LAST MONTH, a media furor erupted over a declaration by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling that one of her characters – super-wizard Dumbledore – was gay. Overlooked in all the controversy was another, more spiritually significant revelation, made during an interview with MTV.com.  The author affirmed that Christianity was one of her major inspirations.

“Breaking her silence on the much-debated question as to whether religious themes permeate her books, Rowling confirmed that they echoed her personal struggle with faith,” said Telegraph.co.uk, adding: “She was open about the Christian allegories in her latest book.”

Rowling said she had deflected questions on the issue in the past, to avoid giving away plot points. “To me, the religious parallels have always been obvious. But I never wanted to talk too openly about it, because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going.”

The Telegraph noted that in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment in the series, there are specific references to Christianity, life after death and resurrection.

Continue article >>

At one point, Harry visits his parents’ graves and finds biblical passages inscribed on their headstones. “They are very British books,” Rowling said, “so on a very practical note, Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones. But I think those two particular quotations he finds . . . they sum up, they almost epitomize, the whole series.”

The Telegraph also stated that Rowling, who was brought up an Anglican and is now a member of the Church of Scotland, said she still wrestled with the concept of an afterlife.

“The truth is that, like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes that my faith will return . . . On any given moment, if you asked me if I believe in life after death, I think if you polled me regularly through the week, I think I would come down on the side of yes – that I do believe in life after death.

“But it’s something I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that’s very obvious within the books.”

– Dan Wooding / Assist News Service

November 2007