Harry Potter and the Postmodern Church

“…new behaviors are learned through storytelling and a sense of togetherness prevails that
makes recovery and the sense of community and belonging stronger and more functional.”

Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool

 

“Reality
has become fluid, and no medium has done more to make it so than film, with its
wide accessibility, its sense-and-psyche-altering format and its effortless gift for
persuasion….”[1]

Harry Potter’s wizardly world is becoming strangely familiar to
today’s youth. No
longer do mystical incantations, transforming potions, dark omens or
“the noble art of divination” (as Harry’s divination teacher called it) shock or alarm those who call themselves Christians. Popular magic — real or imagined — has become a normal part of
our postmodern culture.

So have rebellion, rudeness, and the kind
of feel-good revenge that Harry Potter demonstrates in the latest
Warner-Brothers movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
It seems perfectly okay for the famed wizard to tell Aunt Marge to “shut up” and,
wielding his mystical power, cast a spell that turns her into a
ballooning blimp that floats away into the sky. After all, she said
cruel things about
his parents. She deserved it! Didn’t she? In this context, viewers
are led to agree. For J. K. Rowling knows well how to evoke sympathy for
her key character.  

Harry’s magical revenge may seem funny as well as justified in this
fictional setting. But even
wizards have rules, and Harry had once again broken “the Decree for the
Restriction of Underage Wizardry.” Such use of magical powers was
forbidden by law. The fact that the angry young wizard
escapes the consequences only makes his rebellion and revenge more
enticing. Instead of punishment, he won a quick journey on a magical
bus back to the safety of the enchanting world of the occult.

“Whether impulsive or planned, each magical spell is an expression and
extension of Harry’s will,” said
Peter, a
former occultist. “That’s a foundational occult reality, and it
clashes head on with Biblical truth.” God calls His children to trust and
submit to Him and His will, not their own. “Not
My will,
but Thine, be done,” prayed Jesus. “I can of Myself do nothing,” He
told His disciples earlier.”… I do not seek My own will but
the will of the Father who sent Me.”

The contrary messages aren’t lost to the millions of children around the world
who read Joanne Rowling’s books. Her images,
suggestions, beliefs and value system have established a growing
consensus that equates paganism with entertainment and occultism with
dark but delicious thrills.
What’s more, they have spawned a huge new brood of occult books for
children as well as adults. Tearing down the old boundaries, they multiply the world’s cravings for the mystical thrills and
occult chills that animate life at Hogwarts. 

Few realize that what appears to be fantasy is actually an allegory
— a dramatic description of the year-by-year “training of an initiate
in an occult order.”

Earthy spirituality and the Circle of Life

One particular scene stands out in this third Harry Potter movie.
Since it’s based on the third book, let’s review the
scene as the author described it. While the movie version is shorter
and less detailed, both evoke nightmarish images of the soul-sucking dementors: 

“By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he [Harry] saw a dementor halt,
very close to him. It couldn’t walk through the cloud of silver mist
Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It
made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside…..

“A pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached
themselves around Harry’s neck. They were forcing his face
upward…. He could feel its putrid breath…. His mother was screaming
in his ears….. He could feel them watching him, hear their rattling
breath like an evil wind around him. … Then it raised both its rotting
hands–and lowered its hood. Where there should have been eyes, there
was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets.
But there was a mouth…. a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air….

“And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he
thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter…. He felt
himself fall forward onto the grass….. The blinking light was
illuminating the grass around him…. The screaming had stopped, the
cold was ebbing away…. Something was driving the dementors back…

“With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a
few inches and saw an animal amid the light, galloping away across the
lake…. It was bright as a unicorn…. …. Fighting to stay conscious,
Harry watched it canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For
a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back….
raising his hand to pat it…. someone who looked strangely familiar….
but it couldn’t be…”

Later, a conversation with Hermione clarified some of the
puzzling images:

“Harry, there’s something I don’t understand… Why didn’t the
dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed
out…

“Harry sat down too. He explained what he’d seen; how, as the nearest dementor
had lowered its mouth to Harry’s, a large silver something had
come galloping across the lake and forced the dementors to retreat…. ‘There’s only one thing it could have been, to make the dementors go,’
said Harry. ‘A real Patronus. A powerful one.’

“But who conjured it?”

Harry didn’t say anything. He was thinking back to the person he’d
seen on the other bank of the lake. He knew who he thought it had
been…. but how could it have been?…

“…it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those
dementors away…. Who did you think it was?”

“‘I think–‘ Harry swallowed, knowing how strange this was going to
sound. ‘I think it was my dad.'”

“‘Harry, your dad’s — well– dead,’ she said quietly.”[2,
pages 406-407]

To save the lives of Sirius Black (the falsely accused prisoner of
Azkaban) and a mythical creature nurtured by the friendly giant Hagrid, Harry and
Hermione return to the same scene by magically turning back the time.
During this second round, Harry identifies the Patronus — the mysterious
savior who chased away the soul-sucking dementors. The action is
slightly different:

“And there were the dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness
from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake….. On the
opposite bank the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished….

“‘Com on!’ he [Harry] muttered, staring about. ‘Where are you? Dad, come on.’

“But no one came….. And then it hit him — he understood. He hadn’t
seen his father — he had seen himself–

“Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand.

“‘EXPECT Patronum!’ he yelled. And out of the end of his wand
burst, not the shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver
animal…. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black
surface of the lake. He saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming dementors….

“The Patronus turned. …. It wasn’t a horse. It wasn’t a unicorn
either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above…. it
was coming back to him. … Slowly it bowed its antlered head and Harry
realized…

“‘Prongs,’ he whispered.  But as his trembling fingertips
stretched toward the creature, it vanished.”

The next part shows Harry’s brief discussion with Lupin, his
“Defense Against the Black Arts” teacher who also happened to be an
unwilling werewolf:

“Lupin said, ‘From what the headmaster told me this morning,
you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry…. Tell me about your Patronus.’

“Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he’d finished, Lupin was
smiling again. ‘Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed,’ he said.
‘You guessed right…. That’s why we called him Prongs.’

The last set of quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban shows a sobering glimpse into the new blended
spirituality that is becoming an acceptable global religion. The
discussion is between Harry and Dumbledore, Hogwarts’ revered
Headmaster.

“‘I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry,’ he
[Dumbledore] said gently….

“‘I thought it was my dad who’d conjured my Patronus.
I mean, when I saw myself across the lake…. I thought I was seeing
him.’

“‘An easy mistake to make,’ said Dumbledore softly….

“‘It was stupid, thinking it was him,’ he muttered. ‘I mean, I
knew he was dead.’

“‘You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think
that we
don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your
father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you
have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus?
Prongs rode again last night….’

“‘Last night Sirius told me all about how they became
Animagi,’
said Dumbledore, smiling…. You know Harry, in a way, you did see your
father last night… You found him inside yourself.‘”[2,
page 428]

Compare the above message with the following scene from the Disney
movie, The Lion King.  At this point in the story, the evil Scar and his hyenas reign
in Pride Lands. The land lies dry and
barren. One day, the monkey sorcerer Rafiki looks into his magic gourd and sees Simba’s living
image. He sets out to find the reluctant heir to the throne, then demonstrates
a worldwide pagan tradition: reliance on help from ever-present, ever-living ancestral
spirits.

“I know your father,” says Rafiki.

“My father is dead,” answers Simba.

“Nope! He’s alive. I’ll show him to you.” The shamanic baboon
leads Simba to a pool of clear water. “Look down there.”

First Simba sees his own reflection, then the face of his father.

“You see, he lives in you!” says Rafiki.

Simba hears a familiar voice call his name. He looks up. His father’s
ghostlike image appears among the stars.

“Look inside yourself…” says the apparition. “You must
take your place in the circle of life. Remember who you are…” The
vision fades.

Simba believes. He sees that the dead are not separated from the living,
nor earth from the realm of spirits. Everything is connected. Empowered
by a new sense of identity, he races back to Pride Lands to challenge his
uncle, win the throne, and restore the land. Soon, Pride Nation celebrates
the birth of the next lion prince, Simba, the son of King Mufasa and his cubhood friend
Nala. Again, Rafiki lifts a royal infant for all to worship. The circle
of life continues.

In other words, there are no constants, no absolutes. The group
consensus based on feelings and imagination determines what is true.
This postmodern consensus will either discard God’s Word or adapt it to
fit. As a result, Bible-based discernment fades. For when people discard
absolute truth, they lose their mental anchor and flow with the currents
of the changing culture. Having no certain truth with which to filter
the flood of conflicting suggestions, they lose the capacity to resist
popular deceptions. Any new information that captures the public
imagination becomes acceptable, normal and real — no matter how
fictional or fantastic its source. And if our children are not prepared
to take a stand, they may yield their hearts to this
process with little resistance.

While many pastors and church leaders have written books that describe
this spiritual transformation, the message of Pastor Brian McLaren
carries more weight since he is an acknowledged leader in this movement.
Some of his articles are posted at
www.pastors.com, a website founded by Pastor Rick Warren, author of
The Purpose Driven Life.  McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian,
is written as a semi-fictional dialogue, so that readers can experience
the thrill of questioning old truths and discovering new truth through
the dialectic process. Notice how the introduction touts
the postmodern worldview while raising doubts about Biblical faith:

“I realize, as I read and reread the Bible, that many passages
don’t fit any of the theological systems I have inherited or
adapted. Sure, they can be squeezed in, but after a while my
theology looks like a high school class trip’s luggage–shoestrings
hanging out here, zippers splitting apart there….

“I read what other people who are having similar experiences are
saying, including people writing outside of the religious
context — like this from Peter Senge: ‘In any case, our Industrial
Age management…. our Industrial Age way of living will not
continue…. It’s not sustainable in ecological terms, and it’s
not sustainable in human terms. It will change. The only question is
how….’

“Doesn’t the religious community see that the world is changing?
Doesn’t it have anything fresh and incisive to say? Isn’t it even
asking new questions? Has it nothing to offer other than the stock
formulas that it has been offering? Is there no Saint Francis or
Soren Kierkegaard or C.S. Lewis in the house with some fresh ideas
and energy?’…

“I meet people along the way who model for me, each in a
different way, what a new kind of Christian might look like. They
differ in many ways, but they generally agree that the old show is
over, the modern jig is up, and it’s time for something radically
new…. You begin to wonder if maybe you’re at the front
edge of something — if your tentative and anxious steps ‘off the
map’ are actually the beginning of a new adventure into terra nova,
new ground, fresh territory.”[3,
page xiv-xv]

“…if we have a new world, we will need a new church. We won’t
need a new religion per se, but a new framework for our theology.
Not a new Spirit, but a new spirituality. Not a new Christ, but a new Christian.“[3,
page xvi] Emphasis added

Something new and fresh! That’s an ongoing quest of the Church Growth Movement.
Leaders like Rick Warren may not go as far afield as Brian McLaren, but
they know well that the diverse seekers want something more contemporary
than the old gospel that has opened eyes and changed hearts for the two
millennia. As Pastor Warren wrote on page 325 in The Purpose-Driven
Life, “I have deliberately used paraphrases
in order to help you see God’s truth in new, fresh ways.”

A little later, Brian McLaren describes — through the mouth of
his leading character “Neo” — what
many postmodern leaders see as changing mental “Models” or worldview.
Ponder his quotes from The Discarded Image, apparently the last
book written by C. S. Lewis. But first he gives an interesting
description of the dialectic process. The proper Hegelian (and Soviet)
dialogue doesn’t allow a participant to argue a point from his own point
of view. Instead of taking a stand on God’s unchanging Word, you
are trained to let go of your own convictions in order to
empathically (or emotionally) enter into the convictions of
the other members and, in the process, question and criticize your own
beliefs in light of the new suggestions:

“Most modern people love to relativize the
viewpoints of the others against the unquestioned superiority of their own
modern viewpoint. But in a way, you cross the threshold into postmodernity
the moment you turn your critical scrutiny from others to yourself, when you
relativize your own modern viewpoint. When you do this, everything
changes. It is like a conversion. You can’t go back. You begin to see that
what seemed like pure, objective certainty really depends heavily on a
subjective preference for your personal viewpoint. In this next quote, Lewis
makes exactly these very postmodern moves and emphasized how one’s subjective
posture affects what one sees and ‘knows objectively.’… Listen to Lewis in his
own words:’[3,
page 35]

“There is no question here of the old Model’s being shattered by the
inrush of new phenomena…. When changes in the human mind produce a
sufficient disrelish of the old Model and a sufficient hankering for some
new one, phenomena to support that new one will obediently turn up….”[3,
page 36] [4, 221]

“We must recognize that
what has been called ‘a taste in universes’ is not only pardonable but
inevitable. We can no longer dismiss the change of Models as a simple
progress from error to truth. No Model is a catalogue of ultimate realties,
and none is a mere fantasy. Each is a serious attempt to get in all the
phenomena known at a given period, and each succeeds in getting in a great
many. But also, no less surely, each reflects the prevalent psychology of
an age almost as much as it reflects the state of that age’s knowledge….”[3,
page 37] 

[4, 222]

‘Lewis concludes his book with a
fascinating prediction…

“It is not impossible that our own Model
will die a violent death, ruthlessly smashed by an unprovoked assault of new
facts — unprovoked as the nova of 1572. But I think it is more likely to
change when, and because, far-reaching changes in the mental temper of our
descendents demand that it should. The new Model will not be set up without
evidence, but the evidence will turn up when the inner need for it
becomes sufficiently great. It will be true evidence.’

[3-page 37]
 [4,
222-223] Emphasis added

“What Lewis imagined to be ‘not impossible’
some generations away–the death of the modern model or worldview–turns out to
be happening just a single generation after he wrote…’[3-page
37]

McLaren didn’t complete the above sentence but his point was made.
Two paradigm shifts have
occurred in the last thirty years, and the years ahead promise to be
more wrenching than any previous time. The world’s hostility will surely
be aimed at those who continue to walk in “the old paths, where the good
way is….”

Our website often receives angry email from youth- and children’s pastors who
echo Pastor McLaren’s doubts and desires. They have embraced the
world’s intolerance toward those who take a stand on Biblical truth or
use its teachings as a filter to discern God’s view of good and evil. How
then can they prepare our children to follow God?

Never have our children been surrounded by so many spiritual
counterfeits, seductive suggestions and occult images. And seldom has
the Christian community been less prepared to resist such spiritual
temptations. It’s up to
us as parents and grandparents to teach them to stand strong against these deceptions, put on
the whole
Armor of God

Endnotes:

1.
Holland Cotter, “Films that keep
Asking, Is it Fact or Fiction?” New York Times, 1-19-01.

2. J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
(New York: Scholastic Press, 1999).

3.
Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2001), xiv-xv, xvi.

4. C. S.
Lewis, The Discarded Image (Cambridge University Press,
1964), 221-113.