[HPforGrownups] Christian motifs but not Christian allegory? (Was: JKR a Calvinist? Potterverse

[Barb Roberts]

No: HPFGUIDX 121670


On Jan 9, 2005, at 6:08 PM, justcarol67 wrote:

For the record, I didn't mean an objection to the Christmas
  celebrations per se. I just thought it was odd that if she were a
  Calvinist, as some people have suggested, that she would recognize the
  Church seasons--Advent... ( the Anglican, Episcopal,
  and (I think) Catholic Churches...  I don't know whether a
  Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) would follow that tradition... in her
  books seems CoE to me, with no suggestion of Calvinism.

Life is complicated. Unfortunately, I don't think church membership 
alone will be enough to ascertain the specifics of JKR beliefs.  A 
couple of examples...  A few years ago the rector of the local 
Episcopal church (mainline) was a Calvinist. His theological ideas 
concerning God and salvation was from the reformation (i.e. reformed.)  
On the other hand, I have come across numerous members of historically 
Calvinist churches that had strong historic ties to Puritanism who no 
longer believe in predestination, and they don't celebrate Christmas 
for twelve days either.  Go figure.  And belief in predestination (or 
"the five points of Calvinism") is not even a requirement for lay 
membership even in most conservative Presbyterian churches.  Plenty of 
people are members who don't believe all the particulars belong. To 
find the answer, to what JKR believes, she will have to communicate 
that to us.

However, I remember reading (somewhere?) that she said didn't think 
people were born bad or ?.  I don't have the quote exactly, but it 
struck me as  something that a true blue Calvinist would never say.

A side note, it's a clarification really, so Elves please don't scream. 
  It's not just advent; there are strains within conservative 
Presbyterianism that are still trying to do away with Christmas 
celebrations.  My understanding is that this anti-Christmas celebration 
sentiment is still alive in parts of Scotland. A local church, in a 
denomination with informal ties to the Free Presbyterian Church of 
Scotland, has a Pastor who has tried to rid the congregation of 
Christmas.  He tried to move the Christmas to another month, his idea 
of the real month for the birth of Jesus.  He wouldn't even sing 
Christmas carols on Christmas day.  He also during a sermon where his 
Santa-believing nephews were in attendance that Santa doesn't exist, 
etc.  Ouch! BTW, these churches would object to being called 
"fundamentalist," for that is another theology, so be careful. 
Obviously, though JKR is not that kind of Presbyterian.


Barbara Roberts




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