Harry Potter is both an implicitly and explicitly Christian series

Thank you for your arguments! It's been a good debate so far, so thanks! I'm going to take some of your quotes here in order to rebut them. "By saying that, you are stating that those themes are strictly Christian themes when they could also resemble other theme's of seperate cultures around the world-Catholic for example. That religion closely resembles Christianity, except they honor their saints more than we [I'm assuming you're Christian] sterotypically do." Catholicism is a branch of Christianity and is not separate from Christianity, but rather was the initial Christian church before others branched from it. I am Catholic AND Christian. The themes are explicitly Christian AND Catholic. Christianity teaches of an objective morality, which Rowling evokes in her novels. It evokes explicitly Christian values, as does My Little Pony (I assume, I've never actually seen it). My Little Pony is not implicitly Christian, however, which is where the two differ. Aesop's Fables were actually used to teach explicit Christian values by monks at one point: [http://journeytothesea.com...] Both My Little Pony and Aesop are explicitly Christian, even if not intended to be by their authors. However, Harry Potter was intended to be explicitly Christian, as J.K. Rowling stated: "To me [the religious parallels have] always been obvious" "I gave never read a Fantasy novel in my life where the theme wasn't "Good VS Evil"--I can honestly say this is also a common theme for Fantasy series or novels, and a good plot." This is a fairly true point. However, Good vs. Evil is an explicitly Christian idea and was intended by the author to be so. From a Christian perspective, the entire idea of a good vs. evil struggle comes from religion. However, this point may not hold up with voters that aren't Christian. "On tombstones, Bible quotations are common if the corpse in him/her's living time was Christian, meaning that if some characters in Harry Potter are Christian, who can limit all the possibilities about a character's religion? For all we know, Voldemort could've been Jewish." Yes, from a practical standpoint, the quotes were there because the dead were Christian. However, Rowling has stated that these quotes also epitomize the series [1]. If the series is epitomized by Christian quotes, it must be, to some degree, explicitly Christian. These quotes also serve as an explicit representation of the implicit themes of the series, demonstrating that the series shows that love is treasure, and that death will be destroyed. Also, Voldemort was not Jewish. He didn't even HAVE a nose. No, just kidding, that isn't why he wasnt Jewish. He demonstrated qualities that defied any morally upright religion, like Judaism. So he is not Jewish. "I actually have to agree with you that Harry Potter is implicitly Christian-themed because of the similar themes, so on. But just because it has Bible quotes it doesn't mean it's strictly Christian and could have Catholic, Jewish, even Buddhism values about being good." This was the part where I talked about what the quotes meant to the series. Their implicit value much outweighs their explicit value. At first, without reading book seven, the values demonstrated by the characters could have possibly been Jewish or Buddhist, although they were more Christian than either of those. However, book seven, as Rowling says [1], solidified the fact that this was a Christian series. "Fawkes the Pheonix represents the innocence of Harry Potter, not the symbol of Jesus. When Fawkes burst into flames it meant Harry was maturing--such as in Dumbledore's office where he learns an important life lesson. When he flies out after Dumbledore dies this represents that Harry has learned that the world is truly cruel and must be strong to deal with it--a thing that we all realise wheb childhood comes to an end." I think Fawkes is a symbol of Harry in general. Yes, you are probably partially correct on the above. However, his sacrifice for Dumbledore evokes Harry's later sacrifice, which evokes the sacrifice of Jesus. The Phoenix has also represented Christ in Christian art and other allegories [2]. " There are so many assumptions that I am slightly confused. Like I stated above, this is a common plot for Fantasy novels, Mrs. Rowling just added her flair which happened to be very close to The New Testaments in the Holy Bible. I really cannot argue on this point because of plots, so on so forth." The ending of the seventh novel VERY closely resembles Jesus' death, and in my opinion is a bit too close to be a coincidence, especially after Rowling admitted the Christian symbolism in her novel. Harry willingly sacrifices his life for his friends, comes back to life (after destroying something evil that inhibited his friends' ability to win the overall battle against true evil) and his friends are protected afterwards. Harry's love saves his friends, as in Christian teaching, God's love saves all of humanity. I'm not sure how this is a common plot for fantasy novels, the only one I can think of with a sacrifice and a Resurrection is Narnia, an obvious Christian allegory. I stand by my assertion, HP is explicitly and implicitly Christian. [1] http://www.mtv.com... [2] http://www.lsusfw.org... Sorry for the weird way I do sources. Your turn!