Rowling Admits Christian Theme

[Tiffany B. Clark]

No: HPFGUIDX 178123

Ken Hutchinson:

Christianity being a Jewish sect it is hard to see how it is even
possible for this mythic pattern to go farther back than the roots of
Christianity. I've recently read several books about the Akkadian and
Sumerian culture of ancient Mesopotamia. The patriarch of my faith
came from this culture in about 1700 BC. A surprising number of the
elements of Judaism and Christianity were in place at the time writing
was invented. That pretty much makes it impossible to find conclusive
evidence for an earlier incarnation of some of the basic Christian
concepts. Christianity is hardly unique in this respect, a great deal
of our "western" culture finds its roots in Mesopotamia. The Bible
judges the Mesopotamians pretty harshly and I understand why. At the
same time these were a touchingly devout people. It is almost as if
Abraham was less the founder of a religion and more of a reformer like
Martin Luther who listened to the still, small voice of his very
Sumerian personal god and found not a minor deity scuttling about in
the shadows of the great city gods, but the creator of the universe. 

Tiffany:

I took a class last year studying the world's ancient cultures & a 
lot of the elements in the Christian Bible have shown up before.  The 
flooding of the Earth to wash away evil spirits is a universal theme 
among a lot of ancient cultures.  It's really nothing new at all 
because religions & cultures are world famous for borrowing ideas 
from older ones.  Ancient Rome & Ancient Greece were a lot alike, 
esp. in the theater where the only difference was there was no 
political satire in Rome.  I've heard that Potter is a Christ-like 
figure & the books have a lot of strong Christian elements to them.  
I can't see why so many folks have issues with the books; the major 
ideas & themes in the HP books are hardly unique to the fantasy genre 
at all.