J.K. Rowling Admits to a ‘God-Shaped Vacuum’ in Candid Reflection on Faith

Michael Foust

Audio By Carbonatix

By Michael Foust, Crosswalk.com

Renowned author J.K. Rowling offered a candid reflection on her faith in a recent social media post, acknowledging she senses a “God-shaped vacuum” within her yet remains uncertain what to do about it. The Harry Potter author made the remarks while reflecting on the beliefs she has revised since her early 20s—and those she has not.

For example, Rowling said that in her early 20s, she supported unilateral nuclear disarmament, considered cannabis harmless, and backed assisted dying. She explained she no longer holds those views—now believing unilateral nuclear disarmament is unwise, cannabis can damage mental health, and assisted dying poses risks of coercion for the sick and vulnerable. She also said she has changed her mind on gender—an issue that often lands her name in the news.

Rowling then turned the topic to religion.

“I've struggled with religious faith since my mid-teens,” she wrote. “I appear to have a God-shaped vacuum inside me but I never seem quite able to make up my mind what to do about it.
“I could probably list at least twenty more things I've changed my mind about,” she added. “I don't currently have a single belief that couldn't be altered by clear, concrete evidence and in all but one case, I know what that evidence would have to be. The exception is the God conundrum, because I don't know what I'd have to see to make me come down firmly on either side. I suppose that's the meaning of faith, believing without seeing proof, and that's why I'll probably go to my grave with that particular personal matter unresolved.”

The concept of a God-shaped vacuum has its basis in Scripture, although Christian authors throughout the centuries—from Augustine to Blaise Pascal to C.S. Lewis—have often used it to describe humanity’s deep longing for God. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Pascal wrote in Pensées (1670): “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

Augustine penned in his Confessions (397-400): “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Although multiple Bible passages support the “God-shaped vacuum” concept, Christian authors often point to verses such as Ecclesiastes 3:11 (“He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”) and Psalm 42:1 (“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God”).

It’s not the first time Rowling has discussed her inward struggles with faith.

“The truth is that, like [author] Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes that my faith will return,” she said in 2007. “It's something I struggle with a lot. On any given moment if you asked me [if] I believe in life after death, I think if you polled me regularly through the week, I think I would come down on the side of yes – that I do believe in life after death. [But] it's something that I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that's very obvious within the books.”

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.