Harry Potter and the Bible

A Comical Un-Recommendation

Greetings, young writers and readers!

Jack here with a comical review of a book no one knows or cares about titled Harry Potter and the Bible by Richard Abane. As a devout Potterhead, I just had to check this book out when I saw it on the library shelf recently. Now, I haven’t read very far into it yet… but already it’s been so ridiculous I just have to let you all know about it.

In this post, I’ll share my commentary on some parts and quotes from this deranged volume and I’ll also be fighting the frankly hilarious Christian debate saying Harry Potter is evil. If you think HP is evil, this post is for you. If you think it’s fine but your parents are against it, share this post with your parents. And if you just don’t care about Harry Potter, I’d recommend reading this post anyway just to learn more about the series because it’s by far my favorite novel series ever.

Analysis of the Initial Appearance

So I’m inspecting the outside of the book right now and the first thing I notice are the little subtitles all across the front cover, which you can see in the cover photo above. All the text other than the title and author name read:

“Harmless Fantasy or Dangerous Fascination?”

Now, I don’t really understand what they mean by “dangerous fascination.” Obviously, it’s fantasy; I’d argue that it’s not perfectly harmless since… I’m obsessed with Harry Potter now 😆. I’d assume that the “fascination” is in witchcraft and occult, as these people assume the book promotes… but maybe it’ll turn out to be something else as I read the actual book.

“The Menace behind the Magick”

First off, they spelled magic wrong… If you didn’t know, “magick” is the spelling typically used when referring to actual pagan practices of witchcraft and such. “Magic” on the other hand is used by fantasy writers so as to differentiate from actual “magick”. The fact that it’s spelled as “magick” on this book’s cover as opposed to the spelling “magic” all throughout the Harry Potter books implies to me that the creators of this book haven’t really read Harry Potter and understood the difference between J.K. Rowling’s “magic” and existing “magick.”

“Not Approved by J.K. Rowling”

Ha, well of course it isn’t. J.K. Rowling is clearly not a witch and is actually a cultural Christian, drawing inspiration for some parts of her books from the Bible. We’ll discuss this more later.

So those are my takeaways just from looking at the book’s front cover. As for the back cover, there is a big blurb which I’ll discuss in a moment, a few quotes from random people saying how awesome the book is in… questionable ways, and a little author bio explaining how this Richard Abanes guy is an anti-occult Christian who’s written a bunch of books on religion and is a church minister and worship leader.

Here’s the blurb (I couldn’t find it online so I guess I’ll type it all up myself):

HARRY POTTER and his magical adventures as a wizard-in-training continue to mesmerize millions worldwide. Related products such as trading cards, role-playing games, clothing, and even furniture have flooded the market.

But several questions must be asked: Does Harry offer any positive moral lessons for today’s children? Is Harry’s magick truly fictional or is it based on actual occultism? How do the Harry Potter tales compare to other fantasy books like those written by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien?

Pause for a second. I want to take a moment to answer the questions here correctly, as opposed to the answers within this book.

• “Does Harry offer any positive moral lessons for today’s children?”

  Well of course! Harry Potter is chock full of positive moral lessons, such as the power of friendship and loyalty, the importance of standing up for what's right, to never give up even in the face of darkness, and many more that not just apply morally but support major biblical concepts. Not to mention the general lessons we learn from the books, as listed in this Wizarding World article, all of which apply not just to children, but readers of all ages.

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• “Is Harry’s magick* truly fictional or is it based on actual occultism?”

  Well, duh… J.K. Rowling stated in a 2001 BBC interview: “I made it up. I mean, I did a certain amount of research, but for me, the magic in the books is entirely fictional.” If you just read the books, you can discover for yourself that it’s made up… Also, the footnote attached to the asterisk after “magick” reads: The word “magic” refers to the stage illusions by sleight of hand, whereas “magick” refers to occult practices. Yes, “magick” means occult… however, as I previously stated, “magic” is a term used by fantasy writers as some mystical force harnessed by the author’s imagination. Magic occurs in C.S. Lewis’s books, Tolkien’s books, and many other novels and series by Christian authors.

Continuing the blurb:

In this user-friendly and helpful volume, Richard Abanes answers these questions, and provides a hard look at America’s not-so-subtle drift toward paganism and examines the reasons why God says “no” to occultism.

“Harry Potter and the Bible” will help you make wise choices for your family.

HAHAHAHAHA

Oh, sorry. I just couldn’t stop myself. “America’s not-so-subtle drift toward paganism”? Firstly, Harry Potter is British… but I guess this Abanes guy doesn’t really care about the paganist status of Britain. Second, this statement alone makes me entirely doubt that the creators of the book have ever even picked up a copy of any of the four existing Harry Potter books at the time. (I feel like some of this book’s points may be weaker seeing as the entire series had not been released at the time of this book’s publication.)

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So, those are my observations simply from observing the outside of the book… Let’s explore the inside of the book now.

The Introduction

So I just read the introduction… and it’s the most ridiculous thing I ever read. The first part of the introduction discusses how popular the books have gotten recently despite how “evil” they are, with all the witchcraft and occult. It goes on to explore the concerns of many Christians that Harry Potter is trying to indoctrinate witchcraft into America’s children. No joke (actually…this whole introduction was a joke), this is a quote mentioned in the introduction:

“There are numerous books written on witchcraft and the occult, but none is more ingeniously packaged to the kids like this one.”

Okay. This is just…wow. I really don’t need to elaborate on this one.

But the whole introduction goes on like this—numerous ignorant quotes making false claims about the Harry Potter books. Like really, people? Read the flippin’ series first and then come tell me about it.

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The Actual Book (Parts One & Two)

Part One: The World of Harry Potter

So I’m almost done with Part One of the book so far and I honestly want to just skip to Part Two because the author is just summarizing each of the books right now and giving a teeny bit of commentary in the next chapter. It has gotten a bit funny though. For example, the author mentioned how people have been saying it’s stupid that some people think Harry Potter has actual evil witchcraft and occult (which it is) and his refutation is absolutely hilarious. He mentions that J.K. Rowling believes seven is a magic (magiC with a C) number… 🤣 Sir, what? He goes on to discuss J.K. Rowling’s study of mythology… like that has any relevance? (Seriously, guys, this book just gets worse and worse…)

Later, as the author discusses HP book four, he mentions how it is more violent and dark, which it is. Let me be clear, the Harry Potter books from four and beyond are not for younger readers, and that kind of hollows out the quotes claiming the novels are “ingeniously packaged to the kids”.

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Part Two: Out of the Darkness

While I haven’t gotten to Part Two of Harry Potter and the Bible quite yet, I have combed through it, inspecting the main points and such, for the sake of this review (I haven’t found the time lately to read further into the book, but when I do I will post any updates I think are relevant).

So, the first two chapters discuss good and evil. I actually did read Chapter Nine, titled The Enduring Battle: Good versus Evil, and carefully skimmed Chapter Ten, The Enduring Battle: Choosing Sides, and was pretty disappointed and underwhelmed by the author’s pathetic arguments and points. Throughout Chapters Nine and Ten, he barely even mentions Harry Potter but goes on a long rant about Satanism and witchcraft that really does nothing to support his case. He even addresses a quote by J.K. Rowling where she says she doesn’t believe in witchcraft and refutes her case by bringing up the magic number thing again… Seriously, who in the world is going to be swayed by his arguments?

The next few chapters compare Harry Potter to other American fantasy books, such as the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. He argued with much bias that the series The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings did have “magick” in them but… wait, for it… they had “solid moral lessons for children.”

*blink blink*

Excuse me? Narnia and Lord of the Rings share many of the same moral lessons of Harry Potter! Good overcomes evil, love always wins, friendship is important, and all that… Ugh, these chapters not only do absolutely nothing to support his case, but they also strengthen my doubts that the author has never read Harry Potter before. He probably based his arguments off of biased Sparknotes summaries or something…

Finally, in the last chapter of the book titled Lessons Learned: Closing Thoughts, Abanes re-discusses his faulty views of Harry Potter but in the end, tells us to remember that God is in control and that we must trust him to wipe out the evil Satanism of Harry Potter, just like how Frodo defeated Sauron. (And how *spoiler alert* Harry defeated Voldemort, but mister Smarty-Pants Abanes here wouldn’t know about that since he hasn’t even read the final books of Harry Potter…)

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What I Think After Reading the Book

So… I’ve mostly read this entire thing (and promise to read through it more carefully soon). Here’s how my view of Harry Potter has changed after considering the arguments stated in the book Harry Potter and the Bible:

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IT HASN’T.

My view of Harry Potter seriously hasn’t changed at all. However, I have unveiled the sheer ignorance and frank stupidity of Christians who believe Harry Potter is evil. Harry Potter is a fun, entertaining fantasy novel series for readers looking for enchantment, intrigue, and characters and places to become obsessed with forever. If anyone tells you Harry Potter is evil and Satanic, ask them if they’ve even read the books or if they’re just judging Harry Potter from what they read in the disgraceful volume Harry Potter and the Bible.

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“Lessons Learned: Closing Thoughts”

(I thought I’d use this heading title for irony’s sake hehe.)

What we’ve learned here today is that some Christians can be so caught up in their preconceived notions that they simply can’t approach certain topics with an open mind. Sometimes, whether it’s your parents or your best friend, there’s not much you can do about it. However, it’s important to note that you have a voice and can bring the truth to other people.

My closing thoughts are merely that this book is not worth your time unless you crave a book to give you a good laugh. I would highly not recommend this book to anyone, Christian and Potterhead alike. Instead, I’d advise you to read Harry Potter! It’s an excellent book series to say the least and it truly deserves to be the #1 bestselling series out there. I give it a solid infinity out of five stars.

But as for the book Harry Potter and the Bible, I rate it:

☆☆☆☆☆

0 out of 5 stars

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I hope you guys enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading and supporting

The YA Section

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Abby A

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Have a blessed day and never read “Harry Potter and the Bible”! :)