THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
ANOTHER “JESUS” MOVIE, ANOTHER FALSE CHRIST PORTRAYED BY A FALSE CONVERT, NOT A BORN AGAIN BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIAN
(Friday Church News Notes, May 30, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - "Filming is scheduled to begin in September on Christ The Lord, a movie based on Anne Rice’s book Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt. The christ of Rice’s books is not the Christ of Scripture. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, “depicts Jesus as a seven-year-old boy who gets the things he wishes for, like the death of another young boy who annoys him.” In the sequel, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, Jesus falls in love with a beautiful woman and “struggles with a sense of restlessness of purpose.” Rice, best-selling author of erotic and vampire/witchcraft novels, turned from atheism to the Catholic Church in 1998. In 2010, Rice said that she had quit “being Christian.” Claiming to love Christ but not Christianity, she said that she refuses to be anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-secular humanism, and anti-science, among other things. What Rice apparently doesn’t know is that her beliefs and her christ would be acceptable in churches that worship The Shack god. In October 2008, Rice was interviewed on James Dobson’s Focus on the Family program in conjunction with the publication of her autobiography Called Out of Darkness. Dobson gave her a warm, non-judgmental reception, presenting her to his audience as a genuine Christian, no questions asked, even though she had clearly presented a false christ in her books and has no biblical testimony of salvation. In the strongest way possible, we would urge our readers to beware of the compromise of modern evangelicalism in general and of Focus on the Family in particular." SEE:
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Last week best selling author Anne Rice was a guest on the Focus on the Family broadcast. For two days she and Dr. James Dobson had a conversation about her spiritual journey from “an unhappy atheist,” as Anne described herself, to a follower of Christ in 1998. If you missed these programs,you’ll want to carve out some time to hear Anne speak about the awesome way that God changed her heart.
I should point out that not everyone who heard these programs was pleased that Anne was on the Focus broadcast. One listener described Anne as an “unsuitable guest” because several of Anne’s previous twenty-two books “had a negative impact” on the listener’s life. Of course, the books in question were written prior to Anne’s conversion. Having sold more than 75 million books, a number of which had rather dark themes such as Interview With the Vampire, I can understand why there might be some objections.
That got me thinking about another well-known person with a questionable past whose life was radically changed by Jesus. I’m referring to Saul the persecutor of the early church. Saul’s zeal in terrorizing Christians was known throughout the land. We’re told that Saul “made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). We also find Saul “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (9:1).
When God got a hold of Saul and changed his heart–as well as changing his name to Paul–members of the early church were understandably wary of Paul’s claim to be a new man. Paul made no bones about his dark past when he was “formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent violent man” (1Tim 1:13). But the fact remains that Paul embraced God’s grace and, in turn, went from darkness to light. He also penned more than a dozen books of the Bible.
Just as Paul was transformed by the power of God, Anne Rice has experienced a radical change of heart 38 years after turning her back on God. To me, her participation on the broadcast is a fitting tribute to the saving grace that is available to each of us, no matter what darkness we might have embraced in this life.
Born in New Orleans, Rice spent much of her early life there before moving to Texas, and later to San Francisco. She was raised in an observant Roman Catholic family, but became an atheist as a young adult. She began her professional writing career with the publication of Interview with the Vampire in 1976, while living in California, and began writing sequels to the novel in the 1980s. In the mid-2000s, following a publicized return to Catholicism, Rice published the novels Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, fictionalized accounts of certain incidents in the life of Jesus. Several years later she distanced herself from organized Christianity, citing disagreement with the Church's stances on social issues but pledging that faith in God remained "central to [her] life." However, she now considers herself a secular humanist.[3]
Rice's books have sold nearly 100 million copies, placing her among the most popular authors in recent American history.[4][5] While reaction to her early works was initially mixed, she became more popular with critics and readers in the 1980s. Her writing style and the literary content of her works have been deeply analyzed by literary commentators. She was married to poet and painter Stan Rice for 41 years, from 1961 until his death from brain cancer in 2002 at age 60.[6][7] She and Stan had two children, Michele, who died of leukemia at age five, and Christopher, who is also an author.
In addition to her vampire novels, Rice has authored books such as The Feast of All Saints (adapted for television in 2001) and Servant of the Bones, which formed the basis of a 2011 comic book miniseries. Several books from The Vampire Chronicles have been adapted as comics by various publishers. Rice has also authored erotic fiction under the pen names Anne Rampling and A. N. Roquelaure, including Exit to Eden, which was later adapted into a 1994 film.
Shortly after her June 1988 return to New Orleans, Rice penned The Witching Hour as an expression of her joy at coming home. Rice also continued her popular Vampire Chronicles series, which later grew to encompass ten novels, and followed up on The Witching Hour with Lasher and Taltos, completing the Lives of the Mayfair Witchestrilogy. She also published Violin, a tale of a ghostly haunting, in 1997.
Rice calls Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, published in 2005, the beginning of a series chronicling the life of Jesus. The second volume, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, was published in March 2008. The third book in the series, Christ the Lord: Kingdom of Heaven, has been postponed.
Rice's novels are popular among many members of the LGBT community, some of whom have perceived her vampire characters as allegorical symbols of isolation and social alienation.
Rice returned to the Catholic Church in 1998 after decades of self-avowed atheism.
Her return did not come with a full embrace of the Church's stances on social issues; Rice remained a vocal supporter of equality for gay men and lesbians (including marriage rights), as well as abortion rights and birth control, writing extensively on such issues. ______________________________________________________
Anne Rice: 'Stations on a Journey'
The best-selling author gives up writing about vampires to write about the 'ultimate supernatural hero'--Jesus Christ (P.S.-Not the Jesus of the Bible)
"Decades and books later, the influence of Catholic friends and intense curiosity about Jesus and his times slowly nudged her back to faith, but not without soul-searching. "I spent a year tearing my hair out over moral questions," she said. One afternoon in 1998 she asked her assistant to recommend a priest who might hear her confession, a Catholic rite of penitence. "She said, 'I know the perfect person, and he's there now,'" Rice recalls. After a two-hour--"maybe even three"--session with her confessor, Rice returned to the Church, setting aside her reservations, especially the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality. (Rice's son, Christopher, is gay.)"
"I said, 'I will leave these things in the hands of God.'""
"She later remarried her husband in a Catholic ceremony at the parish church of her childhood."
_____________________________ Renunciation of Christianity:
On July 28, 2010, Rice publicly renounced her dedication to Christianity on her Facebook page, stating, "Today I quit being a Christian.... I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else." Shortly thereafter, she clarified her statement: "My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become."
Following her announcement, Rice's renunciation of Christianity was commented upon by numerous journalists and pundits.In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rice elaborated on her view regarding being a member of a Christian church: "I feel much more morally comfortable walking away from organized religion. I respect that there are all kinds of denominations and all kinds of churches, but it's the entire controversy, the entire conversation that I need to walk away from right now." In response to the question, "how do you follow Christ without a church?" Rice replied: "I think the basic ritual is simply prayer. It's talking to God, putting things in the hands of God, trusting that you're living in God's world and praying for God's guidance. And being absolutely faithful to the core principles of Jesus' teachings." On April 14, 2013, Rice stated in a Facebook post that she was a secular humanist.
The 2011 Theatre of the Vampires Ball welcomes YOU to attend! The annual Anne Rice Balls have become the stuff of legend. Run by Anne Rice's fans for more than 20 years, this annual event takes place on Halloween Friday at Republic New Orleans (2009-2011) in conjunction with the Undead Con, a series of author panels and more on all things vampire/horror. Find out more at ARVLFC.com. Video by Keith Charlet
Scenes from The Anne Rice Vampire Lestat Halloween Ball 2009:
Uploaded on Nov 18, 2009
This is a series of images and shots from The Anne Rice Vampire Lestat Fan Club gathering last Halloween in New Orleans. I hastily put them together in no particular order. The wonderful gala was held at The Republic. The lady on stage recieving the "vampire queen of Louisiana" crown is author Charlaine Harris of True Blood fame.
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Update:Novelist Anne Rice says she's leaving Christianity [link obsolete]: "Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian. 'In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control,' the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. '...I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.' "Rice, 68, is best known for 'Interview With a Vampire' and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir 'Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession.' In a telephone interview Thursday, Rice said she had been having doubts for the past two to three years.... 'I came to the conclusion that if I didn't make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind."
American churches have been quick to affirm countless questionable claims to Christianity. Why? Have we forgotten God's Truth and warnings?
"Rice's darkly themed books have sold more than 75 million copies. Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, has sold more than 8 million copies. Rice has also written historical novels, as well as pornography and erotica under the names 'A. N. Roquelaure' and 'Anne Rampling.' Her books are widely assigned in high school and college English and philosophy classes....Why is Anne Rice, once the literary queen of darkness, now writing about Christ, the light of the world?"[1] Christianity Today
"Christ the Lord is the Jesus of faith, but Jesus made 'real' as we insist on characters being made real today in fiction.... Christ is for everyone — gay, straight, Jew, Christian, atheist, Buddhist, Hindu. We are the children of God."[2]Anne Rice
"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." Proverbs 30:5-6
Anne Rice has returned to her childhood faith, Catholicism. She hasn't renounced her Vampire Chronicles or the Broadway-bound play it spawned, but her spiritual journey has changed directions.[1] Her new focus is on the childhood of Jesus, and Christian leaders have cheered the first book in the series: Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.
"...as thrilled as I was to learn of Ms. Rice’s reconnection with Christ," wrote pollster George Barna. "I opened this book with minimal expectations. I need not have worried." He explains why:
"Ms. Rice did not merely conduct exhaustive research on Jesus’ early life. She created a moving and credible portrait of the young Lord and His family.... It is a simple but powerful tale of the emergence of the Savior as He probes His own humanity and divinity.... This nicely-paced story helps you to connect with the young Master, experiencing life through His senses.... Other episodes provide riveting insight, such as... Jesus’ exercise and discovery of His powers.... "Some scholars and religious leaders will probably demonize this book as 'fabricated history' or 'bad doctrine.'... Ms. Rice is not attempting to add to the canon of Scripture but to stimulate us to experience and bond with Jesus at a different level."[3]
But itis "bad doctrine" to present a fictional view of Jesus that clashes with God's revealed Word. When such a revision of His truth guides the imagination, the reader's "experience" may well make fantasy as believable as reality. The fact that evangelical leaders are fast shifting their foundational focus from teaching "doctrine" to humanitarian "deeds" makes Christians all the more vulnerable to deception.
Yet George Barna isn't the only respected evangelical applauding this story about our Lord's childhood. In a World Magazine review, author Gene Edward Veith commends Christ the Lord as a welcome expression of the author's return to Catholicism. "How to portray someone who is both God and Man?" he ponders. It's a good question — especially since the childhood of Jesus is barely mentioned in the Bible. Then he wrote:
"Anne Rice, in her novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt hits the orthodox balance. She portrays Jesus as a 7-year-old child, but He is more than a child. He plays, He cries, He is dependent on His parents. But when He yearns to see snow, it snows. When His uncle is sick, the young Jesus heals him.... Out of Egypt can best be appreciated as the work of a skillful writer meditating on the Incarnation and the Person of Jesus Christ."[4]
Yes, Anne Rice is a skilled writer. And in today's tolerant, fantasy-driven world many more will welcome her stories about a boy named "Jesus." But will it introduce people to the Biblical Jesus or to a heart-warming counterfeit? How do we recognize truth or heresy? Consider these questions:
1. Does it match God's Word—His standard for right and wrong, true and false?
The Gospels are full of wonderful miracles. So is this fictional book about a seven-year-old Jesus. Yet the Bible tells us that none of His miracles took place until after His baptism — an event confirmed by the Holy Spirit and His Father's voice. “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove," said John the Baptist, "and He remained upon Him.”(John 1:32-34)
After this preparation for ministry, Jesus attended a wedding where He did perform His first miracle. As the Bible tells us, "This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory...." (John 2:5-11).
Here we see God's flawless timing, which is emphasized throughout John's Gospel. When Jesus was prompted by "his brothers" to "go into Judea" before the time was ripe, Jesus answered: “My time has not yet come." (John 7:5-8)
Toward the end of His three-year ministry, Jesus was led to go to Jerusalem where the religious leaders "sought to take Him." Yet "no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come."(John 7:30, 8:20) And when His betrayal and crucifixion neared, He was prepared: "Jesus knew that His hour had come." (John 13:3-4) Everything happens according to God's eternal plan! Who are we to revise its details?
Did you notice the Biblical reference to "his brothers" in John 7:5? In Anne Rice's story, Jesus has no biological brothers, for Mary remained a virgin. James (mentioned in Mark 6:3 as one of His four brothers) is included only as Joseph's son by a former marriage.
2. Does it match historical facts?
Was Jesus born in 11BC? That's the date Ms Rice chose for the birth of our heavenly King.[5] Though it's several years earlier than the dates set by credible historians, it fits her story. It makes Jesus seven years old during the journey home from Egypt — old enough to allow us to "experience" events through His eyes.
But let's backtrack. Joseph brought Mary to Bethlehem because he was required to register there as a member of the "house of David." The Roman Emperor Augustus had decreed that "all" in the Roman empire must be registered every 14 years. One such census was ordered in 8 B.C., but historians believe that this census was actually carried out over the next two years and may not have occurred in the land of Israel until around 6 B.C.[6]
After the birth of Jesus, the "wise men" or magi, who had followed the star in search of the newborn King, alerted the hostile King Herod to the prophesied royal birth. Determined to exterminate any threat to his reign, Herod decreed the mass murder of children in Bethlehem and "its environs" two years old and younger in the region of Bethlehem. Meanwhile God warned Joseph to flee with his small family to Egypt. There they stayed until Herod died in 4 B.C. and God told Joseph to return home. Jesus would probably have been about three years old, certainly not seven.
In Rice's story, the family settles in Nazareth and the men in the family work as carpenters and stone masons. A year later, when Jesus is eight years old, they travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. There the boy gives sight to a blind man and seeks a teacher at the Temple who can answer his nagging questions about his birth and personal identity. For three days Joseph and Mary search for the missing boy. When found, Jesus promised never to cause them such distress again.[7-280-291]
The Bible tells a different account of the Passover event, but several similarities would help make Rice's imagined story believable. Here Jesus is twelve years old. When Mary and Joseph were ready to start for home, Jesus was missing. They spent three days searching for Him, and found Him in the temple, "sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions." (Luke 2:46)
Those Scriptures offer hope and peace to all who will listen. But God repeatedly forbids additions and alterations. For example, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it...." (Deuteronomy 4:2, more)
3. How credible are the sources of information?
In the "Author's Note" in the back pages of her book, Ms. Rice explains her extensive research:
"Then there were the legends—the Apocrypha—including the tantalizing tales in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas describing a boy Jesus who could strike a child dead, bring another to life, turn clay birds into living creatures, and perform other miracles. I’d stumbled on them very early in my research, in multiple editions.... They were fanciful... extreme to be sure, but they had lived on into the Middle Ages, and beyond. I couldn’t get these legends out of my mind. Ultimately I chose to embrace this material.... I felt there was a deep truth in it, and I wanted to preserve that truth as it spoke to me. Of course that is an assumption."[7-320]
"...having made soft clay, [Jesus] fashioned thereof twelve sparrows.... And Joseph came to the place and saw: and cried out to him, saying: Wherefore doest thou these things on the Sabbath, which it is not lawful to do? But Jesus clapped his hands together and cried out to the sparrows and said to them: Go! and the sparrows took their flight.... "After that again he went through the village, and a child ran and dashed against his shoulder. And Jesus was provoked and said unto him: Thou shalt not finish thy course.... And the parents of him that was dead came unto Joseph, and blamed him, saying: Thou that hast such a child canst not dwell with us in the village: or do thou teach him to bless and not to curse: for he slayeth our children....
"And Joseph called the young child apart and admonished him, saying: Wherefore doest thou such things, that these suffer and hate us and persecute us? But Jesus said: I know that these thy words are not thine: nevertheless for thy sake I will hold my peace: but they shall bear their punishment. And straightway they that accused him were smitten with blindness."[8]
"Perhaps in assuming that Jesus did manifest supernatural powers at an early age," explains Ms Rice, "I am somehow being true to the declaration of the Council of Chalcedon, that Jesus was God and Man at all times."[7-320]But as both God and man, Jesus consistently affirmed the validity of the Scriptures. He never put His trust in people or in human wisdom, "for He knew what was in man." (John 2:24-25) In contrast, Ms Rice seems to trust human philosophies more than the Bible. She lists dozens of authors whose writings she has studied in preparation for this book series on the early life of Jesus. "I learned something from every single book I examined," she writes.[7-318]
Even from those that taught a Gnostic distortion of the Gospels? You can recognize this heresy by its emphasis on:
1. Self-knowledge and self-actualization rather than knowing God and His Word. For example, the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas blends truth and error into seductive lies: "...the Kingdom is inside of you.... [therefore] When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father."
2. Eternal oneness or wholeness through gnosis (knowledge — secret knowledge, self-knowledge), not salvation through the crucified Savior.
3. Angelic hierarchies including archons, demigods, co-creators, etc. [Like Tolkien's trilogy]. In this context, the serpent in the garden offered wisdom — "your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5) — not a disastrous temptation. The feminine spirit/goddess Sophia (wisdom) plays an important part. [See note]
Polytheism has no part in Rice's story, but angels — both good and bad — play an important part. That's not surprising, considering the demonic/angelic beings that energized her earlier books. Anne Rice shows special appreciation for Anglican Bishop John A. T. Robinson. I read his book, Honest to God, decades ago, when I was searching for God. This discouraging book told me that the God I had loved as a child was an illusion. Though Anne Rice may not have agreed with all he wrote, these two quotes expose the worldly "wisdom" he might have brought to her research:
"Robinson places God deep in the human person (so that we have to look within to find God)..... Whenever we pray we are not speaking words into the heavens... but are allowing our prayers to change us so that we will act.... The close marrying of God with ethics, morality and compassion leads one to emphasize this world rather than anything beyond this world.... Jesus' death, instead of being something that changed the relationship between God and humanity, is rather an example of self-giving love in the face of adversity."[9] "Honest to God was a product of its time: traditions were questioned, orthodoxy was challenged and norms of behavior disregarded. ... This ['Death of God'] movement sought to reinterpret fundamental Christian doctrines.... As for the notion of heaven, he believed it was the 'greatest obstacle to an intelligent faith - and indeed will progressively be so to all except the religious few.' Whenever we acted ethically, lovingly and compassionately towards another, according to Robinson, we were reaching towards God and embracing eternal values."[10]
Anne Rice seems to share that view. "What is important is that we love God, and that we do what Christ tells us to do in Matthew 25. He makes it clear that if we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison... that we are doing his will." She continues,
"...all humans are his children and it is His desire to bring them all home. He couldn’t have been clearer on this. As to other faiths, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is very clear on this: 'those too may achieve eternal salvation.'...In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spoke with eternal eloquence of the love of the Father for us; he did not say that this love applied only to those chosen by 'adoption.'.... "My particular ministry as a Catholic is to stress love, and the approach of love and tolerance, an awareness of the sacred quality of every human, whether that human is a Jew, a Moslem, a gay Christian, a secular materialist who is striving to make the quality of life better for the poor. My ministry is not to divide over points of 'doctrine' or theological nuances."[2]
The radical Bishop John Shelby Spong alsoexpressed his appreciation for Bishop Robinson: "One of the great mentors of my life was... John Albert Thomas Robinson. He burst into public awareness... in the late fifties.... For a bishop to favor Lady Chatterley titillated the English media.... In 1962... he wrote a little book called Honest to God.... It made the controversy about Lady Chatterley's Lover look pale by comparison.... Calls were issued for Bishop Robinson's resignation or for him to be deposed for heresy."[11]
A. T. Robinson is only one of many strange advisors listed in Anne Rice's "Author's Note." Her "quest is not over," she tells us. "There are thousands of pages of the above-mentioned scholars to be read and reread. There is so much of Josephus and Philoand Tacitus and Cicero and Julius Caesar that I have yet to cover.... There are also theologians who must be studied, more of Teilhard de Chardin, and Rahner, and St. Augustine...."[7-319]
Teilhard de Chardin? The 19th century French paleontologist whose faith in man's spiritual evolution led, in part, to the fraudulent "discoveries" of Peking man and Piltdown Man? Recalling his book The Phenomenon of Man, I can't help but compare Teilhard's tension between cosmic oneness and self-actualization with the Gnostic emphasis on union with "God" through self-realization:
"The way beyond the ignorance [to knowing or gnosis], for Teilhard, is basically an individuation process. Teilhard opines that the human ego must make the pilgrimage into *Self.* ... The more the ego is connected with a sense of cosmic insight, the more it finds its true Self.... and via the Self the more connected humanity becomes with the Cosmic Mind. To be fully ourselves, according to Teilhard, we must head in the direction of 'convergence... towards the other.' "'...according to the evolutionary structure of the world, we can only find our person by uniting together. There is no mind without synthesis."[12]
It sounds complicated, doesn't it? But this emphasis on self-knowledge and unity fits right into the systems thinking embraced by today's leading church managers and pastors.[13] [See Rick Warren — A New Way of Thinking andRe-inventing the World] The fact that Anne Rice assigns young John the Baptist to live and learn with Essenes — where Gnostic influences would most likely have colored his view of God — raises more questions. Though her guesses may seem logical, they build new views of reality on the shifting sands of the human imagination.
4. Will it strengthen or undermine faith in God's absolute Truth?
Ms. Rice has made storytelling a popular pastime in Jesus' family. She places her own attitude toward storytelling in the young Jesus' mouth:
"Stories were our history, and who we were, and there were times when I liked nothing better than stories. I was coming to understand something of the greatest importance: all stories were part of one great story, the story of who we were."[7-228]
But it isn't true. All stories are not part of the one great story any more than "all [so-called] truth is God's truth." In fact, very few of man's stories are part of the truth revealed to us by God. Therefore He wisely warns us, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways." (Isaiah 55:8) Do we dare redefine God's thoughts, truth, and ways?
Many do! Therefore storytelling is fast replacing preaching in pulpits around the world. And as Biblical understanding fades, few church members have the wisdom to discern error. [see Megashift]
Myth and storytelling are vital to today's social transformation. Environmental philosopher Thomas Berry tells his followers that myths "provide not only the understanding and the sense of direction that we need, they also evoke the energy." "The traditional story [the Bible] is dysfunctional…. We need a story that will... heal, guide, and discipline us.”[14]
But the "traditional story" of the Bible can't be squeezed into the mold of popular pluralism. That's one reason why popular church leaders and visionaries despise "the powerful myth of fundamentalists" and are determined to replace it with stories that match their own visions.
The fundamental truths of the Bible are anything but myths. They alone provide an anchor of hope in the turbulent current of cultural change. Yet Anne Rice's story suggests that Jesus' family enjoyed stories about Greek philosophy and polytheism. After the family's return from Egypt, Cleopas, Mary's brother who traveled with them, asks his old Aunt Sarah this question:
"'And what do you know about gods and goddesses who drink nectar and eat ambrosia?'...
"'Look in the boxes of scrolls when you have the time for it, curious one,' she said. 'You think my father had no room there for Homer? Or for Plato [who embraced Greek polytheism and reincarnation.]? You think he never read to his children in the evening?" [7-136]
Anne Rice's Christ the Lord is likely to speed today's social and spiritual transformation. So are "change" leaders like George Barna and Rick Warren, who minimize Biblical teaching. As Warren said, "The first Reformation was about beliefs. This one needs to be about behavior."[15]
The church is now speeding the race toward a global society with tolerance for everything except God's "divisive" and "offensive" old Gospel. It's message of hope is being silenced by the seductive illusion of humanist love, communitarian service, and global solidarity.
"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thessalonians 2:9
Note: Many more tell-tale signs of Gnosticism could be listed, but they are not relevant to this review. We plan to explain the details in a later article.
