The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker [Paperback]

Connie Neal (Author)

Book Description

In a book that is sure to delight Harry Potter fans and spiritual seekers alike, Connie Neal embarks on an exploration into J.K. Rowling's created world of magic and mystery and enumerates more than fity "Potteran" themes that can be seen as glimmers of the Christian gospel. With an arsenal of charming allusions and parallels, Neal persuasively demonstrates that Harry Potter need not be rejected as a threat to the Christian faith, as some have claimed. Written accessibly in short three- to four-page chapters, Neal's The Gospel According to Harry Potter is both a much-needed stroke of interpretive genius and a fascinating reflection on our time's most popular literary series. This is a must-read for everyone intrigued by the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Westminster John Knox Press had a hit a generation ago with The Gospel According to Peanuts, and is now rapidly expanding the franchise, with The Gospel According to the Simpsons released last year and titles on J.R.R. Tolkien and Disney still to come. This entry by Neal (What's a Christian to Do with Harry Potter?) takes on J.K. Rowling's conservative Christian critics with an exhaustive enumeration of parallels some striking, some skimpy between Rowling's fictional world and the tenets of Christian belief. Platform nine and three-quarters becomes a reminder of the nature of faith; Albus Dumbledore shows mercy much like the Christian God. Neal is well aware that pagan readers of the series can find plenty of parallels of their own to the world of witchcraft, and she admits that such prooftexting is only marginally more substantial than finding castles and chariots in cloud formations, but she plods on doggedly nonetheless. The overall effect is disappointing on two fronts. Readers will find little here that genuinely illuminates Rowling's moral or literary vision, at least any more than Dumbledore does himself in his more sermonic moments. And juxtaposed with Harry's fantastic world, the claims of Christianity seem to lose rather than gain plausibility, becoming just another interesting fairy tale. Still, Christian fans of Harry will be glad that someone is countering the critics, and Neal's earnest writing may win both Rowling and the Gospels a few new readers.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The author of more than 30 books, Neal (What's a Christian To Do with Harry Potter) makes another entry in the field of explication of Harry Potter according to Gospel standards. While such an effort may seem ill-conceived to the casual observer, Neal's attempt is far from the first of its kind (think of The Gospel According to Peanuts) and not alone in the current book market (think of The Gospel According to the Simpsons, by which the author admits she was inspired). Neal's approach is not surprising, drawing moral lessons from Rowling's explicitly moral books, adding her own Scriptural parallels but her defense of the books should be a welcome ally for many librarians and readers who have seen the Potter series assailed for its depiction of magic. For most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664226019
• ISBN-13: 978-0664226015
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #968,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Connie Neal is sought by secular and Christian media discussing pop culture and its intersection with Christianity, as well as family, marriage, and parenting issues. Connie has authored dozens of books including:The Gospel According to Harry Potter featured in Time, Christianity Today, and Entertainment Weekly. What's a Christian to Do with Harry Potter? featured in Newsweek, also Wizards, Wardrobes, & Wookiees and her signature book Dancing in the Arms of God, Connie has a BA in Communication from Pepperdine University and a MS in Education, specializing in Instructional Design for Online Learning from Capella University. She has created videos and curriculum for parents and teens. She toured as a guest speaker with Women of Faith. Her latest focus is on transitioning content to electronic publishing and online learning in keeping with the science of instruction and research-based multimedia learning principles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Engagement with Popular Culture, October 28, 2002

By 

John W. Morehead "John W. Morehead" (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker (Paperback)

I had the privilege of providing some editorial review to the manuscript for this book prior to its publication. I became aware of Mrs. Neal's work through her previous volume on the controversial Harry Potter series, and was intrigued by her approach and perspective. She continues this fine work with this latest volume.

It is no secret that the Harry Potter series has set off a firestorm of controversy. In Western popular culture the dividing lines have been drawn over the series (now expressed in film with the second film due in theaters in November in the U.S.), with a polarization between pro- and anti-Potter perspectives. Traditionally, evangelical Christianity has a track record of articulating many valid concerns about the rise and influence of Paganism in American culture, but little work has been done addressing just why so many are rejecting the church in favor of alternative spiritual pathways, or creatively engaging popular culture to mine various concepts that can be used as bridges to communicate the gospel. Thankfully, _The Gospel According to Harry Potter_ provides a remedy to this situation.

Mrs. Neal recognizes that both pro- and ant-Potter advocates can (and will) find elements to support their contrary views on Potter. Thus, Mrs. Neal specifically states that she is not writing to articulate a pro-Potter position, but rather, she is looking at the Potter series with the specific intention of finding elements within the series that discerning Christians can use as bridges for communication to individuals interested in Potter (and perhaps the general fantasy genre as well). Just as the Apostle Paul drew upon various Pagan sources and ideas that were used to communicate the gospel to sophisticated Pagans of the first century, contemporary Christians may wish to explore Mrs. Neal's book for suggestions on evangelizing contemporary Pagans and others interested in spirituality but "turned off" by the church. Although not everyone will agree with her approach, it is worthy of careful consideration.

Mrs. Neal has done the Body of Christ a real service in authoring this book. It is my hope that the efforts of others interested in creative engagement with popular culture on behalf of Christ will be stimulated by this fine volume.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neal Brings Good News to Potter Fans in Intriguing "Gospel", August 2, 2003

By 

Anthony G Pizza "trivialtony" (FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker (Paperback)

Evangelical and other devout Christians distrust popular culture and at times see it with outright hostility. This has been true in theater, on radio (Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman's wailing "Why should the devil have all the good music?") at toy stores and bookstands. J.K. Rowling's wildly successful Harry Potter book series is notable here, its themes of supernatural powers, combined with huge sales to pre-teens, inspiring criticism and even misguided protests such as library lawsuits and book burnings.

Recently, however, many conservative Christians have come to respect the Potter books for sophisticated portrayals of good and evil. Connie Neal addresses her Potter interpretation "The Gospel According to Harry Potter" to these Christians plus the few left who remain hostile toward a book series many of them never read.

Ms. Neal traverses through the first four Potter books, summing overlaying themes of each. She selects episodes (standing on the 9 ¾ platform, the shrinking door keys mystery, Ginny Weasley's rescue), character profiles (false faces of Professor Quirrell and Mad-Eye Moody, consistent citing of Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore as a God-like figure) and character quotes. She then relates this at length to a Biblical story or theme, constantly focusing on the panoramic, constant battle between good and evil and subtleties within it. (Neal states on its front cover no one involved with the Potter series proper has authorized this book. Perhaps this is reason Neal provides a teaspoon of Potter followed by two cups of Bible.)

Ms. Neal, perhaps for Christian unity or not wanting to put Christian words into Harry's lightning-scarred head, fails somewhat to directly contradict anti-Potter views or any of the series' darker themes. (In personal asides, she recalls criticism received in radio and TV interviews and dealing with fallout from a satirical story on the Onion Web site relating Potter to Satanism.)

A librarian at a Micigan Christian school and webmaster of one of the larger Harry Potter sites recently said of Rowling,"She is writing extremely moral books that show that evil is real and you have to take a stand against it, even at great cost to yourself." Connie Neal effectively relates that bedrock Biblical truth to Harry's spiritual quest. She also compares friends, enemies, mentors, and wolves dressed as sheep Harry encounters to Jesus' own ministry, while retaining Jesus' divinity and Harry's mortality.

To that end, the "Gospel According to Harry Potter" is useful to homilists and Sunday school teachers wanting to relate today's most popular action-adventure story with the first and truest. This book allows non-Potter readers to effectively discuss the series with those who've read them. It is recommended to Scripture readers intrigued by "the boy who lived", essential for Potter readers intrigued by the One who lives.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the Voice of Sanity, March 19, 2003

By 

"hollygirl717" (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker (Paperback)

Connie Neal has written a gem of a book that any parent or caregiver can use to help the child(ren) in their life benefit from the moral reflection available in the Harry Potter books. It is so wonderful to see a Christian using sanity, reason, and common sense in dealing with the Potter phenomenon instead of the knee-jerk reactions made by so many Christian "leaders" who don't even bother to READ THE BOOKS before they condemn them. Way to go, Connie. Thank you.