Josh Hatcher's Blog

A recent debate about Harry Potter on the Open Arms Echurch Interact Forum. Got me rambling... I started this as a post for the forum, and it became a monster... so I thought I'd post my ramblings. I know, my spelling and grammar are off and incomplete.. it's not a work of beautiful literature.. but there are some thoughts in here that I thought a blog would be the perfect place to express..


The subject has been brought up about Lewis and Tolkein, and their use of "magic" in their stories..
I have NOT read Rowling, so I cannot speak with authority on it, so I won't.
but I will say that the fantasy written by Lewis and Tolkein can be explained in a way that perfectly justifies in MY mind the use of "magic" and wizardry...
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First of all, Lewis is allegory, which means it's a metaphor.. pretty exact.. most characters and plotlines have a parrallel in the real world.. and it's used to describe an exact parrallel with Christianity.
His use of witches protrays them as evil.. i do NOT have a problem with witches and witchcraft being portrayed as evil.
However, lewis talks about "magic" in a positive light.. like the "deep magic written on the stone table".. which is not magic, but natural and spiritual law.. which in actuality does exist.
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Lewis and Tolkein both shared some ideas on reading signs in the stars, and allusions to "arts" which allowed people to use the stars to make predictions..
I think that there is in the world some truth to the natural order and rhythm of the stars and the moon and the planets.. I think God created the placement of the constellations for a purpose, and their order and rhythm CAN foretell things (ie... the wisemen who knew about Jesus birth by watching the stars)
and farmers have planted by the signs of the stars for years (the farmers almanac)
the phases of the moon are precisely the same number of days as a menstral cycle (the word actually comes from a root meaning moon)
the word "lunatic" was formed because people believed that mentally ill people were influenced by the phases of the moon.. and my grandmother, who was a geriatric nurse will tell you that crazy people do act more out of control on the nights when the moon is full....
the bible condems fortune telling and astrology... which tells me that trying to tell the future for selfish gain based on the order of the stars is a dangerous thing..
but I do believe there is some truth in there that satan has perverted... I've read an interesting documentary that uses the signs of the zodiac to point people to Christ.. ( http://www.novareinna.com/constellation/bible.html )
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Lewis and Tolkein also discuss Wizards and wizardry..
Tolkein was quoted at one point saying that he did not like to use the words "magic" and "wizard", but they were the closes thing we have in english to describe what he wanted to say.
Tolkein's "middle earth" was meant to be a new mythology. English mytholody was wiped out with the rise of the Normans, who considered anything Anglo to be crude and pagan..
so Tolkein created his own... it's NOT allegory.. but there are a lot of themes from his faith that creep in... if you read the silmarilion, which tells about the formation of middle earth, you'll read about Eru, a monotheistic God who created other "gods" or angelic beings who then helped to create the earth...
one of them rebelled and fell (lucifer anyone?) and then started twisting the rest of creation..
the wizards (or istari, as tolkein refers to them) are actually the sons of the angelic beings.. so they are angelic.. and the work they are doing, is based on a miraculous power.. which can be twisted to use for good or for evil...
the elves also carry the bloodlines of the Maia (or angelic beings) and can do "magic" as well...
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Wicca is a perversion of what God ordained and established.. just like Buddhism, Druidism, Islam, Shinto, Hinduism, and any other man made religion..
there is a "deep magic"... the natural and spiritual laws established by God... the bible says that these things are "written on our hearts".. which tell us that no matter WHERE you exist in the world, God has made you with a desire to seek these things out.. and in the universe, we see the evidence of order.. and we recognize some things are truth..
there IS truth in every religion..

• Buddhism talks about balance... and in finding the balance, we find "enlightenment". Jesus taught balance, and brought balance. In finding him, we find "enlightenment"
• Wicca talks about respecting creation, about the fact that we can tap into spiritual power, and do magic.. If as Christians tap into the Power of the Holy Spirit, we can do the miraculous. And of course, God wants us to respect his creation.
• Islam talks about holiness, and a willingness to die for their faith..
  obviously, God wants us to be committed to purity and holiness, and we should have this kind of desire for God, that we would be willing to do WHATEVER he asked of us..
  

That being said.. Islam, Wicca, and Buddhism, and any OTHER religion are not true.. they cannot be.. the contradict Christianity, and Jesus claimed to be THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE.. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME.. which is a bold and exclusionary claim..

Since the other religions are not true, we must recognize them as false.
Satan has taken GOOD things, and TRUE things, and twisted them into falsehoods...
Another day, maybe we can discuss the way that all religions EXCEPT Christianity have similar themes and imagery.. perhaps because they are all reflect a part of a master truth, and a master deception...

Thanks for posting this and explaining things more in depth. I don't know about the Christian Zodiac, I think it may be a stretch. But I do know that God created the earth and the heavens with beautiful order that points us to Him. Thanks for clarifying the literature too...

howdy, tis cassie, I know that HP has been lined right up there with Lewis's and Tolkin's Master Pieces, but I can't say I know officially weather HP has Christian metaphors or not, but I can onlly not say that cause the Author herself hasn't said it, and I won't claim it unless I have proof. BUT I as a person can see some refs. But as i said on the thread I think it's all a matter of opinion and POV. Have you ever looked into Obejectiveism? Not alot of heard of it, it's interesting if you know of it I'd be interested in hearing your Opinion. ^_^:

Josh, Great write up! I'd like to add or encourage you to add that in regard to the power and rythem of nature (eg. Stars, moon, weather, etc.) the bible references several of these... Jesus said you could tell the weather by the color of the sky, and in Gen. 1 it is written that God caused the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night (which interestingly we know that the moon does effect the tide and other things you pointed out). It tells us in Romans 1 that all creation speaks forth the glory of God and therefore no person is has an excuse for not seeking and turning to the one true God. Psalm 8 tells us God purposely set each star in it's place... and we know God is a God of purpose... we know the stars speak forth his glory for the wisemen of the east were guided to Jesus and both Joel, Jesus (Matthew 24) and Peter (Acts 2) say that God will use the stars, moon, and sun for signs and wonders in the last days. But the Bible does warn us, that while there is a power and rythem within this creation (including the stars) we must be careful to never worship the creation instead of the Creator (Deuteronomy 4:19 & Romans 1). Didn't read the HP thread, but loved your blog. I could talk for hours on this stuff and tolkien, lewis, and biblical science.

thanks...

it started as a forum post, and exploded.. so i thought i could give it a little more attention.. it is a bit "random" but these are the things that run through my head at night when i try to sleep.