[HPforGrownups] Re: Pullman is Lockhart was Re: The Hidden Key to Harry Pott

[Kia]

No: HPFGUIDX 60432

 Penny wrote:

>I do think though that the question of whether her novels are 
>Christian allegory or intended to be infused with Christian 
>symbolism is a matter of interpretation. 
>I do wonder too about the opposite trend ....... it seems quite a 
>few people have their own agenda to disprove that HP couldn't 
>possibly be Christian.

 
But there is a difference between pointing out that Rowling's 
work right now is not outright Christian and cannot be compared 
with Lewis and Tolkien and starting to speculate heavily on her 
attending the Church of Scottland and on symbolism which 
might have mundane explanation. One is a fact and the other is 
an assumption and speculation on future plot developements. 
Harry surviving the Voldemort attack, is not the same as Aslan 
coming back to life in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 
It's not so cut and dried in Rowling's work, that you can 
immediately  identify her as Christian author.

Penny wrote:

>He identifies the same Christian symbolism in the griffin,
>unicorn, phoenix, red lion, hippogriff and centaurs.
 ...
> Killinger argues that the world of magic and miracles is
>part of the Judeo-Christian heritage. He also points out that the 
>notion that the dead can assist the living, which is ever-present 
>in the Potterverse, is also a concept familiar to many 
>Christians.


And this is where there is a logical fallacy is involved - 
something turns up in Christian mythology therefore it must be 
Christian. Red lions, phoenix, ressurections, centaurs, the dead 
aiding the living are not Christian inventions. Christianity didn't 
invent them. 

To claim magical creatures and magical plot devices as 
Christian especially when they are not even a blip on the radar 
of  "mainstream Christianity" is ignoring the fact that if you want 
to write about magical creatures your choices are limited to 
dragons, unicorn, centaurs, mermaids and phoenixes. 
 
And there is a certain selection taking place, isn't it? So what 
about mermaids, trolls and goblins? What's the Christian 
symbolism in house-elves? If the Gryffindor lion is a Christian 
symbol, what about the Hufflepuff badger?

I have issues with the way these authors claim everything 
claimable as Christian.

Like:

>He believes that indomitable hope is perhaps the strongest
>message of the Harry Potter novels 

Hope is older than Christianity and I suspect it's even older 
than religion itself. Claiming it as exclusively Christian theme 
has me in a disagreeable mood.

My problem is not that Rowling is not writing Christian themed 
books, because I think she does (Even if it is a no-show right 
now.), but Granger and company claiming it from everything 
they can, especially fairly innocous details. 

Granger is going a step to far when he states to have "a hidden 
key" to the books. He is expecting too much of the books - not 
only is Rowling supposed to write a gripping story, excellent 
characterization, a mystery plot, a battle between good and evil 
(not a Christian invention either), a coming-of-age story, a 
moral message, an invented fantasy world, but also works 
heavily on inserting Christian symbolism into the plot in order to 
hint off to future plot developements.
 
Maybe she does work on that, but I doubt that it is as heavily as 
Granger and Co. want her to.


Kia