Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

Our friend loved this book very much

He leido varios libros de Anne Rice y este lo encontre aceptable, interesante, pero no cautivante como otras de sus novelas. Seguire intentando....

I must say I didn't know what to expect from Anne Rice in her first book since her conversion back to Christian spirituality. I found that the voice and storyline were captivating, and the pages turned quickly and easily. Knowing that the work is fiction, an idea in the author's mind of what Jesus' life may have been in his early years, the period and culture were so well researched that I expanded my understanding of the world in which Jesus, my Lord and Savior, grew up. As a Catholic exploring the history of the Church I can appreciate the historical research that went into writing this book. As someone who is always looking to know more about Jesus, this book gives me the family, economic, cultural/religious and political setting that will help me in my own meditiations to know Him better!

What a great way to start the year! The first book I've read for 2006 is "Christ the Lord - Out of Egypt" by Anne Rice. Yes that's Anne Rice, the author of the Vampire Chronicles. In this book she turns her hand from horror novels to something entirely different - an historically credible, reasonably biblically faithful portrait of the child Jesus, written in the first person. The pace is slow, the prose fairly simple (as you would expect given that it is the thoughts of a seven year old boy) but elegant, yet there is a stunning attention to detail. Even before reading the fascinating afterword (in Rice gives some of her story of faith) you can see the incredible amount of research that has gone into this book. Essentially the plot consists of Jesus' extended family travelling back from Egypt to Nazareth following the death of King Herod and their adjustment back into Jewish life in Galilee. At the same time we see the progress of Jesus' own self awareness as he begins to question who he really is, given his unusual abilities and the secrecy surrounding the events of his birth and move to Egypt, the details of which slowly emerge as the story flows. This is a wonderful novel which gives a credible glimpse into the humanity of Jesus, and also the incredible uniqueness of his life and the struggles he may have faced. In reading this book I couldn't help but seeing the fingerprints of N T Wright, my favourite Christian author and scholar, whose research into the 'historical Jesus' is unsurpassed. This book is almost as if someone had begun to write a novel based on his scholarship, and I was pleased to see that Rice acknowledged her debt to Wright in her afterword, along with a great deal of other writers. I don't know how a non-Christian or a normal fan of her other books would enjoy this novel (this is the first of Rice's books I have read) but for me this was a compelling and inspiring read, helping to "put flesh on" the limited portrait of Jesus we have in the gospels. I would definitely recommend it.

The novel is quite a tour de force. Here are some initial impressions. Your mileage of course may vary. 1) Anne Rice has carefully done her homework. I read her Author's Note first (starting page 305), mostly because I wanted to know how she wrote this novel. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but there's a bunch of background information I should have known but didn't. For example, I didn't know anything -- or maybe I've forgotten, I'm nearly 50 -- about Herod Archelaus except that he was Herod's son. But being a wise technical writer, I did a Google search and found a great website that satisfied nearly every niggling historical question I could think of. [...] 3) I liked how slowly the story of Jesus unfolded as a seven year old boy. In one sense, the entire novel is an extended meditation on St Luke's wondrous words: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52) Anne Rice demonstrates a certain apophatic restraint in how the young Jesus comes to understand Who He Is. Eastern Orthodox readers who can appreciate mystery ("I will not speak of Your mystery to Your enemies") will certainly appreciate how certain characters (for example, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Forerunner) only discloses certain revelations when it's appropriate to do so. Characters just don't blabber out profound mysteries. Holy mysteries are treated with respect. Some quirks emerge in Rice's novel. Maybe it just shows how wacko I have become that I loved them. I didn't mind Elizabeth sending John to live out with the Essences after she dies. I didn't mind Joseph, the BVM, and Jesus living in Alexandria and meeting Philo the famous Jewish philosopher! Later, Cleopas, one of the uncles of Jesus, even gives two manuscripts of Philo to a rabbi in Nazareth as a problem. I was charmed. Finally, I didn't mind Jesus performing certain miracles when he was a kid. They really do make sense in the context of the novel. If I can swallow the Protoevangelium of St James, a couple of pseudepigraphical miracles (from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas) shouldn't give me theological indigestion. It wasn't that long ago stories like that gave me The Willies. Maybe this is proof positive that I'm not a Fundamentalist Bible Banger anymore after all!?!?!? I must admit that it took me nearly 121 pages before I could fully suspend my disbelief. But then Anne Rice snagged me hook-line-and-sinker. 4) What I liked best about the novel is just how Jewish Jesus is. The Jewishness of Jesus in Anne Rice's writing is carefully depicted, right down to some of the gentle humor. (But don't expect any Woody Allen or Mel Brooks jokes!) The character of Jesus is molded in the context of living first-century Judaism. This is where Anne Rice's historical research paid off in spades. For example, Jesus is certainly trilingual, and maybe even quadri-lingual. He knows Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and perhaps even a smattering of Latin. Chapter 17 especially enchanted me. Ric

At seven years of age Jesus was living on the Street of Carpenters in Alexandria Egypt, an ordinary child who played and learned the studies all Jewish boys must know. The fact that he turned clay pigeons into real birds and that he struck dead a child who bullied him and then brought him back to life didn't really impinge on his consciousness although Mary and Joseph know who he is and why he was born to the Virgin Mary. An angel tells Joseph it is time for them to return to Israel so they travel to their homeland. They stop at the Temple in Jerusalem but a riot breaks out between the rebels and Herod's troops. They journey to Nazareth, but on the way Jesus stops to heal his Uncle in the river Jordan. A curious child, he listens to the hints about his birth and wants to know what was so special about it. Neither Mary nor Joseph feel he is ready to know these things but when Jesus heals a blind man, he knows he must find out the truth including why his mother says he was born not of man. Anne Rice's portrayal of Jesus as a young child shows him as both divine and human though he is not aware yet of his origins or his purpose in life. The character gradually comes to realize he is not like other children and wants to know why, something any curious seven-year old would try and find out if they were in his shoes. Perhaps the most beautiful trait Anne Rice's Jesus possesses is a wisdom that belies his years and comes out at the most inopportune times. Though well-written, reader bias will either laud Ms. Rice's latest work or condemn her interpretation of the boy destined to become the Savior. Harriet Klausner