The excitement
mounted daily
as we approached
the July 21, 2007,
countdown-to-midnight.
On that Saturday
night, at 12:01 a.m.,
kids and adults worldwide
eagerly seized Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows,
the seventh and final installment
in J. K. Rowling’s runaway
series chronicling the
adventures of a teenage sorcerer.
As the Pottermania
juggernaut rolls relentlessly
toward its dual-to-thedeath
climax between the
diabolical Lord Voldemort
and young Harry Potter, so
does the raging controversy
over whether the Potter novels
themselves are healthy or
harmful; a gift from heaven
or a gateway to hell.
Before I tell you what I
think, here’s a question for
you: Do you believe what
the Bible says about the perils
of witchcraft? Be honest.
Yes or no? When one boils
down the issues—inside
either cup or cauldron—
this is the pivotal question.
If your answer is, “Yes,
I believe God’s Book,” then this article should make perfect
sense. If your answer is “No,
not really,” then you will probably
disagree with my conclusions.
Whether you believe the Scriptures
or not, notice carefully its solemn
pronouncements about sorcery:
-
“There shall not be found among
you anyone who makes his son or
his daughter pass through the fire,
or one who practices witchcraft, or
a soothsayer, or one who interprets
omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a
spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead. For all who do these things
are an abomination to the Lord”
(Deuteronomy 18:10–12, NKJV;
emphasis added).
-
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”
(1 Samuel 15:23, NKJV;
emphasis added).
-
“Now the works of the flesh are
evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
jealousies, outbursts of
wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions,
heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the
like; of which I tell you beforehand,
just as I also told you in
time past, that those who practice
such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God” (Galatians 5:19–21,
NKJV; emphasis added).
-
“But the cowardly, unbelieving,
abominable, murderers, sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the second
death” (Revelation 21:8, NKJV;
emphasis added).
You’ve just read God’s words, not
mine. No matter how you slice it,
it’s an incontrovertible fact that the Holy Bible declares that witchcraft
is a sin, casting spells is an abomination,
sorcery is a work of the flesh,
and that all unrepentant occult practitioners
are destined for “the lake of
fire.” Again, this is what God’s Word
says. This is not just my opinion.
Does this sound intolerant? If
so, consider this: If I told you that
2 + 2 = 4, and that there is only one
right answer to this mathematical
equation, would you consider my
perspective intolerant? I doubt it. It’s
the same with what the Bible says
about sorcery. God considers it to
be an inherently dangerous practice,
and He’s right. It is “impossible for
God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18, KJV).
He speaks the truth.
The teenage Harry Potter in J. K.
Rowling’s novels is a student at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He takes classes on divination,
spells, history of magic, charms, and
potions. If Harry Potter were a real
teenager, and if he suddenly decided
to follow the Bible, he would have to
snap his wand, renounce his spells,
and abandon Hogwarts entirely in
order to line up with God’s Book.
It wouldn’t matter how conscientious
his life was as a young magician.
Magic and spell-casting would
have to go.
Perhaps you haven’t noticed the
witchy trend, but real witchcraft
(called “Wicca”) is now experiencing
explosive growth throughout
North America and around the
world. “Wicca may, in fact, be the
fastest growing religious movement
in the United States.”1
“The area I live in is full of Wicca
and Paganism,” declared a woman
in northern California who wrote to
me recently. “Members of my own
family are struggling with beguilement
from current TV programming,
Harry Potter, and occultic
influences.”
I receive many letters like this
from concerned parents. So now
the issue isn’t just Harry Potter, but
the growth, doctrines, and influence
of real witchcraft. Hollywood
movies are promoting sorcery, innumerable
Web sites are discussing it,
and countless teenagers are wearing
pentagrams to school. If you don’t
believe me, just ask any teenager who
attends public high school if he or
she has heard of Wicca. The answer
will surprise you.
the real issue
Back to Harry Potter. Here’s the
key issue: Are J. K. Rowling’s fantasy-mixed-
with-reality novels, and the
Hollywood movies that are based on
the books, contributing to this seemingly
unstoppable Wiccan trend? In
other words, even though the Harry
Potter books are classified as fiction,
could they be whetting kids’ appetite
for “the craft”?
“That’s preposterous!” many parents contend adamantly. “Harry Potter
is just a story. Lighten up!” This
attitude seems to reflect a majority
opinion these days, especially among
the media and secular educators.
If this is your view, here’s something
to consider: “Teens line up at
my cash register to purchase Harry
Potter books and books about
Wicca,” declared a lady who works
at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in
Nashville, Tennessee. “My daughter
read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone,” declared a mother who called
the radio show Live from Seattle while
I was being interviewed about the
growth of Wicca. “Then she started
buying real witchcraft books.” “Did
Harry Potter spark your interest [in
Wicca]?” wrote another 16-year-old
girl I know as she dialogued with
a 17-year-old Wiccan boy in an
Internet chat room. “Yeah,” the boy
replied immediately.
Let me clarify something. I realize
that not every boy or girl who reads
Harry Potter books is rushing out
to join a coven, but the fact is that,
as illustrated by the examples I just
gave, many kids are becoming interested
in witchcraft through reading
J. K. Rowling’s works. The Harry
Potter books and films, along with
TV shows and movies like Sabrina
the Teenage Witch,
Charmed, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, The
Craft, Practical Magic,
and I Married a Witch,
are all creating a climate
for today’s surging
interest in magic.
Whether we realize it
or not, they are planting occult seeds,
and Wicca is reaping the harvest.
As we’ve already seen, the Bible
plainly states that “sorcery” is one
of “the works of the flesh,” and
that those who practice it will “not
inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians
5:19–21, NKJV). Thus this
is a life-or-death matter. If you do
some research, or talk to any witch,
you will discover that Wiccans and
pagans don’t believe in the Bible,
the Ten Commandments, personal
sin, the day of judgment, the lake
of fire, or in the need for a Savior.
Neither do they believe in a literal
Satan. They are bewitched by their
own spells.
In these days, the God of heaven is
calling us “to stand against the wiles
of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11, KJV,
emphasis added), which includes all
forms of occult magic and sorcery
(see Deuteronomy 18:9–11). Lucifer promotes these things, yet God adamantly
opposes them because they
are deceptive, dark, and dangerous.
Witchcraft connects occult practitioners
with “seducing spirits”
(1 Timothy 4:1, KJV), yet they
don’t know it. Some may chuckle or
even mock these words, but God and
His angels aren’t laughing. Instead,
they are weeping. Notwithstanding
Pottermania, witchcraft is no joke to
Jesus Christ.
It was a dark day when the Son of
God was nailed to a wooden cross
outside Jerusalem. “Father, forgive
them,” Jesus whispered in tearful
agony, “for they know not what
they do” (Luke 23:34, KJV). It’s
no secret that the lure of witchcraft
is the promise of magical power.
“The promise of power and control
drives Wicca to its current popularity.”
2Yet the power of potions and
spells is pitiful compared to the far
greater power of a heavenly love that
led our Savior to sacrifice His life
for sinners on a hill called Calvary.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ,” Paul penned to the
early Christians in Rome, “for it is
the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes” (Romans
1:16, NKJV).
Did you catch that? “The gospel
of Christ”—which is the good news
of Jesus Christ’s death for our sins,
burial, and resurrection from the
dead—is “the power of God.” And
what makes this “power” so powerful
is that it is impregnated with
incomprehensible love—a love that
can soften the hardest heart, forgive
our sins, and deliver us from
evil. Devils, demons, and occult
magic can’t touch this. No potion
can equal it.
In conclusion, I want to stress that
Jesus Christ loves J. K. Rowling,
every boy or girl who reads Harry
Potter books, and real witches. Yet
life is not a game to the One who
suffered such horror to pay the penalty
for our sins, including “the sin
of witchcraft” (1 Samuel 15:23,
NKJV). Jesus longs to open our
eyes so that we may discern the dark
underlying forces currently molding
society, turn “from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto
God” (Acts 26:18, KJV), before it’s
too late.
My wife and I have a three-year-old
son named Seth whom we love
with all of our hearts. As Seth grows
older, we plan on continuing to teach
him about God’s goodness, about
Jesus Christ his Savior, and about
how important it is to respect the
teachings of the Bible.
He won’t be reading any Harry
Potter.
