Baptizing Harry Potter: A Christian Reading of J.K. Rowling

by Luke Bell

Gives a richly referenced and closely argued reading of J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter books, drawing out connections within the writing to illuminate Christian spiritual values in them.

Genres: Harry Potter, Nonfiction, Christian

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Dom Luke Bell, OSB

Reviews

[Vangelis Angelopoulos]

Pétition de principe FTW

[Alexis]

Really a wonderful book, touching on the major themes of the series and connecting them well to the catholic faith. Not for a young reader though. I would say the reader needs a good basic knowledge of our Christian faith in order to fully appreciate it.

[Matthew Gifford]

Very interesting assesment of Christian themes within the Harry Potter series. It covers many main themes including humility, truth, the power of love, and the meaning of death. This book is carefully referenced with many citations directly to the 7 books of the series along with references to Scripture and other literature such as C. S. Lewis's Narnia series. Regrettably for the American reader, all page references are to the Brittish version of the Harry Potter books. Still, this did not significantly impact the accessability of the text for me.

I do not recommend this book for anyone who has not read the complete 7 book series. So much of the overall themes require a knowledge of the complete series to be fully understood.

While the overall content of the book is very thought provoking and interesting, Luke Bell's writing style is somewhat formulaic. Still I reccommend this book to any Harry Potter fan especially one who would like to further explore the series relation to Christian themes.

[Claire Dunbar]

Read this for a class. I’m neither better or worse off having read it. Did I need to read a comparison of Snape to Mary? No. Am I regretful that I have now read this? Also no.

[Ashleigh]

Very interesting assesment of Christian themes within the Harry Potter series. It covers many main themes including humility, truth, the power of love, and the meaning of death. This book is carefully referenced with many citations directly to the 7 books of the series along with references to Scripture and other literature such as C. S. Lewis's Narnia series. Regrettably for the American reader, all page references are to the Brittish version of the Harry Potter books. Still, this did not significantly impact the accessability of the text for me.

I do not recommend this book for anyone who has not read the complete 7 book series. So much of the overall themes require a knowledge of the complete series to be fully understood.

While the overall content of the book is very thought provoking and interesting, Luke Bell's writing style is somewhat formulaic. Still I reccommend this book to any Harry Potter fan especially one who would like to further explore the series relation to Christian themes.

[Tabitha]

Very easy read, and very interesting insight into the books. Though Brother Luke does sometimes repeats himself and occasionally what could be said in one or two words he says in 10! 😉👍

[Kris Reicks]

A thoughtful Catholic perspective on the deeper themes woven throughout the Harry Potter series. While somewhat dry at times, I liked how the author highlights how the books reflect timeless truths about love, sacrifice, redemption, and the battle between good and evil. I especially enjoyed his discussion of the series’ literary structure, showing how Books 1 and 7, 2 and 6, and 3 and 5 mirror one another, with Book 4 serving as the pivotal turning point.

This is a worthwhile read for Harry Potter fans interested in exploring the series through a Catholic lens.

[Mark]

Found this book quite by chance on the Isle of Wight whilst visiting the book shop of Quarr Abbey, the monastery where Bell is a monk. I loved the Harry Potter stories as stories and have never had, as a christian, any real need to find some sort of christian justification to enable me to enjoy them but Bell has done an excellent job in drawing out links with the Gospel story and significances far wider than a simple reading. I have no idea whether Rowling meant any of these links but perhaps that is the sign of a good read; it enables the reader to invest himself or herself at a deep level, perhaps deeper than the author intended. Bell keeps reminding us of echoes of Western culture which all of us, from Rowling to Riochard Dawkins imbibe sometimes without even realizing it. Having said all that I can see that loving the Harry Potter series is not in itself enough to make you likely to love this book. If you are one of those people who get frustrated by men and women of faith talking about God a lot, don't read this book but I for one did enjoy it.

[Megan]

For the most part, this is both an insightful and respectful approach to (what I consider) to be the positive side of Christian values: love, acceptance, personal sacrifice. There was the rare time where I felt that Bell was reallllllllly stretching his case, but not in a way that either disregarded Harry Potter, or put down other belief systems in order to do so.

If you come from a place where Harry Potter is something you’ve been taught to fear, and you’re curious but unsure, I would call this book a must. Luke Bell writes with such a well-articulated and kind voice, coming from a place of love for this series, that I don’t see how he couldn’t help.

[Dana]

I only gave this 3 stars because, as another reviewer commented, the author's writing style is a little too formulaic for my taste.

Otherwise, it was very interesting. I've always been surprised at Christians who denounce the Harry Potter series, because after reading the series multiple times, I think it's overflowing with Christian values! Clearly I'm not the only one who noticed this, because this book examined the many parallels.

I don't know if JKR entirely realized how Christian her story is, but if she did, it's further proof that she's a bloody genius :).

[John Carter]

I found the book fascinating. But as you might deduce both from the title and the fact that the author is a Benedictine monk the book is specifically a look at the Potter saga through a Christian lens; and if you're not willing to accept that I'd suggest skipping this. Some points of course didn't need Brother Luke's explanation, such as how Harry, by willingly accepting his own death so that others might live, becomes a Christ figure. But there are many other less obvious aspects that, when pointed out, certainly give one to think.

[Aileen Bernadette Urquhart]

Really enjoyable read. Clearly written. I thought it was going to be all a bit obvious, as any hero is going to have redemptive qualities - self sacrifice, love of others, fighting evil etc. but Bell really looks in to areas such as outward appearances, humility etc. He finishes with Snape and his love for Harry's mother(mudblood) overcoming his hatred of Harry's father, and refers back to the original split between Slytherin and Griffindor over Mudbloods and Pure-bloods, referencing Hitler's quest for a pure Ayrian race and ....oh I could go on....

[Jean Seah]

With profound insights on the most ordinary and minute details of the series (like the colours of the characters' eyes), this book is a feast of Scripture, symbolism, sacramentality, monastic spirituality and culture, referencing Shakespeare, Kazuo Ishiguro and Church Fathers like Irenaeus and Athanasius to shed a comprehensive Christian light on Harry's world.

[Faith-Anne]

I found this to be a fascinating look at the world of Harry Potter.

[Kelly Williams]

I really enjoyed this book. It mainly pointed out common religious themes and truths within the Harry Potter literature.