St. Andrew’s Journal

Over a year ago I stumbled across a book by gothic horror writer Anne Rice entitled Christ our Lord: Out of Egypt.  My immediate response was, “Yeah right, like I am going to read this.”  Having never read anything by Anne Rice did not mean I didn’t already know alittle about her work.  For those who may not be sure who she is, you may recognize some movies based on her work”Interview with a Vampire” and “Queen of the Damned.”  Not the kind of movies you want to watch as a believer (at least I hope you don’t).

In any case, what I didn’t know at the time was that Anne Rice had returned home to the church of her youth, the Catholic Church, and had rededicated her life to Christ.  I first learned this last November when I stumbled upon an interview with her in Charisma magazine.  To my amazement, she had written Christ our Lord: Out of Egypt as an expression of her new found faith in Christ.  When I first saw the book my assumption was that it would be attempt to present Christ in some perverted manner.  So with this new found information, I decided to read a little Anne Rice. 

I recently finished the book and I must tell you it was thoroughly enjoyable.  It is a fictional presentation of the life of Christ as a seven year old told from his perspective.  The book is well researched and is grounded in the prophetic scriptures regarding Christ.  Since there is little biblical information about Christ as a child, Rice does draws at times from apocryphal stories or myths told about Jesus in church history.  But these sources and references are select and are used to aid Rice’s vision of Christ. 

Deeply reverent and even enlightening at times, Rice’s Jesus is an enjoyable and imaginative read.  I particularly enjoyed how she made the milieu of Christ’s life come alive.  For me, this gave me fresh insight into what Palestine under the rule of the Romans might have been like from the perspective of the people.  

Since reading this book, I plan to pick up the second book in the series Christ our Lord: Road to Cana.  I am very proud of the work Anne Rice is doing with this series and am particularly happy for her that she has found her way back to Christ.  Her testimony at the end of Christ our Lord: Out of Egypt is well worth reading.