In our reflections I found an association between The Book of Job and Harry Potter. Dumbledore played God and Harry was Job. The books show us the power of faith over cynicism. Like Job, Harry questioned his superior and never conformed to the beliefs and criticism of others. Harry had been faced with many challenges in his first 6 years at Hogwarts but his 7th year was the end of his suffering. The 7th year showed Dumbledore’s plan come to fruition just as God’s plan did for Job. After reanalyzing the events of the series I noticed there is truly only one person whose story resembles Harry’s. Although they share different worlds, Jesus is the closest biblical figure whose story template is similar to Harry Potter’s. The Gospel of Matthew …show more content…
The King then ordered the slaughter of infants but Jesus remained hidden by his parents, and taken to a safe place. In Harry Potter, the main antagonist (Lord Voldemort) learns of a boy whose power would be far greater than his. He took matters in to his own hands and set out his minions on a mission to kill the child. He soon came face to face with baby Harry in Godric’s Hollow but failed to kill him. Afterwards Harry was taken far away ¬¬to live with his muggle (human) Aunt and Uncle, and far away from the magical chaos stirred by Voldemort. Jesus and Harry got that first taste of good and evil (Hitchens …show more content…
A baptism symbolizes admission in to the Christian church. In Matthew 3:13-17 we are witness to Jesus’s admission, as if he need one. John had already known who Jesus was. Below is their conversation.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
In this short reflection paper I will be comparing the movie, “The Brook Ellison Story” and the book, “The Book of Job.” Both of these magnificent stories are highly respected by the public and they both give wonderful example of M.R. DeHann book, The Broken thing: Why we suffer. Some of the things that will be disgusting in this paper is a summary of both of these wonderful stories, how four out of the seven main questions for my search for meaning class best relates to both of these stories, which three out of ten “Key Principles of Catholic Social Teachings” closely relate to the two stories, and how both of these stories answer the question, “Does God Exist?” which is a popular fundamental question that was asked frequently in Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator book, Theology: Brewed in an African Pot.
The Book of Job is one of the three books in the Hebrew bible whose genre is described as wisdom literature.1 Certainly the Book of Job satisfies the literary conventions that qualify a biblical book for such status. 2 Yet Job may be associated with wisdom in a much more literal sense. The Book of Job attempts to deal with a problematic question that confronts suffering humanity: why do bad things happen to good people? The variety and vehemence of commentators' contemporary responses to this chapter of the Bible is testament to the continued relevance of the Book of Job's wisdom thousands of years after it was written. Although the commentators examined herein arrive at differing and sometimes conflicting conclusions after reading the story of "the holy Arab"3, none are left indifferent.
Two weekends ago, I found myself accidentally proving the old theory that Harry Potter is a gateway drug to the wider world of serious literature. Standing in the very back of a gigantic horde at my local bookstore at midnight, wedged into a knot of adolescents reading People magazine through oversize black plastic glasses, I picked up and nearly finished a great American superclassic that I’d somehow managed to avoid for my entire life: Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Under normal circumstances I would have been perfectly happy to go on ignoring it—the paperback had an unmistakable high-school-syllabus stench about it—but I was bored to death and the aisles were clogged with potbellied wizards and it was the only readable book within arm’s reach. A few pages in, I found myself hooked. By the time I got to the register, I was three-quarters of the way through (just after—spoiler alert!—Lennie the man-child mangles the bully Curley’s hand) and all I really wanted to do was finish it. But the employees were all clapping because I was the last customer, so I closed Steinbeck right on the brink of what felt like an impending tragic climax, took my Potter, and left. Ironically, this meant that Of Mice and Men was now suspended at roughly the same point in its dramatic arc as Rowling had suspended the Potter series before Deathly Hallows. So I went home and conducted a curious experiment in parallel reading: a two-day blitz of 860 pages, with a pair of nested climaxes—one hot off the presses, one 70 years old.
He then heard the voice of Elisha, telling him to come through. He heard the singing of the congregation. Elisha said, “Rise up, rise up, Brother Johnny, and talk about the Lord’s deliverance” John has been saved and exaltedly claimed, “Lord, I been introduced to the Father, and the Son, and I ain’t no stranger now!”
If it isn’t clear the gospel is evident in Harry Potter, by the seventh book it should be evident. There is a scene in the book (which was left out in the movie) where Harry reads on Dumbledore’s mother’s tombstone “Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” This inscription comes directly from Matthew 6:21. Another direct source from the bible is found on the tombstone of Harry’s mother stating "And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death", 1 Corinthians 15:26.
When asking whether the Harry Potter series is a Christian work or not it is important to clarify what exactly the determining factors are that deem something a Christian work. This is difficult though because there are so many broad examples of Christian works and allegories that have been written and no direct outline to clarify which is which. What are evident in Rowling’s series though are the distinct Gospel themes portrayed. Ideas such as those who are weak slowly...
(From the Greek expository dictionary)- ?It is used in the NT in Luke 11:38 of washing oneself (as in 2Kings 5:14, ?dipped himself,? Sept.); see also Isa. 21:4, lit., ?lawlessness overwhelms me.? In the early chapters of the four Gospels and in Acts 1:5; 11:16; 19:4, it is used of the rite performed by John the Baptist who called upon the people to repent that they might receive remission of sins. Those who obeyed came ?confessing their sins,? thus acknowledging their unfitness to be in the Messiah?s coming kingdom. Distinct from this is the ?baptism? enjoined by Christ, Matt. 28:19, a ?baptism? to be undergone by believers, thus witnessing to their identification with Him in death, burial, and resurrection (e.g. Acts 19:5; Rom. 6:3-4; 1Cor. 1:13-17, 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Col 2:12). The phrase in Matt. 28:19, ?baptizing them into the Name? (RV; cf. Acts 8:16), would indicate that the ?baptized? person was closely bound to, or became property of, the one in whose name he was ?baptized.?
What a glorious and at the same time, mysterious occasion…. the Son of God coming to be baptized by a “sinner prophet.” Yes, John preached repentance, but was not excused from his own need of repentance. Jesus, the spotless, sinless, Lamb of God, fully divine, and yet fully man, comes for baptism.
Within the ritual of baptism, these three stages can be clearly outlined. The first stage of the ritual process, separation, consists of the detachment of an individual from their previous condition, status, or state. In the stage of separation, individuals are separated physically or socially from those who are not participating in the ritual. In the example of Jesus’ baptism, Jesus approached John the Baptist in the River Jordan to be baptized. By physically separating himself from the people on the land and joining the group to be baptized in the water, Jesus detached himself from the structures and values of society, choosing instead to repent, “radically transforming his status, rendering him marginal, an outsider.” Similarly, individuals that are baptized in a church are separated from the group prior to their baptism as individuals that are no longer participating in the “adulterous and sinful generation,” but are not yet initiated as “those who lose their life for [Jesus’]
The power of water, a meek and gracious force, as illustrated in the Bible is the source of life and fruitfulness. The prayer has different sections to articulate the overall purpose of baptism, beginning with gratitude and recognition of God’s omnipresence, the prayer then references from the Old Testament, as the church has seen in Noah’s ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism. As the water of baptism gives new life, the crossing of the Red Sea, the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, proclaims the liberation wrought by baptism. The final reference to the Old Testament is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the people of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants, an image of eternal life. All the Old Covenants prefiguration’s find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ begins his public life after being baptised by St. John the Baptist in the river of Jordan. After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." To fulfil all righteousness, Jesus’ submissive baptism by John the Baptist, is a gesture of
Within the book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling, characters and stories between Voldemort and Harry’s continuous struggle allude to stories from the Bible. Voldemort, who represents the evil in the struggle, fights against Harry Potter, who is the “good” representative within the book. In the fight against Harry, Voldemort has a pet snake by the name of “Nagini.” Nagini, at one point in the book, possesses over a good character in the book, Bathilda Bagshot. Bathilda is an author and a historian, who Hermione and Harry trust and visit. Bathilda eventually dies and the evil snake, Nagini, uses her body to attract Harry and Hermione. Nagini eventually reveals itself through Bathilda’s body and attacks Harry. However, Hermione
In the Gospel of Matthew, John didn’t want to baptize Jesus. He claimed that Jesus should be the one baptizing him and not the other way around. Jesus answered “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). John gives in and baptizes Jesus. Right after Jesus was baptized, the spirit of God descended to Jesus in
Baptism is introduced in the Gospels when John the Baptist begins his ministry as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance for Jews; he preached a simple message to the Jews that they were to repent of their sins in preparation for Kingdom of God and the coming of the Messiah. In Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus comes down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Christian water baptism is an ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ. If it is not important in the plan of God, why did Jesus command it in Matthew 28:19? And why did Peter follow up by saying, "Be baptized every one of you," and by commanding the Gentiles to be baptized (Acts 2:38; 10:48)? We must remember two points about the importance of water baptism. First, whatever Christ definitely established and ordained cannot be unimportant, whether we understand its significance or not. Second, Christ and the apostles showed the importance of this ordinance by observing it. Jesus walked many miles to be baptized, though He was without sin, saying, "For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (See Matthew 3:13-16.)
Aberforth, caught him and dismissed him at once. Unfortunately, Snape did not hear the whole prophecy, and when Voldemort was told, Harry was his next target. Realizing what Snape did to himself, he rushed to Dumbledore, the wizard that Voldemort feared, and begged to save the Potters. Snape had an immense love for Lily, Harry 's mother. Snape gave up his loyalty to Voldemort for Lily’s protection. Snape then became entangled in being a spy for Dumbledore on Voldemort. The night when James and Lily Potter were killed, was the night that Snape vowed to protect Harry, for his love for Lily. Harry had love, something Voldemort never had. Tom Riddle, Voldemort 's original name, was conceived under a love potion. In the Wizarding world, this leads to a child that feels no