Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsA Good Novel But Rice Writes From a Roman Catholic Perspective and Draws From False Gospels
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2018
The most important thing to remember when reading this book is that it is a novel, a story made up by the author for entertainment and enjoyment purposes. There's no denying Rice's storytelling abilities. She draws you in and captivates you with the narrative. This book is hard to put down; one you start reading, you will want to finish.
So then if it's a good read that's hard to put down, then why 2 stars? Well, if I was rating the book as a novel only, then I would probably give it 4 or 5 stars; however, Rice states at the beginning of the book that the book is intended to be a "realistic fictional portrait of Our Lord in Time," but then she goes on to state that though the book is fiction, she committed herself to thorough research of Jesus, the Gospels, the NT, and 1 century greco-roman civilization. I appreciated her commitment to researching and investigating. She insists that her portrayal is based on her research into the Bible and history. However, those familiar with biblical scholarship in general and NT scholarship in particular quickly realize that Rice's writing is based more on the convictions of the Roman Catholic Church and pseudo-gospels than NT scholarship. For instance, in the beginning of the book, Rice has Jesus kill a boy and then bring him back to life as well as make clay birds become real birds, which of course come from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas which has been shown to be a fake gospel. This is a clear instance of her research not being as thorough as advertised. Furthermore, she holds that Joseph was married before Mary and had all of Jesus' brothers and sisters by the other woman and that Mary remained a virgin for the entirety of her life, which is an instance of her commitment to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church rather than basing her thoughts on the teachings of Scripture–which says nothing about Mary's perpetual virginity or Joseph being previously married.
Again, this really is a good novel and a joy to read for novel's sake, but readers–especially those who are Evangelical–must be cautiously aware of Rice's influence and be discerning when reading. It is a novel, not fact or history.
