‘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

Magic and Lies in ‘Harry Potter’

I explain the dangers of practicing magic and some of the underlying spiritual lies in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” with The Current FM’s Liz Lane — namely, the fallacy that there is a distinct difference between white magic and black magic.

This commentary is an edited version from the radio interview from The Current FM on Thursday, July 30.

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