My life is exponentially better because of my wife, Brandy (I should probably just end my blog post right there). Well, one of the joys that my wife brought into my life was the magnificent wizarding world of the Harry Potter literary series. Although I was the target market whenever the original books were released, Harry Potter wasn't my thing. J.K. Rowling’s internationally successful seven-part fictional book series has inspired eight blockbuster main feature films and continues to produce multiple spin-off films, books, major stage productions, and of course, Lego sets. The literary series is a rich source of delightful characters, a captivating fictional world of magic, and compelling themes like friendship, bravery, and goodness.[1]
***********Spoiler Alert (Obviously)***********
Biblical Parallels
Unsurprisingly, are also numerous strong thematic and symbolic parallels between the Biblical narrative and the Harry Potter series. The most obvious parallel is the stark contrast between good and evil; an unfashionable distinction in contemporary literature. Voldemort is called the “Dark Lord,” and Harry studies “defense against the dark arts.” There is also a plethora of explicit snake imagery. Voldemort and his followers, “the Death Eaters,” belong to the Slytherin House, whose crest features a snake. Voldemort himself is a “Parselmouth,” possessing the ability to speak to snakes including his personal pet snake “Nagini.” Other parallels included the centrality of a prophecy that there was one (supposedly Harry) who would be able to vanquish the Dark Lord. This caused Voldemort to murder Harry’s parents and attempt to murder him when he was a baby. Harry, eventually called “The Chosen One,” was also tempted to join the evil forces, voluntarily died to weaken Voldemort, and resurrected to defeat him. Hm, that sounds familiar.
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Modes of Atonement
One of the many fascinating biblical types or themes in Harry Potter is how several modes of atonement are expressed during the narrative of Potter’s dedication to defeat Voldemort, his self-sacrifice, his return to life, and victory over darkness. In Christianity, theologians have searched scripture and explored all the different ways that Jesus Christ achieves atonement for the Christians and the world. In other words, ‘What exactly did the Cross Accomplish?’ (See chart below for the main ones). There is a lot of debate about whether all the different modes or methods of atonement we see in scripture fully represent the primary atoning work of Christ. In Harry Potter we see phenomenal examples of these different ways we (and Scripture) say the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth achieves atonement.
First Example: Moral Influence
First, we see an example of the moral influence theory after Harry dies and before it is revealed that he has resurrected. A friend of Harry’s, Neville (Oh, Neville…), stands up to Voldemort and attempts to rally the remaining Wizards planning to fight the evil forces at the last battle, “Yeah, we still lost Harry tonight. He's still with us, in here [signaling to his heart]…[he] didn't die in vain. But YOU will. 'Cause you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! It's not over!"[4] This represents the theological view that Jesus’ death on the cross merely “demonstrates divine love and kindles a corresponding love in ourselves.”[5] This is an insufficient doctrinal view of Christ’s atonement since it does not change anything objective about our sinful condition or the metaphysical status of sin, death, and evil in the world. Similarly, Harry’s own death was not merely “a perfect example of sacrificial devotion” like Neville believed it to be, but instead, it was only part of events that lead to the real and objective defeat of Voldemort after Harry’s resurrection.[6]
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Second Example: Christus Victor
The best interaction between the modes of atonement and the narrative of Harry Potter is the exemplary metaphor of the perspective Christus Victor. The predominate biblical teaching is that “the significance of Jesus’ death is cosmic as it produces a victory over the dark powers – personal or impersonal, angelic or political – that enslave the people of God.”[7] The Apostle Paul argues this point writing,
Then shall come to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54b-57, ESV)
This theological view of the atonement is displayed dramatically in Harry Potter’s long-awaited and unmitigated triumph over Voldemort and his evil forces. In the final magical duel in the last battle between the two main characters, Rowling writes,
The bang was like a cannon blast, and the gold flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circles they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided…as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. [The Dark Lord] hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand staring down at his enemy’s shell. One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air.[8]
Whew! As they used to say at my Southern Baptist church, “that’ll preach.” This notion of Christus Victor is the most fundamental mode in the doctrine of atonement. Theologians rightly point out however that since the motif of Christus Victor does not precisely explain how Christ’s death achieves this cosmic victory, the theological model cannot stand on its own, but requires the details of the doctrine of penal substitution.[9] This necessary step in theology does reveal the limits of the Harry Potter comparison. All the innocent lives that Harry’s victory saved, were truly unprovoked victims to Voldemort’s vicious crusade to become the most powerful and supreme wizard of all time. However, in the biblical narrative, Christ’s atonement was a “‘dramatic, kerygmatic picturing of divine action’ whereby God brings about reconciliation by punishing Christ in the stead of sinful men and women.”[10] Christ’s victory over sin, death, and evil was to spare sinners from the fate they deserved. Harry Potter, albeit heroically, delivered the world from the undeserved wrath and brutality of Voldemort.
All Truth is God's Truth
The biblical narrative, the awareness we live in a broken world, the longing for a Messiah, our desire for good to triumph, all are engrained in us as human beings. We were designed to reflect on and chase after eternal truths. We were made to be in a relationship with the glorious champion of light who conquered sin, death, and evil for us. This is why no matter your religion, culture, or philosophical framework, eternal truths come out in our creative expressions, our deep thinking, and longing for relationships. Though she did not do so intentionally, the work of Rowling glorifies the Lord because it reflects timeless truths. And Christians ought not to overlook any truth wherever we find it.
[1] In case you’ve been living under a rock, the narrative revolves around Harry’s extraordinary life, not just because he is a wizard in a fantasy world where there exist an alternate and well-concealed wizarding community unknown to “muggles” (the unmagical individuals). Harry Potter’s life is extraordinary because, as he learns on his eleventh birthday, he is one of the most famous figures in wizarding history because as a baby, he survived an assassination attempt by the most powerful dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. Over the next seven years, Harry’s life is a series of struggles, episodes, and conflicts in his opposition to, and eventual face-off, between him and Voldemort.
[2] Michael Bird, Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2013), 398.
[4] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Directed by David Yates (Burbank: Warner Brothers, 2011). Yes, some diehards may be upset I’m quoting the movie, not the book here. The quote in the movie is more poignant for my purposes here. Please forgive me and keep reading.
[8] J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007), 743-744.
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