Religious references in Harry Potter?

Question

I am doing a project on Harry Potter and I want to include a part with the references to theology that are in the books.
I can see the Christian references, and I know that there are references to the Torah in the books, but I don't have the personal knowledge to identify what those references are.
If anyone can point me in the right direction, I will be very grateful.
In fact, I will be extremely grateful if anyone can point out ANY theological references, in any of the books.
Thanks in advance :o)

I'll just explain a little bit more -
My project is about the other stories that have influenced the Harry Potter books. I have solid information for mythology and classic literature, and now I need a section for theology.
I won't go into what I see as being Christian references in the books, but if there are Christian references, then other religions shoudl follow. Even as far as J.K. Roling have added Jewish and Hindu characters.

Answer 1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/29/AR2007062902152_pf.html
http://www.monawest.com/sermons/The%20Gospel%20According%20to%20Harry%20Potter.htm
http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2003/06/18/
Also if you have time, check out the book Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger.

Answer 2

Man I must have missed alot. I have read and reread all the books with the exception of the last book, several times and found no religious references in them.

I am a big Harry Potter fan, and found the book entertaining but found nothing theological in them.

J.K. Rowling used some mythology here and there, and alot of mythological creatures. I also did not see any reference to the torah. This all had to be in the last book which I have read only twice so far.

They are fantasy childrens books. That is all. I think you are just looking for Christian and religious references.

Answer 3

um ... i've read most of the books (cute and entertaining) and i've seen all the movies and i don't recall noticing any Christian references. there is, of course, the basic "good versus evil" theme but that can hardly be considered a strictly Christian reference.

PS. it's so weird. first Christians condemn the Harry Potter series as a tool of the devil corrupting the children with witchcraft and now they're seeking to commandeer the books for Christianity by claiming it's got a hidden Christian agenda. **shrug** sometimes Christians are just plain wackadoo.

Answer 4

Except for the last book and the bit of sorta returning or acting after death, I really don't see much theology there. I certainly would not try to force a theological interpretation on to or into that series as it was clearly written as fiction and not meant to really impress any sort of values.

There are other fantasy writers that try to combine religion or values with their stories, but this isn't one of them.

Answer 5

Umm, did the rest of you even read the books? If you did, you must not know much about religion, or fantasy that draws off of the spiritual (like Lord of the Rings).

I've got some for book 7. There were direct quotes from the Bible on the epitaphs of the graves. One by Jesus, and one by Paul. You would have to know the Bible to catch them. Luckily I do. :)

I also think the passage in Matthew goes on to pretty much lay out the plot of the Dumbledore and Snape storylines.

The Jesus stuff (I’m not just talking about the Harry sacrificing himself thing):
Before even book 6 came out, Rowling said, “Every time I've been asked if I believe in God, I've said yes, because I do, but no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that, and I have to say that does suit me, because if I talk too freely about that I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books.” So she DID intend to reference religion at some point.

When I heard that, I thought “Oh no, is she going to pull an Aslan/Gandalf thing and is it going to be lame? Well, as you know if you’ve read 7, she kinda did, and it really wasn’t lame. I know a lot of Christians think Harry Potter glorifies witchcraft, and they mean well, but I refuse to believe waving a stick around and saying something like “expelliarmus” to disarm somebody qualifies as magic. Mostly, the books “teach” treating everyone with respect and without prejudice, honor, courage, and good vs. evil. An Islamic site I found once actually told Muslims not to read the books because they are “the Christian worldview in disguise”. If they are (and who knows if they are. certainly many people wouldn’t like to know about it) book 7 does the best job of showing it. While I agree that there are obviously many mythological and new age references, I think Christianity gets most of the attention, since Rowling belongs to the Church of Scotland, and her finale was Harry sacrificing himself for the people he loved and coming back.

-Dumbledore read the Bible, lol (I always liked him!). The inscription on the tomb of his dead family members was from Matthew 6: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Here's the quote in context, Matthew 6:19-24. I wonder if she put this in intentionally because it reminds me of the plot. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I think it’s worth thinking about if you read Harry Potter.
-"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (The Dumbledore conflict)
-The passage continues: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (We heard more about Harry’s eyes in this series than we have about any of his other body parts. Come to think about it, we have also heard a lot about Snape’s black, cold ones, and Dumbledore’s twinkling blues. Trust me, when you re-read the series, those eyeballs are all over the place, doing something, and I think Rowling shows attention to them deliberately. When Snape dies, the focus is on that: "The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish." Matthew: "If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" Snape's, his best quality — his love for Lily Evans — was his most hidden secret. "My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?" said Dumbledore. Snape’s love, his best quality, was hidden. If love is hidden behind darkness, how great is the darkness. Etc ? I’m not good at explaining this one, because I don’t know how to word it.)
-The passage goes on: No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Snape did this twice with Lily and Voldy and Dumbledore and Voldy, and Dumbledore did it with trying to be both selfish and power-hungry, and still have intentions “for the greater good” and his family)."
Metaphors? Who knows. Could just be coincidence. But Rowling usually does things like this deliberately and I sure she knew the context she was pulling an epitaph from. And in interviews she was always emphasizing Harry’s eyes.
-The other epitaph (the one on Harry’s parent's graves) comes from Paul: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:26). I love that one.
-Harry "dies" to save his friends from Voldy, comes back, and Voldy's curses are not able to hurt them? He can’t touch them because they are protected? If I have to spell this one out for you.... Take that Laura Mallory.
-People say that what Harry Potter lacks is a God-figure, but I think that this could be provided by the “mysterious force”, love. “God is love”, etc. I don’t think this is an allegory, I think it’s a book about values and family that is heavily influenced by this stuff.
No doubt some people (and I can think of a few) will be annoyed at hints of the old gospel story in the world’s most popular novel, but I think it adds depth. And I like the gospel. I like love and I like courage. I’m a softy, really.


If you need more on the earlier books, you can read books by Connie Neal or John Granger. They have both written books about finding God in the series. They point out which messages are consistent with Christianity, and other stuff like that. Sometimes I think they go too far in their guesses, but some are probably right on. Has she added Jewish and Hindu characters? I thought they were just foreign, and mostly in the movies. That's interesting.