Chronicles of Narnia is supposed to be biblically based, but unless you're a scholar you'd never know this. There's just as much magic and other gobbeldygook in that as there is in Harry Potter.

They're fun and the foreshadowing is amazing.

Yes, I am still a good christian.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

What does one mean about 'magic'? Gandalf in LotR uses 'magic' sense he is gifted such a power from Iluvatar. Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia unlocks the Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time. In Harry Potter, Harry is saved by 'old magic' perhaps referring to love itself. Magic as a term can be used to describe things other than witchcraft, which in HP serves only as a setting- to take it (witchcraft) as more than a setting in HP is to miss the point of the themes in the narrative. To take HP as supportive of witchcraft is also to miss the point of the stories and to take it way too far.

 

[WashedBytheSon]

Parents who are confident in their ability to teach their children right from wrong, and fantasy from reality should not have to worry about Harry Potter corrupting their children. It isn't realistic anyway. I would be much more hesitant to let my children watch movies like "The Craft" or "The Covenant" than I would Harry Potter. Besides, the Harry Potter books got many children interested in reading. Harry Potter is not blasphemous because it does not say anything bad about God.
​

 

[AndrewCS]

It's just a story? Well music is "just music" too but guess what, music is what led me into Satanism before I got saved. Stories, like music, are very influential. Especially to children. Please think about this stuff before just putting it off as nothing more than a story. And the Lord of the Rings? If you know anything about Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings you would know that it IS Christian themed, I've learned alot from the writings of Tolkien. There is nothing okay about Harry Potter.

AMEN brother ............

 

[AndrewCS]

It's just a story. Don't take it too seriously. I think it's funny that the first LOTR came to movie theaters at the same time the first Harry Potter did. Everybody lambasted Harry Potter, but there is more sorcery in LOTR than in Harry Potter. And in LOTR they all kill each other, too. But Tolkien was a Christian so we didn't touch Gandolf & Co.

I'm not saying we should have - I loved the LOTR books and movies. I just think the church has been a bit hypocritical when it comes to Harry Potter. Of course not that we've all overreacted towards anything like that before. (Can we say Last Temptation of Christ? How about DaVinci Code?)

The irony is that Rowling is laughing all the way to the bank - her books would have never sold nearly as much if Christians had just ignored them.

Some say that the Bible is "just a story".

If we are to be believers we must believe ALL THE BIBLE. That is the Word of God is it not? Is the Bible not the guidelines for Christianity not “our feelings”?

Blessings

 

[eolculnamo2]

Ok?

Music is different than just a story. It's like making a speech through words. Music that leads people to Satanism talks as if everything they say is true.

Rowling doesn't suggest that her readers should get into magic like the characters in her book.

This is seriously stupid. Why do you people care so much?

 

[AndrewCS]

Ok?

Music is different than just a story. It's like making a speech through words. Music that leads people to Satanism talks as if everything they say is true.

Rowling doesn't suggest that her readers should get into magic like the characters in her book.

This is seriously stupid. Why do you people care so much?

I can tell you why I care so much - because God told us to.

Do we need to argue about that?

I really think you will be arguing with God then which is why we wrestle with the flesh so often.

The Gospel is not to be watered down to suit man; we must build ourselves up through our relationship with God to come into line with the Gospel and God’s teachings. That is the purpose of church and Pastors etc etc. So we can be educated in the Good News that will set us FREE.

If you are a believer then you will believe that you have been chosen with your name written in the book of life for eternal life. That is what I care about.

If you believe then you must believe the WHOLE bible which tells us that we will go to heaven.

Let me ask you straight.

If Jesus asked you to take Him to a movie would you be comfortable taking Him to see Harry Potter.

We are surrounded by the temptations and seductions of the world; these are not from Christ and who can be against Him? Oil & water do not mix.

It takes a long time to get to a place of strong relationship with Christ and only a few moments to enter into sin which brings disconnection from God. Of course God forgives the sinner but the enemy knows your weak point and that is where he is going to attack you. If you fall it is because you gave the enemy an inch and that same enemy wants to take your life while Christ wants to give you eternal life.

That is why God gave us choices.

Make your choices wisely.

God Bless you

 

[Slave2Righteousness]

all things in moderation. If parents are active in their children's lives and are making sure their kids are still rooted in God's Word and reality, not fantasy RPG's, movies, books, or comic books, i don't think there should be a problem with any of them. I think some people take it too far, and as I stated in the "Game Zelda" thread, if your child is at a dangerously higher risk to demonic oppression, possession, or influence because they read a book about wizards and witches, they obviously haven't been rooted in God's Word very firmly and I have to point the finger at parents in that situation. You can't protect your children from the world and Godly parents aren't called to-they're called to raise them up knowing God and His love first and trust them to make the rest of the decisions. Stuff can open doors to influence, but the reality of it is that the doors are already wide open so why add the forbidden fruit complex? Parents aren't called to mold their children into prophets or miracle workers or so completely sold out Jesus freaks that they can't walk through the hospital without cripples following after them-aside from the point that parents don't have that level of control over their kids-they're called to teach their kids right from wrong and that God through Jesus is the only way to peace, love, happiness, and eternal life.

I CHOOSE not to watch stuff involving magic and The Covenant creeped the crap out of me and I felt God telling me to turn it off in the first couple minutes so I wouldn't let kids in my care watch that, but if it is something like movies with playful magic in it and whatnot, I really believe in allowing kids to be kids and when the time comes for them to grow up and get serious about God that God, not me, will be the one telling them what they should and shouldn't do. I trust God in the lives of others more than I trust whatever I can share. I really don't think that things in the spiritual realm are visible to everyone equally either. I didn't see anything wrong with some things that I've become uncomfortable with as I've grown. Now God loved me the whole time so if it was bad why did He let me feel okay about it? I think that it wasn't bad for me at the time given where I was spiritually, but as I grew that He opened my eyes to other things. So having that said, I don't think things that are bad for say a deliverance pastor who has to be in a position to be completely sold out for God is necessarily bad for a 10 year old or even an older person who just isn't at the same place as the pastor. I think a lot of these issues come from a few people in very serious ministries who are overexposed to the negative side affects of certain occult, magical, or pagan influence in Christians' lives and hence adopt a very anti-magic mindset.

Parents, just use common sense. Let kids be kids, if it gets out of hands or you think it is harmful to your kid, use your best judgment, but realize your best judgment is reserved for those situations and things you have genuine knowledge about, not just someone told you it was bad. Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you in all truth.