Anne Rice

Gnostic & mythical views of "Christ"

 

See also The Matrix and Indigo children

 

 

 

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice, popular author occult novels: [Reviewed By George Barna] "...as thrilled as I was to learn of Ms. Rice’s reconnection with Christ, and of her subsequent commitment to devote the rest of her life to writing for Him, I opened this book with minimal expectations. I need not have worried.... Ms. Rice did not merely conduct exhaustive research on Jesus’ early life. She created a moving and credible portrait of the young Lord and His family.... It is a simple but powerful tale of the emergence of the Savior as He probes His own humanity and divinity....

      "...there are captivating scenes such as the riot outside the walls of the Temple in Jerusalem. Other episodes provide riveting insight, such as the family influence on life, Jesus’ exercise and discovery of His powers.... Some scholars and religious leaders will probably demonize this book as 'fabricated history' or 'bad doctrine.'”

     It is "bad doctrine" to present a mythical view of Jesus that goes far beyond His revealed Word. It's believable since it stirs emotions and guides the imagination, which makes it all the more deceptive. Where did she do her research? In the Gnostic Gospels?

 

Christ the Lord, for you: "It's told first person by the seven-year old Jesus, whom we first meet in Egypt with his family. Most of the book follows them back to Nazareth, describing the horrors of Roman persecution they encounter along the way. Alongside all of this is Jesus' slowly evolving sense of who he is.... The issue is basically 'power.'

    "The novel opens with the account from the infancy gospel of St. Thomas, of Jesus killing a little boy and bringing him back to life. At other points in the novel, Jesus prays for snow, and it snows, etc. There are flashes he describes of being surrounded by angels, by power, of seeing through the veil of reality to greater reality and so on...." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and God's eternal, unchanging Word

Witchcraft, Evil, and Memnoch the Devil: Esoteric and Theosophical Themes in Anne Rice’s New Orleans Fiction: "Anne Rice has often indicated that she hopes to be taken seriously by the academia.... She has found some audience in English Departments throughout the United States. The above remarks suggest that -- as her fiction increasingly gravitates toward esoteric themes, gnosticism and Kabbalah -- she may engage in a fruitful debate with scholars of religion, theosophy and the hermetic tradition."

Monologue Of The Messiah: "Seen through the eyes of this special child, there are captivating scenes such as the riot outside the walls of the Temple in Jerusalem. Other episodes provide riveting insight, such as the family influence on life, Jesus’ exercise and discovery of His powers, and the emotions the Lord felt toward others. ... Some scholars and religious leaders will probably demonize this book as “fabricated history” or “bad doctrine.” (Can the words “heresy” and “blasphemy” be far behind?) In our culture of criticism, it seems there is always something to diminish about other people’s best work. Critics should remember that this is a novel; Ms. Rice is not attempting to add to the canon of Scripture but to stimulate us to experience and bond with Jesus at a different level.

Anne Rice - AUTHOR TALK: "Obsession led me to write this book.... I become completely consumed by a theme, by characters, by a desire to meet a challenge, and the book begins to grow. With CHRIST THE LORD, the obsession began in my earliest childhood in pure religious devotion. Though I broke with my religion in college, I was still obsessed with religious questions, the basics --- Why are we here?... I went back to the Catholic Church in 1998, completely. In 2002, when I was sitting in church before Mass one Saturday evening, I made the declaration to Christ that I would do this book and nothing else. And the entire purpose, shape, tone --- all of that came together....   

     "I wrote this book to make Christ real to people who had never thought about Him as real.... And for this art to have value, it must be utterly true to the spirit of Christ as I have received it from multiple sources: the Gospels, my church, my prayers, my meditation. ... I've tried to re-invent Jesus for those who don't want to think about Him or know Him....

     "I want to love all the children of God --- Christian, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist --- everyone. I want to love Gay Christians and straight Christians. But the point is, we need people to make visible the great embracing and compassionate message of Christianity, people to continue the revolution started by Christ Himself, people to bear witness that the story of Jesus Christ is going on and on without end, gaining power with each century, and reaching more and more people."

 

Christ the Lord, for you: "It's told first person by the seven-year old Jesus, whom we first meet in Egypt with his family. Most of the book follows them back to Nazareth, describing the horrors of Roman persecution they encounter along the way. Alongside all of this is Jesus' slowly evolving sense of who he is.... The issue is basically 'power.'

    "The novel opens with the account from the infancy gospel of St. Thomas, of Jesus killing a little boy and bringing him back to life. At other points in the novel, Jesus prays for snow, and it snows, etc. There are flashes he describes of being surrounded by angels, by power, of seeing through the veil of reality to greater reality and so on.... Those of you irritated by Rice's contention that Luke meant it when he said that Jesus grew in wisdom might find solace in the fact that every aspect of Jesus' family life she describes is consistent with ancient traditional Christian understanding - Mary's perpetual virginity, James as the son of Joseph from a previous marriage...."

The Gospel according to Anne: "Anne Rice has spent the past three decades making us believe in the supernatural. Whether she was writing about the vampire Lestat in her 1976 debut Interview with the Vampire, the Mayfair family of witches in The Witching Hour or the X-rated adventures of a libidinous Sleeping Beauty under her nom de erotica A.N. Roquelaure, Rice's great gift has always been to combine extensive research with an effusive, lyrical prose style to engage us in the human drama of her not-altogether-human collection of souls. But even Rice's loyal legion of fans may not be prepared for the dramatic sea change her life and work have taken since she embarked on the greatest challenge of her career: a series on the life of Jesus Christ told in his own words....In Christ the Lord, a seven-year-old Jesus becomes conscious that he is profoundly different from other boys. He has already experienced the curious sensation of turning clay birds into real ones and reviving the dead. As his family makes its way back from Alexandria to Nazareth, he gathers tidbits of detail about his miraculous birth, which caused great suspicion among the neighbors and placed him on King Herod's list of undesirables. ....

Books: Anne Rice: 'Stations on a Journey': "'In 2002 I made up my mind that I would not write anything that wasn't for Christ,' the former vampire queen explained.... Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt tells the story of a young Jesus from his point of view: a 7-year-old boy who is discovering his powers and his identity. This transformation is startling for a writer who previously summoned vampires, witches and ghosts to life in tale after tale of supernatural life....

      "Rice conducted her own theological investigation in Memnoch the Devil. 'The books in a way are like stations on a journey,' Rice said. 'They reflect different points on a lifelong quest.' ...Rice says her return to the Church made writing about Jesus more challenging.... Rice immersed herself in Christian scholarship, and her book draws heavily from many sources, from Josephus to N.T. Wright."

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt--Customer Reviews: "Much has been made in recent years of the Gnostic gospels. Most of the hullabaloo has focused on disproving Christ's divinity, but many more of those lost texts make His divine power the main aspect of their narrative. This book leans heavily on those lost gospels. The plot picks up when the Holy family is about to return to Israel after fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod. Jesus is a small boy, aware of His power, but not sure what it all means.... Other figures from the Bible make appearances, Elizabeth who is about to send John not yet the Baptist, to the Essenes.... Catholic theology is also a major influence here.... No one can know what happened to Jesus during the years He grew up, but perhaps some of this did."

Interview with a Novelist [warning: you may not want to see the ad on this page]: "She threw herself into her research for the book, intellectually devouring apocryphal gospels, infancy gospels, gnostic gospels, the Talmud, biblical legends and literature—in short, 'everything I could,' she says. '“I read as much as I could find about Judaism and Christianity.' The result: Her new novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt....

    "How does one write in the voice of a 7-year-old Jesus? 'I tried to remember what it was like to be 7, and did a lot of period research,' says Rice. 'The boy Jesus has an awareness that he is God, but it’s gradual and uneven, because what I set out to do—and I don’t think anyone else has done this before—is to get the politics, history, sociology and geography of the time right.' She wanted to make Jesus real, the Jesus who is god-in-man, who was born of a virgin and visited by shepherds and angels. 'I wanted to find out what it felt like to be inside his head.'...

    "...the book does start out strong, with the boy Jesus killing a bullying playmate by using a special power he possesses. He brings the playmate back to life after cousin Salome whispers to him, 'Just make him come alive, Jesus, the way you made the birds come alive.'” Nov 29, 2005

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