Sword of Gryffindor: Site Launch!

Are the Harry Potter books Christian? I don’t know for sure.

Is J.K. Rowling a Christian? Well, she says she is:

“Yes, I am,” she says. “Which seems to offend the religious right far worse than if I said I thought there was no God. Every time I’ve been asked if I believe in God, I’ve said yes, because I do, but no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that, and I have to say that does suit me, because if I talk too freely about that I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what’s coming in the books.” (Read the full interview).

We see here a profession of a belief in Christianity that is more than just a generic, cultural Christianity, but specific enough to help us guess what’s coming in the novels.

So welcome to Sword of Gryffindor, where we will discuss all sorts of issues related to Harry Potter, but we will be giving specific emphasis to the Christian themes present in the novels. We’ll also discuss it for its literary merit, its context within the tradition of English literature, and its place in our current culture. We’ll have fun with speculative questions like “Is Harry a horcrux?” and “Is Snape really evil?”; there will be plenty of time for guessing about Book 7. And we’ll keep a close eye on Harry in the news.

That said, there is always great danger in finding symbolism where Rowling did not intend it. Many in the “Harry is Christian” camp have the tendency to over-analyze every aspect of the books, tying this obscure phrase or event to that verse of the Bible. We’ll try to avoid that, and to do so we’ll spend time interacting with what JKR has told us as well.

I hope over time to add other contributors to this effort. For now, here’s a little about me:

I started right out as a Harry Hater, and you’ll find me interacting at times with my own previous opposition to the books (hey, debating yourself is fun, ’cause you know you’ll win one way or the other). After a failed attempt at reading the first book, I saw the first two movies, which drew me in. After that, I picked up the five available books and read them in record time. I couldn’t see what the big struggle was over these books! There was about as much similarity between Harry Potter and the occult as there was between a chocolate chip cookie and cat chow. I mean, yeah, they’re both food, but which one is good and which one would probably make you vomit?

But there was something else about the Potter books that was grabbing my attention, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I read John Granger’s work. He’s the pioneer in the field of seeing the gospel in the Harry Potter stories. I’ve gotten into trouble for defending the books ever since.

There is, of course, plenty being said about the Harry Potter novels, but I do hope to make a unique contribution to the discussion, or at the very least to better open up the wonder of the books to its readers. Beyond that, though, I’m looking to hear from Harry Potter lovers and haters alike. I hope the comments section can provide added insights, counterpoints, and friendly dialogue to the growing Harry Potter conversation.

To that end, my first series of posts will consist of an informal mini-debate that took place during this site’s test phase between myself and a certain well-known published Harry critic. Look for the first in the series on Thursday.

Below this site launch post, you will find the few posts I published at the typepad version of this blog before giving this project its own domain. I transferred them over manually, so the dates of the posts and comments are a little out of place.

So grab a bottle of butterbeer, and let’s talk Harry!

(Hat Tip to Chad at Frontier Web Design for this site’s appearance, and to Joe Thorn for his help with some of the technical stuff).