And here we go! The very first set of notes, from the very first day of class on February 2nd. I have done a little bit of rearranging because some of these don't make much sense out of context, but I will only remind you that these are just my notes. Sadly, I am not the teacher, but rather just a lowly student trying to gain knowledge. Also it will be good to note that I did not take many notes this first day because a lot of class time was just spent going over the syllabus and taking care of class business.
I will also take the time to point out that these notes (as a whole or in part) may not in anyway shape or form reflect the views held by Union University, myself, or any other party mentioned within. These notes are also my intellectual property and may not be copied or reproduced in any form without written consent from me.
NOW! Without further adieu, here are my notes.
This course is going to be taught from the perspective that Rowling is a Christian and her books are obviously Christian books.
Rowling said that she has been asked many times if she believes in God, but never asked if she believes in Jesus. And she said that she does and that her books are all about Christian doctrine
Harry Potter is all one book with one story but all broken up into smaller bits, much like Tolkien. Tolkien didn’t know the overall story, but knew the details. Rowling knew the story but not the details.
This is going to be an evangelism class. Christians didn’t know what to do with Harry Potter because they don’t know what the Gospel is any more. Christianity is on the decline and we have forgotten the what the word of God really says.
Why do we tell stories as humans? It deals with our spirituality. All humans are spiritual, but not Godly. You can have spiritual stories that don’t have “Christian” or “Godly” answers.
Augustine wanted to know what kind of God exists. St. Augustine rejected God because he couldn’t believe in a God that was physical. The Manichean way of looking at the world says that the sun is a triangle that god looks out of to look at the world. The moon goes through phases as it fills up with souls of the dead and is dumped out when it is full. St. Augustine was influenced by the Manichean, but he rejected it because of the “modern science” that disproved it. (Edger Allen Poe had a theory about a “big bang” but it wasn’t given much thought during his time. But he was right, in that, the universe did indeed have a beginning rather than just always existing.) Augustine heard the preaching of Ambrose, and explain how the Bible describes God in poetic metaphors. At this point, Augustine was converted. His conversion had nothing to do with his knowledge of whether or not Jesus died for his sins. That wasn’t his turning point. We all have different turning points, so we can’t have an overarching formula for conversions like “Jesus died for your sins, so you should get saved."
America has many questions, so there isn’t any ONE answer that will solves America’s questions.
St. John opens his book with explaining what kind of God there is. Paul does the same thing with the alter to the “unknown god”.
Harry Potter will be used as a diagnostic tool to assess what spiritual issues people are going through. Each of the characters has different issues that they go through at different times.
You don’t have to “create” a “spiritual conversation, all you have to do is find God in whatever you are watching or reading. We are what we watch and read. So find out what people are watching and reading, then find God in it, and witness to them through that.
All the house are named after great wizards of old. Our house names are Moses, Elijah, St Patrick, St. Anthony, St. Paul, St. Peter, Elisha. (I'm in Elijah)
The power of tradition is to stop something and never let it change.
V. B.
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