Phillip Johnson (aka, Burninator, Trogdor), has written a great piece on the Harry Potter novels. I’m impressed. Wise words from someone who has not read the series. Let’s hit the highlights:

He’s smart enough to actually say, “I haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books, so I’m not really entitled to much of an opinion about them.” Good for you, Phil.

He hits the nail right on the head here, an argument I’ve utilized over and over:

I don’t agree, however, with those who think the Potter books should be automatically declared off limits for all Christians because they feature magical and occult themes. The argument simply proves too much. Ultimately, it would work as an argument against virtually all fiction. In order to be consistent, for example, those who make that argument would have to rule out The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, everything from the Brothers Grimm, The Chronicles of Narnia, and my own favorite book from childhood, A Wrinkle in Time (which I read in 1962, before it won the Newberry Award).

Bang on, Phil. He also continues with this statement that will get under the skin of plenty of believers:

I do happen to believe there’s inherent educational value in reading great literature, even if it teaches moral or spiritual lessons we disagree with. “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). Daniel was taught “the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans” (Daniel 1:4). The benefit they derived from learning the ways of the Egyptians and Chaldeans surely was more intellectual than spiritual. But Scripture never treats such learning as a Bad Thing.

I’d probably not want to create such a dichotomy between “intellectual” and “spiritual” benefit, but the overall point of the paragraph is excellent, and worthy of consideration by believers in Christ.

He concludes by noting that the test of whether or not we should read Harry is whether or not it is good literature. It is. So we should (or at the very least are permitted to, without having to be told by rabid evangelicals that we’re furthering the occult)) read it. I commend the whole article to you.