Well, I made an idiot of myself in this post by giving an Arminian the ultimate insult and calling him a Calvinist. Or rather, I confused Jonathan with Marvin. And generally speaking, Harry Potter is not a subject that I'm willing to fight over either way, so I probably shouldn't have gone on about it in the first place. So I apologize if I have offended or misrepresented.
OK, you can all go back to arguing about the election now.
Posted by Camassia at October 04, 2004 06:15 PM | TrackBackI must have been posting my response at the Ivy Bush at about the same time you were writing this. Sorry it took so long. (You'll have to scroll down some.)
Peace,
Jonathan
And thus Jonathan proves that Arminians can be just as badass as Calvinists.
Camassia is right that we shouldn't label any sort of giving one's life for others as a Christ figure. I think to call someone "like a Christ figure" the character not only has to die to save someone, but that death must carry ongoing salvific power, preferably for more than one person. Now, I do think Lily Potter might qualify because her sacrifice has ongoing power because it still protects Harry, and furthermore it continues in her sister, Aunt whatsername. We've finally found out why (spoiler alert!) Harry must stay with the Durselys each summer - Dumbledore used ancient magic to weave a spell of protection so that the blood in his aunt protects him. I forget what he says, but he does say something about her blood, which is interesting.
I was in the bookstore last night and saw a new book out about Harry Potter and Aristotlean morality.
Oh, also, the whole slavery issue with Hermione and the elves is going to be very, very important - that's my prediction. No one supports her in this abolitionist endeavor, but I think she will proven right. We've already seen that the elf from Sirius' family betrayed him because he was mistreated, and Dumbledore concurred. However, so far (if I remember right) only Hermione believes the elves should all be freed. In the books, even some of the elves declare they'd be ashamed to be freed. But my prediction rests. It's a troubling issue - I doubt we're supposed to read these books thinking the wizards are a great group of people, oh and yeah they own slaves, without questioning it.
Posted by: Jennifer on October 6, 2004 09:23 AM