Heart Reflections Live
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Shocking Barna Study on Christians & Harry Potter
I enjoy perusing different magazines, published by different churches to see what is happening in different parts of the body of Christ. An article in the latest Queensland Baptist publication contained statistics that disturbed me greatly.
Barna studies report that 77% of church-going teens & born-again Christian teenagers have seen or read Harry Potter.
12% said that Harry Potter increased their interest in witchcraft.
Only 4% said they'd received any warnings or information about witchcraft through their churches- how poor is that!!
Why don't so many churches today use the the Scriptures as they are meant- not just to encourage the flock, but to rebuke, warn & chasten when necessary too.
2 TIM 4: 1-4: " I charge thee therefore before God, & the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick & the dead at his appearing & his kingdom; Preach the word;be instant in season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, & shall be turned unto fables."
The Bible is full of warnings on witchcraft. And the type of magic portrayed in Harry Potter has been drawn from Wiccan. Fiction based on fact can be very real, so it really can't be laughed off as fantasy.
LEV 20:6 says, "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people."
I have heard so many reports from different parents, who have said that their children started to display, out of character rebellious behaviour, straight after reading a Potter book, or watching one of the films. Not all media with a witch or wizard in has to be avoided, especially if the magic is accurately portrayed as evil, & the evil one gets their just desserts. That can be a good teaching principle for children. But Harry Potter is very different, as the hero is indulging in the magic, and the hero is usually the one children emulate.
But while I do believe that churches should be warning people about witchcraft & using God's Word as a measuring stick for any media the family endorses, the real responsibility for teaching these things, must come back to the parents, sharing these facts with fear & trembling before a Holy God. When children learn from an early age the importance of measuring everything by God's Word, & see their parents faithfully doing the same & not just being Christians on Sundays, the impact can be enormous.
With the exception of a parent reading Harry Potter to check it out & to see if claims like mine are true, I really don't believe Harry Potter should have a place in any Christian home, especially not one that takes God's Word seriously.
Barna studies report that 77% of church-going teens & born-again Christian teenagers have seen or read Harry Potter.
12% said that Harry Potter increased their interest in witchcraft.
Only 4% said they'd received any warnings or information about witchcraft through their churches- how poor is that!!
Why don't so many churches today use the the Scriptures as they are meant- not just to encourage the flock, but to rebuke, warn & chasten when necessary too.
2 TIM 4: 1-4: " I charge thee therefore before God, & the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick & the dead at his appearing & his kingdom; Preach the word;be instant in season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, & shall be turned unto fables."
The Bible is full of warnings on witchcraft. And the type of magic portrayed in Harry Potter has been drawn from Wiccan. Fiction based on fact can be very real, so it really can't be laughed off as fantasy.
LEV 20:6 says, "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people."
I have heard so many reports from different parents, who have said that their children started to display, out of character rebellious behaviour, straight after reading a Potter book, or watching one of the films. Not all media with a witch or wizard in has to be avoided, especially if the magic is accurately portrayed as evil, & the evil one gets their just desserts. That can be a good teaching principle for children. But Harry Potter is very different, as the hero is indulging in the magic, and the hero is usually the one children emulate.
But while I do believe that churches should be warning people about witchcraft & using God's Word as a measuring stick for any media the family endorses, the real responsibility for teaching these things, must come back to the parents, sharing these facts with fear & trembling before a Holy God. When children learn from an early age the importance of measuring everything by God's Word, & see their parents faithfully doing the same & not just being Christians on Sundays, the impact can be enormous.
With the exception of a parent reading Harry Potter to check it out & to see if claims like mine are true, I really don't believe Harry Potter should have a place in any Christian home, especially not one that takes God's Word seriously.
Labels: admonition, Barna Studies, Harry Potter, witchcraft
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 9:38 am
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