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I was already a Harry Potter fan when I discovered John Granger a couple of years ago. I can't remember how I found his (old) site, but I remember devouring his work. I was still a closeted Potter fan at the time, so it was refreshing to see a fellow Christian so open about his appreciation for the books.

I quoted Granger in my weekly Townhall.com column (with SPOILERS), where I reviewed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and briefly discussed Christian themes and symbolism. I'll elaborate on these and other themes in future posts.

Also see "Christian themes abound in Potter," by religion reporter Jeffrey Weiss. He begins:

J.K. Rowling gets the last laugh on the dwindling number of conservative Christians who have attacked her "Harry Potter" saga over the past decade: The most important plot point of the seventh and final book is unambiguously Christian.

Ms. Rowling cleverly scattered so many red herrings amongst the loaves and fishes in the previous books that she made it difficult to see the trail clearly except in retrospect. The Potter story is not a linear Christian allegory, no modern day Pilgrim's Progress. And Harry's World is insistently devoid of explicit religion, right through the final chapter.

It definitely helps to know what "unambiguously Christian" means. As Weiss writes, concepts like loyalty, love, friendship, etc., are common among the world's various religions, but what makes something "Christian"?

Continue reading Deathly Hallows 'unambiguously Christian'