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>>> The sorcery and witchcraft that the Bible condemns is well documented in history. It involves people who choose to seek power or insight from either Satan, demons or a false god. The magic in the stories I mentioned involves pretend people with pretend "supernatural" abilities that they possess without their choice - much like Superman.
I agree with you. Well said. Santa is pretend too. Yet he has a lot of Christ like qualities. We should all mimic Santa's generosity. Lets see, he has flying reindeer. I don't hear a lot of Christian (a few) condem Santa.
I know a church that showed Harry Poter movies to the youth. They loved it. And at Halloween they invite kids in to play games and they give out tons of candy. Lots of kids who never would attend church go to youth and hear about Christ at that church.
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Posted 08/03/2007 06:04pm
Author: maddie
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I would like to ask you, sjakoby, do you know what the point of JK Rowling's books is? Do you know that JK Rowling ADMITS to researching Wiccan and Druidic ceremonies and rituals for her books? She freely admits to doing so.
The difference, which is VITALLY important is the motivation for the author. The Chronicles of Narnia was written by a Christian, and so was the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.( look it up...) I WAS a rabid science fiction and fantasy fan. Went to conventions-- I still have my costume, modelled after the one Whoopi Goldberg wore as Guinan from StarTrek, and the first thing the Holy Spirit convicted me of was my love for such things; they introduce and invite doubt in the authority of God, allow us to entertain the idea of evil as being just a matter of choices and behaviours ALONE without eternal consequence. Furthermore, they demean the awesome power of a Holy and Omnipotent God as merely a quirk in evolution, eventually reached by all sentient species... My dear sister, I pray that you do not allow yourself to be deceived by the benign nature of these books, the Enemy of our Souls can clothe himself as an angel of light.
What is Godly about a school for wizards? A wizard, by ANY DEFINITION is one who practices witchcraft!
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Posted 08/03/2007 07:21pm
Author: blackrose65
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Wtichcraft is witchcraft is witchcraft...
You cannot make it become good just because it teaches good morals. I do not think we are "crying wolf". I think Harry Potter promotes witchcraft... and witchcraft is from the devil. I fully agree with everything blackrose said. She has a great point.
I am praying for you. God Bless.
-Golden 
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Posted 08/04/2007 05:27am
Author: youaregolden
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Romans 16:19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. 20: And the God of peace will crush satan under your feet shortly. Ephesians 5: 8-16: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light." See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
I was a huge Stephen King fan prior to my conversion. I can argue that Stephen King always has the forces of good and evil at war, and the good wins. Well, what is good? Only of the Lord can we truly combat the evil and if I am for God, then I am against evil of any kind and vice versa. We are to be in the world but not of it. Jesus walked amidst the evil, but He did not partake of it. Just because it has a good story line, amusing and captivating characters, a sense of morality does not make it okay. Is Christ glorfied? Is the Truth spoken? Is there room for something that is not of the Truth able to seep in? Garbage IN Garbage Out. It is ever so important to be wise in what is good and innocent of what is evil. I have never read the books, never seen the movies, nor have I allowed my children to partake in any of it. I want what my eyes, ears and mind to take in be good and edifying, without blemish or stain and I am responsible, too for what my children take in, for I will have to stand before the Lord and give Him an answer for every word I spoke, and if I have caused any of His little ones to stumble. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Blessings! Andrea
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Posted 08/04/2007 07:30am
Author: allforhim
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As Christians we will always encounter the grey areas. We could argue but it always boils down to an interpretation that would align to our established set of beliefs or values. But therein lies the danger. We are not supposed to define things according to our values or our beliefs but according to what the Word of God establishes as right or wrong. We need to know the word for ourselves so that we can obey all that is written (Joshua 1:8).
We know that witchcraft is condemned by God. No argument there. There are Christian books that talk about witchcraft and occult activities, sometimes in great detail, especially in books concerning spiritual warfare. But knowing about something and talking about something that is wrong doesn't make the writer or the book Anti-Christian. The difference is in the stance taken towards the matter. Christian books never pretend that witchcraft is okay.
The character of Harry Potter is very much portrayed as an individual with power who single-handedly battles with and defeats the enemy. Although Harry does have sidekicks assisting, it is always his battle, his power and his glory. The message is very much of individualism and self glorification. New Age teachings promote the principle of the power of "self" or the "god nature of a person's self". This turns people away from the true nature of God by making them think they are "god". This is against our Christian belief of submission and surrender to God but is a theme that is prevalent in the Harry Potter series.
There are also elements of covetousness for power and a portrayal of rebellion as being okay in the stories. The characters are depicted in various situations of rebelling against school rules and authority. And on top of all that, the stories glorify witchcraft.
Children are not always able to discern between right and wrong unless conditioned by adults to recognise right from wrong. Kids may be imbibing messages of individualism, rebellion and thoughts of spell casting as being desirable. Witchcraft is about accessing power for an individual to influence things for or against others. This prospect is seductive to many. And yes they can use it for "good" or "bad" like the so called white witches or dark ones, but the power is not of God and is condemned regardless of how it is used. Imagine when children later discover that wicca or other witchcraft and occult powers are very real and available in the world. The seeds have been sown for them to receive the enemy's plan into their lives. Any kid who has watched Harry Potter is likely to desire the paraphernalia which includes a magic wand. And when they play Harry Potter make believe, what do you think they are pretending to do?
The question we need to ask ourselves is this, whose plan are we aligning ourselves to? God's or satan's? Who are we in agreement with? When we agree with the things of satan, we unwittingly allow ourselves to become open to the workings of the enemy into our lives. We have to be very careful what we are sowing into the lives of our children.
Poison can be delivered in a candy bar. The temptation is in the mixture of what is perceived as desirable - the classic sales pitch of the serpent in the garden of Eden. In the Harry Potter series, there are certainly values of valour, sacrifice, love and friendship. But running parallel to these are anti-Christian elements of rebellion, individualism, witchcraft and the occult. We can't point to the good elements as justification for the whole. The good part doesn't override the bad part. Other religions also promote virtues that fall within Christian definitions as acceptable but they are still other gods and we will not ever bow down to them. While the Harry Potter series does promote admirable virtues it doesn't mean that it glorifies God or promotes Christianity. Just because Lucifer was created by God doesn't make satan good...
Personally, I take a stand against the Harry Potter series.
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Posted 08/04/2007 09:50am
Author: doulos
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