Posted on 03/24/2008 7:42:12 AM PDT by BGHater
Look: I believe in Him. It’s that simple and that complex. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the God Man who came to earth, born as a tiny baby and then lived over thirty years in our midst. I believe in what we celebrate this week: the scandal of the cross and the miracle of the Resurrection. My belief is total. And I know that I cannot convince anyone of it by reason, anymore than an atheist can convince me, by reason, that there is no God.
A long life of historical study and biblical research led me to my belief, and when faith returned to me, the return was total. It transformed my existence completely; it changed the direction of the journey I was traveling through the world. Within a few years of my return to Christ, I dedicated my work to Him, vowing to write for Him and Him alone. My study of Scripture deepened; my study of New Testament scholarship became a daily commitment. My prayers and my meditation were centered on Christ.
And my writing for Him became a vocation that eclipsed my profession as a writer that had existed before.
Why did faith come back to me? I don’t claim to know the answer. But what I want to talk about right now is trust. Faith for me was intimately involved with love for God and trust in Him, and that trust in Him was as transformative as the love.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.washingtonpost.com ...
Wow - last thing I every expected from her. God bless her!
that was very profound. Best of luck to Mrs. Rice!
One of my brides favorite writers.
So, is she still a pro-homosexual, pro-abort Democrat?
Instead, why not ask her?
Instead, why not ask her?
Believe it or not, AB, for once I wasn't Catholic-bashing but asking an honest question.
When Ms. Rice reverted to Catholicism she was quite insistent that she was still a Democrat and still pro-"gay." I'm assuming that her political activities are still on record somewhere.
In return, I was actually not being snarky or facetious when I suggested that. She seems to have a large fan base (of which I am not a member), and also seems to be willing to communicate with them.
DrE, what do you think of this?
Very nice! She has always reminded me of Huysmans, who was a late 19th century French-Dutch Satanist. He came back to the Church because it was in Christianity that he found everything beautiful, including the artistic profundity he had always sought in his own confused way.
Apparently, in 1998, she realized she had made a wrong turn, and returned to her Catholic faith. Then her son came out as a homosexual and her husband died of a brain tumor in 2002. She says her interest in history led her to study the beginnings of Christianity, and thus she began her series on the life of Christ, first with "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" about the first seven years in the life of Jesus, and her new book, "Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana."
God is glorified any time someone forsakes atheism to embrace Christ. IMO Ms. Rice hasn't come full circle, and I hope eventually she will be led by the Holy Spirit to a more thorough understanding of God's grace.
It's interesting to note in her WP article there's not one single mention of "the church." Instead, she sounds almost like a Calvinist, concentrating on "trusting" God and the message of the Gospels and God's perfect hand over all things...
I saw, in one enduring moment, that the God who could make the Double Helix and the snow flake, the God who could make the Black holes in space, and the lilies of the field, could do absolutely anything and must know everything --- even why good people suffer, why genocide and war plague our planet, and why Christians have lost, in America and in other lands, so much credibility as people who know how to love. I felt a trust in this all-knowing God; I felt a sudden release of all my doubts. Indeed, my questions became petty in the face of the greatness I beheld. I felt a deep and irreversible assurance that God knew and understood every single moment of every life that had ever been lived, or would be lived on Earth. I saw the universe as an immense and intricate tapestry, and I perceived that the Maker of the tapestry saw interwoven in that tapestry all our experiences in a way that we could not hope, on this Earth, to understand.
Amen! She's obviously moving in the right direction. God willing, her trajectory will continue away from her own abilities and toward God alone. I think once someone makes that leap from "my will" to "God's will," then the journey from "foreknowledge" to "ordination" is almost inevitable.
This was not a joyful moment for me. It wasn't an easy moment. It was an admission that I loved and believed in God, and that my old atheism was a facade. I knew it was going to be difficult to return to the Maker, to give over my life to Him, and become a member of a huge quarreling religion that had broken into many denominations and factions and cults worldwide. But I knew that the Lord was going to help me with this return to Him. I trusted that He would help me. And that trust is what under girds my faith to this day.
Within days of my return to Christ, I also became aware of something very important: that the first temptation we face as returning Christians is to criticize another Christian and his or her way of approaching Jesus Christ. I perceived that I had to resist that temptation, that I had to seek in my faith and in my love for God a complete certainty that He knew all about these factions and disputes, and that He knew who was right or who was wrong, and He would handle how and when He approached every single soul.
I think it's a good sign that Rice at least admits there is a singular truth amid all the clamor. God willing, she'll come to it. Even the clamor is ordained by God for His glory.
Why do I talk so much about this trust now? Because I think perhaps that with many Christians it is lacking, and in saying this I'm yielding to the temptation I just described. But let me speak my peace not critically so much as with an exhortation. Trust in Him. If you believe in Him, then trust Him. Trust what He says in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and trust what He says about having conquered evil; trust that He has won.
Don't ever succumb to the fear that evil is winning in this world, no matter how bad things may appear. Don't ever succumb to the fear that He does not witness our struggles, that He is not with every single soul.
Who cannot give that an emphatic AMEN!
I've read where Rice said she is attracted to the pomp and gilt of the RC church of her childhood. Maybe after pondering the simplicity inherent in the story of Jesus and the early Christians she will eventually come to know the singular glory of grace, and grace alone.
It's also interesting to see she credits Ken Gentry with helping her to understand early Christianity. I can't imagine his reformed influence would not have a positive effect on her growing awareness of God's holy purpose in all things.
Thanks, E. That was a great review....better than the article, actually.
That really jumps out.
It's terrific that it has returned. Maybe that's the Holy Spirit quickening her. ;-0
Is this the vampire writer?
Yes.
How cool that she’s turned from one who sucks blood and takes life to one who gave his blood to give us life.
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