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Harry Potter: Harmful or Helpful?
Martine is a 16-year-old girl who has recently become a witch. The young girls' magazine Sugar (June 2000) described her as "no ordinary girl - she has magical powers". It recounted how she had decided to find out about Wicca (the witches' religion) after seeing the film The Craft - the story of a group of girls who become witches.
Martine is not alone. The Pagan Federation of Great Britain reports that up to 100 young people each month ask them how they might become witches - and they are sometimes swamped with calls from teenagers.
Many of these young people, like Martine, say that they have been influenced by examples of witches, magic spells and other manifestations of the occult in modern films, TV, magazines and books - of which there are many.
In the cinema, the film The Craft told the story of Sarah, Nancy, Bonnie & Rochelle. They are four girls who find that they don't fit in with the tightly-knit student body at St Benedict's Academy, but learn that being an outsider has its own kind of power - when they begin to cast spells.
On TV, Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a popular children's programme based around a young girl who is learning to use her magical powers. Another TV favourite, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, characterises Willow, in a much more serious programme that tells of a world which is infested with vampires and demons. Willow is one of the close friends of Buffy, a young girl who is a slayer of demons and undead creatures.
On the magazine rack witchcraft is increasingly featured in publications for young people. Mizz, a magazine read by girls aged 10-14, has included a regular section called 'Spooky', featuring 'cut-out-and-keep' spells. One edition (12th July 2000) described a spell to find something that was lost. Light a yellow candle and an amber incense stick, it says, and chant "spirit of the amber, angel of the light, find the missing object, bring it to my sight". The young readers were warned that they should always place the candles in proper holders - so their fingers don't get burnt. But it failed to warn them against what else, other than the missing object, may be summoned by their chanting. In the same month Go Girl, a magazine read by 8-12 year-olds, featured an article on how to read palms and described, "The Psychic Cross… if it touches the fate line you could find yourself working full-time with the spirit world, maybe as a medium or psychic healer."
On the bookshelf no one can have missed Harry Potter - the literary phenomenon of the late 20th century, authored by JK Rowling.
JK Rowling is a gifted writer who has produced arguably the greatest achievement in children’s fiction since Enid Blyton. Here are stories that seek to blend some of the best elements of Blyton’s storytelling with the escapism and heroism of Tolkien – exciting adventure stories set amidst the romance of boarding school, close childhood friendships in the face of insurmountable difficulties, and a fantasy world of magic and mystery against a backdrop of hard and unappealing reality. They are well written, almost completely lacking in sexual themes – at least in the earlier volumes - and with comparatively little of the usual crop of bad language present in so many books. Thousands of children who would normally choose the flicker of the television over the printed page are hooked. These are not small books – in fact, the Goblet of Fire runs to 734 pages - yet children are reading them!
Children are not the only happy ones. Educational bodies all over the world have been delighted to discover readers in the midst of our non-book culture. Retailers and publishers are over the moon: Harry Potter has become a multi-million pound industry, with merchandising, movie contracts and future releases in the anticipated seven book series netting a sizeable fortune for the author. In 1997, the first edition print run of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was 500 copies; in its first print run, there were one million first edition copies of the fourth part, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. By November 2001 more than 116 million copies of Rowling's books had been sold in 200 countries in 47 languages. The first movie grossed £90 million on its release weekend. It is big business from which everybody seems to benefit.
So why all the fuss? Why have Christian groups in the UK and the USA objected to their inclusion in the school curriculum? Should we not be grateful that Ms Rowling has enriched our children with good literature and given them a new appetite for books? After all, USA Today has described the bespectacled, orphaned victim of cruelty as “the soul mate of millions of children around the world”.
Are the Potter books simply harmless fantasy novels? Should we buy them or ban them? Will our children be left out or teased if they are prevented from reading them? How, as parents and Christians, should we respond?
I have now read all five of the Harry Potter novels so far published. I did so not simply as a concerned parent and, I hope, a responsible pastor, but in order to weigh the phenomenon for myself rather than relying on reactionary second-hand opinion. My prayer is that the following thoughts will highlight issues and underscore some of the principles we must consider.
Some Bible Principles
Objections to the Potter phenomenon generally have nothing to do with the literary merits of the four books published thus far. They certainly have nothing to do with the helpful themes of friendship, mystery and adventure. Those who have enjoyed series such as Blyton’s, ‘The Famous Five’ or ‘The Secret Seven’ will rekindle many old emotions in reading Harry Potter.
In short, there are two issues with which certain people including many evangelical Christians take issue: magic and morality.
Morality
The main thrust of this article deals with the theme of magic that is a constant in Harry Potter, yet the Potter books raise other concerns in addition to the overtly and covertly spiritual.
Themes of inspiring friendship may be very real, as may the seeming ongoing triumph of ‘good’ over evil. However, a major difficulty with this series is that the moral ambiguity of the principal characters is not only tolerated but approved, with lies, deception and disdain for authority present in all four novels. The Potter books clearly teach that obedience to rules or morality is required only when such obedience serves you best.
If Harry or his friends regretted deception, or were punished for it, it would set a moral tone that lying and deception are wrong. But Harry and his friends often get away with their pranks, receive light consequences, or are even rewarded for their disobedience. In fact, at the end of one of the books, Dumbledore (the headmaster) tells Harry and Ron, "I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules". Then Dumbledore immediately says, "Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words.... You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and ... two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor". This final result teaches that the ends justify the means; moral behaviour is approvingly set aside if certain results are achieved.
It seems that the only characters concerned to be bound by their morality are painted as evil (Professor Snape), prudish (Hermione) or obnoxious (Rita Skeeter). The character presented as the father-figure and most affable moral compass in the books is Professor Dumbledore, a powerful wizard, who rewards or overlooks Harry’s blatant disobedience on several occasions, and states in the fourth book: “It is my belief… that truth is generally preferable to lies”. Generally?
In the first four Harry Potter books Harry is not taught so much to do moral good, as he is to control his powers. Even in using his powers for a heroic act, Harry practices deception and disobedience on an almost constant basis. Morality is irrelevant as a value in itself; what matters is that the ends justify the means. This kind of compromise is accepted, even lauded, in a world where there is no absolute good or evil.
Harry is not quite the picture of a moral hero. In fact, Prof. Snape says it best when he states: "But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself…Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to with no thought for the consequences."). If Harry had remorse, apologized, or learned lessons from his actions, it could serve as an illustration for children that one must act ethically and morally, even when it is difficult to do so. But these books do not teach that.
Harry rarely feels remorse for lying and deception, and if he does, he ignores it; he often seems to enjoy being deceptive; he rarely suffers the consequences; and the authority figures themselves sometimes reward him despite this behaviour. As parents, such ‘morality’ should trouble us.
Magic
Harry Potter is a magical boy living in our non-magical society, yet his world co-exists with a secret wonderland of spirit-folk, faeries, and wizardry. The seven intended books chronicle his voyage of discovery of this hidden world of power and excitement, while displaying the benevolence and desirability of magical craft.
Despite the literary merits of Harry Potter, Scripture condemns witchcraft and magic in all its forms. The Old Testament forbids divination, sorcery, interpreting omens, witchcraft, casting spells, being a medium or spiritist, or consulting the dead (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:9-14). Those who used the services of mediums and spiritists faced God's judgement. In Leviticus 20:6 the Lord declared that he would set his face against anyone who did so and equated it with prostitution (see also Nahum 3:1-4). The Bible plainly teaches that turning to occult practices is a deliberate rejection of God (Isaiah 8:19-22; 47:8-15).
The New Testament is also clear that occult practices are incompatible with the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21; Acts 8:9-13; 13:6-12; 19:18-19). The reason is the same - trusting in spiritual powers other than the Lord. The early church - like the Old Testament - recognised that real, evil spiritual forces were very real (Jeremiah 27:9-10; Acts 13:10).
For the bible writers, evil was a spiritual reality, not just a sociological aberration. It has its origin not in human weakness, but in a person that the bible describes as the Devil.
Most folk today sneer at the idea of the devil. He is depicted in the popular press as ‘Old Nick’, the pitchfork wielding, bearded buffoon with horns and clad in a red body suit. To some, he is a figure of fun, to others he is the object of patronising scorn, and to yet others he is merely the figment of an overworked or an overactive imagination.
Not so the biblical texts - they describe him not as a force or a principle of evil; not as the dark side of human nature – the little man who sits on the opposite shoulder to the winged & haloed voice of conscience to deceive & tempt you. Rather, he is a real creature – a spiritual being of immense power. He is a personality & intelligence – a being with intellect, will & emotions. One who thinks & feels, hates & despises, and one whose purpose is to deceive mankind.
The bible says that the devil has great power – it calls him the strong man, the god of this world, and the prince of the power of the air. The Apostle Paul says that he is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Elsewhere he is described as the great dragon, and his ultimate purpose is to lead you blind & bound into hell itself.
It would be lovely to be able to dismiss the devil as being a medieval fairy tale to frighten children or a groundless horror story to pack the pews with the gullible & fearful; the Bible thumper’s bogeyman who can be consigned to the Dark Ages with all of his hellfire threats of damnation. However, in reality, he is viciously malevolent, utterly ruthless, and frighteningly real. The bible tells us that we ought not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices.
Such concerns may seem reactionary or hyper-sensitive to modern society. After all, these are only children’s books! What harm could they possibly be?
Harmful or Helpful?
In a July 2000 Associated Press article, Rowling stated “I truly am bemused that anyone who has read the books could think that I am a proponent of the occult in any serious way. I don’t believe in witchcraft in the sense that they’re talking about at all.”
We need to be careful of painting Rowling as a closet High Priestess of the Official Church of Satan. She appears to have no such affiliations, nor a secret desire to deliver small children, Hansel and Gretel-like, into the waiting arms of slavering devil worshippers. However, we must recognise her for what she is. Rowling is the product of a society that believes magic, demonology, Wicca, and séances to be completely harmless. It is likely that she is simply the product of our post-Christian and postmodern society unaware of the inherent dangers of her writing.
Rather than unguarded condemnation, we need as parents and as Christians, to ensure that we have all of the facts at our fingertips in our discussion of the Potter phenomenon. The cause of the gospel is neither served by sensationalism or by comments made in ignorance, nor is it by Christians who prefer to avoid contemporary culture rather than engaging in dialogue with it. We need to understand the principles behind any disagreement we may have, as our generation is sure to produce other works of literature and cinema that will trouble us.
Discussion about the Potter novels has become very emotive, and many careless things have been said by unthinking Christians in their desire to speak about them. We must, as Christians, have something to say here, but we must always be Christian in how we say it. We must remember that many people have good reasons for wishing their children to enjoy the Potter novels – encouraging their reading, developing their imagination, appreciation of exciting stories, peer pressure, and so on.
Few parents will have seriously thought about the negative aspects of the books, and fewer still will recognise the potential dangers. We must be respectful and kind in our conversation, seeking to communicate concern rather than blanket condemnation. Raising specific concerns about storyline and content is far better than a display of emotive revulsion. We must ensure that any criticisms are factual and clearly understood rather than second hand, and those concerns must be made in a measured and Christ-like manner.
If there is an enemy in the Potter phenomenon, it is not Joanne Rowling or Bloomsbury – we are engaged in warfare with spiritual forces seeking to overshadow Christian values and virtues on every front of society. We must be careful not to demonise individuals, instead we should pray for them.
As a child, records her friend Vikki Potter in the Electronic Telegraph dated July 1, 2000, and again in the Discovery Channel documentary entitled ‘The Real World of Harry Potter’, Joanne Rowling is described as having been obsessed with dressing up as witches in childhood games. This enjoyment of the ‘deliciously mysterious’ continued into the author’s adulthood. She has no belief in a personal devil, nor a world of dangerous witchcraft, and is ignorant of the foolishness of toying with things clearly forbidden in the Word of God. The question of whether Joanne Rowling has a philosophical agenda is impossible to decide. God alone is able to judge motive and intent – we must simply live with the ripples of her writing. She may not be an avowed Satanist, but she is an explorer in things beyond her knowledge and as such, is a willing participant in the unbiblical exploration of others.
Joanne Rowling has extensively researched the material for the Potter novels, and although she claims two thirds of her material to be mere invention, the remainder has its base in very real occult practices and history. The author’s research has clearly led her to examine numerous occult texts and works exploring dark spiritualities, as many parallels to genuine occultism are laced through her work. Doubtless her undergraduate studies in mythology at Exeter University have contributed much. This article would be much longer if I were to include that material which parallels actual occult practice – it can be examined clearly in Richard Abanes’ expose “Harry Potter and the Bible” published by Horizon books.
Neither Ms Rowling nor her publishers, Bloomsbury, in any way suggest that Harry Potter is a vehicle to promote witchcraft. J K Rowling said in an interview (Guardian Weekend Magazine 8th July 2000) that, 'The two groups of people who are constantly thanking me are Wiccans [witches] and boarding schools... I'm not with either of them.'
In a WAMU radio interview with Diane Rehm on December 24, 1999, Rowling was at pains to dismiss and trivialise parental concerns over her books, and describing genuine belief in the danger of magic and occultism as comical. (www.wamu.org/dr/shows/drarc_991213.htm#tuesday).
Nevertheless, I believe we must bear in mind the assertion of Lindy Beam from Focus on the Family:
“Any time the dark side of the supernatural world is presented as harmless or even imaginary, there is the danger that children will become curious and find too late that witchcraft is neither harmless nor imaginary. In a culture with an obvious trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology, parents need to consider the effects that these ideas may have on young and impressionable minds”.
Many adults dismiss this, wishing to ascribe a greater level of discernment to our children. Laudable though that may be, it simply does not square with the facts. J.K. Rowling herself has stated in an interview with Newsweek's Malcolm Jones (‘The Return of Harry Potter!’ Newsweek, July 1, 2000, page 4):
“I get letters from children addressed to Professor Dumbledore (headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the book's setting), and it's not a joke, begging to be let into Hogwarts, and some of them are really sad. Because they want it to be true so badly they've convinced themselves it's true”.
Such children may be few in number, but there are far more whose reading and exploration may lead them to discover practices and beliefs of a more sinister nature.
In the year 2000 the Pagan Federation in the UK stated on the This is London website that they had received “a flood of enquiries following the success of the Harry Potter books”. Their media officer, Andy Norfolk stated: “In response to increased inquiries coming from youngsters we established a youth officer… It is quite probably linked to things like Harry Potter, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Every time an article on witchcraft or paganism appears, we have a huge surge in calls, mostly from young girls”.
Stephen King is an internationally acclaimed writer of horror and supernatural fiction. He has authored many disturbing books with occult themes. Writing in the New York Times Review of Books (“Wild about Harry,” July 23, 2000) King said that the Potter series, which he loves, would provide children with a good introduction to his own gruesome and demonic horror novels when they are old enough to read them.
Such quotations should disturb us. Yes, Harry Potter is just a story, but stories can teach and influence. Stories can present ideas and endorse worldviews. As Christian parents, school governors, teachers and others in contact with young people, we must pose serious questions. Does this book desensitise children to the occult? What happens when they get older and encounter peers who practice magic, cast spells, and attempt spirit contact? These practices are becoming more popular, and are already widespread among adolescents, with booksellers carrying a whole line of tarot cards, ‘fun’ spell books, and introductions to Ouija.
Books with spells are easy to find at any bookstore, and even easier on the Internet. Silver Ravenwolf, a witch, has written several books aimed at teens, including 1998’s Teen Witch, which sold so well that bookstores could hardly keep it on the shelves. Teen Witch and other similar books are full of instructions for casting spells, and are available in British bookstores. Whether these spells work or not is beside the point; casting spells and sorcery are occultism and clearly forbidden by God (Deuteronomy 18: 10-11; 2 Kings 17:17, 20:6; Isaiah 47: 10-15; Malachi 3:5; Acts 8:11, 13:6; Revelation 18:23, 21:8).
It is pointed out that Harry Potter represents good fighting evil, and therefore, in the context of fantasy, this is okay. These views, however, raise several questions: Is the sorcery and magic in Harry Potter just fantasy? If not, are fantasy stories using children involved in occultism a model for healthy reading? Is it Biblical to accept the use of “good” magical power if it is used to fight evil? Is there such a thing as “good” sorcery? Any popular children’s book offering a hero who practices the occult arts warrants careful examination and a Biblical response.
In light of God’s word, how should we view a book where the hero is learning sorcery and which teaches the very principle of “white” magic and witchcraft? If a Christian thinks it is okay for Harry to do “white” magic, then can he/she tell a witch in all sincerity that “white” witchcraft is wrong? Accepting Harry Potter as a fun hero for children surely makes it somewhat hypocritical for us to criticise contemporary witchcraft, Wicca, and white magic.
Concerns
Television schedules aimed at young people and children often carry inappropriate themes, but recent years have seen an unhealthy increase in programmes such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Goosebumps and others. Like them, the Harry Potter phenomenon portrays witchcraft, occultism and the world of spells and charms as a game to be played. Far too often, it blurs innocent looking fantasy with real world occult principles.
The repeated incidence of ‘familiars’, in the form of rats, owls and cats, the presence of disembodied spirits of the dead, and the celebration of Halloween equally with Christmas all present disturbing elements in the Potter novels. In the third book Harry is taught by a werewolf to conjure up a Patronus, or guardian spirit to protect him against evil. The episodes of possession experienced by Harry’s divination teacher and an 11 year-old Ginny Weasley (Book 2), the presence of tangibly demonic dementors (“glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water … they glory in decay and despair… sightless, soul-sucking fiends”), and the trivialising of palmistry, fortune telling, crystal gazing, and the mapping of astrological birth charts by children, all of which appear in the third novel, are hardly harmless.
Ghosts populate the first book. Each of the four houses at the Hogwarts school has a resident ghost. Also, it is in this book that Harry appears to see his dead parents in a special mirror and communicates with them. The mirror is explained by Dumbledore as something which “shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts”, which leaves the question open as to whether Harry really saw his deceased parents. Nevertheless, how will young children interpret this? It is most likely that a child will take this literally, and believe Harry could see his parents, especially since the parents respond. God forbids spirit contact and contact with the dead (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6; Deuteronomy 18: 10-11; Isaiah 8:19); we are told that the dead have departed to either be with Christ or be in a place of suffering and cannot be contacted (Luke 16: 19-31; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23).
In our culture, we have mistakenly accepted fictional “friendly” or humorous ghosts (think of Casper the Friendly Ghost). This has desensitised us to God’s commands against spirit contact and communication with the dead (Deuteronomy 18: 10-11; Is. 8:19), so that we substitute fiction for truth or downplay the idea of belief in ghosts. Children are often confused about ghosts and whether real people hang around after they die. According to the Bible, this cannot happen, and it is wrong to contact the dead, yet this book promotes the view that it is both possible and a good thing.
Perhaps the most disturbing of all of the novels is the fourth in the series, the Goblet of Fire. Its images are harsher, its themes more violent, and its overall tone is significantly darker than the previous three novels. Here we have the dead returning to speak encouragement to Harry as he battles his enemy, newly empowered by the crushed bones of the dead, the warm blood of the living, and the freshly severed hand of his servant. Harry’s clairvoyance is more obvious in this book, and sexual innuendo is more apparent.
Revolving Doors to Narnia?
But, hasn't literature always drawn upon tales of witches and the supernatural? Haven't previous generations read or listened to such material? Why should today's young people appear to be affected so much?
Of course, we must remember that many of the folklore tales in history have witches and brutal storylines – Cinderella, the Grimm fairytales, et al. Rather than belittling the influence of the Potter books by comparing them favourably with other folk myths, we need to recognise a subtle shift between Potter and the rest of the genre.
There is, I believe, a significant difference between the world of Harry Potter – identified as the real world in which we live, and the worlds of Tolkien and C S Lewis – worlds completely disassociated from reality. Many dissimilarities exist: Rowling's stories—unlike Lewis' or Tolkien's—are neither a Christian allegory, nor do they subscribe to a consistent Christian worldview. Secondly, the Potter novels are far more brutal and graphic in their descriptions, and thirdly, we live today in a culture that glorifies and promotes witchcraft and the occult. We must recognise that our world is far more open to alternative spiritualities than that of Lewis and Tolkien.
Whereas in Tolkien, Lewis, and other fairytales, witchcraft and evil are shown to be dangerous, frightening and to be avoided, the Potter books make no such absolute moral judgement. While evil is identified, it is in relativistic terms rather than absolute terms. The Rowling worldview presents and popularises magic as morally neutral. It is not that magic is to be avoided, rather that its use should be directed to ends that promote the common good.
This philosophy of magic is most plainly displayed in the fact that the wands of the hero, Harry Potter, and the arch-villain Voldemort, have at their core feathers taken from the same source – a phoenix owned by the benevolent headmaster Aldus Dumbledore. The suggestion is clear – magic is morally neutral until misused. In fact, the world view of Harry Potter is that magic is both desirable and exciting – only when bad people pervert it should we be wary.
If you open the Bible, we find quite a different story. Nowhere in God’s word is magic, witchcraft or spell casting seen as harmless. Nowhere are such practices dismissed as fairytales belonging to a less enlightened age – they are very real and very dangerous.
We are not in a world where witches are crones with black robes and pointed hats or where wizards and sorcerers exist only in Disney movies. We are in a world where ordinary people – lawyers, cleaners, administrators, retailers, et al.- seriously practice witchcraft, sorcery, spells, and other occult methods.
The face of neo-paganism has undergone a makeover in recent years. It is no longer seen as essentially secretive or morally objectionable. Well-designed websites that are graphically attractive, beautifully presented, and coherently argued, offer a 21st century spin upon ancient pagan religions. Paganism is popular nowadays. Wiccans or Druids bless football stadia, officiate at recognised religious gatherings during Midsummer, Halloween and other wiccan Sabbats, and are increasingly integrated into the mainstream of rural British life.
Technological Britain is entering into a new Dark Ages. For all of our factual knowledge we are ignorant of spiritual realities and susceptible to all manner of influences. Ms Rowling may not lead our disbelieving society en masse into card-carrying Satanism, but it has its guard lowered and its flanks exposed to harmful deceptions and ungodly practices that increasingly blind it to the truth.
Our 21st century culture is post-Christian. Christian faith is presented as a dry dusty relic of a past age. Therefore people who are interested in spiritual issues do not readily go to church - but do turn to the apparently powerful New Age or other practices they see demonstrated in the popular media.
The worldview underlying our culture is post-modern. People simply assume that there is no one truth, and that we must all be free to do whatever we want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. It is not surprising, then, that a post-modern generation is immediately attracted to the Wiccan Rede (the main tenet of the Wiccan religion) which says, 'If it harms no-one, do what you will'.
Our culture is web-wired. In past generations a child who became interested in witchcraft would not know where to find out more. Now that child can access thousands of websites promoting anything from witchcraft to blood-letting techniques - just a few clicks away from sites about Sabrina, or Buffy or Harry Potter.
So how do we respond?
Principles, Prayer and Preaching… ?
Are we prepared to pre-screen or pre-read material about which we have doubts? Are we committed to discussing with our children the content of what we read and watch? Surely our desire as parents is to raise discerning children? If so, it is essential that we become discerning parents.
Perhaps you should acquaint yourself with one or more of the Potter novels in order to be able to help your child. We need to be able to give examples of where the Potter novels are unbiblical and to explain why the bible is against some of the things in them, both from a moral and spiritual perspective. Our children need reasons, not simply prohibitions.
Do we pray for our children? Daily they are bombarded with a secular world-view that is scientifically, philosophically, and educationally antagonistic to Christian faith. Daily they assimilate the mindset of the culture around them. Do we pray that God would lead them not into temptation and deliver them from evil?
Do we teach our children Christian principles? Deuteronomy 6: 6 & 7 speaks of the Living God commanding his redeemed people to worship together as families. In the context of loving the Lord your God with all your heart, & all your soul & all your might, we have a command to teach our children diligently, & to teach them daily of the things of God in the home. We are to do it in the morning, in the evening, and spontaneously when we are sitting or walking.
In Proverbs 22: 6, the wisest man in the OT, Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said, 'Train up your children in the way they should go, & when they are old, they will not depart from it'. Now as far as you & I as Christian parents are concerned, that will mean teaching our sons & daughters how to pray, how to read the Scriptures, & how to worship God aright in the context of family devotional times. It will also mean bringing them under every opportunity to meet with the people of God. If our children see that we are happy to meet only occasionally with God’s people then they will learn the same patterns of behaviour. If we attend only one service on the Lord’s Day, they will grow up feeling the same lack of desire. Our children need more than that – they need regular exposure to truth, life and vibrant fellowship. If we are in a battle, is it responsible parenting to hold back from them spiritual weapons of defence and attack?
The practice of family worship runs right through the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. Over & over again there are examples or exhortations to worship. The oldest book in the bible is the book of Job - here we find this upright man leading his family in daily devotions. Abraham was called the friend of God - yet when he & his wife went into the Promised Land, wherever they pitched their tent, they raised their altar & engaged as a couple in family prayers.
Consider Jacob - we read that he prayed with his sons. Joshua declared, 'as for me & my house, we will serve the Lord'. David & Solomon prayed & worshipped together. Hezekiah taught & prayed with his son Manasseh - even though Manasseh went off the rails, he later returned to the God that his father had worshipped with him.
In the New Testament, we read of Mary & Joseph taking the boy Jesus to the temple to worship; and we have the testimony of Timothy, who learned the things of God from the knee of his mother Eunice, who in turn learned them from her mother Lois.
Such examples are provided to encourage us! In closing, I leave you with the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, that pastor & preacher who set London aflame with the gospel:
"I have not the powers of speech, with which to set forth the valuation of the choice blessings with which the Lord bestowed on me, in making me the child of a son of parents who prayed for me, & prayed with me."
Our desire as Christian parents must be to introduce the Lord Jesus Christ as “the soul mate of millions of children around the world”. May God help us to be wise as we work to those ends.
