Comments on: Movie Review: Prince Caspian

By: alamanach

alamanach — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:01:07 +0000

In Lord of the Rings we have sympathetic characters who use magic, and that book is not maligned by the anti-Harry Potter crowd. I haven’t read Harry Potter, and I can’t say what their objection is. I can say that both Lord of the Rings and the Narnia books are emphatically Christian in their outlook. Narnia wasn’t just written by a guy who wore his religion on his sleeve, it was written as a plain and deliberate allegory for Christianity.

Lord of the Rings is not an allegory (Tolkien hated allegory, and didn’t care much for Lewis’s Narnia books), but it is an extended meditation on the Christian virtue of hope. Don’t look for that theme in the movies, they took a lot of it out. But if you watch for it in the book, it is very clear what Tolkien is doing.

By: Joel A Moroney

Joel A Moroney — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:13:42 +0000

Yeah Dave, I think that’s a good call. The Harry Potter books and movies have come under a lot of attack for being un-Christian. I think this has a lot to do with a) who wrote the books and b) who does the magic.

The Narnia books are written by a guy who was very public about his Christianity. I think to some extent this has translated to people backing off the depictions of magic etc in Narnia.

Secondly, as far as I’m aware (keeping in mind I’ve only read 3 of the books), the only people who perform magic in the Narnia books are bad guys. In Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, only the White Witch performs magic. As she is the bad guy, her “evil” magics are okay. We’re not supporting her or condoning her.

However, in the Harry Potter books, every one is doing magic. Especially the good guys. This would fly against Christian teaching about magic (like in Acts 8:9-25). Some would further argue that impresionable young minds will want to be like Harry and start performing witch craft etc.

What do I think? I think the Harry Potter books are obviously fiction. I think they present a fantasy world where magic works in much the same way as science does in our world. The aim of the author is not for children to start practicing witch craft or worship false gods but to enjoy a good story. And there are great themes at play such as the triumph of good over evil.

I don’t think Harry Potter should be condemned because of its use of magic. Enjoy it for the many positive things it has to say.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:57:43 +0000

When it comes to Narnia, I am just wondering what makes this series so different from Harry Potter & why the Narnia series is condoned and the Harry Potter series is condemned by some, considering that the two would appear to be quite similar.