Looking for God in Harry Potter - a Book Review

Is Author John Granger Just Trying to Grasp the Elusive Golden Snitch?

As the title suggests, author John Granger is looking for God in the Harry Potter series. Although Granger makes some astute, well-considered, even tantalizing points, he often appears to be stretching as much as Harry himself trying to grasp the elusive Golden Snitch. In Granger's case, it is corroboration from J. K. Rowling that he is actually on the right track which is elusive.

The book would make a wonderful teaching aid in assisting young readers to find Biblical parallels in the Harry Potter books, but instead of presenting his provocative ideas as possibilities, Granger assumes the voice of authority as he makes declarative statements like, "Given the many clues in names, words and events that Rowling has given us to point us to Griffindor house as God's Army and Slytherin as Satan's servants, we can rest assured this is edifying reading for Christians." However, unless he has personally spoken with Rowling, the author is assuming he knows something nobody else knows.

Granger makes several attempts to position Rowling in the same category of writers as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien who use internal "pretend" magic to represent our relationship with God as opposed to those who practice the occult who call on forces from without. He points to the what he claims are vital difference between "invocational" magic (to call in) and "incantational" magic (to harmonize), saying the magic of Lewis, Tolkien and Rowling is of the "incantational" variety.