Ann Rice: What did you think of her new book: Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt?

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Posted on this Thread: “My point is that I am very familiar with the work of Anne Rice, and this Christ that she is portraying is not the Word of God but more likely a resurrection of Apollonius, since he is very popular again in the imagination of the masses with the discovery of the gnostic texts. She is one of the many false prophets.”

Thanks for the insight.

According to an A&E cable channel crime program, her vampire books inspired a group of teens - don’t know where - to perform a ritualistic killing of a child.

I am sick of her vampire books and her influence on the Goth movement. Goth is real dangerous to our young people. In fact, I think there is a book which explains what to look for if a goth follower is practicing black magic. They’re into cutting themselves, I know, so if you see a teen wearing black from head to toe, with wrist bands, stay away. The bands are hiding the knife marks. No joke!

Back to Rice. Years ago, on TV, she was interviewed extensively, like Barbara Walters or someone. Well, in her (former) New Orleans gothic mansion she had life-size statues of the Blessed Virgin and Saints.

So, I imagined then she must be a former Catholic. That’s when I prayed for her to return to Mother Church. So, my prayer was answered … . but these writers have publicity agents, publishing agents, etc. I can just hear an agent telling Rice, “Write for the Christian market, darling. You’ll be set for life!”

In that interview she said her fans wrote to her praising her for inspiring them. For what, blood sucking? Yuck.
 
I just finnished listening to the unabridged audio book from audible.com today. I thought it was great. There was an afterword by the author in which she describes her reutrn to the Church in the late 90’s and speaks about writing the book. I supose this afterword is in the book too, and after reading it i do not question her return to christianity or her motive for the book. I think she probably took a chance at this book being a real bomb among her normal readers, and you can tell by the historical research that this isnt something she just scratched out in a few weeks to make a few bucks.

Yes she uses some material from texts not included in the cannon, but this is a FICTIONAL account and is portrayed as so. I don’t believe that all texts from that time that were not included in the cannon are considered evil, They were not the texts that the Church was led to accept as the infallable word of God, but some of them have influenced art and tradition for thousands of years.

I think if you read this as contemplation on “what must it have been like” instead of a bible study you may enjoy it a great deal. (The audio version is really good if anyone likes those).
 
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Stylteralmaldo:
Thanks for that link. I’m now back on the fence again. I really don’t know what to think. What I’ve gathered thus far:
    • Two Catholic publications have embraced her that I’m aware of (National Catholic Reporter & Our Sunday Visitor)
Wouldn’t put too much stock in any positive review from NCR since its main concern seems to be to criticize the Church.
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In terms of the fitness of the book for Catholic consumption: fine for those secure in the faith, potentially damaging for those new or easily convinced of heretical things.

In terms of entertainment…:sleep:

-John
 
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yetjoe:
Wouldn’t put too much stock in any positive review from NCR since its main concern seems to be to criticize the Church.
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I was not aware of that. Thanks for the information.
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MilesXpisti:
In terms of the fitness of the book for Catholic consumption: fine for those secure in the faith, potentially damaging for those new or easily convinced of heretical things.

In terms of entertainment…:sleep:

-John
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This is the conclusion that I have come to.

The fact that the read is a :sleep: as you put it, one wonders how sincere the writing of this book is (considering her Vampie Chronicles are interesting reading).

Maybe she just doesn’t know how to write passionately about Christ, yet has had the passion to write effectively about the occult? Hmmm.
 
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BillP:
How can you make assertions about Rice’s portrayal of Jesus when you by your own admission haven’t bothered to read the book?

Then, without even bothering to read her work you accuse her of being a “false prophet”. Based on what? YOUR interpretation (informed by your vast knowledge obtained before finishing high school!) of stuff she wrote 20+ years ago?

Give me a break
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Give Tiny’s mom a break!

If this is true of Rice’s Jesus that Tiny wrote -

“…That little story about Jesus killing a bully is in the apocrapha, so she must be going right to the texts to tell her story…”
  • then i am completely bored with Rices book before I read it!
And i won’t be reading it.

Truly this is a false lying protrayal of Our Lord, and, fiction or not, it is going to mislead peole away from the true Christ - just like a false prophet.
 
In the February Issue of “First Things” a very brief review by Cynthia Grenier is on page 54:

“Appalling. That’s the word that kept echoing through my mind as I turned the pages of Anne Rice channeling the seven-year-old Jesus Christ in her 27th novel, the first since her recent return to the Christianity of her childhood. A return to faith should never be belittled. But to celebrate her return by undertaking what is planned as a trilogy from the manger to the Cross as narrated by Him surely bespeaks a certain arrogance.”

“Rice’s prose is neither pseudo-biblical speak nor is it like any language in which a child might express himself.”

“Often novelists find it easier to make evil more appealing than virtue.”
 
I think you’ve all missed the point entirely. I respect your concerns that Anne Rice has taken inspiration from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, that she has included miracles that do not appear so orthodox… but if you were able to overlook the encounter with the bully on the first page… would you still think the same? I think you’re all being too… conservative? I read and adored the novel as a work of fiction and by doing so my understanding and love for Christ opened up into a whole new level… Have any of you ever thought to think of what Christ went through as a child - how difficult it must’ve been for Him? I think Anne Rice illustrates beautifully the suffering Christ went through for us - have we really been so naive to think that Christ’s suffering for us came from His crucifixtion explicitly? He was different… isolated despite being surrounded by all those that loved Him and for any of those who have been through the torment of dissimilitude, you will know that such a feeling is overwhelming. If Jesus Christ could suffer physically, why could He not emotionally also? He was strong - without doubt, for He was the son of God… but still… do you not see what I’m getting at?
And for those who found the novel a bore, I wonder seriously how much you’ve read the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I’ve always loved the stories of Jesus Christ - I have my grandmother to thank for that who would retell them from her heart when I was young, giving voices and expression to the faith she to this day lives without falter - but whenever I read from the Bible, I always experience a regret that I live so far from my Nonna for really - the Evangelicals really didn’t make a mere one hour bible reading easy. Anne Rice’s novel - that I did not read as a substitute for the Bible mind you - tells the story with eloquent prose, reminiscent of that of a prayer. She is not pretentious with descriptive passages, but still she maintains an imagery of the life and times of Jesus that reflects not only her extensive research - but a love for what she is writing. I do not believe her return to the Catholic faith is for money - she doesn’t need it. My opinion is that she merely wants to express her love for Christ, she wants to make us think, question… Our knowledge of Him… You have all done that to a certain extent in this forum. Personally - I think it is essential that any Christian wanting to understand and appreciate the extent of Christ’s love for us, should read this beautiful novel.
 
Like everything else she’s written: It’s horrible.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
My response to what Signorina wrote:

“I think you’re all being too… conservative?”

If telling the Truth is conservative then we’re guilty. Of course, Catholic Answers radio program also tells the Truth. Rice, on the other hand, has her own version of Ann Rice’s “truth.”

“I read and adored the novel as a work of fiction and by doing so my understanding and love for Christ opened up into a whole new level…”

I’m sorry but the phrase “a whole new level” is as fuzzy as it is New Age-y. I would never turn to a novel to grow in adoration of Jesus. I turn to the true teachings of the Catholic Church, the writings of the Saints, our popes, and the Latin Mass.

“Have any of you ever thought to think of what Christ went through as a child - how difficult it must’ve been for Him?”

I don’t share that assessment. Now, I’m sorry, but YOU are missing the point of the Crucifixion - now that was beyond difficult! It’s a meditation during Lent called The Stations of the Cross.
 
Well, gee.

I read the book and enjoyed it.

It’s a fast read.

Major objection was that Jesus is portrayed as a seven year old who at the age of seven doesn’t know He is God.

On the other hand, there are some fascinating cultural insights… that may or may not be factual, but do provide some food for thought.
  1. Mary, who lived in a small town, where everybody knew all your business, was committed and dedicated to God, never left alone, escorted and chaparoned everywhere she went. BUT SHE BECAME PREGNANT. And everybody knew she was pregnant. Unexplainable. A scandal???
  2. Joseph adopted his role as her protector. As did many members of the family.
  3. The traveled to Bethlehem - another small town - and Jesus was born under not very pleasant circumstances… And then the Maji show up. Their arrival was a BIG DEAL.
  4. All of a sudden, Joseph says we gotta leave. NOW!!! So they bolt. Minutes later, seemingly, Herod’s soldiers show up looking for Jesus and slaughter every infant in the town… 200 or so. THIS IS ANOTHER BIG DEAL !!
These are small towns and people talk.

They lived in Egypt until Herod died and then returned to Nazareth. And people knew and remembered Mary’s mystery pregnancy and the mysterious murders of all those innocent babies at Bethlehem.

Rice weaves in the constant waves of robbers who would kill and steal and the attempts by the Roman soldiers to restore order and put down all the rebellions (things haven’t changed much in 2000 years in that part of the world!! )… and the endless crucifixions of bandits and anyone the Roman’s thought might be bandits or rebels.

This was the environment… the word picture … that Rice creates for us… so when we read the Gospels and the Epistles, we should place our readings in that graphic … in that context…

The conditions that existed back then were so different from the conditions and circumstances that we know today, especially those of us who live in the Americas or in Europe. It is helpful to have the visualization that Rice provides.

Did Jesus really know at age seven that He is God? Maybe He did, but if He did, it was not with the same kind of knowledge that a typical seven-year old has.

How can we, finite miserable humans, appreciate the Infinity of God. We can’t.

So, Rice creates some fictitious vehicles … Jesus making clay birds and casually willing them to have life and fly. Jesus being cautioned by Joseph and others of His protective family to STOP doing the weather modification and to STOP raising people from the dead. It’s a novel.

The best chapters, to me, were the last two… Rice’s personal spiritual journey… What is interesting is that she lived in New Orleans, but moved away just weeks before the hurricane wiped out the city.

Anyway, Rice writes with reverence and maybe she will write more… from after the appearance of Jesus in the temple…

It’s fun and enjoyable, but don’t take the book too seriously.
 
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