Laying Aside the Elder Wand

Abstract

Jesus as portrayed in the Gospel of Mark is someone who would resonate with readers of Harry Potter because of his words and acts of resistance and justice. However, for many of them there are obstacles to even reading the Markan Gospel. Some of them are unsympathetic to Mark’s Jesus because of unfavourable perceptions of Christianity and the Bible. Others are merely uninterested or are unfamiliar with what the Markan story really is. The purpose of this study is to explore how Mark can be read using a popular culture reading lens, like the Harry Potter literature, to expand the horizons of the Harry Potter audience. An examination of the social and historical background will provide a first-century context of resistance to oppression. Using the Harry Potter lens, I will juxtapose that text with the Gospel of Mark as a whole to show that there is a pattern of resistance enacted by Jesus throughout. I will then carry out an exegetical analysis of Mark 10:32–45, again juxtaposing it with the Harry Potter text. The intertextual connections drawn from this analysis will be considered in terms of how they can impact the Harry Potter audience and provide them with new horizons. This project will therefore offer a unique hermeneutical take on how today’s Harry Potter audience can be given a reading strategy to help them read Mark 10:32–45 through the lens of the Harry Potter novels. This lens allows the reader to both transform and be transformed by the Markan text and will highlight how Jesus acts to resist and subvert the role of tyrannical rule in the lives of his followers, much like the resistance and subversion seen in the story of Harry Potter.