Biblical Basis for J.K.Rowling’s MWPP Characterization
Biblical Basis for J.K.Rowling’s Characterization:
Parallels between Apostles Peter, James and John
and Rowling’s Sirius, James, Remus and Peter
by lilian_cho
8 April 2005
Distribution: Please ask permission first. Give the proper credit to lilian_cho and link back to this post.
**Spoilers Warning: PoA and OotP**
I am not obsessed with canon!Harry Potter, but I have been in the fandom for three months and have consequently read the name “Peter” coupled with “James,” often set apart only by a comma or the word “and.”
Whereas I’ve only read the Harry Potter books once over, I’ve read the Bible many times over, and did a double-take when I encountered the phrase “Peter, James, and John.”
Rowling might have done this consciously or subconsciously, but there are many parallels between MWPP and the Bible’s Peter, James and John. Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew are the two personality facets present in the apostle Peter. James Potter is the parallel of the apostle James, whereas Remus Lupin is the parallel of the apostle John (J.K. Rowling had disclosed that Remus’ middle name is John.)
The phrase “Peter, James, and John” occurs in Matthew 17:1, Mark 5:37, 9:2, 13:3, Luke 8:51, 9:28, Acts 1:13. The order is the same except for Luke 9:28, which has “Peter and John and James” instead.
*A note of clarification: There are three James in the New Testament. The first one is the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. The second one is the son of Alphaeus and the brother of Jude/Judas (not Iscariot). The third one is Jesus’ brother. The James mentioned in “Peter, James, and John” and belonging to Jesus’ inner circle is the first James.
The sum and the order of “Peter, James, and John” are significant. As evident in PoA and OotP, Sirius, James and Remus often form a circle of three that excludes Peter.
Sirius, the noble/brave/rash personality facet of the apostle Peter, leads the action. He is always the first to jump into frays without much thought. James comes second, often having to restrain Sirius from his death stunts. Remus quietly brings up the end, just like John, who is often dubbed “the brother of James.”
Peter then, is the Apostle Peter’s personality facet that is doubtful, cowardly and disloyal. The apostle Peter denied being Jesus’ disciple three times, thus showing that he can be cowardly and disloyal. Afterwards, he was consumed by tremendous guilt. This incident can inform the reading of Peter Pettigrew’s treachery and Sirius’ incarceration in Azkaban.
Even though the treachery was done by Peter, Sirius was still consumed by tremendous guilt. He only escapes his imprisonment when he realizes that Peter is at large as Wormtail.
If this has followed the Biblical scenario, then Sirius would have killed Peter and became redeemed. However, since Sirius and Peter exist as two separate characters instead of two different personality facets, Sirius did not kill Peter because that would mean murder. Notice also how Sirius is not dead and is not living, since Peter is still alive.
***If one follows this line of thought, Remus will need to kill Peter to bring Sirius to peace at last. Either way, Peter needs to die by Book Seven. Having Remus kill him will neatly end the circle of “Peter-James-John”***
Additional detail that supports these parallels is the fact that James and John are also called “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). Now consider the famous lightning bolt scar gracing the forehead of Harry James Potter.
*******
P.S. I will not speculate on the parallel of Jesus/Savior figure in the Harry Potter series. The obvious one is brunettesavior!Harry, of course. *lol*
P.P.S. Those who prefer to give their comments personally, e-mail me: lilian_cho AT yahoo DOT com. Thanks!
Further readings on the topic of Harry Potter and the Bible:
syustat71605 recommended Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger.
Here’s my mock!literary essay,
Life Imitating Art:
Parallels between Author John Granger and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Characters
by lilian_cho
John Granger=Hermione Granger
John Granger=Remus John Lupin
John Granger=Molly Weasley
Here’s a tongue-in-cheek review from Publishers Weekly:
“Granger (no relation to fellow brainiac Hermione), a homeschooling Christian father of seven […]”
*cracks up*
I’m sure the reviewer did not realize that as a homeschooling father of seven, John Granger shares yet another trait with another Harry Potter character: Molly Weasley, homeschooling mother of seven (J.K. Rowling said that Molly homeschooled all her children before they go to Hogwarts).
This guy was destined to write the book!
******
There’s also Richard Abanes' Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace behind the Magick.
Although Abanes is slightly paranoid, he makes a good point that there is virtually no good role models for kids in the HP books.
HP won’t do harm to the teenage-adult crowd (a.k.a. the population of HP fandom), but can be detrimental to impressionable grade school-ers (exactly the HP books’ target age range).
On numerous times, Harry (and Hermione and Ron) lied and broke school rules (even wizarding rules). However, instead of getting reprimanded, they got rewarded by house points instead. On the occasion that Harry did tell the truth, he was severely punished by Dolores Umbridge (OotP).
One may argue that this is how the real world works, but it hardly promotes following the rules.
None of the adults is a good role model: Snape and McGonagall show favoritism, Dumbledore uses deceit and manipulation all the time, Hagrid is an alcoholic, and Sirius rushes headlong into everything without much thought.
Lily and Remus may perhaps become good role models; but Lily is, of course, absent from Harry’s life, and Remus is too ensconced in poverty to properly take care of Harry.
Parallels between Apostles Peter, James and John
and Rowling’s Sirius, James, Remus and Peter
by lilian_cho
8 April 2005
Distribution: Please ask permission first. Give the proper credit to lilian_cho and link back to this post.
**Spoilers Warning: PoA and OotP**
I am not obsessed with canon!Harry Potter, but I have been in the fandom for three months and have consequently read the name “Peter” coupled with “James,” often set apart only by a comma or the word “and.”
Whereas I’ve only read the Harry Potter books once over, I’ve read the Bible many times over, and did a double-take when I encountered the phrase “Peter, James, and John.”
Rowling might have done this consciously or subconsciously, but there are many parallels between MWPP and the Bible’s Peter, James and John. Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew are the two personality facets present in the apostle Peter. James Potter is the parallel of the apostle James, whereas Remus Lupin is the parallel of the apostle John (J.K. Rowling had disclosed that Remus’ middle name is John.)
The phrase “Peter, James, and John” occurs in Matthew 17:1, Mark 5:37, 9:2, 13:3, Luke 8:51, 9:28, Acts 1:13. The order is the same except for Luke 9:28, which has “Peter and John and James” instead.
*A note of clarification: There are three James in the New Testament. The first one is the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. The second one is the son of Alphaeus and the brother of Jude/Judas (not Iscariot). The third one is Jesus’ brother. The James mentioned in “Peter, James, and John” and belonging to Jesus’ inner circle is the first James.
The sum and the order of “Peter, James, and John” are significant. As evident in PoA and OotP, Sirius, James and Remus often form a circle of three that excludes Peter.
Sirius, the noble/brave/rash personality facet of the apostle Peter, leads the action. He is always the first to jump into frays without much thought. James comes second, often having to restrain Sirius from his death stunts. Remus quietly brings up the end, just like John, who is often dubbed “the brother of James.”
Peter then, is the Apostle Peter’s personality facet that is doubtful, cowardly and disloyal. The apostle Peter denied being Jesus’ disciple three times, thus showing that he can be cowardly and disloyal. Afterwards, he was consumed by tremendous guilt. This incident can inform the reading of Peter Pettigrew’s treachery and Sirius’ incarceration in Azkaban.
Even though the treachery was done by Peter, Sirius was still consumed by tremendous guilt. He only escapes his imprisonment when he realizes that Peter is at large as Wormtail.
If this has followed the Biblical scenario, then Sirius would have killed Peter and became redeemed. However, since Sirius and Peter exist as two separate characters instead of two different personality facets, Sirius did not kill Peter because that would mean murder. Notice also how Sirius is not dead and is not living, since Peter is still alive.
***If one follows this line of thought, Remus will need to kill Peter to bring Sirius to peace at last. Either way, Peter needs to die by Book Seven. Having Remus kill him will neatly end the circle of “Peter-James-John”***
Additional detail that supports these parallels is the fact that James and John are also called “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). Now consider the famous lightning bolt scar gracing the forehead of Harry James Potter.
*******
P.S. I will not speculate on the parallel of Jesus/Savior figure in the Harry Potter series. The obvious one is brunettesavior!Harry, of course. *lol*
P.P.S. Those who prefer to give their comments personally, e-mail me: lilian_cho AT yahoo DOT com. Thanks!
Further readings on the topic of Harry Potter and the Bible:
syustat71605 recommended Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger.
Here’s my mock!literary essay,
Life Imitating Art:
Parallels between Author John Granger and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Characters
by lilian_cho
John Granger=Hermione Granger
John Granger=Remus John Lupin
John Granger=Molly Weasley
Here’s a tongue-in-cheek review from Publishers Weekly:
“Granger (no relation to fellow brainiac Hermione), a homeschooling Christian father of seven […]”
*cracks up*
I’m sure the reviewer did not realize that as a homeschooling father of seven, John Granger shares yet another trait with another Harry Potter character: Molly Weasley, homeschooling mother of seven (J.K. Rowling said that Molly homeschooled all her children before they go to Hogwarts).
This guy was destined to write the book!
******
There’s also Richard Abanes' Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace behind the Magick.
Although Abanes is slightly paranoid, he makes a good point that there is virtually no good role models for kids in the HP books.
HP won’t do harm to the teenage-adult crowd (a.k.a. the population of HP fandom), but can be detrimental to impressionable grade school-ers (exactly the HP books’ target age range).
On numerous times, Harry (and Hermione and Ron) lied and broke school rules (even wizarding rules). However, instead of getting reprimanded, they got rewarded by house points instead. On the occasion that Harry did tell the truth, he was severely punished by Dolores Umbridge (OotP).
One may argue that this is how the real world works, but it hardly promotes following the rules.
None of the adults is a good role model: Snape and McGonagall show favoritism, Dumbledore uses deceit and manipulation all the time, Hagrid is an alcoholic, and Sirius rushes headlong into everything without much thought.
Lily and Remus may perhaps become good role models; but Lily is, of course, absent from Harry’s life, and Remus is too ensconced in poverty to properly take care of Harry.