Journeying on the Revelation road

Nick Page's travelogue to the places of the Bible's final book brings home how Revelation has a very relevant message for today which we should not ignore

Revelation Road: One man's journey to the heart of the Apocalypse and back again
By Nick Page
Hodder Stoughton
ISBN: 978-1-444-74967-0
Reviewed by: Pieter Lalleman

In his own funny style Page tells how he travelled to ‘the seven cities of Revelation’ in modern-day Turkey (first half of the book) as well as to the island of Patmos (second half). He managed to visit all cities except Thyatira. He describes the modern state of the cities and the island as well as what they looked like in the time of the New Testament.

Meetings with humans of all kinds add even more colour to his stories. There are also quite few back-and-white photos of acceptable quality.

In between he introduces us to the Book of Revelation. In the first half, obviously, chapters two and three get most attention, but Page also sheds light on the book as a whole and its background in history. In the second half many other parts of Revelation are introduced and commented on.

Although the author makes jokes about almost everything, it is clear that he has understood Revelation and its message pretty well, and he is quite a good guide at an accessible level.

The book is rather long and in the middle I tended to skip stories about Patmos to get to more about Revelation. But it is worth persevering because towards the end of the book the reader once again learns much about Revelation as well as about its (often misguided) interpreters throughout the centuries. It is not hard to skip some of the travelogue.

On the other hand, you might be more interested in the state of Patmos past and present, and its curious inhabitants, than your reviewer. However that may be, Page brings home that Revelation has a very relevant message for today which we should not ignore.

I will certainly mention this book to my students and I am warmly recommending it to you.
 

The Revd Dr Pieter J. Lalleman teaches Bible at Spurgeon’s College