AND

RELIGION
AN INTRODUCTION TO
PLOTS, ISSUES AND THEMES
 The Harry Potter
Saga
• Story of young boy who
discovers he is a wizard, destined
to fight evil, covering the seven
years (age 11-18) that he spends
at Hogwart’s School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry.
• First Six books published to date
(1997, 1999, 2000, 2000, 2003,
2005.)
• Seventh book rumoured by fans
for July 2007 release (but
unlikely - J.K. Rowling only
began writing it January 2006)
J.K. Rowling
• J.K. Rowling (b. 1965)
• 2004, US dollar billionaire
(1st person ever to become
a billionaire by writing
books).
• Degree in Classics and
French, worked for
Amnesty International,
later unemployed.
• Idea for Harry Potter came
to her on a train, she wrote
first book on lunch breaks
and while unemployed.
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s
(Sorcerer’s) Stone

• Plot: Harry discovers he’s a wizard; goes to Hogwarts School of

Witchcraft and Wizardry; makes friends and enemies; thwarts
Voldemort’s plan to return to power; is saved from death by
power of Mother’s Love.
• Religious Themes: special birth, marked destiny, good vs evil,
sacrificial love, trial by fire (purification of the soul)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Plot: Harry returns to Hogwarts, discovers the Chamber of

Secrets, battles Tom Riddle/Voldemort, is saved by Ffawkes
(phoenix)
• Religious Themes: good vs evil, demonic possession,
sacrificial love, death/resurrection symbolism…
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Plot: Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban, hunts Harry;

Dementors hunt Black (and Harry); true traitor is revealed
• Religious Themes: good vs evil, dangers of doing/using evil
for “good” purposes, spiritual defense against “demons” of
hopelessness, despair…
 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video 3 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

• Plot: Voldemort has returned, Death Eaters grow in

power, Harry’s name entered into TriWizard
Tournament, battles Voldemort in graveyard, saved
by ghosts of parents.
• Religious themes: good vs evil, spiritual champion,
sacrificial love, grace...
Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix
• Plot: The Order of the Phoenix
resists Lord Voldemort, Harry
is tormented at school, takes
occlumency lessons from
Snape, is lured into trap trying
to save Sirius; battles death
eaters and Voldemort, Sirius is
killed; Dumbledore reveals a
Prophesy
• Religious Themes: good vs
evil, prophesy, predestination,
Dark night of the soul…
Harry Potter and the
Half-blood Prince
• Plot: Potter uses a potions
textbook owned by “half-blood
Prince” to excel at potions;
suspects Draco of being a death
eater; learns about Voldemort’s
early years; discovers
Voldemort has split his soul
into seven pieces; works with
Dumbledore to retrieve pieces;
commits to leave school to
pursue quest after
Dumbledore’s fall.
• Religious Themes: good vs
evil, sacrificial love, faith…
 Harry Potter and Religious
Communities - the controversy
• The main issue: the books
deal with magic and
witchcraft, which are
forbidden in the Bible -
does the presence of magic
and witchcraft in these
books mean that they are
advocating the practice of
magic by Christian
children?
• This question often takes Harry Potter Book Burning
three main forms…
Harry Potter and Religious
Communities - Issue #1:
Fantasy vs Reality?
• Is the world of Harry Potter presented as a
fantasy world, or as a “real” world?
• Is it different from The Chronicles of Narnia
in this way?
• If a fantasy world, (read: “completely
fictional, imaginative, no connection to real
world” - does the challenge of Harry Potter in
terms of religious response go away?
• If the world of Harry Potter is presented as a
“real” world, what “threat” might Harry Potter
present?
• Can children tell the difference between
“fantasy” and “reality”?
 Fantasy vs Reality
• The “slippery slope”
argument - admiring witches
and wizards in fiction leads
to admiring them in real
life?
• The “quacks like a duck”
argument - if its called
witchcraft, involves spells
and potions, and talking to
ghosts, it is exactly what
God has forbidden, no
matter what context it is
found in…?
Fantasy vs Reality
• The Satanism argument -
If Satan is a real force, out
to snare unwary minds
with all tools at his
disposal, wouldn’t this
include fantasy novels…
(especially ones that
idealize witchcraft?) -
Fantasy novels as tools of
Satan?
 Issue #2 - Good vs Evil
• Is Harry Potter really a
“good” guy? Is Harry Potter a
role model to follow, or one to
avoid at all costs?

• If he’s a role model to follow,

what characteristics does he
display that are admirable?

• If he’s not, what

characteristics does he display
that make him a bad role
model to be avoided?
 Good vs Evil

• WWHPD? Can you (should you) use Harry Potter as a

guide for making life choices?
• Harry Potter as a modern-day “Grimm’s Fairy Tale”?
• Cosmic good vs evil, vs everyday good & evil - lack of
black and white boundaries on everyday level undermine
boundaries on cosmic level?
 Issue #3 Secular vs Religious?
• Are the Harry Potter novels,
(and Harry Potter’s world)
secular or religious?
• Most challenged books three
years running (1999-2001),
over 400 challenges on
religious grounds.
• Can any set of books that can
be seen as both a set of
guidelines for Christian
children to follow, AND a
slippery slope down to
Satanism and the Occult,
NOT have some religious
dimensions?
Secular vs Religious

• What is the
nature of
magic in
Harry
Potter?