(This is one of the many emails we receive each week. I believe the question and my response are pertinent concerning this important issue.)

Mallary,

I appreciate you writing and am interested in expressing a couple of things and having your thoughts in return. If you have taken the time and effort to read hundreds of pages of Harry Potter books, I hope you'll take time to read and study what I will share with you here. Thanks for hearing me out.

You see, if you are a bible believing, born-again Christian (the only kind according to the Bible, <John 3:3-7>) then you and I are going to be in Heaven together some day. Knowing that and knowing that the Bible clearly and expressly teaches that our allegiance is to be to God and Him alone, you need to recognize that I am not the enemy. I am just someone who's been called by God to sound warnings, do spiritual warfare and try and alert the Church and the world about some of the many growing deceptions that the enemy of our soul is attempting to trap folks in today. I have been doing this for the past 17 years now, the same number that you have been alive.

Next, I am glad that you claim Christianity as your faith. It is an awesome responsibility to both proclaim and then walk each step daily under the banner of Christ. His Lordship is one of sacrifice and victory that was won through the shedding of His own blood. We, as Christians, need to take this very seriously and in reverent awe that He would lay down His life for we sinners.

Next, we need to examine what the Scripture tells us about Harry Potter. Of course Harry Potter is never mentioned outright, but the entire theme of the Potter series is. Some lift Harry up as a great role model just because he has a sort of endearing character and overcomes adversity, allegedly with "good". However, it seems obvious that in the rush to accept Harry as mere entertainment or as a role model there is a gaping ignorance of Scripture. Satan is surely gleeful to see we humans operate on emotions, follow the crowd and allow icons like Harry Potter to distract us from God's perfect will and holy standards. No matter how big a fan we might be of anything, as Christians our decisions to favor something should be and must be dictated by Scripture.

I'm glad that you and the majority of Harry Potter fans are NOT going to become witches or warlocks. However, for the Christian that is not the main concern.

Deuteronomy 18 gives us absolute and undeniable direction concerning the occult. Verses 9-12 state:

"When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices donation or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you."

This passage (and others) confirms one thing: God's complete disapproval of the acts and persons who practice occult arts.

Maybe this doesn't connect with you and though I don't want to make this email into an essay, its important stuff and since you took the time to write, I need to respond appropriately in hopes that you'll see things in a different light, read the Scriptures yourself and then pray and follow what God has clearly outlined. There IS indeed a spiritual war being waged for each of our souls and as Christians, we need to have a crystal clear picture of the two opposing sides. It is a great responsibility we have as His children to be certain that we are consistent in our walk and not siding with the Evil One. Sometimes this means we need to make changes in our lives, homes and attitudes. But when we are convicted to do so, we need to remember that God NEVER tells up to avoid something (like He did in this passage or for example, in the Ten Commandments) because He's some sort of mean cosmic killjoy. He warns us what NOT to do because He loves us and because He wants the best for His kids.

For the Believer, Harry Potter - and other entertainment and books that glorify occult practices, witchcraft and sorcery - is off limits but its not my opinion that counts. It is God's. Here in Deuteronomy 18 God calls the occult, witchcraft and those who practice magical arts "detestable". The King James Version of the Bible uses the word "abomination". The Hebrew word "Tow`ebah" is used here. It literally means "wickedness". That's the strongest possible word God uses in the entire Bible for condemning something.

Earlier, in Deuteronomy 7, God instructs the Israelites to never bring "accursed" items into their homes. He calls these items "Cherem" in Hebrew. That means, "items irrevocably devoted to the glorification of demonic ideals…accursed…detestable…" Why? Because the presence of these things make us "unclean". In our New Testament day, it's just not our physical home that God is concerned with in this way. It is our hearts.

Scripture leaves no doubt about where God stands on occult practices and occultists. How can we claim the joys, benefits, and the salvation Christianity offers in good conscience if we attempt to mix darkness with the light of Christ in us? Above all, to enjoy the unsurpassed personal intimacy of close communion with God, it takes surrendering those things that would hinder His work in us. This is why the Apostle Paul writes, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (a demonic 'god')? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.' (II Corinthians 6: 14-18)

Are you getting the picture why I am down on Harry Potter now?

"It's only entertainment…"?

Often people say, "but I'm NOT an occultist...I just like being entertained by books, TV shows and movies that focus on supernatural themes, occultism and witchcraft..."

You need to consider Romans 1 and Ephesians 5 before believing that this lets you off the hook and gives you the go-ahead to just fill your heart and mind with anything you like. Yep, I know, its a free country and yes, people can do what they want to do, but if you see somebody getting ready to accidentally fall off a bridge you want to do everything possible to stop them before they go over the edge - especially if they are about to fall into Satan's arms by surrendering themselves to his will. As troubling as it is to see our society inundated and enamored with the occult, it is tragic that so many who name Christ as savior would sooner defend a boy-wizard than follow God's Word.

Mallary, mark this; the time is coming when we will decide which side we are on. The extreme fascination with occultism and the demonic supernatural today are surely indicators of the massive desensitization the world is undergoing with but one purpose in mind - the introduction and acceptance of the coming Antichrist someday in the not-to-distant future. Harry Potter is but a small, yet important part of Satan's overall plan to capture the hearts of men, women and children and to blur the lines which God has clearly proclaimed in His word which divide truth from lies, Heaven from Hell.

Romans 1:28-32 is very important to understand concerning what we applauds and accept into our lives, "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."

What verse 32 is saying is that though we are not actually involved with something which God clearly disdains (such as witchcraft) yet we approve of it, defend it, and do not speak out against it then we might as well just become a full-fledged practicing pagan ourselves and stop beating around the bush. The occult is completely in opposition to God. We know it is totally from Satan's camp and 100% out of God's will, yet we lift up Harry Potter as a role model? How can we when millions around us will spend eternity in Hell because of the very things J. K. Rowling has built into her hero character? A great example of Romans 1:32 in action is this...a man caught in the trap of watching pornography, is actually the same in the sight of God as those who are PERFORMING the sexual acts. That makes it pretty plain and blunt doesn't it?

Ephesians 5:10-11 says:

"…and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

This must to be our position about the occult - including Harry Potter. I know that many Christians - including some pastors and leaders - disagree with me. That's OK. I believe with all of my heart - based on Scripture - that they (and probably you) just simply do not understand the severity of the issue nor the perfect will of God concerning this as given by Scripture.

Sure Harry fights evil with his magic but is he fighting evil or has Rowling simply constructed a very entertaining and popular ruse instead? To quote Anton S. LaVey, author of the Satanic Bible and Pope of the First Christ of Satan "There is no such thing as "white magic", it's all BLACK!"

That's pretty telling isn't it?

So as Scripture instructs us "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16) And in Jesus' own words, "a man who isn't with me, is against me." (Matthew 12:30) How can we claim to be "Christians" and say that we love Christ, while idolizing a boy wizard named Harry? As much as the world and many Christians do not like it, that's a pretty clear definition of "right and wrong" Mallary. Frankly, isn't Harry Potter a sort of "spiritual pornography" which alienates us from the truth of God, gives us a false hero and furthers the acceptance of witchcraft (for children no less) in a society already awash with satanic occultism?

It is my hope and prayer you decide to follow Christ completely and break the grip that Harry Potter seems to have on your life. As I said in my book, "Entertaining Spirits Unaware" Harry Potter may be one of <if not> the most attractive tool Satan has EVER USED to induce an entire generation to view the occult in an acceptable light.

Serving Christ, because the truth sets us free…

Read more from Eric's book Entertaining Spirits Unaware

Read more about Harry Potter