Also, several of you commented on Hogwarts: A History. It’s true that, in many ways, it’s the closest we get to something as authoritative as Scripture in the Bible, but my sense is that it lacks some of the gravitas that the Bible has. What do you all think? As for Scripture…can you believe I never considered Scripture as a source of authority in Harry’s world? It’s a brilliant idea, Black Angus!

Black Angus also made a comment about God choosing narratives as a way of self-revelation. I was actually thinking about that today while listening to Paradise Lost via Librivox (which, by the way, is a terrific free resource by which to hear recorded books in the public domain). The story of Adam and Eve is one that always captures me because I think it encapsulates a universal human experience of ‘falling’ from a state of innocence. Isn’t it amazing that a story about two people eating an apple can resonate with people over many thousands of years?

Finally, 908ssp, sorry to have shocked you! As Travis said, I’m a theologian and teach a course on the Harry Potter series and Christian thought at Yale. One of the goals of my work is to refute Christian thinkers who have deemed the books to be evil or witchcraft, and these blog posts seek to do that too. So, I hope that you’ll find these posts intriguing at an intellectual level if not at a spiritual one.

Okay, I’ve been blabbing and am totally exhausted now! But keep the discussion going, and I’ll be back soon. Your thoughts are terrific!

As a point of interest: The Catholic Church categorizes revelation as either public, requiring the allegiance of faithful Catholics, or private. Experience, even big well-known experiences like Lourdes and Fatima, are considered private revelation, at best useful for assisting devotion inside the greater truth. I don’t know how much of that distinction Rowling’s own church retains, but I think most Protestants (if we remove the reference to Marian apparitions ) would agree.

As for Rowling herself, I’m not so sure. The sense I get from her comments is that reason and experience are stronger sources for her belief than a particular commitment to Scripture or tradition. Of course, she’s also talking to an audience of almost every imaginable perspective, as well as dealing with her own struggles with agnosticism, so it’s hard to say for certain.

My loosely-formed take on her approach to revelation is that here her postmodernism is pretty well-developed: Question it all. Make sure it holds up to analysis. Make sure you’re interpreting it correctly (Riddle’s diary, Rita’s book, Beedle’s tales, Dumbledore’s words and actions, teachers’ statements, experiences, etc.)

Also, perhaps part of her excellent portrayal of the gray and confusing search for truth is in showing the fallibility of reason itself. Reason is easily colored by imperfect information, by emotion, and by experience. Harry’s reason pushes him to pursue the Hallows; Hermione’s convinces her that the Hallows cannot exist. (We won’t talk about Ron’s. )

In Dobby’s grave, Harry uses a reason that is greater than mere mental cogitation, allowing Voldemort to take the Elder Wand and choosing through love to trust Dumbledore. It’s not quite a blind choice, but it’s not cool logic; rather, it’s the combined greatness of reason informed by faith and love.

Love may serve as God in the series, but DD in some ways serves as a god-like (dare I say Christ-like? or God-the-father-like?) figure as well. Harry’s experience with DD in King’s Cross is a revelation of the trust and love the former has for the latter (and of course vice versa), basically of the relationship itself. Harry’s belief and faith in DD is finally restored.

revgeorge, you also touched on a crucial point about the experience of St. Paul driving him to search the scriptures and to search after those who walked with Jesus, but I would like to make a seperate point and continue the story theme here. For Paul, the story changed, his worldview changed. Before he became a Christian, Paul and his fellow countrymen had the same scriptures as his fellow Jews that were Christians, but drew much different conclusions on what was the hope of Israel and what Israel should be, in light of that controversial figure who was crucified and, as some were saying, rose from the dead. I think experience, tradition, and scripture all come to a head here as people can share the same event, tradition, and scripture, and come to a profound different conclusion from those three. Not sure if I’m making sense or if I have a point.

I’ve always been fascinated that God chose to reveal himself in Scripture primarily by story. Even the commands are only given in the context of his relationship with people. Great narratives spanning thousands of years, all true history, yet rooted in the lives of individuals.
No wonder Rowling, Tolkien, Lewis, etc, etc all chose story as their medium to talk about profound Truth.