THE REVELATIONS
By Alex Preston
Faber & Faber. 326 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 0 571 277 582
Everyone who is involved with running any of the evangelistic courses that are currently available should be aware of this book.
Not necessarily read it — it isn’t a very good book and at times not at all wholesome. But, given the subject matter, we should be aware of the book’s existence and alert to its destructive potential. Its author, Alex Preston, has clearly been on an evangelistic course himself, and as a result has written a cynical novel which focuses on the intertwined lives of four leaders, each in their own way dysfunctional, who are involved with running a popular ‘Course’ designed by a dynamic vicar. Even if the ‘Course’ turns out to be run by a cult, Preston understands many of the underlying principles of evangelistic courses, and indeed the way that many of them are populated by those from privileged educational backgrounds with good jobs, especially in the London area where the book is set.
