Baptism/Christianity in HP: was Looking for God in Harry Potter

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 153620

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ken Hutchinson" <klhutch at ...> wrote:

 a_svirn:
> > You don't think that comparing the love you feel for your child and 
> > the lengths you are prepared to go in order to ensure his or her 
> > well-being to the love Christ has for all mankind is somewhat 
> > immodest?

Ken:
> I would not think it presumptuous or immodest. In Ephesians 5:25 the
> Apostle Paul wrote "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
> loved the church, and gave himself up for it;" (ASV). The comparison
> is continued for several more sentences. Christians are called to be
> like Christ. Christians should never feel that they are equal to
> Christ, but they should strive to be like him. Lily's sacrifice is a
> Christ-like sacrifice though it certainly is not one that is unusual
> in dire circumstances for non-Christian or even non-human mothers.
> Lily was faced with the choice to save her own life or to shed it with
> certain knowledge that her child would survive. The death of a human
> mother to save the mortal life of a single child is not a sacrifce of
> the same magnitude as the one Christ made for mankind. It is a
> sacrifice of the same kind and that is as much as a human can aspire
> to do. If the love of a husband for his wife can be a symbol of
> Christ's love for the church then so can the love of a mother for her
> child.

Geoff:
I would agree in this context. We have talked on many occasions about 
the different forms of love and I think here that we are in the realm of 
"agape" - self sacrificing love; not necessarily sacrifice in the sense of 
giving your life but of placing the other person's needs in front of yours.

As far as sacrificing your life is concerned, In John 15, Jesus said:

"My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love 
has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
(John 15:123-13 New International version)

And this, if you take Christ's words to their ultimate, covers dying for 
your family and also for the stranger, if that is what you felieve God 
requires.

The way in which we deal with other people, the love we show, our desire 
to see them as believers should be a microcosm of that which Jesus 
demonstrated.

Lily is just one (fictional) example of the way in which Christians have 
taken this to heart over the centuries.