Harry Potter and the Christian Allusion (spoiler warning)

(I will do my best to avoid specific spoilers regarding the seventh Harry Potter book, but I can't avoid GENERAL SPOILERS with this post. I won't tell exactly how it ends in any case, who lives/dies, but ... if you don't want to know anything about the book, go ahead and read it already! Incidentally, I hear that in parts of India the first question anyone asks on hearing that you've seen a movie is: how does it end? They want to know the ending so they can judge whether they want to see it or not. So suspense is a cultural phenonemon!)

After reading Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows, I can firmly announce that J.K. Rowling has finally shown her true colors. All these years of stories about good witches and potions and secret tomes and treasures and unicorns were a front for something far more important lurking behind them. Behind it all, she lived a closeted existence. And now she finally comes out, like Voldemort from the shadows, to tell us what we should've known all along:

She has a Christian worldview.

Hide the children!

I've suspected something was up for a while now, and JKR herself hinted that the seventh book would make her opinions about God clear. And, to me, it did. The only thing missing from this book is the name of Jesus (it does actually quote him, but unattributedly). In every other way he shows up on every page, in actions rather than words.

I won't talk specifics (although comments are welcome), but here's what I saw, beyond the normal motifs of truth, love and friendship that have already taken center stage in the story:

Baptism: In a wonderful conflation of Arthurian legend and Christian symbolism, Harry sees a silver cross and must go underwater, dying from his own sin-nature. He is pulled out not by his own power but by an external power, and is literally saved.

JRR Tolkien reference: Speaking of that sin-nature locket, it's a golden thing that you wear and warps your perspective, and it's difficult to destroy. Also, when it's time to destroy it, an intense personal struggle is required (probably my favorite "Ron" scene, by the way).

CS Lewis reference: The last chapter, after Harry returns from King's Cross, compare to the climax of the first Narnia book. Because of the personal connection of who's carrying Harry and the unusual usage of "nails pierced", this may even be better than Lewis' depiction in certain ways. Lewis' depiction always seemed a bit wooden. Here the sense of loss was (to me) more real.

Choices and struggles: Several times Harry and friends are literally lost in a forest, wondering why they have so little to go on and why the memory of Dumbledore is so distant. This is the classic Western "Where is God" kind of moment. I just read an article by a disillusioned former Christian who lost his faith because of his assignment as a religion correspondant for the LA Times (that's another whole topic). His struggles and the struggles of Harry Potter are very similar. Hopefully he reads this book, and sees he's not alone.

Graveyard scene: Not only does the warmth and color of the church come out in this scene, but two direct scriptural quotations are found on tombstones. Harry and Hermione puzzle over them, and never really solve them. But talk about a clue that leads you outside the book to a real-life mystery! Hermione attempts some typical exegesis, which doesn't really work (it doesn't really explain the quote) but it's OK as far as it goes. Not to mention, if you told me I'd be critiquing exegesis in the seventh HP book, I would not have believed you for a second.

Is there anything I'm missing? I realize many people have not had the chance to read the book yet, but I get excited when the last volume answers so many questions, including "How does the author think about the world?", in such a positive way. Just as she's maintained all along, the witchcraft is not really witchcraft. It's kind of a substitute for science. And boy am I glad the poor "chemistry professor" played a major role in the resolution of all this!