Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel55
Although the analogy you talked about doesn't leave much question about it, I really don't want to look at HP as another Christian creation. It's messy enough already just as fiction.
|
My sister generously loaned me a book a while back,
God and Harry Potter at Yale: Teaching Faith and Fantasy Fiction In An Ivy League Classroom The Amazon.com review follows.
Quote:
Who would have believed it? Studying Harry Potter at Yale University? To learn about Christian theology?
But it happened! 'God and Harry Potter at Yale' is the story of the controversial course, 'Harry Potter and Christian Theology,' its teacher, the Rev. Danielle Tumminio, and what she taught and learned from her brilliant undergraduate students. They explored the heights of theology and literature for answers about eternal questions of faith, revelation, salvation, and what it means to be human. Come to the American Hogwarts in New Haven to join these Ivy League Seekers and their guide as they examine the stories of the Chosen One and Dark Lord for a greater understanding of the Potter novels and life's mysteries.
|
The Author does know both the Potter books and Christian theology... at a post graduate level. One can illustrate many of the basic questions in Christian theology using illustrations from the Potter books.
The big question is whether you can get more than a few chapters in before choking and gagging. I couldn't.
Well, you likely know me by know. I find many scholarly readings of Tolkien somewhat pretentious. I find scholarly readings of Potter far more so. Still, there is enough there that I can see how Reverend Danielle takes her efforts as seriously as many contributors to this forum. The chapter titles in the book do reference basic Christian themes like Sacrifice and Faith. You can take the great questions various philosophers and priests have been debating for centuries and find themes based on these questions all over the Potter books. A Potter fan might find the book a solid short cut introduction to formal Christian theology.
Ugh. I kind of enjoyed the Potter stories as stories, but can't take them seriously as a source of Truth or Wisdom. Of course, I'd say the same thing about Lord of the Rings or the Star Wars movies. Fantasy, especially when you take it towards an epic level, explores Good, Evil, Sacrifice, Faith, Heroism and similar stuff. If one immerses one's self in such sub creations at a young an impressionable age, such stories might well help shape one's values. The nuns at my Saturday School sure used similar stories and parables found in the Bible to that end.
Middle Earth, that galaxy far far away and Hogwarts are to me primarily excellent yarns and entertainment. Various folks are attracted to one more than the other. Various people will take one or another of them seriously. Color me dubious.