NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY, ACCORDING TO THE VAMPIRE LESTAT

 

 

 

By Thomas R. Horn

May 6, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

The Vampire Lestat is a novel by Anne Rice, the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire. It depicts vampires living in the open as mortals. Disguised as mummers [actors], they live and perform in a Theatre ( the Th��tre des Vampires) owned by the "Brat Prince" of the vampires, the dazzling Lestat de Lioncourt.

The morality play in this and other books in the Anne Rice vampire chronicles has been described as "dark, gothic, deviantly erotic, and preternatural" where "immortal understudies in the theater of humanity [play] their parts in a tableau devoid of script, where morality is self-determined, and where it is better to be the hunter than the prey."[1]

Social issues often raised by Rice in her long running series focused on the nature of good and evil, God and the devil, and "the fog of uncertainty that human beings generate around ground-facts that tend to alter their meaning and contents".[2]

In 2003, after 25 books in 25 years, Rice suddenly stopped writing when her "Blood Chronicle" was released, bringing to an end the best selling series of vampire novels. Following several illnesses in which she nearly died, Anne returned to church after 45 years of non-attendance, and grew silent. When friends began emailing her, asking if she was okay and whether she would write again, she told them, "You may not want what I'm doing next." They soon found out what she was up to. Newsweek Magazine reported in October, 2005, that "Anne Rice, the chronicler of vampires, witches and�under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure�of soft-core S&M encounters," would publish 'Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt,' a novel about the 7-year-old Jesus, narrated by Christ himself.

"I promised," Anne told Newsweek, "that from now on I would write only for the Lord." Anne's acceptance of Christ as Savior was considered the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" announced that he'd been born again.[3]

The Newsweek article about Anne Rice was appropriately called, The Gospel According to Anne.

Appropriate because, in my opinion, Anne was, all along, closer to understanding the New Testament teachings of Jesus than are many of the so-called leaders of Christianity today.

For those who think I'm being judgmental, you are right. 1 Peter 4:17 says "judgment must begin at the house of God." People who care about the institution of Christianity should consider that a time of introspection and judgment is overdue.

Irony so thick I could drive a stake into its heart

With humility, I believe I am qualified to say some things about the spirit that is increasingly passing itself off as "church leadership". For nearly 30 years, I held senior pastorates and executive positions in the largest evangelical institution in the world. During that time I spoke to hundreds of thousands of people from pulpits around the globe, both electronic and local. For several of those years I also worked in exorcism, which led to a certain appreciation for subtleties in morality plays like those in Anne Rice's books. Yet now I find an irony so thick I could drive a stake into its heart. While Anne Rice, the "evangelist of vampires" has discovered Jesus, many of those who occupy America's places of religious power and pretend to be the Lord's evangelists have become vampiric wordsmiths clothed in capes and rituals, hiding the need to maintain their existence by consuming the life-force of innocent living creatures, disguising themselves as mortals as they feed on people's faith, using and then disregarding innocent lives to maintain their Th��tre des Vampires.

I suppose when most people think of actual demonic manifestations, they recall images such as Linda Blair slithering snake-like along the floor in the movie The Exorcist. To be honest, during the few experiences I had with exorcism, superhuman strength similar to that fictionalized in popular films and vampire lore was manifest only once. The greatest encounters I had with evil supernaturalism by far ( and which I may document when the time is right), which was confronted on more than one occasion by myself, my staff, and my family, was a "spirit of religion" that wielded significant influence among church-institution leaders whose thirst for power has become Luciferian.

Such spirits are identified in the Bible and in the actions of those who are possessed by them. They are megalomaniacs who seek to exalt their throne while taking particular delight in enforcing private rules by which they judge the righteousness of others. They compass the world to make one disciple, "then make it twofold more a child of hell" than they are themselves" (Matthew 23:15). These incredibly deceptive mummers seek institutional positions where they can nourish Christ-less attitudes among church leadership, teaching their hosts how, as actors, they must suppress their true personality while emulating sincerity so that their victims will accept as real the "character" they portray.

Mastering dialectics thus becomes very important for the mummers to succeed. They must also develop good vocal projection for the stage, physical expressiveness, improvisation, emotional drama and even be capable of reciting classical texts or scripture when necessary. Well-rounded mummers will even learn singing and other performing arts, so that their false-anointing will appeal to human weaknesses and convince us that they are genuine. Most of all, they need for their words to resonate as believable in order to keep their innocent victims mesmerized, at least until their life-force can be completely drained from them.

Of course the biggest problem for such vampires is the true power of the Cross, and how if they are not careful it will scorch away their cover and reveal the apathy they have for their victims.

SON-light is another problem. Vampires perish if exposed for very long to anything but synthetic illumination.

And of course there are sanctified places where vampires can never go, such as the deepest recesses of a true believer's soul. The greatest vampire killer of all time once said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul" (Matthew 10:28).

I thought of those words recently, during the passing of a dear friend. To protect her identity, I will simply call her Nettie (not her real name).

Christians and vampire slayers

Like so many true Christians, Nettie had given her life to the ministry of others. As a result, she had very few earthly possessions and certainly nothing to compare with the wealth that is typical of Lestat-like vampires.

However, Nettie did own a home. The appraised value was a mere $35,000, so it is easy to see the modesty of her lifestyle in today's United States.

Still, the place was hers.

Early last year, knowing she was getting too old to live alone anymore and that ultimately she would need to be cared for by her daughter, Nettie made a deal to sell her house to the religious institution we both had worked for. Nettie had served tirelessly and without pay for the organization for several decades. As executive director of a particular board, I was familiar with the district office's interest in acquiring land, and I was there when several properties, including Nettie's, were approved for purchase. Though Nettie's was the least expensive, the other properties were owned by younger, healthier persons, not nearly as easy to victimize as Nettie, and so these were paid off immediately and closed escrow post haste. Nettie on the other hand waited, and deteriorated, until her body and mind slowly began giving in to the last enemy she faced -- death. As the end drew near and she needed money for medical expenses, she asked my wife to check in with the Christian organization's state office to see when she would be paid.

"Well, since Nettie is going to die before long," the secretary for the coven's head vampire stammered, "We've decided just to wait, since we'll inherit the property anyway once she's gone."

My wife was in shock. Yet unlike her, I'd been inside the vaults and among the vampires long enough to understand how mummers think. We both cried a few months later when Nettie, still hoping for some crumbs to fall from the rich man's table, had a stroke and died not very long afterward.

For me it was the last straw. After almost 30 years in the theatre I decided I would be better off not treading the rafters anymore. I had made some great friends and there are still some vampire hunters in the organization I respect, but the glory days are waning and the theatre's headquarters have become too infested with spider webs, moths, bats and other creepy things.

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Yet I would leave a warning behind for vampires everywhere. For those who would sell their soul to the Devil for $35,000 worth of real estate, you've done all that you can do to hurt the old woman who will rise up in judgment against you in the day that matters most.

Of course, I suppose until then you could wring the blood out of the money and use it to purchase some really cool new capes or a row of dazzling lights to keep your audience spellbound.

Footnotes:

1, Te�filo de Jes�s. Book Review: Christ the Lord by Anne Rice
2, Ibid
3, David Gates. The Gospel According to Anne, Newsweek, Oct. 31, 2005

� 2007 Thomas R. Horn - All Rights Reserved