Book dossier

In God's Country

by Douglas Kennedy

Have you ever been slain in the spirit? Do you frequently talk in tongues? Would you refer to Jesus Christ as ‘the man who calls the shots’ in your life? Spend some time loitering in the United States, and you'll find out that there's an ever-growing number of people who'd answer ‘yes' to one of these questions — because they have become Born-Again Christians. And though much has been written about the political implications of the religious revival which has swept America over the past ten years, few writers have asked the question: what sort of crisis, need, sense of emptiness or overwhelming conviction pushes people into ‘declaring for Jesus’?; into making perhaps the most profound commitment of their entire existence.