Christians, children and fantasy literature

[slappy]

Hi all,

I'm crawling out of the lurking shadows to get some input from everyone. My wife and I have 4 boys (the oldest turns 6 in November) and a baby girl on the way. My oldest is becoming a voracious reader, which I'm thrilled about. However, as he gets older, my wife and I struggle with the proper place for fantasy literature in a believer's (and by extension, their children's) lives. He's not quite crossing that bridge yet, but before you know it, he will be.

I've heard different angles from different authors/speakers. I just thought I'd get some fresh input from the forum.

So, is Christian-favorite, the Lord of the Rings trilogy really much different from, say, a Harry Potter? Where do we draw the line? What'dya'think?

Appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

-Ryan

[TK]

I think one key to keep in mind is whether the child is old enough to understand that wizards, elves, white witches and talking fauns are not real. If they are not old enough to understand this, then it is not fantasy literature to them.

[slappy]

I think one key to keep in mind is whether the child is old enough to understand that wizards, elves, white witches and talking fauns are not real. If they are not old enough to understand this, then it is not fantasy literature to them.

Agreed completely. That's one reason I'm not in a rush to push fantasy as a genre, though I do enjoy it myself from time to time.

[TK]

Me too.

You really can't go wrong with the LOTR or the Narnia books.

I listened to all the HP books (narrator was fantastic). I did not have a problem with them but many Christians do. Of course there is no God mentioned in the books but there is a clear struggle of good vs evil.

[slappy]

Me too.

You really can't go wrong with the LOTR or the Narnia books.

I listened to all the HP books (narrator was fantastic). I did not have a problem with them but many Christians do. Of course there is no God mentioned in the books but there is a clear struggle of good vs evil.

I read all of the HP books as well, and enjoyed them quite a bit. They did get progressively 'darker' (IMO) as they went on, so probably best for older kids who are better equipped to handle that sort of thing.

[steve]

I did not read the Harry Potter books, but I did see some of the movies. They are the kind of thing we would not let our children watch, but we might have been a bit more sensitive than is necessary. We would let them read Narnia books, because, even though there is as much magic in Narnia as in Harry Potter, it is clear that C.S. Lewis had Christian ideas that he was trying to get across, and that fantasy was merely a medium for such a message. The Lord of the Rings books were not distinctly Christian in any of their plot lines, but since they were written by a devoted Christian, I would again trust that they are not written with the intention of undermining Christian ideas.

I am not familiar enough with Harry Potter to be able to say what the purpose of the books may be. Since the author is no Christian, it is clear that the books were not written to promote Christian thought. I have always suspected that they may have been written to create a thirst for occult power in their young readers, but I may be way off. I only know the author was not guided by Christian motivations in writing.

"His Dark Materials" (The Golden Compass trilogy) stories, on the other hand, were written by an atheist (Philip Pullman) whose avowed goal is to undermine Christianity. For that reason, I would not expose young minds to those stories until they could be discussed and critiqued from a mature adult standpoint.

I would recommend that, whatever your children read or view in the media, you should be viewing or reading it with them so that you can engage them in critical discussion, teaching them to think critically, by asking, "What message do you think the author of this story is trying to get across?" "Can you see how the way the characters are portrayed is designed to arouse your sympathies for the hero—whether that hero is good or bad in the sight of God?" "What do you think God thinks about what that character did?"

[jasonmodar]

I am not familiar enough with Harry Potter to be able to say what the purpose of the books may be. Since the author is no Christian, it is clear that the books were not written to promote Christian thought. I have always suspected that they may have been written to create a thirst for occult power in their young readers, but I may be way off. I only know the author was not guided by Christian motivations in writing.

I'm not interested in exploring or defending whether or not JK Rowling possess genuine Christian faith, but to say her novels lack Christian thought and motivations isn't true. Here's a link to an article that addresses the Christian imagery in the HP series: http://www.mtv.com/news/1572107/harry-p ... n-imagery/

[TK]

I certainly agree about the Golden Compass books by Pullman. They are very well written, in my opinion, but they are not for children. His mindset is decidedly not Christian.

The "pass" I give to the HP books is that the characters are born magical (like Gandalf); it is not something they acquire by study, and there is a strong demarcation between "good wizardry" and the "dark arts." There was even a class "defense against the dark arts." That being said, I do see why Christians find it objectionable.

[darinhouston]

This is a subject I've struggled with. My son is also a voracious reader. We let him read the first couple of HP books, which were way better and more age appropriate than the movies. I do think I heard that Rowling was a Christian, however. Starting with the third, it just was a bit dark for a young one. I have spent a lot of time at the library looking for series that are appropriate. It's shocking to see how many "good" books are full of mysticism and magic. Not the HP type - I can't explain the difference, but my spirit revolts at much of it and it's not just "fantasy" and silly magic. I have found a couple of excellent series that I can recommend. One is The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson by a Christian song-writer who has a real gift for language (I recommend his music as well). The other is secular, but seems pretty good and focused on valor and character building. Ranger's Apprentice series -- there's another series following that one called The Brotherband Chronicles which looks equally good.

Good luck.'

Maybe we should start a list.


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[backwoodsman]

I'm not interested in exploring or defending whether or not JK Rowling possess genuine Christian faith, but to say her novels lack Christian thought and motivations isn't true. Here's a link to an article that addresses the Christian imagery in the HP series: http://www.mtv.com/news/1572107/harry-p ... n-imagery/

The last line of the article is quite telling: "I go to church myself," she declared. "I don't take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion." She considers herself Christian because she goes to church, and considers those Christians who object to her work to be the lunatic fringe.

At the height of the Harry Potter frenzy, about 12 years ago, I heard Rowling interviewed at length on Moody Radio. In spite of the host's best efforts to cast her and HP as Christian, I heard nothing that led me to believe she or HP could be considered Christian as most here understand the term. To the contrary, she seemed to lean mostly on her church attendance and basic familiarity with Christian ideas and terms, and the host tried hard to shoehorn her and HP into a Biblical Christian context.

Some may remember that, around that time, some Wiccan witches objected to Harry Potter because they said it contains real witchcraft that's inappropriate for children. In contrast, Tolkien, Lewis, etc. are completely made-up fantasy.