The Rev. John Killinger is the author of God, the Devil and Harry Potter: A Christian Minister’s Defense of the Beloved Novels and The Life, Death and Resurrection of Harry Potter. He lives in Warrington, Va.

Read a March 4, 2003, WorldNetDaily article about a minister’s comparison of Harry Potter to Jesus.

Pope Benedict has said the Harry Potter books “erode Christianity in the soul” of young people according to a July 15, 2005, Manchester Evening News article.

Lael Atkinson is pastor of Payson Park United Church of Christ in Belmont, Mass. In 2003, she delivered a sermon about America as a culture that consumes too much of everything, including food.

Published by P.J. Kenedy & Sons. The Official Catholic Directory is a guide to Catholic clergy in the United States and around the world.

Written by Alban Butler and Paul Burns (Liturgical Press, 1999). Butler and Burns write a revised guide to the history of the Catholic patron saints.

Published by Our Sunday Visitor (2012). The Catholic Almanac is a directory of Catholicism in the U.S. It is updated annually.

The International Buddhist Society has a mission to “propagate Buddhism through its practice, and to educate all sentient beings on how to attain Enlightenment and purification of the mind.”

The International Association of Buddhist Studies (IABS) is an organization dedicated to the promotion and support of Buddhist studies with “scientific research and communication as preeminent objectives.”