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| I can't wait
to tell a home-schooling Christian
friend of mine about your book.
(But it's Sunday morning, so wait
I will,) Loving Harry Potter has
been her guilty little secret
for years and I am sure she will
be as delighted as I am with your
thoughts. And, believe me, your
book gave me goosebumps in many
places, even though I am not a
Christian. I'm Jewish--and not
even a Messianic Jew. But as a
student of literature myself,
a lover of Harry Potter and a
spiritual person in my own way,
I am thrilled with the consonance
and clarity of your thesis. I
became turned off to literary
scholarship in graduate school
because it was used by so many
small-minded people to attempt
to tear down the great works.
But your book fulfills T.S. Eliot's
dictum that criticism should be
"a work of art to a work
of art." Thank you, thank
you, thank you! Ricki 9/10/06 |
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| I apologize
if I'm a little pushy or even
annoying but when are we going
to get more information on your
three new books? I'm just so excited
to see new material from you on
Harry Potter and the literary
influences and Christian content.
Any word on the exact release
dates of these books? Johnny
9/2/06 |
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| I have read
both editions of Looking for God...,
have made it required reading
for my son's homeschool English
class, and given it to all my
anti-HP friends. Kristy 7/29/06 |
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| Mr Granger,
seek the Lord's guidance through
prayer and through His Word. (Prov
3:5) Allow Him to be the light
in your life. 2 Corinthians 11:12-15
describes you perfectly! Answer
me this: What if you have been
deceived? What if you are wrong?
What if you are an instrument
of satin (sic) himself? According
to the Word of God (2 Cor 11:15),
you will be punished. Greg
4/7/06 |
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| My name's Chris
- I'm a 21-year-old teacher education
student from Sydney, Australia.
I thought it was about time
I got in touch with you to say
thanks for putting Looking For
God in Harry Potter out there.
My pastor and I came across
your book (or, more accurately,
the CD audio version) at my
local Christian bookstore early
last year. To be honest, I wasn't
expecting much - the Christian
commentary on the Potter books
that I had read previously had
been insubstantial at best -
but my pastor and I were in
the very early stages of planning
a HP-themed holiday kids program
for our church, and the CDs
were going cheap, so we each
bought a copy.
I got home, left the CDs on
my desk, and got on with whatever
I was getting on with that day.
But then, not two hours after
I'd arrived home, I got an excited
call from my pastor - "Chris!
Have you listened to any of
the Granger book yet? It's BRILLIANT!
This guy knows all the classics
and he\'s talking about alchemy
and... [insert a solid thirty
seconds of the singing of your
book\'s praises here]."
So I hung up the phone and
threw the first disc into my
computer. By the end of the
day, I had listened to the whole
book, and was definitely inclined
to agree: FINALLY, here was
an intelligent Christian critique
of the Harry Potter series.
Chris 3/17/06 |
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| I've found
your insights into Harry Potter
very helpful, and it was your
original article, "The Alchemist's
Tale", from Touchstone Magazine
that launched me into the world
of Hogwarts - a world I've left
only briefly in the past 2-3 years.
I've since read your book and
various other articles, all of
which I've found to be quite stimulating.
Joe (Pastor, Christ Church)
1/27/06 |
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| I've found
your alchemical arguments about
Harry Potter to be fascinating.
I'm a professor of Renaissance
Literature myself, and the good
thing is that even when you are
wrong, you seem to be wrong for
the right reasons, if you follow
me. I can't see how you could
possibly have been more vindicated
by the White Tomb chapter that
ended HBP. Melissa 12/8/05 |
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| I just bought
your book and found your website.
I am fascinated by all your analyses
and thoughts. I don't know how
I feel about all of them but they
are well presented. I have enjoyed
the Harry Potter books since I
discovered them just before book
4 was published. I am a conservative
Christian, who at first had to
"be in the closet" about
my friendship with Harry. Then
I realized something. As I am
not ashamed of my relationship
with Christ, I am not ashamed
of my enjoyment of these books.
I found much of virtue in them.
Scott 9/24/05 |
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| I'm thoroughly
enjoying your book, "Looking
for God in Harry Potter,"
although parts of it challenge
me to think more deeply about
the Harry Potter books than I
have -- but that's a good thing!
I actually purchased it to donate
to our church library to balance
the current information there
about the Harry Potter books,
but am reading it myself first.
Tim 1/6/06 |
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| Your writings
have been very helpful to my understanding
and appreciation for Rowling.
I love the genre. As a child,
I spent every night, just before
bedtime, sitting on my parents'
bed, listening to my read to me
stories of Narnia, and sometimes
of Middle Earth. I certainly see
Rowling in this tradition, thanks
in large part, to your work. I
wonder if you know of any good
resources for helping me to
think about how Rowling's works
might be useful in working with
children who have experienced
a great deal of loss and grief
in their lives. Many of these
children have identity issues,
anger issues, emotional and
relational issues -- all like
Harry.
FYI, I'm an ordained minister
in the Presbyterian Church in
America and a chaplain at XXXX
Hospital in XXXX.
William 9/26/05 |
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I found
your description of the Albedo
phase qualities completely enjoyable.
While I had some understanding
of how this was Rowling's white
work, your essay provided me
with a much more detailed sense
of this alchemical phase. It
was super organized and lucidly
argued. I liked how you tied
Ron's impromptu snow effect
in Charms, as well as all the
booze and tears information.
Very helpful and strongly supported.
As not even the most casual
churchgoer, I'm not familiar
with the phrase Double Natured
King, and assume that it describes
the God-Man condition. These
days so much seems to have occurred
in the name of religion that
runs contrary to my understanding
of religious values, that it
leaves me with instinctive anti-Christian
bias. While I realize that this
isn't fair or informed, it's
a sort of red state blue state
case of nerves from which it
can be difficult to detach.
Nancy 2/21/06 |
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Thank you
so much for giving me the tools
to understand the symbolism
I already sensed existed within
the "Harry Potter"
books. I have re-read all six
books in a new light and with
new understanding, and I have
you to thank for so much enlightenment.
Brad 1/29/06 |
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I have really
enjoyed your books. It has been
really nice to find out I am
not crazy as a Christian ( M.A.
Theology Fuller Seminary) who
not only likes the Harry Potter
books but sees some real quality
there. What a wonderful surprise
to read your interpretations
and find this whole wonderful
Inkling world opened up.
Sally 9/27/05 |
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| Thank you very
much for your book. It was a great
read, and it was nice to have
some information to reassure me
that Harry Potter was most definitely
not anti-God or Christianity.
I am both a Bible College student
and an avid reader of Harry Potter
and have often found it hard to
communicate to some of the anti-Harry
people (most of whom have not
read the books) that this these
books had good morals and ideas,
so thank you. Annalise 9/28/05 |
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