My good friend Alycia wrote a post about Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. I totally disagree with her. I was just going to comment, but then it got too long for a comment and I thought that I would post my beliefs about this.
Now I know Alycia and she is not trying to push her beliefs on anyone. She is really trying to become what God wants and she really wants to do what is right and Biblical. So I applaud her for that. I know how hard it is to do.

Here is what she said:

Alycia:
Please take no offense to what I am about to say. I hope that we can still be friends when I am finished with this!! LOL!!

I would be very careful not to say “God has shown me” something. B/c then you are saying that since God showed you this, then who ever disagrees with you is not in the will of God or listening to Him.

Also check out these verses to see what they say.

Genesis 44:5
This is actually about Joseph. The servant who found his cup in Benjamin’s bag said that about Joseph. Since the Egyptians didn’t believe in God, and they used diff gods to predict their futures, they thought that Joseph’s God was just like theirs. They did not know anything about Yahweh. They thought that he used the same kind of witchcraft they did.
The only reason it says, “You have done evil in so doing” is because he was telling Benjamin that it was evil to take his cup, so that he couldn’t predict the future of Egypt.

1 Samuel 15:23
If you read ALL of this verse then you will know that it is not talking about witchcraft, but rebellion, stubbornness, direct disobedience and rejecting God’s will.
This is after King Saul kept the Amalekite alive and some cattle after God had specifically told him to kill EVERYONE and animals.

Ezekiel 13:20
God is talking to the false women prophets that are ensnaring His people. Not just witchcraft in general.

Acts 19:19   (I would read before this to get a feel of what is going on.)
You need to go back and read why they did all of this. They didn’t just decide, “Hey let’s go burn all of our incantation books that cost millions!!” or “Let’s use our books to keep the town square warm” They were convicted of the witchcraft that they were doing and realized that they had no power. The real power was of Jesus, and they saw what happened to the man that falsely used the name of Jesus.

Deuteronomy 18:10
This is God’s call for a holy life. He is telling his people what they need to know about this. They just got out of Egypt and He knew that they were going to go to the false religions. He wanted them to know what was right and wrong.

When reading the Bible you CANNOT take it out of context. You cannot just read a part of a verse to mesh with what you are talking about. You HAVE to read all of it.

I do believe that God hates witchcraft/magic. But I do not believe that Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia are evil because of the magic they use in them.

We as a family and I personally have studied the movies, books and authors. Now if you have not read the books you cannot judge them. The movies are different than the books. The producers have changed the stories. And if you have not studied or at least looked into the authors lives or beliefs, you cannot say that they are evil for using magic in their books.

In the books there are no spells used by the Good side, only the Evil sides uses them to their advantages. You have to realize that in Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia that the “magic” they use is from good. That is not what happens in Harry Potter or Star Wars. In Harry Potter and Star Wars, both the good and evil use the SAME magic. There is no distinction between them.  That is why our Littles are not allowed to watch Star Wars. They cannot tell the difference between the good side and the evil side.
My Mother has watched Harry Potter, for the sole purpose of knowing what it was about, so that if anyone questioned or told her how good it was or about not letting us watching it, she would know what to say and what to believe or to contradict what they said that was untrue or ungodly. And she watched it for the same reason of which I just stated about Star Wars. But she found out that it was soo UNGODLY and evil. That she didn’t want us to watch it. We also have rented a dvd from the library entitled, “Discovering the REAL world of Harry Potter.” And we did watch that. All of the games, spells, school anything and everything that is in Harry Potter comes from actual witches practices. There is a real game like the broomsticks one they play, the spells they use are actual spells, the school they attend is actually based on a “haunted” school in England that J.K. Rowlings went to. There was a real life witch that actual did human sacrifices at the school. So this is not just out of someone’s imagination. She based this on everything that a witch does.
If you watch/read Harry Potter you need to ask yourself,” Do I want that spell that Harry just cast on me??” “Do I even know what the real meaning of that spell is??” I am almost scared to watch it. Who knows what I could be opening myself to. I am not one who get scared Spiritually a lot, b/c I know what I believe and I know that I am covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ, but like Alycia said, we cannot subject ourselves to this kind of stuff.
There are many Christians that watch and read Harry Potter that think it is no different than Lord of the Rings. That is soo wrong.

Let’s take a look at the authors and what they believe.

C.S. Lewis:
He was a Christian. He says that he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia as an allegory to the Bible. So anything that is in it, is in the Bible.

J.R.R. Tolkien:
He was a Catholic. He was best friends with Lewis and they helped each other with their works. He said that Lord of the Rings was not an allegory, so that no one could say that he used someone else’s work. Lewis influenced him. His wife was a protestant.

J.K. Rowlings:
Practiced wicca as a teenager, and no doubt still does. Based Harry Potter on a boy she knew as a teenager who was a witch. Hogwarts School is based on a English school that is supposedly haunted. Has spell books that accompany Harry Potter. Uses real spells in her books.

Now do you think that Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia are evil?? I think not.

Here is a thought:
In the Bible, didn’t the Pharisees and Sadducees think that Jesus was evil b/c they thought He practiced witchcraft/magic. They thought that the miracles he performed were in fact works from the Devil.
So therefore the Devil uses magic and witchcraft. Now if you were writing an allegory to the Bible, you would have to use witchcraft and magic in it. That is exactly what Lewis and Tolkien have done in their books.
The Simarillion (which is the shaping of Middle Earth and comes before Lord of the Rings) is just like Satan being thrown out of Heaven and the Creation.

Some people say that children should not read the Bible b/c of the adult elements, i.e. murder, s*x, adult content, etc. And since the Bible also talks about witchcraft, should we not read it?? I think not. We have to know what we are up against and that there is magic, witchcraft, evil etc that is real in life today.

I went to the Webster’s 1828 dictionary to see what the definition of witchcraft is.
    Witchcraft: The practice of witches, sorcery, enchantments. Intercourse with the Devil.

Now going to back to the Genesis 44:5 verse, do you think that Joseph was in cahoots with the Devil?? Well that is what the Egyptian was saying. So obviously he didn’t know what he was talking about, since I HIGHLY doubt that Joseph was.
 
So then after I looked up witchcraft I had to look up witches.
    Witches: A woman or man who by compact with the Devil practices sorcery, and enchantments.

I do not think that Lewis or Tolkien were in cahoots with the Devil when they wrote these extraordinary books. They were showing us that magic is evil, it was in the Bible, and that it does exist and that whoever uses it is not Good.
You need to do some research on the authors. See what they believed.
 
I would like to recommend some books that will help you understand Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. The way the Hollywood portrays things are not always the way they are intended to be.

Finding God in Lord of the Rings -Kurt Bruner & Jim Ware
Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues -Mark Eddy Smith
Finding God in the Chronicles of Narnia -Kurt Bruner & Jim Ware

This post has something to do with the upcoming Witches holiday, All Hallows Eve, but to get a better insight on it check out these post, More on Halloween and Satan’s holiday… or as we call it in America…Halloween.

Be sure to check out the links on this post too, but not with out permission. They are actually wiches websites. But it gives the reason for All Hallows Eve, what they do on that day, and all sorts of other things to that effect!!

Well Alycia I hope that we can still be friends and I hope I have given you a better understanding about Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter.
©AmandaDixon2006

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Commented by Jocelyndixon

Ok, well, I'm sorry I took so long looking for your B-day gift but I'm done now and thought I would leave you a comment!

I'm so glad LOTR is good and not EVIL!!!!!

Sincerely,

Jocelyn


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Commented by Narniagirl

I agree exactly. My family and I had a huge debate and came to the same conclusion!!!
For Narnia and For Aslan,
Jill Pole/Narniagirl from Further up and Further in

Commented by Earthling

Good post!!! I really like what you said about LOTR and Narnia. It's true--both are a clear battle of good and evil, and that is exactly what we should be in now. I never really thought about the whole evil and good sides using the same devices in Star Wars. I have watched Star Wars, and they are some of my favorite movies. I understand why you would not let little ones see it--they can't discern the differences between good and evil. But I do think, in Star Wars, like LOTR and Narnia, there is that element of a fight between good and evil. Grant it, it was not influenced by the author's faith like in LOTR and Narnia, yet there is an allegory to the Christian faith in it.
As for Harry Potter, I really don't know what to think on that. I know I would definately NOT let a younger or unable to discern child read/see it. From what I've read/seen (I have seen parts of the first movie) there is some element of good vs. evil, but it seems they do use the same methods. However, I do feel like there's no clear side of the line, and it's up to each person to be convicted upon his own way regarding that.

Anyway, great post, thanks for your thoughts!!!
Earthling