Double Bubble, Toil, and Trouble
Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Reviewed by Ken Griffith, a friend of ours, and of Rivendell

All literature other than the Holy Bible, contains at least some erroneous worldview assumptions. If you take a perfectionist approach, then any error in the worldview constitutes calling evil good and therefore we could read no literature other the Holy Bible. The ditch on the other side of the road is to rationalize imbibing of a wicked worldview for the purpose of entertainment. We have all been guilty of drinking an ocean of bathwater because we suspect there's a baby floating in it somewhere.

Take two recent films for example, Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone. The question is not whether Harry Potter contains errors and Tolkien doesn't, but whether the errors presented in Harry Potter are of the same kind and magnitude of error of the Tolkien epics, and whether the errors presented in either set of works are serious enough to lead children (or adults) away from the Faith and into falsehood.

The Tolkien series presents supernatural creatures as part of the fabric of the world. This in and of itself is a reasonable and accurate reflection of the Biblical worldview. The Bible tells us that the world is populated with and controlled by spiritual beings, angels and fallen angels, who are all ultimately under the control of God. (Psalm 8, 1 Chronicles 21, Psalm 78, Psalm 103, Daniel, etc) Gandalf turns out to be not a wizard (magic-using man), but a Myar, which is a subclass of Valar —an angelic being whose magic is actually the expression of his own power —consistent with the Biblical depiction of angels.

In the Tolkien series, men are non-magical creatures and magic itself is viewed with quite a bit of suspicion and generally cast in a negative light. The Rings of Power were part of a plot by the forces of evil to tempt the righteous to accept their power and become enslaved by the holder of the One Ring.

Generally the Tolkien series does not promote the use of magic by men. But it does contain the dangerous presupposition that magic can be used for good or evil because it blurs the distinction between supernatural beings (angels/Valari) and magic-using by men (wizards).

The Bible teaches that magic, or sorcery is in and of itself an evil attempt by men to gain power (tools of dominion) through the unlawful means of compelling demons to do thy bidding. All magic is black magic. Sorcery and spell casting are listed among the chief sins that led God to condemn the Canaanites to national execution as we see in Deuteronomy 18:9-Il:

"When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 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." Furthermore, those who practice these things are to be put to death: Exodus 22:18 You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

Lest anyone think that the New Covenant has changed things, Acts shows us a picture of a sorcerer who is a false prophet who tries to lead people to reject the Word of God.

Acts 13:6-12 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer; a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.

And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord."

In stark contrast to the Bible, the Harry Potter series of children's books assumes that to be a warlock is a good and honorable thing. The protagonist is a warlock and we all know he is a good guy. While Fellowship of the Ring contains a confusing and therefore dangerous assumption that is tangential to the main plot, Harry Potter directly teaches that which the Bible calls an abomination is actually good and right.

That alone should be reason enough for conscientious Christians to reject the Harry Potter films and books. However, it appears that the Potter series borrows heavily from real witchcraft manuals and terminology, as well as using the names of real demons and pagan gods. Some have argued that the Potter series was written with the intent of introducing children to witchcraft. Though it is impossible for us to know that much for certain; it is clear enough that the Harry Potter series does teach children to be all too comfortable with something that the Word of God calls "abomination."

Parents will be held responsible by God for what they put in front of their children. As our Lord Jesus Christ said, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."

Harry Potter falls in the category of very dangerous with little redeeming value; whereas Fellowship of the Ring is a masterpiece that needs adult explanation and critique in light of the Bible.