Looking for God in Harry Potter?

LOL WUT? I honestly snickered after reading that in this Boston Globe article which speaks about how several religious critics are now making an about face from their prior convictions to the story of the boy wizard. Now, I didn’t mean that in an insulting way but I’m just amazed at how far some people have gone to “study” these books.

Warning: Major Harry Potter spoilers ahead!

I didn’t realize how much the Harry Potter books were reviled by some religious folks until recently when I saw the pictures of book-burning ceremonies. In my experience, I’ve never heard any priest preach negatively about Harry Potter in our church even during the height of the book’s popularity. I guess the Vatican never instructed the clergy to do such things then.

But that article in Boston Globe really opened my eyes to many of the underlying meanings of the Harry Potter story. It’s insane how much they found in these books to support religious beliefs.

The denouement is the starting point for many religion scholars, because in the final scenes, Harry realizes “that his job was to walk calmly into Death’s welcoming arms,” Rowling writes. Harry allows himself to be killed – or at least struck by a killing curse – in order to save the wizarding world, but then returns to life, egged on by a vision of Dumbledore that tells Harry, “by returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart.” Harry then vanquishes Voldemort, and is described in the book as being seen by the crowd that witnessed the final battle as “their leader and symbol, their savior and their guide.”

I never even thought of that. But then again, I was never much of an analytical reader. (I usually just read books for enjoyment.) Sometimes, I do notice the moral lessons. But I presume that at the onset, most fans are just engaged in the magical story. We don’t actually search for any religious undertones it may have. In my case, it’s similar to Narnia. I didn’t have any idea about the religious allegories in C. S. Lewis’s books until I read about them online. I think it’s curious that atheists are often the ones who easily notice these things too.

Rowling herself, in the wake of the final book’s publication, says she thought the religious themes had “always been obvious,” and scholars note there were at least two unattributed quotations from the New Testament in the series, one on the tomb of Dumbledore’s mother and sister (“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” from Matthew), and one on the tomb of Harry’s mother and father (“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,” from I Corinthians).

Dumbledore, early in the series, makes clear his own views on this subject, saying, “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

I still can’t believe I actually missed those Bible references. And I just had a laugh from reading that Dumbledore quote again. I submitted that as my motto in my high school’s yearbook!

My High School Yearbook entry dedicated to Harry Potter?!

After the motto is my ambition in life. Like seriously, what the hell was I thinking? Haha!

But I am glad with the turnout of these events. The church (here on Earth) is still mostly controlled by man anyway and if history has ever taught us anything, it is the fact that as humans we all make mistakes regardless of who we are.

I plan to reread the whole series after the last movie comes out. After reading that illuminating write-up, I will most likely see the Harry Potter story in a whole new light then.