I Knew It, I Didn’t Know It, But I Knew It

I knew it. I think from the second book I suspected it and by the fourth book I was convinced. The themes and imagery in the Harry Potter series are Christian inspired. Well, now you have it from the horses mouth. (**unrelated trivia question at the end of this post.)

That was the plan from the start, Rowling told reporters during a press conference at the beginning of her Open Book Tour on Monday. It wasn’t because she was afraid of inserting religion into a children’s story. Rather, she was afraid that introducing religion (specifically Christianity) would give too much away to fans who might then see the parallels.

“To me [the religious parallels have] always been obvious,” she said. “But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going.”

Of course, this makes me no genius. The last book was so filled with Christian imagery and bible quotes, it was hard to miss. Rowling says:

While Rowling said that “Hogwarts is a multifaith school,” these quotes, of course, are distinctly Christian. The second is a direct quote of Jesus from Matthew 6:19, the first from 1 Corinthians 15:26. As Hermione tells Harry shortly after he sees the graves, his parents’ message means “living beyond death. Living after death.” It is one of the central foundations of resurrection theology.

I think that it was some of the underlying Christian imagery that led to my enjoyment of the series. Now I can call my sister with all the proof I need that I was right and she was wrong. That is the Christian thing to do, no? Blessed be the know-it-alls, or something like that. Don’t judge me.

(p.s. Can anyone tell me the movie where the title of this post comes from?)