I read this book last summer and was super excited that I have the second installment in the trilogy, and will be reading it next week.

I love Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and while the Gospels are wonderful to read, there is something special and wonderful reading Anne's creative version of what Jesus was like as a child. She is such a talented artist, and her ample research is very evident.

I think anyone that loves good fiction will enjoy this book. However, if you love Jesus, and if you also love the Holy Family, then you will treasure the experience of feeling your love for Jesus, and his mother, and his earthly stepfather stir within you while reading this book.

Anne Rice has shifted subject matter -- to put it mildly -- with skill and grace. Her telling of Jesus' boyhood is at times moving and illuminating. Without forcing her readers to buy into any of this Christian story with which they are not comfortable, Rice gives humanity and a visual sense of Jesus' life as he discovers who he is. Some of the stand out parts for me were her forshadowing of familiar New Testament stories-- the money changers outside the temples and the Roman use of crucifixion, to name but two. Some of the storytelling is a bit uneven in a few moments, but the book brings the reader into the era, the settings and the person with new insight. Worth the read for anyone interested in this story no matter their religions background.

Good read. I liked Out of Egypt better. This seemed as if it was almost geared for Middle School reading.

I loved Anne Rices' other stuff but was really bored with this. I read 100 pages and gave up on it. I wish she'd go back to the Vampires.

I swear every time I pick this book up to try and read it I fall asleep. It's hard to follow, and I just can't get into it. I will be donating this to the Library...

I started this book a couple of years ago, got about 50 pages into it, and quit. It was a bit too touchy-feely for me. Then I picked it up again last month, started over, and finished it. I'm glad I did. It got better as I progressed, and Anne Rice's research was evident as she described life of a very special Jewish family in first century Palestine. I think James and Joseph were my favorite characters. I also liked her imaginative -- yet, as far as I could tell, orthodox -- description of child Jesus's gradual self-understanding and subsequent self-limitation. Finally, Rice's descriptions of the holy land gave me a vivid mental image that will enliven my reading of the New Testament.

She built her reputation writing books about vampires and witches, exploring her own faith as her characters wrestled with timeless themes of good and evil. Now Anne Rice has taken on the story of Christ himself. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt is a novel written as a first-person account by Jesus of his very early years. In an afterword Rice details her research -- the years she spent studying Christ and his times, delving deeply into academic treatises. ..

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel

The very first page is so inaccurate when compared to the Scriptures. The Bible clearly states that the first miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding when he turned water into wine. You can't make up things that you think Jesus would have done as a youngster - I understand this is fiction but at least be a little correct. I stopped reading after the first page and if you are a follower of the the Holy Scriptures I would suggest that you do not purchase this book.

I was very impressed with Ms Rice's style of writing. It was as though you were hearing the story first hand from Jesus himself. It put Jesus in a human perspective and her style of presenting Him in this manner made this a believable story. I found myself picturing in my mind as I read along that I was actually there and observing the events myself. Excellent piece of work. I have recommended this book to all my friends.

I don't know what I expected when I ordered the book, I bought it because Rice's new book Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (Christ the Lord)piqued my curiosity at the store and because I loved Memnoch The Devil for the way it made me think about what I thought I knew about my religion.
My first (and immediate) reaction was, leave it to Ann Rice to have the audacity use first person narration as God! What else has she got in store for me? I couldn't put it down! I have recomended the book to every recovery Roman Catholic I know. Loaned it out twice, and plan to at least skim it again before I read the next one, which I wanted to wait a while to do so that I could reflect more on this one.
I still can't say exactly what my reaction is, only that I'm still reflecting, that it seems to have given an element of believability to things I dismissed as religious propaganda.
A great read for the faithful and the fallen!

This book was a great disappointment for me, right from the first few pages. Rice begins the book with little Jesus inadvertently killing a kid on the street, as "the power" goes out of him (he later revives this kid again). Basically, Jesus is portrayed as a sci fi superhero who has to learn to control his special power (the ability to make real whatever he thinks about). Otherwise, it is obvious that his special power can be used either for good or for ill.

This kind of portrayal of Jesus strikes me as completely off, especially for a Catholic revert. It is sad that Rice does not have a better understanding of God. The Bible says that God is LOVE. The Gospels always show Jesus doing good with his "power" - healing, saving, feeding, etc. There is never any indication that he had to "control" his power lest it lash out accidentally and harm innocent victims. And yet, Rice begins the novel in a way that shows God's power as much more suspect and ambiguous. Rather than being innately good, God is shown as someone who has to struggle to contain a force that could just as easily do harm.

Another thing that bothered me about this book was the portrayal of Mary, who seems completely pathetic and weak - always either crying or fearful - the stereotypical passive woman. After having seen The Passion I much prefer the portrayal of Mary as a strong and capable woman.

The final thing that bothered me is that Rice failed to realistically portray the thought process of Jesus as a child. No big surprise there I suppose, since it is a tall order to try to get into the mind of God made man. Rice does provide good reasons for her approach to Jesus's character (as someone who emptied himself of God awareness). However, these reasons only appear in the final author's note. Not having had the benefit of her reasoning while reading the book, her choices were not immediately obvious to me. What was obvious, on the other hand, was that Jesus was confused about his identity...and yet, he seemed to spend almost no time thinking about it. His first-person narration is much more concerned with simply observing and reporting on what goes on around him (like a talking camera) and much less on what is happening inside of him. I would have liked more of the latter. His alleged intellectual brightness is also not apparent in his direct narration, as he shows no special insights or wisdom as his mind churns (and the readers get to read his thoughts).

I agree with the earlier comment that the best part of this book was the author's note at the back. Rice shares how much research she did before she wrote this book. I wish more of this research were evident in the book, but the book is actually quite light on description and context, and is mostly dialogue.

I was a little skeptical about the portraial of Christ by Anne Rice. She does have a history of writting dark books. I was very suprised and loved the way she wove the historical account of his life in with a real life account of the way it could of happened.

For decades now, Ms. Rice has kept us entertained with her tales of deliciously cultured and conflicted bisexual vampires and witches, much to the obvious delight of the Evangelical Christian parents I'm sure. Now all of a sudden (perhaps due to the death of her husband, a life long atheist) she decides that Christianity (and Catholicism in particular) is the answer to everything in her life. I find it sad that one so brillant needs such a crutch, but so be it. However, I do have a problem with the fact that she says now she will not write about anything that does not pertain to the Christian faith (this would include her Vampire novels, which she views as being metaphors for "lost" human souls). To me (and hopefully to the lovely readers of Amazon), this is the same thing as when Cat Stevens converted to Islam and decided that his music was nothing more than a diversion from God. To not fully utilize one's talents is, in any logical notion of a Creator, an ultimate insult to the very being whom one claims to venerate. I am grateful that I did get a few years of Ms. Rice's spellbinding occultic writings as they kept me captivated throughout my teen years.
Okay, enough of the rant; how's the book itself? Well, sorry to say, not so hot. If you're a by the book Taliban-like Catholic or Fundalmentalist Christian, this may be a little slice of what you need to simply reinforce your brainwashing. Nothing is challenged: the brothers and sisters of Jesus (which is clearly what they are called in the Bible) are from Joe's first (and never mentioned in the Gospels) marriage, Mary and Joe don't have a real marriage, rather Joe is just there to raise Jesus. He has no role as husband. The Jews are presented as a group that has fallen away from their core beliefs and only the crazy Essenes are "Jewish" enough to raise the great John the Baptist. Since the Gospels are nearly silent on the early years of Jesus, info from the Gnostic Gospels is used (such as the tale of Jesus killing and bringing back to life his dead playmate). These are stories of tradition and not accepted Church "facts" (considering that all of the Gospels were written well after Jesus's death anyway, are there any facts that we can honestly know to be certain? There are no Roman records, nothing that corroborates the Gospel tales. Just some food for thought). The narrative of Jesus Himself is rather dull for a godling with X-Men-like powers who is living at such a volatile period. It's a quick but unexciting read for anyone but hardcore Christians. Once again, I wish that Ms. Rice would reconsider her vow to become the Catholic C.S. Lewis and reconvert to writing as she does best: those naughty, luscious vampires. I promise I won't tell her priest.

CHRIST THE LORD, Out of Egypt
By Anne Rice
Not into sucking vampires or horror genres, I'd never read anything by Anne Rice.
When I heard Rice had become a Christian and changed her writing goals, I was intrigued. Then I discovered this book.
The orthodox canon of scripture says little about Jesus as a child, so Rice wrote with imagination and speculation. She admits the book is fiction, but based on a great deal of research. I may not totally agree with Anne Rice's theology, but I found the volume plausible.
She writes of Jesus' probable life as a seven-year-old on his family's journey from Egypt to a new sojourn in Nazareth.
Our canon says Christ was tempted like every person is, which means he experienced things that taught him to fully understand humanity. In Rice's book, the young Jesus faces questions that surely Christ wondered about: Why did villagers look askance at his mother? What happened at his birth? Rice gives him believable emotions, such as childhood fear when accosted by the evil one and typical difficulties with social challenges in Jewish villages.
Rice also clearly portrays Christ's deity.
I was challenged by Rice's goal, expressed in her introduction, from now on to write only for God. I wish her success and hope to emulate her goals.
© Geni J. White

Very well written book, yet what had an even greater impact upon me were the words contained in Anne Rice's heartfelt and spiritually inspired Author's note at the end of the book. I understood her spiritual journey and why she wrote this book.

Everyone wonders about the hidden years of the life of Christ as a boy. Anne Rice does a wonderful job "filling in the blanks" of what might have been - and has done an amazing amount of research to make it as realistic as possible. All this in an enjoyable, readable format. I rated this book as a five due to the fun I had reading it and I will also be reading the sequel with just as much pleasure. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's ever wondered just what did happen during those years as these books give you a possible clue. Jesus as a boy is something that I've always wondered about and I can't possibly be the only one!

This is the fictional story of Christ's childhood from his, a child's, perspective. While it may be educational for those who do not realize that Christ was Jewish, it clearly is fiction hanging on a skeleton of "fact". It is an ambitious and brave project for Anne to take on, and I find it somewhat boring.

I picked this item up, on a whim, at my local store (sorry amazon!). I am very pleasently surprised. I have read Ms. Rice in the past - but her vampire lore always left me cold. She has a wonderful ability to tell a story - but the vampires just aren't my thing. This story of Jesus, of which we are all familiar, is simply amazing. Please, don't be too theological in your approach to the book. The story is told from a first person perspective, Jesus being that person. However...it gives a glimpse into what could have been. I will be getting the next book about Cana as soon as I am finished with this one. Excellent!!

I had not heard of Anne Rice. I wouldn't have. Vampires and such would not be in my normal circle of reading or comfort zone. This was reccomended to me and I am delighted it was. I don't endorse all of the characterizations Anne pens, but I appreciate the imagination stimulation and all of the "what-ifs." The solid connection with historical facts, figures, lifestyle and territory is superb. Mostly the protrayal of The Christ being simultaneously devine and human, albeit suspect at time, insist the mind travel down some uncharted paths. I did, and I was better for it.

I have been a Rice fan for many years, yet as a Catholic I must admit I was very skeptical about reading Anne Rice's biography of Jesus. After creating so many maginificent anti-hero characters, could Anne create an objective portrait of our Lord Jesus? But once I began reading the book, I could not put it down. There is no hint of Lestat there, the book stands on its own without the monster's help. If you are looking for Lestat, you will not find him in this book, but you will find it to be an inspirational, beautifully written story about the young Jesus. A very bold move by Anne Rice to write this in the first person, but this boldness is what Rice's fans like about her, her work is never "watered-down" and Out of Egypt is just as daring and excellent as all of her past novels.

Anne Rice says in her author's word at the end of the novel that she very carefully researched her facts for this novel and it shows. She takes the facts she gleaned from that research and applies them to the life of a seven-year-old boy living at the time. We thus see the world, as it was (if Anne's research is accurate and there is no reason to think it is not)at the time. It was a world of rebellion, of lawlessness, of cruelty by those in power toward those without power. Reading of the world in Jesus's time, I could not help but think of the "wild west" era in America, or, sad to say, the current time in Iraq. We see that, when an excited young Jesus goes to visit the temple for the first time that Roman soldiers fight down rebels right before his eyes. He and his family are very nearly killed. We see as the family returns to Nazareth, to the family house there, that they fear at all times being robbed and killed by bandits and thugs, or being taken for rebels by Roman soldiers and summarily killed. When finally home, the village is deserted, the people hiding for fear of their own lives and the roads nearby are lined with crosses holding those rebels being crucified for defying the Roman governor. Once in town they are approached by Roman soldiers and, if not for the charity of the leader, would have been killed right there.

We learn too that Jesus was, far from being a "hick" from the country, well educated and very worldly as Nazareth is at the cross-roads of the world. He speaks Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin. His family, being talented carpenters, earns a fine living for the times and lives fairly well. The town and nearby villages are much in ruin due to the wars and their skills are much in demand.

Anne Rice has to walk a fine line in describing Jesus as a "normal" seven-year-old boy and also placing in her descriptions of events suggestions of his divinity. In this she succeeds very well. Jesus is, it is true, at this time, more little boy than divine being, and that suits the novel just fine.

The book is told in first person from Jesus's point of view and therein is my one small objection to the book (and the reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5). Choosing to write the book from a child's point of view denies Rice the chance to write more poetically and more deeply about much of what is occurring around Jesus. It is all told from the boy's point of view. I'm sure this offers a sense of immediacy that would otherwise be missing but I'm equally sure that it doesn't allow Rice to put into the novel much of the knowledge she gained through her research into the era. An author must make choices and I'm sure Rice decided the immediacy was worth the loss of a more adult analysis of what was taking place. Still, it is a loss to this reader anyway.

I got the sense that this book is only "book one" and that a second book about a grown-up Jesus might be forthcoming. I hope so.

The author's note at the end of the book, telling of Rice's transformation from atheism to believer is quite moving and an additional note added for the paperback version remarks on comments she received regarding this transformation. Many readers ask that she write a book detailing her own life at this time and she is considering doing exactly that. I think that would be another book worth reading.

It is rare nowadays for a book aiming at substantiating the traditional theological understandings of the person of Jesus of Nazareth to see the light of day, much less to become a bestseller. The greater reading public, even religious those who see themselves as believers, look skeptically at works by theologians and religious controversialists. Savvy readers often relegate these works to the realm of "belief," which in practice means "the ambit of the not-necessarily factual." What was needed was a person able to talk to this jaded audience and meet their doubts and objections frontally, ideally, someone who for most of her life herself embraced the post-modern "hermeneutics of suspicion" pervading academia and the media. To my delight, that person is Anne Rice.

Anne Rice is better known for her Vampire Chronicles series. Dark, gothic, deviantly erotic, and preternatural, Rice's "undead" were immortal understudies in the theater of humanity playing their parts in a tableau devoid of script, where morality is self-determined, and where it is better to be the hunter than the prey.

Of the Vampire Chronicles I've only read one book, at the urging of a coworker who knew my literary tastes on such things, and that's how I came to read Memnoch the Devil, a work that preserved most of Vampire Chronicles series' mystique. I found this work profound because of the breadth and depths of the questions she raised regarding the nature of good and evil, God and the devil, and the fog of uncertainty that human beings generate around ground-facts that tend to alter their meaning and contents. I found this novel's conclusion rather disturbing, because she seemed to be arguing that the reason why good and evil are so difficult to discern is because their agents are cooperating toward a common goal! In spite of this formulation, I found Memnoch the Devil vaguely Christian in the sense that it was thoroughly respectful of the Christian claims without camouflaging the egregious actions of these same Christians through history. If the work was disquieting, it was also "spiritual."

Then I read Servant of the Bones. This book is no longer connected to the Vampire Chronicles and its main character is another kind of immortal, a Jew exiled to Babylon during the time of Nebuchadnezzar turned into a sort of genie following a botched occult ritual. This Jewish man then became a witness to the history of his race and a vehicle for Rice to explore the unique persistence of the Jews as a peculiar people for over 3,000 years of recorded history. Again, Rice does not pull any punches against the historical treatment by the Christian Churches -- Eastern and Western; Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant -- of the Jew. Yet, Rice struggles to find a "meta-narrative" explaining the survival of the Jews and apparently finds it in the Providence of a personal God, whose personal character remains ill-defined both for the protagonist and for the writer. Christians and Jews can be redeemed together, according to Rice.

Servant of the Bones was a work of historical fiction which was also "religious." It was clear to me that Rice has become a willing theist when she wrote the final dot in this Servant of the Bones, but she left me asking myself, well, now what? Where is this path leading her? The answer is to be found in Christ the Lord.

Christ the Lord is a bold piece of historic fiction, if we are to consider the principal aim of this genre, aside from entertaining readers, that is: to render a narrative intertwining historical characters, places, and events that, although fictitious, is also plausible. Minutely researched, Ann Rice delivers a fictitious life of Jesus written in the first person, as Christ -- that by itself is also bold. Rice wrote her narrative with great attention to the scholarly consensus about political, economical, religious, and living conditions in first century Egypt and Israel.

I've just talked about "plausibility." Skeptics and Christian minimalists are not going to like this work because the Jesus emerging from these pages is not "a marginal Jew," but a cosmopolitan, talented, and multilingual boy-- a set of talents He acquired naturally, by the way--hailing from a lively, dynamic, and ancient culture located, not in the boondocks, but in the crossroads of the classical Roman world.

The Jesus Rice portrays in Christ the Lord is fully aware of his divine sonship at a subconscious level. This awareness invades his conscious self in waves, sometimes in dreams, sometimes by reasoning through various clues. He knows that the answer to the question of his identity lies within Him, but also He knows that He should learn the answer by natural, human means and not by drawing it out from his divine nature. This narrative line reminded me of these verses found in the Christological hymn recorded in Philippians 2, verses 5-11:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.(NIV)
Rice's Jesus "ungrasped" his divine nature, voluntarily embracing for himself the human quest for knowledge acquired through experience, and therefore, evolutionary, and growing in time as He acquired even more experience. Rice acknowledges as much in her very detailed, highly personal afterword to her novel.

Jesus' experiential knowledge was fraught with the same uncertainties every human being faces as he or she grows up. Jesus didn't "cheat" nor did He took shortcuts in his quest for personal awareness. He knew pain, fear, frustration, and tears as well as love, compassion, and tenderness which He gave as well as received, particularly from His immediate family.

Rice gives us a Jesus fully integrated into an extended human family. Beyond the Jesus, Mary, and Joseph trio known to us all, Rice gives us a vision of Jesus' extended family as fully cognizant of "the secret" of Jesus' origin and messianic destiny. The extended family closed ranks around the holy three and were all instrumental in raising Jesus, each one possessing a piece of the knowledge Jesus needed to reconstruct the circumstances of his birth and the nature of his mission. If you ever wondered what kind of human beings took to raise the Son of God, you will find the answer in this book, and you will not be disappointed.

Finally, Anne Rice emerges from this book as a fully Catholic writer. This is probably the most amazing thing to me, that the vampire-storyteller-turned-theologian wrote something so rich, meaning, and true. In this book, Anne Rice creates culture, that is, a new medium for exchanging ideas, potentially creating new artistic expression in cinema, music, and poetry, and ennobling and uplifting those who read it. That's what it means to be a "Catholic" writer, for a Catholic writer is not one that necessarily communicates or defends Catholic dogma, but one that, through her work creates new opportunities for cultural expression that is imbued with Christian values. I could say much more, but then I'll bore you. Buy, read, and pass around this book. You won't regret it. Christ the Lord is really a towering achievement.

I am an avid Anne Rice reader and love everything she's done, but this book left me a little dry. I would like to see her delve back into the vampire chronicles, if not more into Lestat's story. I thought the chronicles were her best work.

That said. Christ the Lord was well written, but a little too boring for me. I'm used t Rice's characters having something in them that questions everything - but it seemed that this child was very easily swayed that God was everything his parents said - despite the fact that he wasn't 100% impressed with his parents and their secret keeping.

This story did paint an interesting picture of a child who didn't know his own strength and came to terms VERY early with the need for all things to die. I wish that the novel had gone beyond a year, however, because I feel like the story of what happened when he was a teenager, going through puberty, etc would have been facinating. Maybe Rice could have addressed what was already made public by the DaVinci code, which was that Christ took a wife.

I give this book 3 stars because I feel that it could have been more.

This is an interesting story about a young Jesus, and how life might have looked from his eyes as a young boy. Most of the story focuses on his his powers, and how that would have set him apart from others. Talk about an unusual adolescence. I particularly enjoyed learning the historical aspect of how things were then. I liked this, but preferred "The Morning Tree" by Austin Reams.

What a lovely, delightful little book! And to think, this was my first Anne Rice novel! No wonder she is so popular: educated, well-read, her own curiosity feeds her work and her fans. What a treat to find in an author! She paints a picture of a time and a place that is the pivot point for the foundation of our current civilization, and makes it seem real, glorious, and incredibly human. My favorite thread was the way she portrayed Joseph: an animated storyteller as he educated the children he was responsible for about the ways of Hebrews and why. I felt like I was one of the children on the floor, laughing at his antics while loving the tradition and the history of each moment. What a treasure!

This review is aimed mainly at Christian readers.

I have enjoyed a number of Mrs. Rice's earlier novels, despite elements that I found personally objectionable, because she is such a wonderfully talented and entertaining author. As years passed, she became ever more profane and blasphemous, and I could no longer feel comfortable reading her books.

I was pleasantly surprised several months ago to come across a favorable article about her in World Magazine. As a result I bought this book, but set it aside for a later date. As a long time student of theology and of Jewish history, I was expecting this to be completely off the wall, goyish (gentilized, so to speak), perhaps even antiSemitic, and trivial.

I couldn't have been more wrong! An autobiography by the Son of God is, of course, a "silly" idea (but not a bad literary device, it turns out), and as an Evangelical Protestant I don't agree with some of her Roman Catholic Biblical understanding. Yet those things are unimportant. Her understanding of Jesus' devout Jewishness and the culture in which He grew up is totally in accord with my own understanding and beliefs. Above all the reverent treatment which graces her treatment of the subject matter is truly inspiring. My heartfelt thanks and contratulations to Mrs. Rice...

I highly recommend this book to all who worship Jesus, and to any Jew or Gentile who mistakenly believes that Jesus was a rebel in His own culture.

As an avid fan of Anne Rice and all of her novels, I was skeptical about reading this book based on reviews I read here on Amazon. Am I ever glad that I went ahead and bought this book anyway. It's an amazing and wonderful tale. The story is told beautifully, and has left me waiting, impatiently, for her next book. As a Christian is has left me with many questions, and the means to find the answers. In the afterward she leaves a rather extensive list of books that she resesarched in the writing of this novel. She has inspired me and I am greatful to her. I reccomend this book highly. Despite being told from the perspective of a seven year old, the story is amazing, especially when you take into account that the seven year old whose eyes we are looking through are the eyes of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Primarily known for her vampire and historical quasi-horror novels, author Anne Rice has turned her attention towards telling an intriguing story about the early life of Jesus. For Rice, the story is of more than literary value, as the novel captures her turn from a life absent belief in God towards the life of faith. This book covers the part of Jesus' life as he and his family departs Egypt to go back to Israel. Interestingly, the book follows the scholarship of N.T. Wright particularly closely, paying specific attention to the question of Jesus' understanding of himself - something Wright has the intellectual courage and honesty to wrestle with in his series Christian Origins and the Question of God.

The "Author's Note" at the end of the book introduces Rand's journey, including the loving story of her atheist husband of 41 years being diagnosed with brain cancer and dying within 4 months of the diagnosis. This event drove Rice towards a deeper exploration of faith, a journey she was fated to walk. Rice was raised in a Roman Catholic home and left her faith as a young adult, encountering the works of "Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Camus" which fed a part of her inner being that had gone unnourished and unexplored within the church. Her career as a writer drew her towards the occult, no doubt revealing her profound interest in the mythical and supernatural. Her career allowed Rice to placate herself with the tawdry and trivial as she downplayed her more deeply hidden spiritual needs and mystical tendencies with stories of demons and vampires; many a reader is thankful to her for these flights of fancy. During research for another book, she encountered the story of the Jews and began to ask herself how a people so persecuted could survive. This led her to explore Jesus as a Jew, which ultimately led her towards the same question that turned C.S. Lewis from his atheist beliefs towards the life of faith: what other explanation fully answers the question of the origin of Christianity than the resurrection of Jesus?

While wrestling with this question, Rice again encountered the faith of her childhood, reminding us of the truth implicit in the saying "the child is the father of the man". Rice engaged the skeptics of Jesus, although her comments at the end of the book suggest Rice was looking for a myth to believe was true, and in doing so gravitated towards the best of evangelical scholarship (which Wright certainly represents), but seems to quickly pass over the moderate critics of Jesus' divinity such as Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Rice is very much right to disagree with much of the quasi-Jesus scholarship that has arisen in the last 30 years based on scholars so eager to discredit Christianity that they disavow even the idea that the existence of Jesus can be proven at all. But the excesses of members of this community should not inherently discredit every question they are asking, most specifically the essential argument that supernatural events raise to a wholly different standard what is required to prove it occurred than does the required proof of a historical event very much set and bound to the events and continuity of terrestrial occurrences. However, in an important way, Rice's honesty about wrestling with Jesus' identity affords an opportunity for two communities with their own legitimate scholarship to come together in a dialogue over what they do not understand from the other's perspective.

Perhaps Rice is slated to create a round of literature similar in its vision and imagery as did Lewis. American Christianity would benefit from a genuinely unique form of literature as opposed to the pabulum that passes for most Christian literature, the Left Behind series being the best example of this. If this is Rice's intention, her next book in this series is critical as it will need to improve and expand on the inner turmoil taking place within Christ's understanding of himself and his deity. In order to do her story credit, Rice is going to have to develop a line of her writing that has not previously been essential - in addition to telling a good story, she is going to have to wrestle with the inner tension of a character torn between worlds, identities, loves, longings and missions. For me, Christ the Lord came up short in its treatment of the tension in Jesus' inner life, coming short of fully developing the questions Jesus was struggling with as to his identity as God. I could not shake the nagging thought that a God born flesh who does not know he is God is troubling and, frankly speaking, so conflicted as to be quite unhelpful. In asking the question of Christ's awareness (or lack thereof as Rice honestly introduces) of his divinity, Rice would be following through in the most honest and sincere of ways at the implications of Wright's scholarship, which has acknowledged that the Gospels portray a Jesus less than certain of the Messiah-status his modern-day followers are very certain of.

I doubt skeptics will find Wright's treatment of Jesus as a child particularly helpful - for me it only raised the ante of the difficulties and disconnects within Christian theology. By framing the book entirely from the first person-perspective of Jesus as a child, Rice intends for us to appreciate the humanity of Jesus, and the problems of his personal development as he begins to encounter his divinity. But for those attempting to make sense of the "wholly man, wholly God" logic, Rice's literary vehicle only accentuates the difficulty in believing God became flesh, but was not aware at all of his godhood. This struggles to make sense at a literary level, but is the logical consequence of Christian theology - Wright's version of it particularly. One particular prayer of Jesus towards the end of the book captures this profound identity confusion best:

"Lord. Lord, whoever I am, whatever I am, whatever I am meant to be, I am part of this, this world that is all of a flowing wonder - like this music. And you are with us. You are here. You have pitched your tent here, among us. This music is your song. This is your house." (page 273).

We are left with a book that is written in the most approachable and non-offensive of ways, which sincerely wrestles with a question too many Christian theologians refuse to acknowledge: what was it like for God to be born a man and to not know he was God? This is an honest question that Rice deserves much credit for asking. Some will luxuriate in its honesty and the questions it explores, while others will become further perplexed at a part of Christian theology that has never made sense to them - their perplexity being captured quite humanely through the narrative Rice has bestowed to us all.

Although I have read all of Rice's books and know that although a few have been great most are a disappointment. This was not the exception. She took the greatest story ever told and turned it into the slowest read ever read. I recognized the clay pigeons as a gnostic tale given no creedence by scholars. Mother Mary as having not been the mother to James and other siblings as being a unique Catholic teaching.
I think this could have been made a fascinating novel but because it drags on with the child Jesus who knows nothing and is so unaware of His purpose on earth, I found it painfully far from true. The last few pages turn mildly interesting not unlike other very slow novels by Rice.
I just read 6 Big Big Big Angels by Mary Jo Pennington yesterday and read it in just a few hours because of the fascinting descriptions of God the Father & Jesus. Anne Rice's novel I took 3 weeks to complete because it was so uninspiring.

This is the first book I have read by Anne Rice and I found the book a terrific read. I know the subject is a long way away from the novel that she usual writes, but she has obviously put a lot of thought and a tremendous amount of research into a book I found most enjoyable, and held my attention until the very last page.

The book gives an excellent portrayal of the life and times of Jesus Christ and provides a well constructed portrait of the man Jesus himself. I say the man deliberately because although the book is a work of fiction its belief is in the faith that there is a God, a being who created the universe and all the things in it. It's belief is that Jesus took on human form and dwelt among his people.

The source of the book is not only the bible and gospels, but also history. It attempts to show the life of the boy Jesus as it happens from day to day. I found it both compulsive reading and to a degree thought provoking, although the book is not a religious book in the true sense of the word.

Although I am a fan of vamp books, I did not click with Rice's works. The only book I liked of hers that I love and reread is The Mummy. Christ the Lord is another one on the love list. Told in first person by a 7 year old Jesus, it opens the reader to the Jewish culture and gives us an insight to what Jesus might have been in the beginning as he discovers that he is not like the others. Told with grace, I kept reading this and look forward to other books from the 'born again' Rice. Everyone has their path to the Light, and this book may let some readers start toward it. A very nice read.

When I first heard about this book, I wondered how vampires fit into Christ's story. Much to my surprise, Rice has set aside vampires and has found this truly worthy subject. This is a book of fiction since we don't have any historical documents to help us know what Jesus' early life was like, but Rice has done extensive research to try to give us as "true" a picture as possible. She tells an excellent story, and even though readers can acknowledge that this is fiction (albeit well researched), it opens up our minds to thinking about just what kind of life Jesus may have had before his public life.

Unbearable to know such a great author who over the years has entertained which such brilliant characters and storylines has decided to end her career.

This book clearly shows the artistic ability of Anne Rice. To be able to take a section of the life of Jesus, not told in any historical document, and produce this piece of literature is a brave endeavor. And to do it with the First Person voice, is amazing. I will admit, in all my readings, this is the first Anne Rice book I have read. Fantasy books do not attract me; so I was intrigued on reading this. As would be expected, some of those devoted readers of hers who have been with her through book one, will find this book disconcerting. Even offensive. Those are the very ones who tend to feel threatened by religion. Anne Rice certainly displays her religious strength with this book.

I say, "You did good Anne. I may not always agree with all your views and ideas, but you created a story in a way I've seen nowhere else. To write such a story that is vastly different from what your established readers are used to, takes courage. And this story must've taken a great deal of research. I feel old man Dickens would be proud."

This is not her usual style of book. It is well written and the narritive seems real. It is a must read for Anne Rice fans

I regret to inform that Anne Rice has been reduced from an open minded author with original ideas, to a narrow minded christian.

This book will be interesting for:
* those who have never read or heard about the time period Jesus grew up
* christians and other book-religious people

Otherwise, nothing really interesting happens in this book. At least for people who have been exposed to more than a bible.

I'm sorry to lose such a great author to the, in my opinion, real dark side. I give it 2 stars for the research work, 0 for the story.

Sorry, Anne Rice. I will still read your old books

What do you do when you're told there are things you're not supposed to ask about, and you have to know about them? You wonder, and keep an eye open for someone to drop a hint they didn't mean to drop, or did. What do you do when you're confronted with what your family and nation have been anticipating for years and generations and centuries and forever? If you believe in angels, what do you do when an angel comes to you? Anne Rice takes up these questions in looking at the childhood of Jesus in Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Maybe this was something we weren't supposed to wonder about, but if God didn't want us to wonder about it, He wouldn't have given us a heart and an imagination. Anne Rice does an excellent job of painting a believable picture of that time. You can imagine things that Jesus was thinking when he said certain things in the Gospels, by reading this book. The author's note at the end of the book, showing the historical sources used by Rice, is particularly helpful. The Jesus in this book is a Jesus who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities.

I had a problem with accepting the writer's use of first person for Jesus Christ. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book. It is really up to each individual reader to accept the writer's point of view. I don't mean for my comment to be a criticism.

Anne Rice does a marvelous job at making the world of first century Palestine/Egypt come to life, complete with all it's beauty and horrors. Rice examines the early life of Jesus Bar Joseph and shares with the reader what it must have been like for a boy to experience the realization, joy, terror and confusion...that you are something more than those around you.

As someone who has done a lot of research on this period for my own books, I was blown away by the amount of research and thoughtful integration of it into this work. Rice seemlessly creates a world that has really never been looked at with this much detail, including the makeup of the extended family of Jesus and how they helped to shape his future character.

As a relief to those who know Rice by her previous works, (and feared the direction she might take with the character), she does not attempt to paint Jesus as a magical fantasy type character, nor embed him with qualities above and beyond those shown, (or hinted at in the Gospels).

Christ the Lord, is a wonderful melding of historical fiction and the spiritual nature of the Bible, that any Christian or curious non-Christian can enjoy. It is revealing, throught provoking and inspirational without feeling "preachy" in the least. And for those who may wonder why Rice took such a dramatic turn with her career with this work, this is a wonderful section devoted to her explaination called, Author's Notes.

Robert James Luedke, is author and illustrator of the graphic novels, Eye Witness: A Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth and Eye Witness: Acts of the Spirit.

Readers must applaud Ms. Rice for her courageous and highly educational historical-oriented 'Christ The Lord: Out Of Egypt'. The research conducted by Ms. Rice, combined with the necessary rudimentary style of dialogue, the ability of the author to dive into the soul of a young boy coming of age while creating accurately the atmosphere and setting that took place during the early years of Jesus is astonishing. Simply put, I loved this book.

Why? In order for a writer to create a believable fiction work based upon historical events, the writer must make sure that the facts of the story, if presented as true, must always be accurate. One mistake and you're credibility is out the window. Ms. Rice has done her homework and presented the premises that are fact accurately. Additionally, the writing style, simple yet provocative, had the sinuity that made me believe, in my own way, that the character, Jesus, was in fact talking to me. One question that Ms. Rice confronts that stands out more than any other is when was it that Jesus realized that he was different than other young boys and how could he have possibly reacted?

As a Christian Fiction writer and reader, I have found that the interpretation of the story presented or created is entirely up to the reader's perspective and faith. However, it is critical that the author use unquestionable fact whenever possible to help, if you will, guide one's faith. This is not a contradiction to the essence of 'faith': fact as a building block to show human behavior is a critical component in understanding the ways of people. Ms. Rice clearly is one of our greatest living writers. I applaud her courage and her strength in writing what she believes in: Christ! This is a must read.

This is the question posed by this wonderful novel by Anne Rice. I had never read anything by Ms. Rice before this, but I LOVED this book. Her scholarship and research are excellent. She places you right in the first century amid the sights, sounds, political tensions and emotions of the Jews at that time. You really get a sense of what the people were like and how devout they were.

Of course, this is a work of fiction and she is filling in gaps that the Bible does not. But I find that this seems to be the type of Christian fiction I enjoy the most. It allows my imagination to think about the gaps and it helps me to identify better with the Bible characters emotionally and to understand their motivations.

In this book, I particularly loved how she writes Jesus as a boy, with a boy's vocabulary. Others have criticized this, but I think Ms. Rice is incredibly brave for taking on the difficult task of writing a book on Jesus' life in the first person. What would He have thought? How would He speak? I think she does a tremendous job. Jesus is seven years old when the book begins and He speaks like a seven year old who is mentally beyond His years, but not so beyond that it is unbelievable. It is fascinating to watch Jesus put together the pieces He is gradually told about His birth. It makes sense that He would begin to ask questions at about this age. And I think Ms. Rice makes a good case that even though He was both fully man and fully God from His birth, He still had to grow up just like everyone else. He had to learn who He was; become Himself.

The book begins with an absolutely gripping story that will get you turning the pages from the first sentence. Ms. Rice explores the idea of Jesus performing "accidental miracles." Clay sparrows fly away. Rain stops with the mere thought of "I want this rain to stop..." What a fascinating concept! Did Jesus perform miracles as a boy without knowing it?

There is so much in this book! Jesus' family's journey from Egypt back to Nazareth. His brother James' jealousy. His first look at the temple in Jerusalem. Early prophesies and dreams. He takes ill. His dream interaction with Satan. Caiaphas (His cousin's father!). His interactions with others outside the family. One of my favorite chapters was chapter 17 when Jesus and the other boys in His family are taken to the synagogue to begin school and the Rabbis don't want to let Him in. There is a fascinating exchange between one of the Rabbis and Jesus that certainly prepares Jesus for His later dealings with the Pharisees when He begins His earthly ministry.

If you have ever thought that someone should write a fictionalized account of Jesus' life as a boy, this is your book and Ms. Rice has done an excellent job.

I was enraptured with this novel. I have always wondered what Jesus' childhood may have been like. I feel that she has captured the innocence, mystery, confusion, and everyday life of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and their extended family. In addition, the details with which Anne Rice speaks on Jewish traditions, the Temples, and their faith shows her love of research and need for realism in her novels.

I would recommend this book to anyone, whether you have faith or if you are a disbeliever. For Christians, it could potentially add a new dimension and positive perspective to your faith. For non-Christians, it can be a fascinating and mysterious tale full of historical facts.

There is a good deal that can be called odd, to say the least, about Ms. Rice's first volume in her "Christ the Lord" series. For Ms. Rice to go from the erotic adventures of Sleeping Beauty to a first person narration on Jesus Christ can, and should, raise eyebrows. Yet Ms. Rice presents her own conversion story at the end of the novel and it is very touching and moving, in many ways more memorable than the rest of the book.

Ms. Rice is not the first author to try her hand in presenting a first person narrative of Christ's life. In fact another big named writer, Norman Mailer, did so not that long before. Like Mailer, who had done a great deal of research in the ancient era in "The Gospel of the Son," "Ancient Evenings" and other works, Ms. Rice knows her history though she does not show the familiarity with the ancient world that she does with other eras, knowledge that made the historic parts of the "Vampire Chronicles" and "The Mayfair Witch" series quite enjoyable. Still, there are no obvious flaws but Ms. Rice certainly does not offer the loving detail of Christ's world like she does those of Lestat or Julian Mayfair.

This is a detective story told by a child. The young Jesus attempts to uncover His past and recent events in the Holy Land, namely the slaughter of the innocents. Ms. Rice shows how political and military events would have affected Christ and his followers and these are some of the strongest parts of the novel.

But when Jesus takes center stage, there are severe problems. Ms. Rice tries to walk the line between the fact that Jesus and the reader knows what has happened (not to mention what will happen) while still trying to keep the narration in the voice of a seven year old boy. She simply is not able to walk the tightrope and that often leads to poor narration. While she tries to make Jesus a normal seven year old, the result is often a would be psalmist. Like the babies clutched by Byzantine madonnas, this is a man trapped in an infant's body and one has to conced that this is not very convincing. Ms. Rice simply failed in her goal of making this the voice of a realistic Christ child.

If Jesus does little to inspire, the supporting cast is excellent. Ms. Rice shows James as rather envious of his little half-brother. Mary and Joseph come off as facing the stress of their responsibilities. Even the smug Joseph Caiaphas, taking the first steps on his path to power, makes an impression. Not surprisingly, when Satan shows up to scout Jesus out in a dream, Rice hits a home run as the Devil is reminiscent of her classic villains like Lasher.

In her moving conclusion, Ms. Rice insists that the gospels were written before the destruction of the Temple and rests her conclusion on the simple idea that this event would have been included had they been written after the Jewish uprising. In doing so, Ms. Rice took a leap of faith. In turning away from her popular and profitable tales of sex and monsters to write a novel on Jesus, Ms. Rice took an even greater leap. Certainly in her own reconnection to Catholicism, Ms. Rice took perhaps the greatest of all. The reader has to take a much smaller one in believing that Ms. Rice's considerable skills as writer will be better employed as Jesus reaches maturity than they are in this muddled, often annoying, but thought provoking and, despite it all, some what satisfying first volume. Despite the flaws, I look forward to reading the next volume.

...this book was very hard to keep reading. I had to force myself to finish it. While Anne Rice's writing style is rich and detailed and you can feel the historical research that went into it, it just didn't hold my attention. The story is told from Jesus' point of view, his internal struggles to understand who he is, why he can do strange things and why he is forbidden by Joseph to talk about certain things. The miracles described in the book grabbed me and I wish there was more dialog concerning them. The first page, where in his childish anger, he kills a bully and then brings him back to life, was riveting...and later in the book when he made it snow. There is also much description of the every day Jewish way of life during that time period. This was interesting, but went into (sometimes tedious) detail. The parts which I found most interesting were the personal interactions: between Jesus and James, between Jesus and Cleopas, between Jesus and Joseph. I would have liked to know Mary more. While there is some important moments between Jesus and his mother, we do not really hear much from her, probably due to women's roles during that time period. I understand how much research went into this and how hard Anne Rice worked to make it as accurate an account as possible, but it just didn't hold me and perhaps my expectations were too high. This was a book I was excited about and expecting to read in one night, but ended up forcing myself to read it over several days. Overall, I would recommend, though.

Anne Rice, perhaps best known for her popular vampire novels, has done a spectacular job in the writing of this novel based on the life of Jesus Christ and scripture, historical research into the era, and her brilliant imagination. I suppose the most stunning aspect of this book for me was the vivid picture painted of the time, place and life of the family of the young Jesus through the creative lens of Rice.

Those concerned about the potential blasphemous nature of a book like this, which is always a possibility when dealing with such a sensitive subject as Jesus of Nazareth, need not worry. Rice is incredibly respectful of the Christian faith tradition and in her post-script attests to her motivation for this work as rooted in faith. I cannot find anything that truly resembles a scandal in this novel.

Narrated from the perspective of Jesus Himself, "Christ, The Lord" provides a beautiful portrayal of Rice's vision of the familial relationships in the immediate life of Jesus. The way she presents Joseph and Mary, as well as the more extended family, provides great imagery for meditation and reflection in the Ignatian tradition of spiritual exercises. I do not believe that I have read a work of fiction that rivals the quality of this book in some time. It is a must-read novel!

Anne Rice's novel "Christ the Lord" is fictional tale in the first person of Christ from the time his family departs Egypt for Nazareth to the time he is "lost in the temple" for three days. This well researched book centers on Christ as a child learning about his divinity and his mission in life.

"Christ the Lord" is a MUST READ for all believers and all who are on the fence. While the storyline is fascinating and the book is a good read, the MUST READ designation is warranted due to the "Author's Note," or afterward, which details her spiritual journey in a most vulnerable and profound way. The "Notes" section prompted me to purchase ten additional copies to give to close friends that are struggling with God, Jesus, and their own spirituality.

I think this book is boring. There is no point of interest in the story of Jesus. It is written like a diary of mundane minutiae. disappointing.

I was torn with this book, I love Rice's style, and she can always tell a story that sucks you in, but at the same time I had a very hard time with her writing in the first person as Christ. However I did enjoy her interpretation/thoughts on what the life of young Jesus was like, even if I dont necessarily agree with her. She sure can tell a story!

I've read a lot of Biblical fiction, but for some reason this just didn't have the emotional punch that the others did. My favorite is "Two From Galilee: The Story of Mary and Joseph" by Marjorie Holmes.

Overall though it was very well written, and apparently the author did a huge amount of historical research, although I was puzzled by her take on Jesus' mother, Mary. First, of all the characters, Mary seems the most distant and least developed character.

Second, Anne Rice seems to jump through every conceivable literary hoop to maintain Mary's lifelong virginity. The Bible shows, in multiple passages, that Mary and Joseph had other children. Perhaps it's her Catholic background? After all the research she did for the book, though, I am left scratching my head how she came to that conclusion.

I approached this book as purely fiction so I wouldn't get bogged down in any biblical translations that I may not have agreed with. At first I had a hard time getting into it because the writing seemed so juvenile but then I decided that it was written in this fashion because the story is being told by a seven year old. I ended up really liking the book and will recommend it to friends. The concept of the storyline is brilliant and overall Anne Rice did a good job in telling this story.