‘Harry Potter’: Spells and the Spoken Word

Proverbs 18:21 says that there is the power of life and death in the tongue. We can bless and curse with the words we say. Words that are said with authority also have creative power to call things into being. We know this because God said, “Let there be light” and light came into existence. We know that Jesus was the “Word made flesh” and that the Bible is also called the “Word of God.”

So how does this relate to the latest box office release of the PG-rated fantasy film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

The power of words in Potter is not Holy Spirit-driven. They are coming from the opposite spirit in the form of spells and incantations – things which the Bible considers detestable.

I discuss more about the power of words in Potter in this edited radio commentary from a discussion I had on the air with radio personality Liz Lane of The Current FM on Thursday, July 3o. Hope this discussion helps you weigh this film in the light of faith.

Radio Commentary:

— Laura J. Bagby

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’: Overall Spiritual Concerns

I was really concerned about seeing this latest Harry Potter film at the box office for two reasons: one, I hadn’t read any of the books by J.K. Rowling or seen any of the previous films so I wasn’t sure I would get the gist of it, and two, I wasn’t sure if I would feel like my Christian beliefs just got assaulted. Would I feel like I had dishonored God by seeing this film? That was my main question.

Radio personality Liz Lane and I talked about the spiritual undertones of the PG fantasy film on The Current FM yesterday. Here is an edited version of our radio commentary abut the film:

Radio Commentary:

— Laura J. Bagby

‘Angels & Demons’: A Better Dan Brown Adaptation

Angels & Demons

The newly released Angels & Demons effectively beat out Star Trek, bringing in 48 million in box office revenue its first weekend. The film marks the second of Dan Brown’s novels to make it to the silver screen. The first was 2006’s smash hit the Da Vinci Code.

Now, with Angels & Demons, we see Tom Hanks again in his role as Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon. This time he is headed to the Vatican. The pope has died and the Cardinals must prepare a conclave to choose the next successor. When the Illuminati capture the top four potential candidates – or Preferatti – and threaten to kill each man at a certain time and locale across Rome, Dr. Langdon teams up with physicist Vittoria Vetra from Switzerland to solve the clues and end the violence, effectively saving all of Rome from destruction and allowing the Vatican to pick the right man to lead the Catholic church at large.