The Enchanted Church Part 2
When Harry Met The Bride of Christ
A commentary on the integration of the Harry Potter franchise into the enchanted Church
Recently, I became agitated and triggered, which is unusual for me. However, it has become more common since I turned forty (and, more recently, forty-one). One of the students in our church who attends a highly respected private university (our church has supported over the years) reported to us that the school integrated magic practices into its curriculum, and the school's president not only knew but also defended these practices.
Feeling heated, I picked up the phone and called a ministry peer within our region. He is passionate, educated, and more level-headed than I am, so I hoped he could talk some sense into me before I did something foolish, such as broadcasting a Facebook Live video in which I take a verbal flame thrower to the God-fearing higher education system that appears to be integrating golden calves into its establishment.
To my surprise, my pastor friend, who is kind of a big deal (and just about as busy as I am), picked up the phone!! We had a forty-five-minute conversation about the state of the Church and the shift within our country. My friend pointed me to the work of theologian Peter Kreeft which inspired for me to do this blog series.
Kreeft argues that the influence of hallucinogens on today's modern-day influencers, thinkers, and CEO has loosened the grip of atheism on our culture. Almost everyone now admits that there are unseen realms, parallel dimensions, and ways to access these realms. Kreeft argues that America's modernist culture has now swung in the opposite direction, and that we are becoming, drumroll, please...
Enchanted.
I looked up the definition of enchanted, and the definition startled me. I discovered that the word means "to be placed under a spell or bewitched."
Indeed, America is being hypnotized, and this may include the Christian Church.
I was reminded of Paul's inquiry in Galatians 3:1, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified."
Paul's question was to the Church of Galatia, which had embraced the heresy of Gnosticism, dualism, supernatural formulas, and extrabiblical works to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
In this series, we will study this wave of enchantment crashing down upon our shores and, more specifically, its influence within the Christian Church. This series aims not to bash the means of enchantment (i.e., Harry Potter) or the church itself but rather to turn on the lights and awaken us out of this hex.
Harry & Jesus
In my recent discovery, I learned that our local Christian University was teaching within its literature department that J.K. Rowling (the creator of the Harry Potter religion) is a sort of modern-day C.S. Lewis, that the Harry Potter series can be fairly compared to the Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter is a typology of Jesus Christ.
I am sure that none of this is shocking; the comparison between Harry and Jesus is so apparent. From their sacrificial and messianic qualities, their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of humanity, their cute round glasses, and like Jesus, Harry was willing to lay down his life to defeat Voldemort and save the world.
Now, let's press pause and address this. For those believers that seriously think that a modern-day witch can point to Jesus Christ, Exodus 22:18 would say otherwise. This text tells us what God told his people to do with witches, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." There is no grace in the scriptures for integrating divination and celebrating witchcraft within the Church. None.
Harry's Hex
Since its debut in 1997, the Harry Potter franchise has "enchanted" the world with its magical world-building and bewitching characters. Over the years, the franchise has grown into a cultural phenomenon, with an enormous fan base and a significant impact on popular culture. Let's look at some numbers that illustrate just how big of a deal Harry Potter really is.
First and foremost, there are book sales. According to the latest estimates, the Harry Potter series has sold over 500 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling book series ever. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold an unbelievable 11 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale, setting a Guinness World Record.
Of course, the books are only part of the story. The Harry Potter films have also been an enormous success, grossing over $7 billion worldwide. That makes the franchise the third highest-grossing film series of all time, behind only the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars.
And it's not just books and movies. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a themed area at Universal Orlando Resort, has been a massive hit since it opened in 2010, drawing millions of visitors yearly. A second location, Universal Studios Japan, opened in 2014.
Then there's the fan culture. The Harry Potter fan community is vast and enthusiastic, with countless fan sites, fan fiction, fan art, and fan conventions. The fan site MuggleNet, for example, boasts over 200 million page views per year.
But what about this story of a boy wizard has made it such a force to be reckoned with in popular culture?
The franchise has undeniably contributed to a broader cultural shift towards enchantment. The vivid descriptions of magical creatures, spells, and potions have catalyzed a mystical revival in America and the world. Indeed, humanity has come under a spell, hexing even the Church itself.
The Gospel According to Harry Potter
Langdon Palmer, the pastor of Leverington Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, begins his sermons with clips from Harry Potter movies and incorporates ideas from the books into his sermons to convey concepts from the Bible.
"If something really deeply moves me, then I want to pay attention to that...there were a number of scenes in Harry Potter that struck me profoundly, so I'm just like, 'wow, that's just like this thing in the Bible." – Pastor Palmer
He compares his use of Harry Potter to how Jesus used parables. Despite initially being skeptical of the series when it first came out in 1997, Palmer changed his mind when his own children wanted to read it. He could have meaningful conversations with them about important topics such as right and wrong, bullying, and truthfulness.
Since beginning his Harry Potter sermon series in mid-March, Palmer has seen a 20 percent increase in weekly attendance at his church, composed of mostly millennials who grew up with the series.
Ancient Magic Reimagined
So, is it a good idea to integrate Harry Potter into our churches, schools, and homes? Is Harry Potter no different than a Magic Wardrobe and a talking lion?
Whereas Rawling has stated that she never used witchcraft or the occult as an influence for her series, a British library's exhibit, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, peeled back the veil of secrecy to reveal the real history of magic and alchemy that J.K. Rowling drew upon to create her wizarding world.
The 16th-century Ripley scroll, in the Alchemy room, contains secrets to the Elixir of Life.
The exhibit revealed how Rawling used ancient texts to craft potions and spells that are taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and displays some of the original books that Rowling used for inspiration, including a worn second-hand copy of Culpeper's Herbal, a 17th-century book on plant cultivation, that she used for herbology and naming her characters.
The exhibition also showcased Rowling's handwritten notes and ink drawings, revealing her creative process as she sketched out the geography of Hogwarts' grounds and the characters that inhabit them. Alongside ornate staffs, broomsticks, and dragon bones, visitors could see a large cast iron cauldron, which Rowling notes has had a magical association for centuries and appears in hundreds of years' worth of pictures of famous historical witches.
Gateway to the Occult
In 2001 Pastor and Author Richard Abanes wrote a book about the connection between ancient occult practices and Harry Potter. In his book 'Harry Potter & the Bible,' he provided actual page numbers and book titles where counter-biblical and harmful actions or statements are located in the Harry Potter books. Additionally, Abanes compares acceptable, "excellent Christian fantasy books" such as those by C.S. Lewis & J.R. Tolkien and contrasts them against the practices in the Harry Potter books and shows how they are full-blown occult.
Whereas many books have been written to show how you can integrate Harry Potter into your Christianity and find the subtle gospel narratives within the series, this book serves as a tool for parents that are interested (and concerned) about their children's spiritual and supernatural health.
"We will have millions and millions of kids getting their first look at the occult" at what otherwise may seem to be a "very endearing, fun and stimulating movie," Abanes said. "At the very least, they will be desensitized to its dangers. I think it will do a lot of harm, from a Christian perceptive."
America, Who Has Bewitched You?
There is an enchantment agenda at work that I do not consider to be benign. Supernaturally illiterate educators and pastors are playing with loaded guns in front of congregations and classrooms. I am deeply concerned about those who call themselves Christian educators and ministers and yet do not believe in the power of God, nor do they challenge people to follow Jesus.
1 Corinthians 2
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.
Dear pastors, educators, overseers, establishment board members, and denominational leaders. If you are majoring in eloquent speech but no supernatural demonstration, you are in error and are vulnerable to being unwittingly used by the enemy.
Two Revivals
America is amid two revivals. A revival of darkness and a revival of light. We living in the midst of Romans 5:20, "…but where sin increases, grace overflows much more."
The 2023 Asbury revival was a Christian revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. The revival was sparked by students spontaneously staying in Hughes Auditorium following a regularly scheduled chapel service on February 8, 2023.
The Harry Potter franchise is not just a harmless work of fiction. Instead, it was a part of a more considerable coordinated revival of darkness aimed at conditioning American culture and the Church to accept and integrate magic theology and mixture into our beliefs and practices.
If enabled by a powerless Church, the franchise's promotion of witchcraft and sorcery practices condemned in the Bible will ultimately lead people away from Jesus into the seduction of spirituality outside of Jesus. As such, we must be vigilant and discerning about what we allow into our minds and culture, guard against the insidious influence of the occult, and engage with the kingdom's dimensions through the blood of Jesus.
This is not about Harry Potter but about a battle between two realms; two contrasting Kingdoms; two opposing powers; and an oblivious Church.
I look forward to diving in deeper with you as we study the influence of darkness upon our theology, methodology, and ecclesiology, and I look forward to the testimonies of all that will occur as we combat this assignment of darkness with a revival of supernatural and holy light.