I am thankful to Vision Forum friend Carmon Friedrich for pointing out the Web debate between Berit Kjos and John Granger, author of Finding God in Harry Potter, a man with whom I was unfamiliar at the time of writing my own article on the Harry Potter phenomenon.
I invite my readers to visit the Web sites of both Berit Kjos and John Granger so they can form their own opinions. In my personal view, Kjos offers a helpful, blow-by-blow critique of the book Finding God in Harry Potter. Granger offers an immature, vituperative response replete with ad hominem against Mrs. Kjos. Most importantly, his anger toward her opens a window into his opposition to Evangelical and Reformed Christianity which he openly mocks:
Kjos’ Biblical Christianity, as it is Ms. Kjos’ private understanding of scripture removed from the tradition of the Christian Church and answerable only to her understanding as an individual reader, has little if anything to do with the faith of Christians. Her use of proof texts about magic (and dictionary definitions) as litmus strips by which to gauge the edifying quality of literature in the name of Christ and His Church point to her strictly legalistic and self-justifying reading of both fiction and Holy Writ — and to the Pharisee’s and Islamic fundamentalist’s use of God’s Word. I do not mean to chastise Ms. Kjos for her limited understanding of Christian tradition and of scripture, which is no doubt a reflection of her education and capabilities; I am obliged to point out to readers who may think her opinions have weight outside her own home that when she writes “Biblical Christianity” she means only “Berit Kjos.”
Though I soundly disagree with what appears to me a very immature personal attack on Mrs. Kjos, I do thank Mr. Granger for demonstrating that theology truly does have implications for literary analysis. Mr. Granger is a devout member of the Eastern Orthodox Church (and he links to Eastern Orthodox Web sites) which claims historic exclusivity as the original and faithful Church of Christ and emphasizes the heavy use of icons and mystical theology in its worship and doctrine. Even a superficial reading of his material reveals keys to the philosophical influence of his theology on his wholehearted acceptance of promoting “good” witchcraft as a means of teaching Christ. Mrs. Kjos, on the other hand, is a Bible-believing Christian with similar theological premises as the Reformers who emphasized the doctrine of the “priesthood of the believer” and the “sufficiency of Scripture,” both of which doctrines Mr. Granger rejects. It is not suprising that Mr. Granger’ icon-intensive theology of worship and religious mysticism provide a unique vision of literary interpretation that elevates Harry Potter series to the status of “explicit and implicit” Christian literature, while Mrs. Kjos’ premise in the “sufficiency of Scripture” does not.
With this in mind, I want to step back from the Kjos/Granger debate to make a broader point about literature and syncretism with witchcraft:
There has always been a profound tension within the broad camp of those who call themselves Trinitarian Christians between the cultural syncretists and the biblical presuppositionalists. Syncretists seek to wed paganism with Christianity. Biblical presuppositionalists reject the myth of neutrality, and, consequently, seek to build culture (including their theories of literature) from the ground level up on the Word of God. The result of the former is a pagan/Christian hybrid. The result of the latter is biblical holiness and Christian culture.
Syncretism always leads to pagan/Christian hybrids—-the very sort of relationships of which much of the Old Testament is dedicated to denouncing. In their most diabolical forms, these syncretistic hybrids include the unabashed integration of witchcraft (i.e. Vodoo) with Roman Catholacism, like Santeria (in Haiti, Louisiana, Florida, Brazil, etc.). Biblical Presuppositionalists reject integrating witchcraft and paganism with Christianity in the real world, and in any allegorical world which man might devise for literary purposes.
P.S. This just in from a Vision Forum Reader: “Berit Kjos is one of the most sincere and Godly women I have ever met. I have corresponded with her from time to time over the past several years. Her book, Brave New Schools, documents quite nicely the problems that a secular humanism school system generates.”