{"id":9,"date":"2010-06-22T12:33:08","date_gmt":"2010-06-22T12:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html"},"modified":"2012-02-20T17:17:29","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T22:17:29","slug":"harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html","title":{"rendered":"Harry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a thought-provoking blog discussion going on today, where lots of Theobloggers have been asked the question:<\/p>\n

Apart from the Bible, what book has most deeply affected your faith life in the past ten years?\u00a0 And, is there any book that few Christians read, but every Christian should read?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sara Miles <\/a>does Dennis Covington’s Salvation on Sand Mountain<\/em><\/a>, a book I also loved, and Beliefnet’s own Amy Julia Becker<\/a> talks about a Kathleen Norris book I’ve never even heard of (about laundry, no less!). The amazingly cool Tripp Fuller <\/a>talks about Elizabeth Johnson’s Quest for the Living God.<\/em> Great suggestions.<\/p>\n

Now, I am not a Hermione, and I don’t like reading heavy tomes in the summer. It’s beach weather, people! I am of the mind that great fiction can pretty much teach us all we need to know. So here is what I said:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-20070328093850961.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

“Christians pay a lot of pious lip service to the idea that we are
\nsupposed to become like Christ. We want to emulate his ministry, respond
\nto his teachings, and walk in his ways. Fair enough. But a huge part of
\nbecoming like Christ is participating in the two acts that defined
\neverything else Jesus accomplished in his earthly lifetime: dying and
\nbeing resurrected. I’d be the first to read Resurrection for Dummies<\/em>
\nif it were only available as a how-to guide, but I think the folks at
\nWiley have had a tough time finding an author who’s been through the
\nexperience. On the other hand, why would I need such a book? I already
\nhave Harry Potter to show the way.<\/p>\n

This summer, every Christian should read or re-read Harry Potter
\nand the Deathly Hallows. <\/em>Yes, I know that you thought I was going
\nto say that every Christian should delve into some obscure medieval
\nsaint or pick through postmodern theological mumbo-jumbo. Nope, just
\nread Harry Potter. It’s all there: the agonizing decision in Gethsemane,
\nthe preciousness of loving sacrifice, the triumph of resurrection.
\nThere’s even an unforgettable scene in King’s Cross station–get the
\ndouble entendre?–in which Harry makes his crucial choice to save
\nhumanity. His victorious return testifies to the Christian truth that
\nevil will one day be bound–notice how Voldemort’s voice loses its power
\nafter Harry’s resurrection–and finally vanquished. It makes me weep with
\njoy every time, especially when I listen to Jim Dale reading the audio
\nbook.<\/p>\n

Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And now to you: what book has taught you the most about God recently? And what did you learn from reading Harry Potter?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a thought-provoking blog discussion going on today, where lots of Theobloggers have been asked the question: Apart from the Bible, what book has most deeply affected your faith life in the past ten years?\u00a0 And, is there any book that few Christians read, but every Christian should read? Sara Miles does Dennis Covington’s Salvation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nHarry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer - Flunking Sainthood<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer - Flunking Sainthood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There’s a thought-provoking blog discussion going on today, where lots of Theobloggers have been asked the question: Apart from the Bible, what book has most deeply affected your faith life in the past ten years?\u00a0 And, is there any book that few Christians read, but every Christian should read? Sara Miles does Dennis Covington’s Salvation…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Flunking Sainthood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-22T12:33:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-02-20T22:17:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/files\/import\/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-20070328093850961.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jana Riess\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Harry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer - Flunking Sainthood","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Harry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer - Flunking Sainthood","og_description":"There’s a thought-provoking blog discussion going on today, where lots of Theobloggers have been asked the question: Apart from the Bible, what book has most deeply affected your faith life in the past ten years?\u00a0 And, is there any book that few Christians read, but every Christian should read? Sara Miles does Dennis Covington’s Salvation…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html","og_site_name":"Flunking Sainthood","article_published_time":"2010-06-22T12:33:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-02-20T22:17:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/files\/import\/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-20070328093850961.jpg"}],"author":"Jana Riess","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html","name":"Harry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer - Flunking Sainthood","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/files\/import\/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-20070328093850961.jpg","datePublished":"2010-06-22T12:33:08+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-20T22:17:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/#\/schema\/person\/fe5046ba89e9602d4de4c0e9b4ef53f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/files\/import\/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-20070328093850961.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/files\/import\/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-20070328093850961.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/06\/harry-potter-patheos-and-the-one-book-christians-should-read-this-summer.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Harry Potter, Patheos, and the One Book Christians Should Read This Summer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/","name":"Flunking Sainthood","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Jana Riess","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/#\/schema\/person\/fe5046ba89e9602d4de4c0e9b4ef53f8","name":"Jana Riess","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/954\/9541c99a399647166f0db1fe22b238ecx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/954\/9541c99a399647166f0db1fe22b238ecx96.jpg","caption":"Jana Riess"},"description":"Jana Riess is the author of Flunking Sainthood, a 2011 book about failing at twelve different spiritual practices. She is also currently working on The Twible, a three-year Twitter project with humorous daily Bible updates for your amusement (find her on Twitter as @janariess). She has a few silly degrees from swanky schools but was never once able to climb the rope in gym class. Her spiritual director is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/author\/jriess"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1874,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}