christ the lord: out of egypt
Wow.
I had no idea I would enjoy Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, by Anne Rice, this much.
This book is clearly fiction, and that should be kept in mind. However, Rice has given us both a researched and a readable look at the childhood of Jesus. Somehow she has portrayed Jesus dealing with both his divinity and humanity even as a seven year old. There is a wide array of perspective on what the cultural upbringing of Jesus looked like, let alone who he himself was. Rice has presented a Jesus that any conservative scholar can welcome, and placed him in a setting that any historian can deem credible. I am adding this book to my recommended reading list simply because I think anyone would find this an accessible way to begin to have an understanding of the cultural realities that framed the ministry of Jesus.
Equally compelling is her Author’s Note at the end where she describes her own journey from a churchgoer as a child, to an atheist, and back to a believer in the past decade. She describes her studies across the vast array of Jesus scholarship, and names those who have been of greatest value in her work. She gives the most recognition and her strongest recommendation to the study of NT Wright.
With The DaVinci Code set to release this spring, there will be another cry among Christians to find a conservative and reliable presentation of the historical Jesus. Maybe the best resource for many won’t be a reference work, but another fictional novel.
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9. February 2006 at 16:18
John,
I’m definitely looking forward to reading this someday. I happened to see her interviewed about this book by Charlie Rose a number of months back. She has refreshingly grounded views about what following Jesus should look like in this world, which I think definitely stems from her previously-held atheistic ideals and thus the contrast of spirituality that has occurred in her life. If I had time, I would try to find the transcript of that interview for you because I bet you’d enjoy it (Charlie Rose asked some very pointed theological questions, which Rice handled very well, in my opinion, and Rose actually admitted to a being a believer himself, which is rare for him to speak of his personal beliefs during interviews).
Another sidenote, she mentioned that this book is the first of four, I believe, as she plans to complete her writing career with novels detailing the 33 years of Christ’s life.
Hope you and the fam are well!
10. May 2006 at 12:20
[...] A few months ago, I wrote my thoughts on Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. I had a chance to meet with Steve Lewis today and we talked about how much we both enjoyed the book. The conversation reminded me of my conclusions about the book, which seem especially fitting with the DaVinci Code’s realease next week: With The DaVinci Code set to release this spring, there will be another cry among Christians to find a conservative and reliable presentation of the historical Jesus. Maybe the best resource for many won’t be a reference work, but another fictional novel. [...]
25. March 2008 at 23:27
[...] think I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first in the series — Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Perhaps more. The Road to Cana begins to deal with the [...]
28. July 2008 at 13:38
[...] I was turned on to Anne Rice’s Christ The Lord series in part by my good friend John, who wrote about her debut work in the series a couple years ago. Her follow-up is equally good, if not better, because (as John [...]