I have a confession to make. I am not comfortable with a lot of the Christian fiction I have read. This post is purely my opinion. I’m not looking to pick a fight with anyone, or even say everyone has to agree with me on this. I’m just writing my own opinion and conviction much as I would in my own journal, which is really what this space is – my journal, albeit a somewhat public one in which others are invited to look over my shoulder if they wish, as it were. This is one of those topics I’ve tried to write about before, but haven’t posted because I have so many various directions I end up going with this topic. I actually had a three part post written on the subject of my negative impressions of a couple of Christian novels I had finished reading a few weeks ago, but I haven’t yet put it on the blog. May not ever do so. I just deleted a long, rambling rabbit trail I ended up following as I attempted to write this post earlier today in which I tried to tackle my whole thought process on why I’m not comfortable with much of the Christian fiction I’ve read (please notice I did not say all), because I think I’d better just try to stick to this one topic today, and not attempt to delve more deeply in this post. Otherwise it would be so long even I wouldn’t want to read it.
Here it is. I read an excerpt in World magazine from Anne Rice’s new book, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. Actually, I read part of the excerpt. It made me so incredibly uncomfortable I quit before I’d finished even the part they had there in the magazine. Full disclosure, I did not read her first book in the series, and I won’t be reading this one, either, so this is not a review. I’m aware that I’m making a judgment based on part of an excerpt, not the whole book. But, for me, that was enough to know it isn’t something I feel good about reading more in depth. Here are my thoughts and where I’m coming from.
I’ve read some of the interviews with Anne Rice and why she chose to write these books and why she chose to write them the way she did. I am aware that she says she did all kinds of research and that she intends to keep them in the bounds of the record of scripture. But I am still very uncomfortable with these books, in much the same way I am uncomfortable with movies made about the life of Jesus and other biblical events that add in narrative elements that are not specifically in scripture. I am very uncomfortable with the way these books are written in the first person from the perspective of Jesus. In the excerpt I read, it was obvious to me that Anne Rice is a very talented writer, and she uses a literary device that is quite effective in making the point she wishes to make in the segment I read. I know the point she wanted to make because of what she said in the interview with World magazine about that segment. However, what bothers me is that this is a fictional account of an actual event, and this actual event involves our Lord, Jesus Christ. The dialogue adds in information we are not given in the scripture, and, while it may flesh out the story and make for a very colorful, very well-written novel (key word!), it is added story that we are not given in scripture. I believe God gave us His word, and He gave us the information He wanted us to have. I believe it is very dangerous to add in our own speculation about events in Jesus’ life that we are not told. And I believe it is dangerous to speculate about His thoughts and feelings based on those added and speculated events. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Rather than trying to make Him fit our mold of what we think we’d like Him to be like in order to make Him more accessible, so to speak, by speculating too much about the ‘story’ of Jesus, I think we really ought to be focusing on what it is God did say to us in the word we have been given. We need to seek to know Christ as He is revealed in God’s word and be very careful not to put our own spin on what we think we’d like Him to be. He is who He is, and we need to be about the business of knowing and loving Him as He truly is and as the Lord of all creation, not about trying to see Him through the lens of our own thoughts and experiences and speculations of how we think He should be.
There is so much confusion in the evangelical world today, and most of it comes from being quite biblically illiterate. What bothers me is not so much that Anne Rice has decided to write these books, but that so many will read them but ignore the scriptural accounts. It’s fun to read a well crafted novel. The problem I have is that I may never read the account of the temptation of Christ in the wilderness again without at least remembering the fictional/literary elements Rice added in to the story. For example, she has Satan trying to rattle Jesus by telling Him that Joseph has died while He has been out here in the wilderness and that Mary had to bury him. That is just not in the Bible. All we know about Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness is what is given in the scripture. The added, speculated conversation is Rice's own interpretation and spin it. There were other things added in, too, that were extra-biblical. That’s why I quit reading it. I don’t want someone else’s speculations and manipulations coloring what the Word actually says. That’s the danger. See, with added literary elements, we’ve got Rice’s speculations filling our minds rather than just what the Word itself says. In trying to make Christ ‘accessible’ she adds too much that isn’t there. Why is it that we are not satisfied with the word God gave us? Why do we so desperately need to be entertained by Christianity? Why would we rather read a fictional book or watch a movie about Jesus than to take the time to carefully read His book that He gave so that we could really know Him? Why do we think we need to make Jesus more ‘like us’ in a fictional story? The disciples were very aware how unlike us He truly is when they were in awe of Him as He spoke to the wind and the waves and they were immediately silenced.
Rather than feeling close to the fictional Jesus that is presented in these novels, I want to know the real Jesus. I do not want to replace the Word with someone’s novel about Jesus, no matter how well written, or even possibly well-intentioned it may be. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Making Jesus more ‘accessible’ by writing a fictionalized account is not the way to grow closer to Him and to know Him more. That will only make us know the author’s speculations about Him. The way to really know Him is to be born again, believing on Him in faith, and to get into His word and spend time with Him in prayer. Let me know Christ as He has revealed Himself in His word. God gave us what we need to know for life and godliness in His word, and we need to be careful not to speculate beyond that word.
6 comments:
I had not heard about this yet. I wholeheartedly agree with your points on the dangers and errors related to extra-biblical speculation. This is a slippery slope that has led more than one young sheep into a pit. Thanks for this post.
From Anne Rice: I thank you for your heartfelt and very genuine comment. I understand your view. However I come from a background in which Christian art has always been viewed in a very positive light, whether we are talking about the paintings of Michelangelo --- his beautiful Pieta which is not Biblical at all --- or the glorious music of Handel in The Messiah. --- When Lew Wallace wrote his masterpiece Ben Hur, many Protestants in America didn't want to read it. However it became one of the best selling novels of the century and brought many many people to the Lord. My novels are really for those who don't believe in Our Blessed Savior. They are a way of saying, "Listen, I believe in Him and this is a way it might have happened." The novels are dedicated to Him, and they have, I'm pleased to say, brought many to the Bible, encouraging them to read Scripture, where before they were not interested. That's the whole idea of all Christian art really: to bring people to the Lord. --- I hope you will reconsider in days to come. But whatever the case, I will be true to my consecration to Christ as a writer, and I fully understand your gentle and polite point of view. God bless you and keep you. And thanks for caring about this. Anne Rice. Rancho Mirage, California.
Ms. Rice,
Thank you for your gracious comment, and thank you for understanding that I have no intention of being unkind with my post. I do understand the beauty of art that honors the Lord, but I also feel a compulsion to be careful with how we handle God's word. Thank you for what you shared here - it was kind of you to reply at my little blog at all, and I appreciate your desire to see people who do not believe be encouraged to be brought to the Bible and hear the Truth.
Tim's review of this book has piqued my interest in these novels.
I have no idea if I will like it or not. I would probably approach it as fiction and just try to enjoy the story.
Storytelling is a very powerful way to influence people. If these new books are within the bounds of scripture, then I think they could be used for God's glory.
Here's my perspective, for what it's worth: I don't think it's wrong to use our imaginations when it comes to Jesus or other people profiled in the Bible. When we are born again, God redeems every part of us, even our imaginations. Pastors and teachers use theirs and ask us to do this when they ask us to think outside of what the scriptures explicitly say. For example, recently published Bible studies encourage students to think about how people may have felt in certain situations, how you would feel in the same situation, or to think about circumstances surrounding events in scripture and what may have been/could have been going on. They do it all the time. John Piper's poetry, for example. Take "The Innkeeper." I love this poem, but there is no record of this event in scripture. Sure, what Piper has imagined certainly could have happened, the event falls within the bounds of the scriptural account, but it's just his imagination, creativity, his use of a gift for God's glory. And I praised God for that beautiful poem! Or consider Beth Moore's poetry and short stories based on individuals in the Bible. They are very good and often bring me to tears. Pastors use their imaginations to colorize stories in the Bible, too. I'm not saying they are right or wrong to do so; I'm saying they do it and many times their storytelling touches us in a way that the scriptures alone do not.
But we don't always question them because they are already widely accepted by the Christian community. We "know" them and are comfortable with whatever they put out.
I think this is probably why Anne Rice's work is being met with trepidation and speculation by Christians. I don't know for sure since I haven't read any of the new stuff. It may be complete sacrilegious garbage. I don't know. But now I'm interested. Plus, she has been so gracious in all of her comments around the Christian bloggersphere. Though the one here looks more like a prepared comment.
Did that totally freak you out, or did you expect her to leave a comment? :)
Hi, Leslie,
Yes, it freaked me out a little, I have to be honest - didn't expect it at all.
Thanks for your comments. I do see the point you're making. I have done some "sanctified imagining" at times, too, in answering the kinds of questions you mentioned. I don’t necessarily think it is wrong to write books and poetry of the sort you mention. I don’t think it is wrong to write Christian fiction, either – like the Ben Hur example Ms. Rice used – as long as the line between fiction and truth is very clear. I just think we need to be very careful when doing so. I am, as I said in the post, uncomfortable with basically putting thoughts in the mind of Christ or putting words in His mouth. Does that make sense? For me, this crosses a subtle line that bothers my own conscience. I know that Jesus came to earth as a man, but He is also God, and I just think we need to be careful because I don’t think we can fully understand the incarnation, and to speculate as much as I believe I would reading those books bothers me. You’re right that every part of us is redeemed, but we are not glorified yet and still see through a glass dimly. So, yes, I think we can use our imaginations to an extent, but I am extremely uncomfortable with putting words, experiences and thoughts in the mind and mouth of Jesus that we have imagined in our own understanding. When we do that, we change Him, in our perception and mind, into someone He is not.
It isn’t so much the storytelling that bothers me – I love a good story and I love to read and I especially love it when a good story or book helps me think about the things of the Lord. I have read books from a biblical worldview perspective that have been very effective in this way, and I totally relate to what you said about being brought to tears at times. I just am not comfortable with the excerpt I read, and I think we need to be careful when speculating about Jesus and His incarnation. I think there is a reason God in His wisdom did not tell us much at all about Jesus’ childhood and I think there are aspects to His incarnation that we do not and cannot understand. We need to be careful in this area, especially, because this deals with how we think about Who Jesus is. I can’t just read the book as a story because these things are just too important. This is probably a conscience issue and I would not judge anyone who decides to read and likes the books. I just thought I’d say a little about the concerns I had. One of my concerns, as I said in the post, is that, in my experience I’ve known so many people who will take a book like this, or a movie like The Passion and latch on to it, but not spend much time at all reading the Bible, and so they don’t see that though the books or movie are based on the scripture, they are in fact different from the biblical account due to the fictional elements that are added. And when thinking about the Truth, they have all that fictional stuff mixed in, and it just adds to the confusion that abounds these days and leaves the door open for error. I don’t know that it would be harmful to someone grounded in the Word, but I do know so many of the women I know, for example, are so easily swept up in whatever new teaching comes along that it would concern me for their sakes. I don’t know if I’m making sense, but anyway, that’s my perspective on it, take it or leave it!
You said, "And when thinking about the Truth, they have all that fictional stuff mixed in."
That is absolutely true. Perhaps it would be best if we kept some things off limits.
I understand better what you're saying now. You are drawing a distinction when it comes to what Jesus said and did. I don't know if I caught that the first time I read the post.
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