I’m late in boarding the Harry Potter train, and it’s not because I don’t know where Platform 9 3/4 is! This book was first released when I was in high school, so in the very beginning, I was too old for it. Then, just as the world began recognizing it as a book appealing to children of all ages, the Christians in my circles got up in arms about it, and I was still told never to read it.
Fast forward 25 years, and I’m finally dipping in—and with my kids no less, ages 9 and 10. I’ve known for a long while that Culture should never dictate my tastes, but at the same time, neither should the opinions of stuck-up Boycotters. All my life, I had heard from the fundamentalists that Christians should never dip into witchcraft and wizardry, and certainly, as a practical life choice and as a man who’s pursuing godliness, I avoid the occult! Yet when I realized that the same folks who trash J.K. Rowling also adore J.R.R. Tolkien, I knew something was wrong.
While my family is listening through the Harry Potter series on audio (which we started on our trip from the Midwest to Florida and back), we’re also reading through The Hobbit together in the evenings. I’ve loved the Peter Jackson rendition of Middle Earth ever since they were first released, and through it all, I’ve never heard the slightest whimper from Christians that Tolkien’s works are wickedly Satanic devices, like I’ve heard about Rowling’s. Now, I get it: Tolkien was purportedly a Christian author whom some suggest wrote allegorically, yet his fanciful world of goblins and trolls was one in which the good wizard Gandolf led as hero. Tolkien never mentioned God, yet Good and Evil were constantly at play, and good ultimately prevailed. For crying out loud, I’ve a Hobbit Devotional on my bookshelf at this very moment! Christians love that wizard, Gandolf!
The nonsensical double-standard between Rowling’s fantastic world and Tolkien’s (or that of C.S. Lewis, for that matter) finally got to me, and I’m glad, because Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was great.
I was struck in this first installment to the series not only by its fantastically drawn characters and plot but by its innocence, at least in comparison to all the horror stories I’d heard from my teachers. The themes of Good vs. Evil, Love, and Power are all expertly handled, and the story contains many opportunities for a conscientious parent to stir the pot of discussion with his kids.
While I can certainly anticipate how this series might devolve into something far darker, I get no sense from this first book that wickedness will prevail over goodness. This story of Harry’s first year at Hogwarts deals with such important topics as friendship, bullies, dreams vs. reality, hope, loyalty, etc. The final scene of Voldemort’s possession of the Professor for the Defense Against the Dark Arts and his battle for the stone was certainly frightening, but it was also a classic Hero vs. Villain moment, Good vs. Evil, Love vs. Power. It’s exactly what we want our children to know: Good will prevail, even if it faces temptations and battles along the way.
I can’t believe I’ve avoided the Harry Potter series for so long, but I’m glad finally to be dipping into it with my kids. I praise God for my Christian heritage, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. Yet sometimes in recollection, I’m annoyed by the double-standards of my particular ilk, by its judgmentalism, legalism, and separation. The same folks who judged this book by its cover also hated The Passion because it was rated ‘R’ and because Mel Gibson isn’t a great guy…wait…don’t get me started.
I look forward to the next installments of this excellent series, and I’ll try neither to complain nor to sermonize too much in my reviews of the remaining books! But, no promises.
©2022 E.T.
Read More from J.K. Rowling:
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (1998)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (2003)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (2005)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling (2007)
* Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (2016)