Godfathers and Gravestones.... (was Re: Magical Latin)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 186124

Geoff:
I felt I needed to reply to a number of points raised in the question 
of the Christian input into the Wizarding World. I am  drawing from 
a number of replies and may précis some comments rather than 
quote the original in full.

To begin with, in order to save me persistently saying "I believe 
that" or "in my opinion" of "I feel that", I am going to outline the 
parameters within which I am working. Not everyone will hold the 
same views but these are the beliefs to which I subscribe and hence 
underpin my replies.

If you have been on this group for any time, you may well know that 
I am an evangelical Christian. Originally, I was a nominal member of 
the church but, at the age of 21 in  my last year of teacher training, 
I had an experience of meeting with Christ and felt called to a real 
faith and believe that the Holy Spirit lives within me. Let me 
emphasise that this does not make me a saint – in the usually accepted 
meaning – nor infallible nor someone who can do no wrong. Far from 
it. However, my experience is that of millions upon millions of people 
worldwide and of a fair number of people who belong to HPFGU.

No.Limburger makes reference to the coincidence of Christian 
festivals with earlier pagan celebrations and the influence of the 
Catholic Church. I have always been given to understand that there 
is an earlier relationship. In the 1st century AD, many of the Christians 
in the Roman Empire were slaves and did not have the luxury of being 
able to choose their own dates for festivals. So the Church often held 
its celebrations at a time coincident with the older ones – Christmas 
being round about the time of the Saturnalia – to allow these folk to 
be able to join on worship.

He (or she?) goes on to say: 
"Sirius Black is Harry's godfather, but this does not implythat Harry 
was ever taken to a church by James & LilyPotter to be baptized. The 
term "godfather" is used for aman who is either a sponsor or guardian 
of a child and doesnot necessarily imply that it is used only with regard 
to a baptism."

I do not know this writer's nationality but I, as a native Englishman, 
disagree with that. If a person in the UK says "She is my godmother" 
or "My godfather says
." the great majority of folk here will automatically 
assume that the speaker has been baptised either in the Church of 
England or the Catholic Church. 

Ken suggested that the messages on the gravestones meant nothing 
to Harry implying that he had no Christian background. My wife and I 
worked until recently with a boys' club in the Baptist church to which 
I belong. We frequently found that members of the club had only a 
very sketchy knowledge of much of the Christian faith depending on 
what had been taught to them in school or whether they had any 
Christian background in their family.

One of the problems which affects Christianity, certainly in the UK, 
is the number of people who profess nominal faith and whose only 
contact with the church is when, as it is sometimes humorously 
described, someone is "hatched, matched or dispatched", which 
hardly qualifies the claim of being a believer. Teaching in schools 
is often as part of a multi-faith progamme and some denominations 
suffer from ageing congregations. Referring back to baptism and 
godparents, it is very common for parents who have no contact at 
all with a church to ask for baptism (or in the non-conformist 
churches dedication). In my own family, our first grandchild was 
baptised a year or so ago though neither our daughter or her 
husband ever go to worship.

As to the Wizarding World, in addition to the occasional overt 
reference such as the epitaphs, there is certainly a Christian 
sub-text to be discerned. Jo Rowling herself has said that she 
wrote it from the standpoint of being a Christian. Other 
members have pointed out that there are mention of such folk 
as friars and vicars. 

However, it is not necessary to have such open comment. 
Tolkien wrote from a Christian point of view and, although 
there is no open worship in LOTR, we are conscious of it from 
references within the books' own historical frameworks. Of the 
three writers often quoted here in this context, C.S.Lewis is the 
most upfront about faith.

Finally, Christian opposition to the books. Like some folk, when 
the books first appeared, I took little interest and when some 
members of my church began to raise objections when the first 
film appeared. I went along with their views without bothering to 
see the films or read the books. However, after seeing COS, I read 
all the books and have seen all the films and am quite convinced 
that the dangers perceived by some Christian groups are not 
present. After all, if you come out against JKR, what about JRRT 
and CSL?

Both these writers have magic, both good and bad; both have 
witches and wizards who are deeply evil and there are those on 
the side of good who are not all black and white characters but 
have a good measure of grey in them as do so many in the 
Potterverse. And yet no one threatens to burn these well-loved 
stalwarts of literature.

As Steve might say "Just one man's opinion".