Will Wonders Never Cease....

Anne Rice has written a book about Jesus. You know, "Interview With a Vampire", "Queen of the Damned", yeah, that Anne Rice. I just finished reading a short interview with Ms. Rice in our local paper about her new book "Christ the Lord-The Road to Cena" and I must say I'm intrigued. Sure my first reaction when I read the title of the article was totally judgemental. I rolled my eyes and thought sadly, "great another blasphemous novel". But fortunately for my soul (judge not lest you be judged...) I read the interview and after reading it, I can say it sounds like Ms. Rice may have actually written a book that honors Christ.

The book explores the year before Christ's baptism. Ms Rice stated these as her reasons for choosing this time in Jesus' life to write about: "I wanted to give a sense of what was going on that last winter before His public ministry. I wanted to show his humanity and the kinds of societal pressures--the pressure for a 30-year old man to marry for instance--what was going on at that time historically". I think that's an interesting premise and I would be interested in reading a book that sets the scene for Christ's brief but beyond powerful ministry. I would assume that others have written on this topic but can they weave together a story as well as Ms. Rice? Of course her ability to write incredible fiction is my first red flag.......

Although I'm interested, I am still hesitant to read the book based on Ms. Rice's previous writings. I will admit I have never read any of her books but reading just a part of the book "Interview With a Vampire" I was convinced that her stories would not be something that would be beneficial or edifying for me to read. I think a person would have to go to and stay in a very, very dark place to invent and craft that kind of evil fiction. However, everything Ms Rice in the interview leads one to believe she is writing from a place of light now. She didn't publicly renounce her old way of writing or state bluntly "I've been redeemed". Ms. Rice said only that she "came back to Church in 1998", told Christ "Lord, I'm going to trust in You" and has no more plans to write vampire novels. Ms. Rice states she spent hours in tearful prayer asking Christ to "...let this (her new book) be art for You." She also states that she wanted the book to be as accurate as possible and used the Bible as her primary research. She stated that her book was an answer to the Da Vinci Code. Ms. Rice says she thought the Da Vinci Code was clever but "full of lies" and she couldn't believe how the "world went crazy over it". I will be intersted to see if Christian leaders give her book any notice and what they will have to say about it.

I have decided I might peruse the book the next time I'm at the bookstore. However, I don't feel confident that I have studied Biblical history well enough to know whether or not her book is honoring to Christ and truthful or a wolf in sheep's clothing. I think Ms. Rice is probably smarter than me and I wouldn't consider myself qualified to judge the accuracy of her writings. But then, I do think the Holy Spirit is more than qualified and I suppose I could rely on "the still small voice" giving me a sense of whether the book is something that honors Christ. At the very least I am glad that Ms. Rice is now writing on a more uplifting topic and it sounds as though her intentions are pure. But then again, regardless of Ms. Rice's intentions, I'm afraid that the book could still be tainted. Satan does clothe himself as an angel of light so it's possible that even without Ms. Rice knowing it, this book is more dangerous than all her others put together...........