I'm about halfway through and paln on wrapping it up before lunch. This is a rather interesting book on its own merits. This book is almost certainly going to generate a great deal of controversy, but probably between Christians.
The reason that I say that is that the last major series of books that had a decidely Christian core were the "Left Behind" series. Those books were written for Protestants by Protestants and it showed, with the Pope becoming a Baptist before he dies in the first book. That is not to say that a substantial number of Catholics bought the book, but anyway.
What sets Rice's book apart (so far) is that she has maintained surprisingly close to Catholic orthodoxy, especially in regard to Mary's perpetual virginity or Aeiparthenos. (Spoilers?) Rice writes that James was Jesus' stepbrother and son of Joseph from a previous marriage (his wife had died) before his famous marriage to Mary. Rice further explains the confusion by giving Jesus two aunts named Mary and relegating Jesus' siblings, as the Protestants argue, into cousins.
However, this book is in no way some hardcore Catholic propaganda as some who have never cracked the book are charging. Rice uses a substantial amount from the Gnostic gospels, an issue that turned me off because most people's "education" concerning this began with the "Da Vinci Code". Rice does not, not yet, use the gnostic gospels as some sort of conspiracy theory but rather as a narrative filler in the same way that Mel Gibson supplemented the "Passion of the Christ" with Anna Catherine Emmerich's visionary account of the life of Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone but please don't swallow this hook line and sinker. This is a fictional account of a sparsely documented life and it is the author's perogative to fill in those gaps.
The reason that I say that is that the last major series of books that had a decidely Christian core were the "Left Behind" series. Those books were written for Protestants by Protestants and it showed, with the Pope becoming a Baptist before he dies in the first book. That is not to say that a substantial number of Catholics bought the book, but anyway.
What sets Rice's book apart (so far) is that she has maintained surprisingly close to Catholic orthodoxy, especially in regard to Mary's perpetual virginity or Aeiparthenos. (Spoilers?) Rice writes that James was Jesus' stepbrother and son of Joseph from a previous marriage (his wife had died) before his famous marriage to Mary. Rice further explains the confusion by giving Jesus two aunts named Mary and relegating Jesus' siblings, as the Protestants argue, into cousins.
However, this book is in no way some hardcore Catholic propaganda as some who have never cracked the book are charging. Rice uses a substantial amount from the Gnostic gospels, an issue that turned me off because most people's "education" concerning this began with the "Da Vinci Code". Rice does not, not yet, use the gnostic gospels as some sort of conspiracy theory but rather as a narrative filler in the same way that Mel Gibson supplemented the "Passion of the Christ" with Anna Catherine Emmerich's visionary account of the life of Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone but please don't swallow this hook line and sinker. This is a fictional account of a sparsely documented life and it is the author's perogative to fill in those gaps.
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