Dumbledore's Death & HP Religious Comparison.

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 151091

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:

bboyminn:
> Jesus flouted every convention. He milled grain on Sunday. He threw
> money lenders out of the temple. 

Geoff:
If I may pick up on one or two snippets from your notes.

Jesus did not "mill" grain on the Sabbath (not Sunday to be accurate). His disciples had 
picked wheat while walking in the fields and rolled it in their hands to extract the grain. 
This the Pharisees interpreted as "milling" and therefore considered his followers to be 
Sabbath-breakers.

The reason he threw out the money changers was that they converted the ordinary money 
of the people into temple money which they needed to buy the doves or lambs for sacrifice 
and were careful to make a more-than-small killing on the side at the expense of the 
poor.

Steve:
> Now to the real topic which again is very much of a side note.
> 
> When ever the subject of religion comes up in HP discussions, everyone
> invariably tries to make HP a symbolic retelling of Jesus's story.
> Admittedly, I'm stretching the concept a bit, but that's roughly what
> it amounts to. We try to decide who the Jesus character is, we try to
> find symbolic crucifixions and redemption themes. Yet, is that really
> necessary? 

Geoff:
I don't. 

I do not  see Harry Potter as a re-telling of the story of Jesus. For me, the story is strongly 
Christian but, as I have said before, I do not look for a Christ figure because I do not 
expect or want to see one.

I look for a Christ-like figure which is NOT the same thing at all.

Steve:
> Any character who plays out the universal themes of epic hero is
> Christ-like because Christ himself was merely an epic hero playing out
> those same themes. I think that is the real message of the books, that
> universal timeless cross-cultural themes of loyalty, courage, true
> morality, and virtue are found in everyday heroes as well as
> exceptional heroes. 

Geoff:
I hope that in the first sentence of the preceding paragraph, you meant that that is /your/ 
vision of who Christ was.

Otherwise, as a practising Christian, I think I would be compelled to take umbrage over 
your remark... and I am not referring to the dear Professor.