Christians and Children’s Books
December 9th, 2006 by Stephen
Harry Potter has been around for many years now, and we probably have all come to some conclusions about its merits, both in terms of quality of fiction, and on how Christians should respond to it.
“The moral stance is reassuringly strong” purred the Daily Telegraph review on the back of one of the books. And in some sense, that is right. These are not merely pattern-based morally-neutral books.
Indeed I am in possession of a Bible Study that uses the issues raised in “Harry Potter”, and then explores them further (including the issue of rule breaking - and whether the book seems to encourage this). The intent of the study is to take unchurched young people where they are at, and then to explore these issues from a starting point with which they are familiar. That does not condone the books - although I did enjoy them very much (despite their flaws). It does show that one can use such material to benefit a group.
A trilogy I read a few years ago that I find much more troubling was Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy. Those books were overtly anti Christian and had a questionable moral message. I also disagreed with reviewers who felt the writing was particularly good - I found the characterisation was weak, and the style occasionally rather stilted, although they were rather imaginative works.
Where I found the books particularly troubling was in the occasional repetition of old fallacies that are occasionally thrown at the church (such as the idea that the church has throughout its history been responsible only for repression of progress and acts of great evil). It was the way these ideas were assumed to be true that troubled me most - because in Children’s literature, the readers might unconciously add those assumptions to their belief system, without any critical appraisal.
But what would be my response to the “His Dark Materials” trilogy?
I think it might be much the same as Harry Potter. Where I know young people have read the work, I would want them to discuss the ideas therein, and think through why the author believes the Church is so authoritarian, and where have there been problems in the Curch? and whether the author is correct in his own assumptions.
We cannot stop young people from being exposed to these ideas, but we can sit down with them and guide them as they think through important issues. As such, Harry Potter is an excellent starting point, because it does at least start with a very clear moral message.
Another response, of course, is to write, or encourage other Christians to write fiction that is as good as that under discussion - and never to forget that a good book should tell the reader something beyond the story.
