One upon a time there was a little known book about “The Boy Who Lived,” which quickly grew to be a worldwide phenomenon. Whether you love them or hate them, the Harry Potter series is here to stay. Selling over 400 million copies worldwide, the Harry Potter series is one of the few book series that many agree will stand the test of time, and has earned it’s place amongst great fantasy literature such as The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Spawning loads of merchandise, a theme park, and a hit series of films, the Harry Potter books have created a brand that is worth around $4 billion.

The film series alone as been deemed as the highest grossing film series of all time, selling over 6 billion in worldwide ticket sales, and all of the seven past films are on the 30 highest grossing films of all time. It’s clear that Harry Potter has earned its place amongst pop culture. With the last film debuting next month, millions of people will flock to what may end up being the highest grossing Harry Potter film of all time.

To many of us this film is not just a statistic; it is the end of an era. Being part of the millennial generation, I grew up with the Harry Potter series. Many memories are attached to these books, and like many out there I am sad to see the series finally end. Once in a generation a phenomenon like this appears, and it is incredible when it happens. Something that captures are imagination like no other, and that we will pass down from our children in the hopes that it may create the same spark it once did within us.

Because I’m a big nerd and am beyond excited for the last movie, I decided to revisit the series. Though I’ve only ever read the books once, going through them as they were released at the height of “Potter mania”, this time as I read through the books I was able to read them back-to-back without the yearlong gap in-between each book. Much has changed since I picked up that first Harry Potter book.

Since I started to read the books, I’ve become more adept in my faith and following Christ. As I started rereading the first book, the memories came flooding back. How my friend had shown and told me about the first book on the school bus, my Mom buying me the first book as a gift, and how the first book caused so much controversy amongst Christians. Apparently the books promoted kids to experiment with Witchcraft, or so I was told. As I read through the book again, I was shocked at all the Christian themes that I had missed as a child. Though it is craftily concealed throughout the story, the themes reign true throughout the books.

Some critics had panned the books for their cliché’s, and claimed that the books’ themes and motifs were made for people whose imaginations were confined to things like reality television and celebrity gossip. I am wondering whether others have realized the way the books’ Christian themes and symbolism shine through the series. Of course there have been books written on the subject, and I am obviously not the first person to make this discovery. That being said, in celebration of the final film and the closing of this great series, I wanted to bring to light these themes in hope to inspire others to take a closer look at these great books.

In the simplest of forms of imagery, I think of the houses used to separate the Hogwarts, the magical school Harry attends. The students are separated into four houses—Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Though there are four houses, only two are prominent throughout the book. Gryffindor, Harry’s house, and Slytherin, the house to whom the once evil lord Voldemort belonged. Slytherin, whose house symbol is a snake, is the primary rival of the Gryffindor house, which is represented by a lion. Many of us are aware of the symbolism between these two animals. The snake is infamous for its’ temptation of eve in the Garden of Eden, and has thus remained a representation of evil since. The lion has been a prominent symbol representing Christ all throughout Christian culture, and Christ himself is referred to as “The Lion of Judah” (Rev 5:5). Even more prominent in Christian culture is C.S. Lewis’ beloved character Aslan, the lion which rules over Narnia and who is used as an analogy of Christ throughout his series.

Throughout all seven books the series centers on themes of self-sacrifice, friendship, courage, equality, and love. Essential themes that are focused on throughout the Bible. One of the more prominent and interesting themes within the series is death. At first glance that may seem a bit dark or droll, but it is also a theme found throughout the Bible. Christ died in order that we may be free of death (Hebrews 2:14,15). Likewise, throughout the Harry Potter series, the enemy Voldemort uses death to strike fear into the world, searching for the way to immortality. In the end, this becomes his greatest weakness, the only weapon against which is Love. Potter’s mother, who sacrificed her life in hopes that her only son may survive, saved Harry from Voldemort. Now, I must warn you that the following paragraph contains a huge spoiler. If you have not read the book, nor seen the movies I suggest that you skip the following paragraph.

SPOILER:
Towards the end of the series Harry begins searching for items called Horcruxes, magical items used to split one’s soul into separate parts in order that he may become immortal. Harry must set out to destroy these 7 items in order to weaken and destroy Voldemort. When Harry gets down to the final two, Harry discovers that he himself is in fact a Horcrux created the night when Voldemort attempted to end his life. It is in this instance that Harry’s character is fully transformed into a Christ-figure. Harry carries within himself the very evil he must destroy. In just the same way, Christ came to earth as a man carrying within himself both all the good and all the evil that man is, and was said to have “become sin” in order to free us from it. Likewise, Harry must destroy himself the same, as Christ had to die on the cross in order to destroy death’s hold over us. Once Harry leaves all of his loved ones to face Lord Voldemort on his own, this villain casts the killing curse on Harry, thus destroying the very thing that had allowed him to be reborn earlier in the series. Harry, like Christ, is then resurrected in order to finally conquer and defeat Voldemort once and for all.

The symbolism and references go on and on throughout these books. The more I discover, the more I’m appalled that there were once leaders of the church crying “witch” to have these books banned. These books, however, represent all of the values that Christians hold dear. Sure they use magic wands, cast spells, and fly brooms, but the world of books is what makes them so wonderful. After all, I don’t see people working too hard to get the legends of King Arthur banned for Merlin’s use of Magic. I believe it is always important for us to investigate these claims about banned books, movies, etc., if for nothing else than to gain a better understanding of the world and culture we live in. There are so many things that we can learn from this wonderful series of books.

In some ways we have already become like the characters within Harry Potter. We live within our own Christian “bubble” sometimes, knowing darkness hides right around the corner, and it is out of fear we can be tempted to stay within this safety zone. As followers of Christ, we are not called to be separated from culture, but to be within it, from a point of grace. “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Tim 1:7). We have even grown to fear our enemy in subtle ways. Like the wizard community in Harry Potter, we have taken to calling Lucifer, “the enemy”, just like as in Harry’s world Voldemort is referred to as “He-who-must-not-be-named” or “You-Know-Who.” We must overcome these fears to affect our culture and to bring Christ’s gospel of Love and redemption to our world. For as the beloved character Hermione Granger states, “Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.”

I sincerely hope that I’ve encouraged many of you to take a second look at the Harry Potter series, and maybe for some of you, even a first look. I know for some it may seem like finding Christian views and symbolism in Harry Potter is a bit of a stretch. I would argue that saying our children will all become witches because of the books is an even greater—and an archaic one at that.

What other spiritual or theological motifs have you found in the Harry Potter series? Are there any other works of fiction which stand out in your mind as carrying Christian layers of meaning?

THEOLOGY21 is a co-op of authors dedicated to renovating theology for a new generation, taking the ancient truths of scripture and theology and speaking to the post-Christian culture of the 21st century. To keep up-to-date on all things THEOLOGY21, Give our Facebook page a “like”, follow our twitter page, add yourself to our email list, or subscribe to our feed!
 
__________________________________________________