Why do some Christians look down on Harry Potter stories because of the wizardry and good magic and yet in Christian bookstores you see the Chronicles of Narnia everywhere you turn.
Doesn't that story has the same wizardry and magic and make believe as Harry Potter.
What's the difference? What's your position?
2006-09-09 16:23:08 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I've thought about this question before too. I understand why Christians would accept the Chronicles of Narnia because of all the aformention of Biblical history and knowledge. Things such as sons of adam and daughters of eve and the fight between to opposing forces with ideals and the concept of self sacrifice for the overall good. On the other hand, you have Harry Potter books. It is said by Christians that it promotes beliefs in unnatural things and demonic powers but I have known of past events in history where "magic" was used for good. At one point, black powder, today known as gun powder was thought to be the work of the devil but today we know it is the mixture of natural elements that produces sparks and explosions. I do think that the Potter books dive too deep into some aspects of witchcraft but no so deep that they would poison the minds of most people. We all believed in magic as kids. We all wanted to try it and some of us did even if only cheap tricks. I believe there are parts of "magic" which are just a thorough understanding of nature and elements but at the same time, there are types of magic that dive deep into demoic posessions and worship. Potter books ride along that thin line between the two and some might take it in a bad way while others don't. Being Christian myself, i think some are just seeing it as a quick way to stop kids from learnign or venturing too far into a world that could hurt them or those around them. I think with proper instruction from parents, however, that those over steps could be stopped with explinations and couciling on the aspects and thoughts of both book collections. I've read both collections of books and understand the ideals behind them and when the time comes, i'll explain to my kids the ideals behind them and not overlook what is on the surface for what is under the surface.
2006-09-09 16:36:06 · answer #1 · answered by vail2073 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In Harry Potter the main characters pursue their own power, own magic.
In Narnia, Aslan is Jesus, has the power, is resurrected. The witch is Satan using magic for evil. The characters are humans caught in the middle of this epic battle between good and evil - sound familiar? :-)
C.S. Lewis had a great love for the Lord. He was a creative writer and thought up the land of Narnia. He stated that he thought one night to himself, what would Narnia be like if Jesus came there - that started the book.
Both are entertaining movies and I love both - as long as we keep in perspective that true power comes from giving all your power to God, I think we'll be OK!
2006-09-09 23:36:41 · answer #2 · answered by picard2552 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely, as a Christian myself, it's so strange to see the Christian world promoting the Narnia series. While I've read the book, I've seen no spiritual correlations between it and the Bible at all! IMHO, Potter and Narnia are on the same level!
PS) I read that CS Lewis was in fact Catholic...(not a very good representation of Protestant Christian belief systems.) Seems like mainstream Christianity is gradually wandering back to Rome!
2006-09-09 23:32:27 · answer #3 · answered by adrift feline 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Harry Potter is the supposed 'good guy' in that series and he uses magic. The White Witch (that's her name, right?) is the one who uses magic in the Narnia stories and she is the antagonist or 'bad guy.' The difference is that the Potter series says that magic is ok and can be good whereas the Narnia series portrays magic, as it is, as a force of darkness and not to be messed with. My opinion based on my faith and my memory.
2006-09-09 23:29:29 · answer #4 · answered by hisnamesaves 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because 'wizardry' is just a fancy word for witchcraft. And the narnia stories are symbolic of the beliefs that christians hold.
2006-09-09 23:34:31 · answer #5 · answered by TonerLow69 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because C.S. Lewis was also a popular christian writer who wrote many books about the pracitice of Christianity.
There is also an obvious metephor of Christ/Aslan and the world ending and believers going to heaven. This is hard to see unless you read all the Narnia books.
2006-09-09 23:25:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Morally I would favour Narnia. I do not know of anyone who previously wrote a book like his and he got credit from someone else ideas. I saw a Good Morning America which had an author who wrote a book very similar to hers. They displayed some of the chracters matched very closely to hers. They even mention that they are preventing her book to be republished as well or was in the courts as they spoke. Besides, there is an old "Reading Rainbow" someone mention it was their favourite as well. I talked to someone else and they felt much of Harry Potter's stories had some elements from other stories as well.
2006-09-09 23:41:37 · answer #7 · answered by stardancerpoet 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is a lot of biblical language and parallels in Chronicles (ie: sons of Adam)... that's probably why. It reinforces Christianity in a way.
Harry potter is just a fun story of heroism that revolves around something that Christianity despises, namely magic.
2006-09-09 23:28:01 · answer #8 · answered by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All of the mysticism and mythological creatures represented the paganism that existed before Christ (Aslan the Lion) and Christianity. Notice how Aslan is in charge, and took over. That being said, good point. Tolkien was a friend of C.S. Lewis. Another spiritual metaphor was LOTR.
2006-09-09 23:30:57 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My thoughts would be because the characters in C.S. Lewis's books represent God and Saten. Those characters alone have the "magic and wizardry" that you speak about.
In the Harry Potter series, the ability to do the magic and wizardry are given to humans to gain and control.
Just my opinion, not from the bible. We are however told to stay away from witchcraft and such in the bible. It is not for believers to dabble in. That does not however mean it does not exist, just that we are to stay away from it.
2006-09-09 23:28:47 · answer #10 · answered by cindy 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋