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LONNIE: He’s the cutest little boy, who lives at #4 Privet Drive, and the stories about Harry and all of his exploits has captivated millions. Best selling books are stacked up to the rafters of Hogwarts, and Harry Potter movies are all sell outs. Say, is this a perfectly safe success story?

LONNIE: Steve Wolberg, welcome to our program today.

STEVE: Thanks Lonnie, it’s great to be here!

LONNIE: This is the first time here for you, and of course, as the director of “End Times Insights” we’re particularly intrigued with the fact that Harry Potter, according to Time Magazine, rules! In terms of kids.

STEVE: That’s right. Harry Potter has become the most popular series of children’s books ever written.

LONNIE: It’s literally memorizing, as Time Magazine says, an entire generation, our kids…

STEVE: that’s right. A lot of our kids, a lot of church kids, kids all over the country and around the world, are reading and loving the Harry Potter series.

LONNIE: 7 books in the series, 5 have already been published. Two more are coming out, and how many movies?

STEVE: Warner Brothers has committed to directing 7 high budget films, and 2 of those are out so far, and there are 5 more on the horizon, 1 for every book.

LONNIE: How popular, really, is this then?

STEVE: It’s as big as it gets. It started in 1998, the first book came out, published title was Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone, 50,000 copies, which is a pretty good sized print run, and then a short time and the second book came out, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 250,000 in the first print. Then the third book came out a little bit later, and that was, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and that was 500,000 books printed. Then they went to the fourth book a couple of years later, in 2000, the fourth one they printed 3.5 million copies. Then the fifth book, which is the most recent book, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, which had 8.5 million copies published. So, these books have been translated into about 200 different languages. There being read by children and adults all over the world and like I said they’ve become the most popular series of books written. Words like Potter mania are being used; it’s like a Potter tidal wave that has swept the publishing world.

LONNIE: Well, I’m looking at Time Magazine, “Why Harry Potter Rules”. Whose writes this, and what is this person’s passion? Who is Harry Potter?

STEVE: Right, well, it started with a woman who was on welfare, not too long ago; her name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling. She is a Scottish woman who used to be quite poor, but as a result of the Potter books, she is now richer than the Queen of England, if you can believe that?

LONNIE: C’mon!

STEVE: It’s right there in the Time article, she’s extremely wealthy. She was, according to the news reports, and from what I have uncovered through research, she was traveling by train sometime in 1997, traveling outside of London, and as an author she was pondering her next book and she had this, what she referred to, a revelation. Where she said that the crystal clear image of Harry Potter just strolled into her mind, and she saw this image of a homely looking dark-haired boy, with big spectacles, was actually a wizard, but didn’t know that he was a wizard. So, as a result of this revelation, she began to ponder this idea of a little boy who was a wizard but didn’t know that he was a wizard. Than she began to develop the story line and began to write the Harry Potter series, and from book to book to book she has been catapulted into the limelight of the world. And she is now the #1 best selling author on the planet earth. Rick Warren is #2, but J.K. Rowling is #1.

LONNIE: You don’t get into that league without at least a healthy mix of magic and morality; there must be some good in it. I mean, there even walking into to churches, and Christians are buying these.

STEVE: Not only are they walking into churches, but they are being used as discussion books in the United States public school system. So they have teachers manuals, kids are using them in a lot of classrooms, and they even decorate the rooms like Harry Potter scenes, and so they’re huge, they’re big, and they’re not all bad…

LONNIE: …I was going to say, there’s got to be some elevating theme’s there that make them so worth while.

STEVE: Right. And as an author I was asked a number of months ago to research this topic, and to write a book on this…

LONNIE: …and I’ve got that book in my hand right now, “Hidden Dangers in Harry Potter. Allude to some of these because we want to get into this a little bit later in the week.

STEVE: Sure! As you mentioned…The reason that we call the hidden dangers is because the books are not all bad, there is a story line, there are exciting moments, and there are portrayals of love and courage, and things like this. But the problem and the biggest danger, and we can of course explore this in future programs, is that the entire Harry Potter series is entirely woven within the context of witchcraft and sorcery. And these are words, and it’s describing a real religion. Witchcraft and sorcery is real in the United States, and there is elements incorporated from the real world of witchcraft, and my biggest concern is that the Potter series in the midst of the fun and the magic, they make witchcraft seem harmless, fun, and exciting for young people.

LONNIE: So, when you see the faint type here, on the cover of your book, things such as ghosts, spells, potions, witchcraft, sorcery, these are all the kind of talked about in this series, but kind of in a, happy-this is wonderful type of thing.

STEVE: That’s right! The Potter books are jam packed with almost every element of real occultism and real sorcery, known to man, and Rowling not only is an author but she also has a master’s degree from the University of Exeter in England in Mythology, and she has researched the real world of the occult. She has taken these elements, she has woven them into a story line, to make witchcraft fun and exciting and apparently harmless to young people. That’s my concern, that there is hidden amidst the magic, there is a real danger that real witchcraft could become interesting and exciting for kids, and we’ll talk about this later, that witchcraft is real, it is growing, it is here, and parents need to be warned about the dangers in these books.

LONNIE: Do you see, as the editor of End Time Insights, do you see retrogression or a progression in this series of books, that it’s getting deeper and deeper into this arena, even if it’s on a very friendly basis?

STEVE: That’s right! No question about it! I’ve got the book sitting in front of us, the first 4 volumes, and you can see by the size that the first one is so many pages, and they all get bigger with each new volume, the fourth one is about 900 pages. Now, I’m not recommending any one to read these. I’ve read them, because I wanted to be fair in my judgment and analysis of these books, but as people these books, they become progressively darker, violent, and there are many things in there that, apart from the witchcraft, are things that young people just shouldn’t be exposed to.

LONNIE: Bring us back to the word of God, for just a moment Steve. You’re looking at these as positively as you possibly can, you’ve read about the love, and you’ve seen first hand the things that this book portrays. Take a Look at Genesis 3, and Eve stops by at the devils fruit stand, at the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, so there must have been a lot of pluses that Eve saw there. The Devil kind of knows how to do that, doesn’t he?

STEVE: You’re right, and I think that it’s important to remember, that the tree was not called the Tree of Evil, but the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and that’s the way that Satan works. He mingles good elements with evil elements. It’s like a fisher man, when a person goes fishing and they put a good worm on the edge of a hook, and they throw it in and the trout comes along and he sees that juicy worm and he…there’s nothing wrong with that worm, but he bites it, and then he’s hooked. The Potter books have a real hook in them, the Bible says in 1 Samuel 15:23 that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. The Bible refers to witchcraft as a sin, and there are many verses that we can look at, that talk about how witchcraft defiles, it’s an abomination, it links people to supernatural powers that are bent on our destruction, and God warns us, to have nothing to do with witchcraft, but to focus on the wholesome powers of the Holy Spirit, and things that are going to sanctify us, and into an intimate connection with our creator who loves us, and wants us to live for ever through Jesus Christ.

LONNIE: So even though supporters are talking Rosie--Rosie language about this book, there is a behind the scenes controversy.

STEVE: There is a dark side…and we are here to expose that dark side, to help parents understand that there is a menace behind the magic, and we need to be very careful, and steer away from the evils of the world.

LONNIE: Steve Wholberg, our guest here today on the VOP, he is the Speaker/Director of End Time End sights, with some profound cautions for those who are reading the Harry Potter books, thanks for being with us today.

CONNIE: Thank you, Steve and Lonnie. We’ll be looking forward to 4 more good discussions about Mr. Potter. Remember everybody; we have gift copies of Steve’s newest booklet on Harry Potter, and we’d be glad to mail one out to you right away. Just give us a call at toll free 1-800-872-0055, or you can write us at box 530, Los Angeles, 90053, just ask for, Hidden Dangers of Harry Potter. Our Canadian address is box 2127, Oshuwa, ON, L1HV14, and we certainly hope that you take some time this week and come on over to our website at www.vop.com. You can get transcripts of this and past programs, shop at our online Christian bookstore, and even take the entire Discover Bible Course, completely free, of course. Please remember to give the call letters when you call.