Harry Potter

The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity is situated in a an old church just round the corner from the Royal Society for Medicine in Wimpole Street. It was established by the late John Stott and its current Executive Director is Mark Greene was converted out of the advertising industry. We have had him to preach at Lansdowne on being a Christian in the workplace. He was extremely good.

He has written a review of the latest Harry Potter film in the September issue of Evangelicals Now

Many evangelicals in America have criticized the Harry Potter series as dabbling in sorcery. I have always thought this was Baloney. You might as well criticize CS Lewis or Tolkien on the same grounds. The Harry Potter series is a fantasy based on the spiritual battle between good and evil and the 'magic' is just a matter of pointing a 'wand' and shouting a command in cod Latin. Let me tell you, it doesn't work.

The theme of Harry Potter is self sacrificing love and it picks up on many Biblical themes. At the start of the story we have Harry's mother, Lily, sacrificing herself to save her baby - literally covering him with her blood.. In the first book we have Ron putting himself at risk to save Harry and Flammel giving up his own immortality by allowing the destruction of the Philospher's stone. Throughout the series there are several instances of people sacrificing them selves to save Harry's life. In the last film we had Dobby the House-elf and Mad-eye. Snape has been working with Dumbledore at great danger to himself for the sake of the son of a man he despised for the unrequited love for Harry's mother and Dumpledore, Harry's surrogate father has known all along that in order to defeat Voldemort, Harry must subject himself to his power and die. Imagine a father who knew that in order to defeat evil his son must die.

Still it falls short of what Jesus did. The love that Jesus showed was love for his enemies. He didn't just die for his side. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.