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)