J.K. Rowling'S School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry

The Christian church has had its' divisions over the years. Denominations are torn apart by issues such as being able to lose faith, predestination, and homosexuality. On the personal level, there are always disputes that come up between individuals on what the Bible says is correct or not. Some are black and white, but others are grey. Christians around the world have been fighting each other in the grey since September 1, 1998 when Joanne Kathleen (J.K.) Rowling came out with her latest series. The author tells of the adventures of an underdog, Harry Potter. How he ends up in a boarding school, makes two close friends, goes on adventures to save the world, and always ends up saving it in the end. Now that she is five books into it, the heat has picked up. Christians are making websites, books, magazine articles, and protesting the books. The tricky part about Harry Potter is that he is a wizard. This is straight against the Bible, and deserves all the attention that Christians are giving it. We may not be able to stop her from writing this evil, or infecting children all over the world about the lies of witchcraft, but we do need to keep our brothers and sisters in Christ, or our children from reading this trash and falling into the trap that Satan has laid.

The most obvious way to prove the evil of the series is to start with the one textbook God gave Christians. First, the Old Testament says in Deuteronomy 18:10-12:

There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.

For those who believe that the Old Testament is not what God wanted to be law, and the New Testament voids it, the Bible states in Galatians 5:19- 21:

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Paul lays it out to the people of Galatia that witchcraft is not to be practiced. The series always defines good magic as "white" magic, whereas the evil is the "Dark Arts." The point in the end of the series is to prove that white magic will overcome the Dark Arts. There is no mention in either the Old or New Testament about "white magic" or the "Dark Arts." It states that God finds witchcraft "detestable" and that they "will not inherit the kingdom of God." Some may say that by reading the books children are not going to decide to be witches or wizards. After reading, ten-year-old Gioia Bishop

States "I was eager to get to Hogwarts first because I like what they learned there and I want to be a witch." Harry Libarle loved the third book the best because of the shape shifter, Professor Lupin. Both of these show the interest of these children in witchcraft. After the magic, there is still much evil mentioned in the books (Kjos).

Harry has an "ironic"