Neal, Connie. Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. 166 pp. $12.95
US/$18.38 CAD. ISBN: 0664226019.
[1] Connie Neal's The Gospel According to Harry Potter guides
the reader to see Christian messages which are suggested by various
scenarios in the first four Harry Potter books. Accordingly, Neal's
book is arranged into four sections, each corresponding to one of
J. K. Rowling's books. Each section begins with an introduction highlighting
the major themes of the book; then, Neal offers a series of brief
(two- to three-page) chapters which begin with a quotation from the
story, proceed to develop the context in which that quotation occurs,
and conclude with a discussion of the ways in which the incident expresses
Christian values or beliefs.
[2] Interestingly, Neal herself calls into question the validity
of the project she undertakes in her book. In the introduction, she
describes her book as a counterbalance to what she terms the equally
wrong-headed approach of attempting to mine the books for evidence
of occult knowledge. She asks, "What would we find if we looked
into the books to find the Christian gospel there? Would that prove
these books send a hidden message about Christianity?" Her answer
is no - texts are complex things, and what the reader finds in them
depends on what the reader brings to them.
[3] Some of the parallels with Christianity that Neal finds are
thoughtful, some surprising, and given Neal's own apparent skepticism
about the value of her chosen interpretive strategy, the reader will
perhaps find the occasional lapses into questionable interpretations
less annoying than they might otherwise be. For example, reading Hagrid's
desire to have a dragon as an illustration of temptation, rather than
of a big-hearted love that embraces even the unlovable, seems to miss
Rowling's point, and the discussions of the phoenix as a symbol of
the gospel and of the Sorting Hat as the "helmet of salvation"
(Eph. 6:17) offer unconvincing parallels which stretch credulity.
More often, however, one feels inclined to praise the ingenuity of
Neal's parallels, which are generally sustainable.
[4] Perhaps the weakest parts of Neal's presentation are the reductionistic
themes which she attempts to adduce as summaries of the various books.
Not only do these themes artificially compress the moral scope of
the books, they often miss the point. For example, Neal's assertion
that Book Two (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) has
as its theme "freedom for those held captive or enslaved"
ignores the complexities of the book's presentation of the status
and role of house-elves (complexities which Book Four further complicates),
and her attempt to apply the book's stance on "mud-bloods"
to racism takes the book's arguments in directions that Rowling does
not develop.
[5] Neal's use of the Harry Potter stories as a vehicle for presenting
the Christian gospel provides the reader with basic Christian theology
presented in a manner so simple and clear that even a child can easily
understand it. (A sentence of typical complexity reads, "In both
Harry Potter's story and the Christian story, the villain has the
same aims.") This is not a book designed to be read from cover
to cover at one sitting; rather, its brief, unconnected vignettes
call for piecemeal consumption. Since this book does not attempt to
address objections to the series which have arisen in some quarters
of the conservative Christian community, when it comes to tolerance
for Harry Potter, this is not a book to convert the unconverted. Christian
readers who endorse the Harry Potter books will find the theology
that is presented both elementary and orthodox, and they may be delighted
to discover how often the Harry Potter books align themselves compatibly
with Christian beliefs. Primarily, this book will interest people
with knowledge of Harry Potter but with little knowledge of, and some
curiosity about, Christianity.
[6] Although the book's back cover loudly proclaims the book as
a boon to Christian parents who may have doubts about the suitability
of Rowling's books for their children, Neal's main purpose is to use
the Harry Potter books to introduce readers to the basic beliefs of
Christianity. Since an appreciation of Neal's argument presupposes
the reader's familiarity with the Harry Potter books, Christians who
have been wavering on the margin of the undecided and have not read
the books can, at best, constitute the secondary audience for this
book. Rather, non-Christian readers, and especially readers unfamiliar
with the Christian faith, will find Neal's simple, clear discussions
of Christian beliefs accessible and intriguing.
Anita Helmbold, Associate Professor of English, Taylor University
College
(anita.helmbold@taylor-edu.ca)
