Thanks for posting Rod’s excellent sermon, Rowland.

“Rowland Croucher” <> writes:

>Reading Harry Potter with Christian eyes

>Rev Rod Benson, Blakehurst Baptist Church, [Sydney] 6.30 pm, Sunday January

>6, 2002

>Deuteronomy 18:9-13; Isaiah 5:20-21; Colossians 2:8-15; Philippians 4:6-8

>Sometimes we forget that the world in which we live is the canvas on which

>good and evil splash their stories. It might take the rise of Adolf

Hitler, >or the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, or a personal

tragedy – >but sooner or later we perceive the world as a moral space, with good and

>evil daily splashing their paint over it.

>Sometimes we also forget that the world in which we live is the tapestry on

>which the miraculous and the magical daily weave their complex patterns.

>The miraculous pervaded the biblical world, and so did the magical. Here

we >are at a disadvantage, because in many ways the twentieth century was one

>long modernist tribute to the triumph of eighteenth-century Enlightenment

>rationalism.

>With contemporary postmodernism we are beginning to experience a different

>worldview – in some ways better, and in other ways worse, than that of

>modernism. But the biblical world was profoundly influenced by spiritual

>and magical reality. By magical I mean practices involving the

manipulation >of supernatural forces to attain one’s own ends. The Macquarie Dictionary

>defines magic as “the art of producing effects claimed to be beyond the

>natural human power and arrived at by means of supernatural agencies or

>through command of occult forces in nature.”

This is the point which is so often forgotten by those who rant (I can’t think of a more expressive word) against Harry Potter or whatever is the favourite book/film/TV character of the day among children.

It wasn’t so long ago that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were being condemned for leading children astray.

And a few years after we adopted our first son (in 1961) the Dr Who series started on TV. We were living in England at the time, and attending a Brethren Assembly. Some of the older members weren’t at all sure that we should let Rodney watch them, and when we bought him a battery powered Dalek one Christmas …

>In this biblical world where the magical and miraculous could occur at any

>moment, people were sensitive to moral principles. They understood the

>difference between good and evil, right and wrong, truth and falsehood,

>light and darkness, the works of God and the works of the devil.

The point many Christians miss about Harry Potter is that the stories are also about conflict between good and evil, right and wrong, and that Harry is on the side of good.

[deletions]

>The Evangelical Alliance (UK) urged Christians “to view the Harry Potter

>phenomenon as a significant opportunity to engage with society and present

>the enduring Christian world view as a positive alternative to the central

>theme which underpins the books and film.” [3]

>Christianity Today suggests that conflict among evangelicals over Harry

>Potter

>is a gift, an opportunity for vigorous discussion on what we believe about

>good and evil, storytelling, and our faith. Christian parents should not be

>dullards, allowing their children to frolic in whatever cultural sludge

>becomes popular in a given year. Nor should parents feel frightened or

>besieged each time a book or film challenges their faith . We should argue

>honorably, neither caricaturing each other’s interpretations nor ignoring

>Rowling’s treatment of the occult. And if advocates on either side grow

>frustrated that the Potter debate continues, they should try something

truly >daring: Writing better stories. [4]

Christians are always complaining that they don’t know how to start talking about their faith. These two items say what should be said loud and clear: start where people are – Harry Potter books and films in this case – and go on from there. But you need to have read the books carefully and seen the film first.

My wife and I went to see Harry Potter earlier this month. We quite enjoyed it, but suspect that some of the jokes passed over the heads of anyone who hadn’t lived in England.

And our youngest daughter asked me if I’d go with her to see “The Fellowship of the Ring”. Neither her husband nor my wife were interested – Tolkien is a bit of an acquired taste – and we both enjoyed it. I’m looking for some Christian criticism of the magic and violence in this film, but I haven’t heard any so far.

I wonder to what extent Rowland’s lifestyle is responsible for at least some of the vitriolic criticisms. Tolkien and Lewis both led fairly respectable lives, while Rowland has had some unhappy experiences.

[more deletions]

>Journalists have also pointed out inconsistency among evangelicals:

>Harry Potter has magic. Lord of the Rings has magic. Harry Potter has

>wizards, dark evil, and an unlikely hero who overcomes obstacles with

>friendship and courage. So does Lord of the Rings. Yet reactions from

>conservative Christian critics have not been so similar. Yesterday, The

>Boston Globe picked up on the dichotomy: “The world of Christian

>conservatives that shuddered at the wizardry and witchcraft of J.K.

>Rowling’s wildly popular fantasy works about boy wizard Harry Potter is now

>rejoicing at the revival of interest in the sorcery-packed The Lord of the

>Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.” [6]

Or the violence in the film – but then using violence as a way of achieving ends seems to be widely approved in the more conservative Christian circles in USA.

[more deletions]

>Here are seven things you can do as Christian parents (or grandparents)

>instead of having a big book-burning bonanza or totally withdrawing

yourself >and your family from twenty-first century society.

[deletions]

>Third, introduce your children to quality imaginative literature. Ask

>intelligent pastors, librarians and teachers for advice. If you liked

Harry >Potter, and/or your children did, introduce them to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia

>Chronicles, Tolkien’s The Hobbit and his Lord of the Rings trilogy, and

>Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time (for starters).

I don’t know the last, but the Narnia Chrionicles are excellent – for adults, as well as for children. The Hobbit is OK for children, but the Lord of the Rings should perhaps be kept until they are teenagers. And add Lewis’ science fantasy trilogy to the list- again for adults as well as children. It might make you think about what could happen if temptation is resisted.

[rest deleted]

>Shalom! Rowland Croucher

>http://jmm.aaa.net.au

Salaam Ken Smith

— Dr Ken Smith – Christian, husband, unpaid mathematician, skeptic, … `For it is one of the curious paradoxes … that science is eagerly invoked to justify and legitimate those very theologies which reject its values, its uses, its methods and even its findings.’ Eileen Barker