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The Harry Potter series sits upon millions of bookshelves worldwide, and captured the imagination of a generation of children and their parents who queued up through the night outside bookshops in anticipation of each new release. Yet on the flipside of its fan base were numerous far right Christians who felt that the tales of witchcraft could inspire readers to follow satanic practices. Some critics went so far as to host book burnings as they considered the texts sacrilegious.

John Granger, an author and lecturer who is known as the “Dean of the Harry Potter Scholars”, was at first a part of the Potter Panic. He had been recommended the books for his children, and decided to read one first so as to tell them “why we don’t read trash like this.” Yet instead of proving themselves to be “trash”, the books fascinated John. He felt they were “at least as Christian as the Chronicles of Narnia” and, far from being prohibited, were texts his children had to read. He has since written a number of books analysing the series. These are some of the biblical themes we can read in the books.

Ernie’s guests on Beyond Belief all agree that there is a strong Christian message in Harry’s “death” in the last book. When he faces Voldemort for the final time, Harry has gathered the deathly hallows, three talismans which could make him the master of death.

Yet, as Beatrice points out, he casts these away and “therefore offers himself to death without any defence. And that’s the sacrificial choice of dying.” Harry’s choice of surrendering himself to save those he loved was the ultimate sacrifice, and it was this selfless act that left Voldemort powerless.

Vanessa Zoltan, co-host of the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast, suggests there are even further parallels between the “deaths” of Harry and Jesus. “An important part of the Christian allegory, and also just of the stories in and of themselves, is that he doesn’t want to die. He has his moment of ‘my God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ He conjures the spectre of his mother and asks her ‘is it going to hurt when I die?’ I think what’s essential to Jesus’ death is the idea that he was in pain and he hated it, and also that he did it anyway; that he did it for people.” Harry offered himself up in the same vein.

John suggests that the ending of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is one of the most notable examples of Christian allegory in the books. He says that it is “almost point for point something you would see in a medieval village at Paschaltide.” Harry goes down into the chamber (a fallen world) to rescue Ginny, who has been possessed by Tom Riddle (a satanic figure). He places his faith in his headmaster, Albus Dumbledore (a transcendent God), who sends a Phoenix (Christ) to fill him with his song (the Holy Spirit), and rescue him. Then, of course, there’s the giant evil snake figure that features in both books…

Yes, you read that right. Vanessa notes the parallels between Hagrid and Mary, Mother of God. Throughout the series, Hagrid refers to himself as "mummy" while he nurtures magical creatures. Towards Harry, he offers a maternal level of protection, literally carrying him to safety in the first and last books. In interviews, Rowling has explained that she always had an image in mind of Hagrid carrying Harry’s seemingly lifeless body in the final book, in direct parallel with the way in which he carried Harry as an infant to the Dursleys’ house in the Philosopher’s Stone. The author explained that this image was so striking to her that it saved Hagrid, who could otherwise have been a prime target for being killed off.

Vanessa doesn’t, however, comment on Hagrid’s virginal status…

Beyond the book

What makes the Harry Potter series so universally lovable is the way that, regardless of our cultural or religious experience, readers can draw their own messages of hope, love and goodness from the books. For Vanessa, Harry Potter leads us to the idea that “God is Love”, and any text that leads us to this idea can be treated as sacred. As Vanessa reflects: “If you don’t know the Christian allusions, they add nothing. They are beautiful as they stand on their own. But I think that what makes the Harry Potter books beautiful is that you can read Hermione as black, you can read Luna as on the autism spectrum. They are complicated enough and vast enough to hold all of those readings.”

Want to discover more about the overlap between the Bible and Harry Potter? You can listen to the whole episode of Beyond Belief here.