The Real Magic Of Harry Potter

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So given the lessons these books teach and the values they honor, how is it that they remain controversial? Even among evangelical and Fundamentalist Christian parents, there is a deep divide over how much to embrace the popular culture and use it for missionary purposes. On the one hand there are those who share the view of Jack Brock, pastor of the Christ Community Church in Alamogordo, N.M., which made worldwide headlines for its "holy bonfire" in December 2001, in which Harry Potter was among the books burned. The incident was taken out of context, says Brock. "The media made me look like Hitler." But that said, he still would do it again. "They [the books] are totally, completely, entirely about witchcraft," he told TIME. "The next book, I understand, will be 700 pages long, and it's just going to be going deeper and deeper into witchcraft. Anyone who thinks that's healthy, I don't understand. God says in Deuteronomy that witchcraft is an abomination. Whatever God hates, I hate."

But those who disagree do more than defend the books as just good clean fun. They praise them as powerful moral tools. The Catholic News Service, run by the American bishops, puts the books on its recommended list for children. Ministers preach sermons likening Harry's running through the wall of Platform 934 to a leap of faith. "We're missing something if we can't tell stories from the Bible as compelling as Harry Potter," says John Fleming, minister of First United Methodist in Henrietta, Texas. Many have found embedded in the books all kinds of biblical imagery. "If you read these books carefully, they are not only not evil, they are profound stories about good, and they are deeply religious," argues Baylor University philosophy professor Scott Moore, who started by reading the books to his kids and ended up staying up late to finish for himself.

The climax of the second book, Chamber of Secrets, he asserts, works as pure Christian allegory. "It's the story of Harry fighting a serpent and overcoming it with the sword of Gryffindor. He is unable to accomplish this by himself and must call for help, which comes from above, most often in the form of the word of truth or a double-edged sword. It's not just a snake he has to overcome but a snake summoned by [the evil wizard] Voldemort's memory. Over and over in these medieval mystery morality plays, it's the memory of our sinfulness that we must overcome. The phoenix--a classic symbol of Christ, who dies and rises again--comes to help him. He kills the serpent, then in a moment quite shocking--I'm surprised Hollywood left it in--the phoenix weeps in his wound to heal him. That's a classic symbol of Christ's passion. It's Christ's tears that make us whole."