Is The Half-Blood Prince A Christian Film?

by Chris Bodenner

David Waters rounds up some "surprisingly positive" reviews for the latest Harry Potter movie:

"As 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' opens, we are once again reminded of the characteristics that make him something of a Christ figure," Connie Neal writes for the evangelical Christianity Today.

"It is more likely that at the end of the viewing or reading, rather than the allure of magic ... what remains are the scenes that evoke values such as friendship, altruism, loyalty, and the gift of self," wrote L'Osservatore, the Vatican's semi-official newspaper.

Even Focus on the Family's pluggedin finds something redeeming: "Harry, whatever his faults, embraces such unglamorous words as 'duty,' 'responsibility' and 'sacrifice.'"

(This, of course, after many fundamentalists initially forewarned their flock of J.K. Rowling's occult themes, notably in this famous scene from Jesus Camp.) CBN's Gina Burkart examines the film's Christian themes at length.