Can Christians Read Harry Potter?
We’ve been doing a series on unorthodox characters in Christian fiction. I think I want to wrap things up with the question that’s been on the minds of so many Christians for, like, decades.
Seriously, I find it strange the Christian community is still asking this question almost twenty years after the series debuted. You’d think Harry Potter wouldn’t be so relevant today, right?
For fans of fantasy, the series is still very much in your face. Any time I take a scroll through recommended fantasy reads; the entire series is there. It has solidified its place amongst what is considered some of the best fantasy out there, so it’s something you get used to seeing.
If you’re like me, a Christian who doesn’t enjoy books steeped in witchcraft/sorcery, then you probably have no problem ignoring the books. But there are some who are curious, if not outright interested in the series, and they genuinely want to know if it’s alright to read it or to allow their children to read it.
There are many Christians who feel the Harry Potter series is safe to consume. When you look at our media today, it seems magic, vampires, and witchcraft is all the rave. In fact, it’s been like that for a while now.
Now that I think about it, most of the YA bestsellers during my teen years were pretty dark. The Twilight Saga featured a high school girl falling for a vampire, the Hunger Games trilogy was about teenagers—and even some kids younger than that—battling to the death for pure entertainment, and the popular show, The Vampire Diaries, was based on books about a high school girl bouncing between vampire brothers. Oh, and her best friend was a witch.
These dark elements have been around for so long, we’ve gotten used to them. It has become so common that Christians actually have a hard time explaining why their children can’t read Harry Potter. Maybe its because the parents themselves are bingeing Game of Thrones while the kids sleep.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve said before that I’m a huge GOT fan. In fact, I’ve read all the books and seen the entire series from start to finish multiple times. But if I was the Christian back then that I am today, I wouldn’t have touched Game of Thrones in any capacity.
Why?
Because I don’t like exposing my Spirit to dark elements.
Game of Thrones and Harry Potter are on the same page in my book. As a Christian, I could not—in good conscious—recommend those series to another Believer. If I did, I would be exposing them to extreme vulgarity, violence/gore, graphic scenes of sexuality, witchcraft, black magic, sorcery, and more…
Does that sound like a series any Christian should be reading?
I don’t think I have to explain to you why witchcraft and sorcery is wrong, but there are some who will argue that Harry Potter is safe because it is fiction. I can understand this mindset, however, you must realize that something being fiction doesn’t make it safe to consume.
In my article, Writing Villains in Christian Fiction, I talk about whether or not Christians can include witches, magic, and other dark elements in their writing. My advice to Christian authors was to include these elements carefully.
What I mean by that is this, you can include a witch in your writing as long as you use that character to demonstrate the power of God. CS Lewis does this in The Chronicles of Narnia, which is hailed as some of the best Christian fantasy out there. The most important thing to remember about the witch in his book, however, is that she is an antagonist. She is an enemy who is clearly understood to be evil and is defeated by the heroes of the story who are dependent on Aslan—a character in the story who represents Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
In other words, CS Lewis does not glorify sin.
The reason I do not recommend Christians consuming material like Harry Potter is because it is a series that doesn’t merely feature witchcraft—it glorifies it. The main characters attend a school for wizardry and witchcraft. They study magic and use it as a force for good. This is glorifying sin.
In contrast, the only witch seen in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, is an enemy who is evil and ultimately defeated.
To make a long story short, I do not think Christians should be reading Harry Potter. I would never recommend the series to my Christian friends and when I have children, I will certainly not allow them to read it, either. I have seen some articles where Christians claim Harry Potter is a Christlike figure—they make some comparisons about him fighting for good and all that.
I have never read the Harry Potter series, so I cannot confirm nor deny these comparisons. But I will say I am not comfortable calling a wizard a Christlike figure, and I am not comfortable comparing a user of witchcraft to my Lord and Savior.
There are plenty of other great fantasy books out there, my friends, you don’t have to read the one series steeped in darkness.
God bless