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?)
October 18, 2007 at 4:34 am
can I guess?
October 18, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Believe me, you are STILL going to be wrong. My in-laws believe the book is from the devil and will not budge. You just can’t convince some people. Wasn’t too thrilled with what she supposedly said about B16, though.
Sharon
October 20, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Rowling also declared that Albus Dumbledore was gay (I’m not sure why that is relevant at all to the story, but she said it). So, my guess is she is trying to appease any and all critics of her stories by saying, “look- I did include/promote your agenda/beliefs.”
October 21, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I don’t know what movie, but I have beleived right along that HP had Christian themes. There are even several books regarding this issue. I thouroughly enjoyed John Granger’s Looking for God in Harry Potter.
October 21, 2007 at 11:14 pm
The movie is Joe Versus the Volcano! There is said it. Patrick forbid me to answer but I had to. It was calling out to me.