Remember when vampire queen Anne Rice announced she was a Christian? She had written the successful novels “Interview with the Vampire,” “The Vampire Lestat,” and “The Queen of the Damned.” Under the pseudonym of A.N. Roquelaure, she wrote three erotic novels.
But, in 2004, Rice said in a Newsweek article that she would start writing “only for the Lord.” Some of her fans were put out a bit by this news, but she was true to her word. In 2005, Rice wrote “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt” about the early years of Jesus Christ. She followed that up with 2008’s “Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,” which was the second in a series of a planned four books about the life of Jesus.
Newsweeks said that Rice had returned to Catholicism in 1998 when she suddenly went into a diabetic coma. She had left the religion when she was 18 after undergoing what she called a “strict Roman Catholic childhood in the 1940s and 1950s.” After leaving the church, Rice said she wanted to experience meaning in a “world without God.”
Apparently, a brush with death in 2004 during surgery made her decide to change her writing genre. However, Rice had some views that were contrary to many Christians. She supports gays and believes in abortion rights and the use of birth control.
And it was those convictions that caused Rice to declare she was quitting Christianity this week. She said she refused to be “anti-day,” “anti-feminist,” “anti-science,” and “anti-Democrat.”
Unlike some celebrities who think we innately care about their convictions, Rice said, “For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian.” She said Christianity was “quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group.” She said that she had tried for ten years to feel a part of the group, but failed and felt like an outsider.
If you think Rice is no longer a follower of Christ, you would be wrong. It seems that Rice is still a Christian for she said. “My faith in Christ is central to my life.” Like many people, the organized religion got to be too much for her and she said that “following Christ does not mean following His followers.”
So, it looks like the third installment into the series on Jesus’ life is still on, although there has been no release date issued.